Composition has started on The Atompunk Opera.
It started yesterday. I’m on the second song now because the first one was New Albion 9 and i knew exACTLY what i wanted to do for it. So now i’m on Rachael’s first song. This one’s tougher so it’ll definitely take another day or 2 to do properly. I will not even think about lyrics seriously until i’m about finished with the Act 1 music.
It is going very smoothly, mostly because i’m well prepared. There is an art it has taken a long time to get right of just the right amount of preparedness vs spontaneity in the moment. I seem to be pretty well balanced at the moment, but we’ll see as the Act progresses.
I will be using an acoustic guitarist for most of the songs in the first Act. You might think an Atompunk sound would preclude acoustic guitar, but i beg to differ. In my head acoustic guitar is central. It anchors the spacey, keyboard sounds, grounds the music and lastly: Bowie’s Space Oddity. I mean, as far as i’m concerned Space Oddity is the single most atompunk thing ever made and the whole thing centers around the acoustic guitar. I’m doing the same. Plus there’s a whole bunch of bossa nova.
Helping me this time around is Miljen Aljinovac, guitarist for CatNip Tea as well as for the London showcase of The Seampunk Opera. Miljen has exactly the right feel for the type of music i want to make, and he can read my mind, which is a big plus.
Singing this time around is of course Lauren Osborn, Oliver Marsh who was John in the Dieslepunk, and Kayleigh McKnight, who was the Narrator in the Steampunk Opera. She will again technically be the Narrator, although this time around the Narrator is a lonely, sentient computer Rachael carries with her. Think the old Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy kind of device.
And that’s your update. We’ll be back tomorrow with more fun and merriment.
