Yanis: Hypnotized
by Ludovic Zuili
Nowness
Dancers lose control in the French producer’s debut release
“The thing that’s interesting with hypnosis is that people can’t really lie,” says Paris-based electro-pop artist Yanis
of the uninhibited state he and fellow participants underwent for the video to “Hypnotized,” his debut single.
“You don’t really have complete control, and I was searching for an experience that would bring that.”
The undulating track was inspired by watching David Lynch’s filmography, and subsequently feeling “hypnotized,
as though I’m travelling into his movies,” says the singer, who worked with the suitably named Julian Hypnotiseur
and director Ludovic Zuili to gather a troupe of “receptive” participants – including Charlotte Le Bon, who starred
in 2014‘s Yves Saint Laurent biopic – before embarking on a mission to break down barriers of inhibition.
“It’s half dream, half reality,” Yanis says of the oft-misunderstood practice. “I’ve learned that it’s not magic or mystic,
it’s just about a connection with someone and I was really interested in that connection.