Dolphin Group Embrace the Aquatic and Whimsical in “Protozoa” Video

Dolphin Group know something about biology. On “Protozoa,” leader Zach Ruppert and the rest of the Chattanooga band use a single-celled organism as a muse and a speaker, and their song feeds on melodies just like a protozoan does on organic matter.

Influenced by the best of 80s new wave and synthpop, “Protozoa” utilizes waves of sound both large and small for maximum contrast with minimal straining. The chorus is euphoric, but the verses, with Ruppert’s steady falsetto leading the way, are just as exciting.

The music video goes heavy on the undersea theme, with the Group performing and vamping in front of footage from the Tennessee Aquarium and Chattanooga Zoo. Ruppert also answered some burning (soaking?) questions about the song and video, via email.

How did you conceptualize this video?

We had already made the track “Protozoa,” which originally was sort of a love song, but we changed the lyrics to be goofier – evoking a protozoan as our muse. So the lyrics definitely informed the direction of the video. We were also sort of turned off by really expensive and serious indie band music videos that looked super polished but didn’t have much personality. It just didn’t make sense for our little project from Chattanooga to drop a bunch of money on a video from someone we didn’t know – just to look like every other indie band out there. What was magical about making this video was that we conceptualized it and made it with our friends. I had an idea early on for a green screen video, but we have a sixth member of our band, Code (who lives in Asheville and edits our videos) who suggested we get aquatic footage for the backdrop of our video. We filmed the sections where we were dancing and performing first with Kirsten Barnett and Darian Lindsay, and Darian, who did photography for the Chattanooga Zoo at the time, brought some footage of the more aquatic zoo creatures. We also quickly realized the Tennessee Aquarium was at our disposal, and we had a day where we went at shot some footage of the sea creatures there. The rest was pure genius in the edit by Code. 

How much public access television have you watched? 

I don’t think we have personally watched much public access TV, other than it just being on in the background of our childhoods, or for school, but I could see how our video evokes that feeling. The video was influenced a bit by Kiddie Viddie’s “The Magic Painter” video, which is a goofy green screen video for kids.  We are also really influenced by Tim and Eric, who were themselves really influenced by public access television for their Awesome Show. We definitely wanted a rough-around-the-edges quality like public access would offer. 

Which melodic line is your favorite on this song?
We all love the little opening synth line, but I also love the vocals at the end: “I’m awake, now that my dream is over…” The little shift at the end is influenced by Chris Rainbow’s track, “Is the Summer Really Over?”

Favorite sea creature?
It might have been something different before, but now and forever it will be a Dolphin. They’re so intelligent!

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