In 2008, Steve and I decided to follow up 3 Strip Meal with an epic Space adventure. Steve would be the star, naturally, and we would chronicle his journey through two episodes – each handled by one of us. The album was close to completion, but by 2008 Funk Shits and Black Velvet were taking up more and more of our time.
Recording was done mostly independently. I worked from the Black Velvet house in Manchester, while Steve wrote and recorded at the Vienna House in Danbury. We collaborated occasionally, but the music came together with less direct input from each other than we’d ever done previously.
Fun facts: We originally intended on making an episode of the “show” using Adobe Flash. I also created a section of Episode 2 in RPG maker, complete with reverse penguins and a crashed spaceship. Weird!
Steve’s Episode…
Episode 01: Steve Blonski and the Rubble Rumble
Plot:
Traveling out beyond familiar territory, Steve stumbles across what he believes to be another belt of asteroids. He gradually realizes that it is in fact a large cloud of space debris/junk, some of which is ships parts and everyday objects from his home world. Within the dense junk Ross Leg, the infamous space pirate, stalks Steve’s ship. Steve is eventually confronted and a battle ensues, his ship is badly damaged, and he is forced to land on a small green planet within the field of garbage.
Steve learns that the planet he has landed on is called [Pleasiness]. He finds it to be none of the sort, as he makes his way through a harsh terrain in search of life. Steve stumbles across the Mother Possum and her temple of confusion. After a series of trials, Mother Possum teaches Steve what he needs to know to defeat Ross Leg and put an end to his junk hoarding.
Returning to space, Steve’s ship now looks like a piece of garbage, partly from his defeat earlier and from decorating his hull with more junk. Confusing Ross Leg by blending in, Steve gets the upper hand and rams his ship into Ross’s, causing their ships to become fused together.
Upon returning home, Steve is commended for apprehending Ross Leg and discovering [Pleasiness], his ship fixed up and good as new.
SBGO Steve’s Intro “Uncharted Territory”:
Steve’s Intro with Vocals:
Steve’s A Section “Drifting Garbage”:
Steve’s A Section with Vocals:
Steve’s B Section “Ross Leg’s Powerful Mallet-craft!”:
Steve’s C Section “Pleasiness Breeds The Monther Of All Confusion”:
Steve’s D Section “Steve Blonski Recycles”
This section has no audio recorded that I can find; I know I had some musical ideas for it, with a kind of back and forth between the heavier style of Ross Leg’s song and the poppy style of Drifting Garbage and the intro. I also had plans to tease a little of the Pleasiness melody in it as well.
Steve’s Epilogue “The Long Ride Home”
Also no audio, but this was to be a recapitulation of the intro music with some variation thrown in, and a more triumphant ending.
Mike’s Episode…
Episode 02: Steve Blonski and the Membrane Calamity
Plot:
Steve is investigating the space just beyond the asteroid belt when he is pulled into the eleventh dimension by a spasming membrane! He emerges unharmed and lands on what appears to be Jupiter, only to find it is inhabited by reverse penguins who look like they’re wearing white tuxedos. They take him on an adventure to the center of planet Arctica in order to capture the fabled Equator Bear. The Equator Bear is a legend passed down by reverse penguins. He is believed to be responsible for every disappearance on planet Arctica. Inside the core Steve and his brave reverse penguin guides uncover a terrible secret: the lost penguins have been living inside the planet alongside the Equator Bear in harmony. Not only that, they have just completed creating a gateway through the eleventh dimension. With their help, Steve finds his way back home.
A: To the Stars!
This track finds Steve sucked into a spasming membrane that takes him to the eleventh dimension. The spasming membrane and traveling through spacetime motifs are established. Look for the latter to return in the final track as he returns home!
I was heavy into the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson’s Smile as I was writing and recording is GO!, and it’s evident in the way the songs are constructed from multiple disparate sections. I think I may have also been reading about string theory and m-theory. That doesn’t mean I understood it, though.
As Steve emerges from the portal, he is knocked unconscious only to awake for track 2.
B: Rendezvous with Who?
On the second track, you can hear the smile on my face as I mess with Devin’s gigantic Line 6 effects pedal. The computer-trapped-in-a-echo-chamber sound of the guitar lends this track a distinct sound.
This is the track where Steve meets the reverse penguins and learns of their lost friends. The jam in the middle would have been a montage if this was a soundtrack to a tv show or short film. There’s even some decent sad sounding vocals at the end.
C: With Glix and Plig as Guides, he Travels to the Core
Wailing guitars contrasted with acoustic strumming! Steve ventures deeper to the core of the eleventh dimensional planet Arctica to find Glix and Plig’s lost friends and, hopefully, a way home.
In my lyrics notes, after the line “Glix and Plig, was that you?” I have written “(Chase sequence).” That sounds cool.
D: The Matter of Matter (or: A Bridge in the Eleventh Dimension)
Unlike the other tracks, this one is narrated by the Equator Bear. I tried to differentiate his tone, and he certainly comes off as being boisterous. There’s another montage here when the overdrive guitar kicks in. This time, the equator bear is showing Steve, Glix, Plig, and the other reverse penguins around his lab. The missing penguins are there, working on the machines that will eventually help Steve get back home.
The travelling through spacetime motif returns without the spasming membrane, since Steve went through the Equator Bear’s machine this time. It’s friendlier sounding than the first time, as Steve returns home.
The final section was meant to be credits, and I think I even used a banjo. Fun stuff!