Experiencing Music on a Different Level: Profitopia

There's always been a limitation to how much you can experience music. The music itself reverberating through your ear canal, stimulating your brain, eliciting an emotional reaction. Sound has the power to bring you to tears, to put a smile on your face, even bring back memories. The rise of MTV and music videos truly brought music into the digital age, artists had the ability to add a visual element. The screen acting like a portal into the world where the song took place. There's still this separation though, a disconnectedness. These portals amped up the experience, but nothing beat the feeling of seeing a live performance. The music loud enough to feel on your skin, resonating with your core. The performer(s) on stage, watching their face and body language rhythmically in sync with the emotions of the song. While I believe the live performance is still the pinnacle of experiencing sound, a local band has taken the idea of building a world to the extreme. stepmom, an Oklahoma City based 'orchestral dream punk band' has partnered with local collaborative art company Factory Obscura to give you the ultimate experience.

I liken the idea of watching a music video to peering through a View-Master toy as a kid. A few lenses molded in plastic, and film sandwiched in a disk-like paper. Instantly I could be transported to a scene with anything imaginable, from the land of dinosaurs a million years ago, to a scene with my favorite cartoon characters. The music video and the View-Master, ideas that brought another one of our senses into play, giving these creatives another plane of experience. Both of these ideas still feel like they are lacking something though, I mean we've got three other senses that could be connecting to this world, maybe hearing and seeing just aren't enough anymore.

Imagine your favorite song, maybe it sounds like heartbreak, maybe it sounds like struggle, maybe joy, excitement, maybe it amps you up. You can feel the beat through your ears, the manipulation of air, melodies ring through. Now close your eyes and put yourself in that world, what does it look like? What does it smell like? What do you feel with the tips of your fingers?

Factory Obscura and the band stepmom have really broke the mold, taking a real physical space, and transforming it into a new world, a new experience. There's something magical about being able to be so immersed, to be able to not only hear and see, but touch and feel. Instead of a black screen acting as a portal, walking through a black curtain transports you into the world of Profitopia.

There are dozens of things you may notice first on the other side of this portal. The stark white walls surround a few chairs, a vending machine, and the reception desk. Profitopia is a business, a corporation not too dissimilar to one you may have experienced, and you've walked right up to the reception desk. When I think about corporations I often think of bland, boring office buildings. Gridwork of grey partitions separating worker bees, buzzing along towards a common goal, profit. Inspirational posters and lifeless canvas' on the walls, for 'motivation' of course. I don't imagine much life to be oozing out of this place. A thick slime of longing, of desperation coats these corporations in my mind. Very similar to the vibrant, almost hot pink slime you'll see coating just about everything in this reception lobby. I mean EVERYTHING, the chairs, the monitor, even the walls of the vending machine. This slime though, doesn't feel sad, it doesn't feel sticky, it feels like it was carefully crafted to represent something. This something is what you'll have to explore, and figure out on your own. Little hand written notes on the desk, and a vending machine full of pills start to tell the story.

The story of Profitopia reveals itself as you investigate clues, you'll also uncover just how much work went into creating this world. I was amazed to see the slime on the chairs was not only made using upholstery techniques, but also sewn to the chair. This attention to detail, going past just gluing random things together this space was designed to be experienced. You can sit on the chair and read a magazine that is actually background information on the band, you can pick up the phone and listen to the messages, you can even flip through the hand written 'while you were gone' log left for the receptionist.

Profitopia though, is not just this world you are experiencing, it is also the latest EP from the band stepmom. The release of this EP aptly timed with the grand opening of the experience hosted by Factory Obscura, located off 9th and Broadway in Downtown OKC. Everything comes together through four conveniently placed sound stations in each room, where you'll hear snippets of each song from the EP and where the experience fully comes together. There is also a QR code offered at the entrance if you want to listen through your phone and some headphones instead. "Welcome to Profitopia, your gateway to eternal happiness and boundless opportunities.". This one line hits so many notes, foreshadowing what you'll see as you continue to explore, but also describing how I felt walking through the first time. Every where I looked put a smile on my face and I could have spent another few hours admiring every detail bringing this world together.

Notes and posters pinned to a bulletin board along with a working foosball table sell the break room, while a set of usable workout equipment fills the gym. Every single object customized and carefully crafted to feel real in this world, but also so oddly different than what you would expect to see. A clever use of technology makes each room feel modern and funky. A lit up coffee pot with a mysterious pink liquid caught my eye from across the room, leading me to explore a kitchenette as a pyramid of TV's flashed retro feeling graphics. This isn't like a museum though where everything is behind glass and undiscoverable. Everything in this experience is made to be touched, drawers can be opened, notes picked up and read, secrets to be discovered.

Factory Obscura and stepmom have brought an experience like no other to the heart of Oklahoma City. A story of an otherworldly but familiar corporate greed. Many creative people came together to put this experience up. With so much to this experience, I highly recommend you commit at least half a day, maybe even grab lunch nearby after your first walkthrough and come back with a fresh set of eyes. There are a million things I could tell you about this experience, but it doesn't really come together until you step inside and feel it for yourself.

In a world where most of our musical experience is limited to a screen or sound waves, Profitopia is a breath of fresh air. It reminds us that music can transcend passive listening and become a living, breathing narrative. Stories that can be felt just as much as heard. As you leave the world of Profitopia, the vibrant pink hues and cryptic messages linger, leaving you both enchanted and thoughtful. It is a reminder that art isn't meant to just be seen and heard; it's meant to be felt, explored, and understood. The vision isn't truly brought to life until you experience it. If you are seeking a way to reconnect with the essence of sound and story, take the step into Profitopia and let it redefine how you experience music.