Under the Surface

eveghost

Play: Under the Surface / Who in the Hell is Axel Lundén?

Artist Statement

Using the medium of an indie folk artist’s website, Under the Surface weaves a compelling tale of disgraced indie rockstar Axel Lundén, whose life has been rocked by a sequence of tragedies, culminating in the death of his late husband two years prior. With his career and once-stellar reputation now in shambles, Axel is stumbling along on the brink. As he approaches the second anniversary of his husband’s tragic demise, he considers meeting a similar end. The project tells a poignant story of loss and trauma, but which ultimately also draws upon hope as a major theme.
Under the Surface can be enjoyed simply as a work of e-literature, or players can dig deeper, solving puzzles and exploring the website’s source code to make further content discoveries or take advantage of interactive characters who communicate via social media to guide them on their journey toward the truth of what happened to Axel’s husband that fateful night.
The project releases monthly installments in the form of chapters and content drops. The chapters well exceed the bounds of your average e-literature with illustrations, videos, and music to enhance the experience. To date, there will soon be ten chapters to enjoy, in addition to numerous supplementary materials, including news articles, images, lyrics, and ephemera, which provide further insight into the story. It also employs auxiliary websites, music, lyrics, video, various forms of social media, and even Google Earth to deliver lore. Media archeology is all part of the gameplay.
Written and conceived during a vulnerable period in the author’s life, Under the Surface dares to tackle difficult subjects, including suicide, addiction, grief, and the way society treats celebrities in crisis. Under the Surface is free to the public to promote mental health storytelling and is primarily self-funded with additional contributions from supporters on Patreon.

About the Artist

eveghost is the primary creator of Under the Surface, donning many hats in the project ranging from author to songwriter and musician to web developer to video editor and graphic designer. They are a nonbinary, autistic American Ph.D. fellow currently living in Norway, previously known for their work as a vocalist in the gothic and post punk bands Scarlet’s Remains and Christ vs. Warhol.

Credits

An international team of collaborators contribute to Under the Surface, including artists Diletta Desantis (Italy), Kate Dorokhova (Ukraine), Sandra Holm (Sweden) and E.E. Luther (Norway) among others. Among the primary musical collaborators are Filip Hedlund (Sweden), eveghost (USA/Norway), Circletone (India), Mark Steiner (Norway/USA) and Jonathan Chua (USA). Archer Irwin Kranz (Sweden) voices Axel, while a variety of additional voice actors also contribute to the project. Many thanks to Many thanks to James Armando Dickson, Ramsay Wood and Rainer Wren Dalton for acting as consultants on the project. All texts from the story and lyrics to interviews and scripts are written by eveghost, who also acts as web/graphic designer, puzzle designer, video editor and whatever other role the project calls for.