And Helps It Get Real Life Radio Airplay!
This is a beautiful new machinima from auteur Teal Aurelia, but with a special new twist: It’s also a promotion for a track from real life pop singer SEMINA, who’s had several hits in her home country in the EU, but had her music career undone by the recent pandemic.
“[I] was preparing for a tour when COVID hit and it all went to hell,” as she puts it to me. “The tour was cancelled and I thought I’d never do this again.”
That led her to performing in Second Life (“it filled somewhat of a emotional void… it was enough for me not to lose my mind during the lockdown”) — and led her to discovering Teal:
“I knew I wanted to make a teaser for the single where the two worlds meet. It was easy to take a step into the metaverse but to take a step out of it with my own songs and not just the covers that the show goers are used to and still keep their interest was a little bit different.”
After reaching out to Teal, she shared artwork that helped inspire the SL machinima:
“I showed her my visuals through the paint doodles and Pinterest and somehow she put it together to a beautiful teaser. The video is full of easter eggs for the upcoming five track EP as it’s leading in to the first single.”
Speaking of which, a funny thing happened when Teal put the video online: Someone working at an EU radio station saw it, reached out to Semina — and put the song into airplay rotation! (I’m omitting the specific nation for privacy reasons, but if you’re in the European Union, check your local station.)
“The video has surely caught the attention of RL media,” Semina says, stoically. “What will happen, time will tell.”
As for the song, hear the whole thing here: