Ideokeo (subculture)
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Ideokeo is a keo subculture originating from West Orena-Ut, Mountange in the Republic of Utlia.
History
On 7-6 18 PC two men were shot dead outside of a bar in the Kerkesetko district in northeastern Orena, the shooter was never found and their motive never discovered. The two men were apart of a party with a third man, who survived because he was across the street buying Arke tapes, seeing this as Azztan intervention, Takyl Ueresekeen then decided to dedicate his life to music production.
Creation of the Uchek record label
Takyl moved from Kerkesetko to the west Orena district of Rebyuna, partially to get away from the memories of his friends deaths but mostly because of the areas renowned history of musical production, being the headquarters of many of Utlias top record labels. Takyl began operating out of a small office on the third floor of a somewhat rundown tower near the center of the district. While scouting bars and open mics around Orena he ended up at a club in the northern district of Kemuon, here he found the first act he would sign, a young singer named Cemry Cenko, she sang a few short songs while playing a herenisk and quickly gained the attention of Takyl. After her set finished he approached her about his "divinely backed" record label, the two agreed to have a meeting at the Uchek records office the next day. During the meeting Cenko signed to Uchek and Takyl began scrambling to get a recording studio together. Eventually finding a space within his budget in northern Rebyuna, he purchased the building with the last of his savings and began working with Cenko on her debut studio album, recorded entirely at that studio, later named Takyl studios. After only two months of recording, Cenkos debut album, Mersen Memories was released as no.000 on Uchek records. Initially hampered by a low amount of physical copies and a small promotion budget, the album began to gain momentum following a string of performances in Rebyuna and Kemuon caught the attention of many local music entusiasts. The album was reviewed positively by a number of Mountange and Orena publications such as Mersenoka and Orena Culture Now! the publications praised the album for its energetic vocals, talented herenisk playing and its revolutionary take on what Arke could be; later this album would be credited as the start of a reappraisal of that genre, wholly detached from the culture of Ideokeo. For Takyl he saw this as proof that he was blessed by Azzta, around 70% of the profits from the album went straight to Cenko, a practice that Uchek would become praised for. With the remaining profits Takyl hired a single A&R rep, Kemlet Archek for the label and moved to a nicer office closer to Takyl studios.
Boom in popularity
In early 19 PC, around two months after the release of Mersen Memories a second artist was signed to the label after being scouted by Kemlet, Yeseme Krunik officially joined the roster and immediately began working on an album, unlike Cenko however, Yeseme was already quite known locally at this point and news of her joining a label spread around Orena, generating press for the label and Yeseme herself. Yeseme and Cenko both released sophomore albums in late 19 PC, later dubbed the "Uyrin of Ideo" the season would see a massive boom in success for the two artists and a newfound wave of interest in the genre, leading to other labels beginning to sign their own keyms, this is also cited as the point where the keym themselves became as important as the music itself, with Uchek releases the two aspects were generally balanced but the lesson many labels took from the success was to promote the artist themselves, this practice generally worked quite well, despite occasional critical responses to the method. The most prominent imitation label that cropped up during the Uyrin of 19 PC was Kyrak, a subsidiary of Utlorecords based in Rebyuna, while Utlorecords itself was based in Tinlea-Ut and was the largest label in the capital city.
First wave
The first wave of Ideokeo lasted from early 20 PC to late 24 PC and saw the further success of artists like Yeseme Krunik and Cemry Cenko, who became two of the most popular artists in the genre, they weren't the only ones anymore though, Utlorecords signed artist, Nari Pokor gained popularity and notoriety from her expressive live shows that set her apart from the smaller scale concerts that had become normalized in Ideokeo Arke, the first wave also saw significant changes in advertising, the genre began to incorporate and lean heavily on bright, drawn aesthetics and cheerful tones. The first wave is also the start of when Arke purists, those interested in the genres original, pre-Uchek iterations from the time of the first revolution instead of the Keym Arke that had eclipsed traditional Arke in popularity at this point; these purists generally do not believe that Keym Arke should be called Arke at all and tend to refer to it as "Keymfei"
Characteristics
Ideokeo culture is based primarily around idols, or Keyms, who create a genre of music known as Arke. The culture is associated with bright colors and an optimistic outlook, but these are not necessarily required. Much of the imagery and style for the first wave of Ideokeo came from old advertisements for consumer products, much of the aesthetic was also inspired by media produced during the economic boom of the 50s and 60s TT, where the Utlian standard of living greatly increased.
Notable acts
- Cemry Cenko (The first artist signed to Uchek records, later president of Ucheck)