Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Spitzer Space Telescope Invents His Own Video Language

DONATE HERE: Spitzer Space Telescope Kickstarter Fund Campaign
Spitzer Space Telescope on Facebook


Album Review of Spitzer Space Telescope's Debut


published on thebomberjacket.com


Dan MacDonald masquerades around as Spitzer Space Telescope and has come up with a creative (one might even say revolutionary) new way to present his music. The Telescope’s first full length album was released in 2009 and painted the personage of a lone folk minstrel, stomping his foot as he sang antiquated stories and wove fantastical mythologies. McDonald said his new project “is going to take a slight step away from spinning wild tales and images and instead be modeled more closely to historical folk music,” but that’s not the inventive part. What makes this new idea so interesting is that it is going to be completely digital interactive ten track video only album. MacDonald has set up a kickstarter the help raise funds for his surgical transplantation of a few traditional styles into one of the most modern forms possible.


The idea developed out of MacDonald’s own obsession with devouring old videos he found while scouring the internet. “Over the last year or two, I have been bookmarking any video that has a sick folk song in it,” he said. Taking the music in visually provided a different experience than just simply listening to it. “The difference between hearing an entire album of prison work songs and seeing footage of the prisoners actually working to just one song is profound,” MacDonald explained. “Viewing all those videos made it very clear how engaging it is to see the face that is performing a folk song, or the hands that are playing it, or the body that is expressing it.”

MacDonald has seen a wide variety of videos and likewise he wanted to paint each of his own with a different style. He gave examples ranging from an Irish music documentary to an old English version of ‘Green Sleeves’ from a scene in the classic film The Secret Garden. About the latter, he said, “I remember thinking, 'what a cool way to showcase a folk song. Seeing it performed in this movie illustrates the song in a way that I could never get from a hundred different recordings of it.'” Other examples included old footage of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, whom he said “seemed to love being in front of the camera.” One video idea was even specifically influenced by Buffy Sainte Marie’s performance on Sesame Street of the song ‘Cripple Creek.’







To emphasize that exclusively digital really meant exclusively, MacDonald explained that there won’t be any physical copies of the album available at all, not even an audio only version. Noting the potential drawbacks, he pondered, “How can a digital album compete with the experience of actually holding an LP in your hands?” A solution was the make the videos interactive.

One of the most unique things about surfing through websites that have an endless stream of related videos was that MacDonald was able to view multiple versions of the same song. He commented that, “The same song will always keep an ancient quality to it, even if several versions of it jump around from decade to decade or style to style.” Being forced to sit in front of a forty or so minute video without a linear story can be a challenge for the many with a deficit of attention, particularly in an update guzzling culture. To be more engaging, MacDonald wants to provide a few “arrangements” for the viewer to interact with. “I am planning on presenting 2 or 3 different versions of each song on the album,” he said. “Imagine: a folk album that offers a few different killer interpretations of each song; you can save a playlist of your favorite versions; and download that playlist to your computer or mobile device or something.” The exact way it will be implemented is still crystallizing as MacDonald wasn’t even able to mention it in the kickstarter video.

The current state of web videos is an example of how this sort of interactive visual format could be successful. MacDonald noticed that, “We are at a point technologically where everybody is comfortable with the video: passing it around, posting it, watching it in a tiny player or blowing it up full screen.” He called it a ‘language’ that is spoken through various websites and networks across the web. “It’s a language we are all speaking, that we all like to speak, that is entertaining and visually stimulating and part of our everyday practices now.” Recognizing this evolution of communication, MacDonald considered it “wimping out” to have hard copies or audio versions. “I'm simply trying to convert my album into this language exclusively, no translations,” he said.

MacDonald said one of the goals of the project was to “present new possibilities for the future of the music album,” but in the interview he admitted, “Maybe to your disappointment, I don't have rants on the music industry.” His reactions to the business of music were more like personal preferences. “I just simply, one, quickly got over the novelty of contemporary bands putting out vinyl records and tapes and, two, have always wanted to inspire and empower the individual to be self-reliant and use their creativity.” It certainly seems more liberating as the cases of 180 gram records lugged around while touring must get heavy. “I imagine a future where I can go on tour and only have to take a stack of little download cards with me.” Continuing to visualize his future career, he said, “I can envision a day when indie bands are setting up meetings with multimedia design firms instead of record labels for their next albums. The internet has global distribution. I don't have to talk to any CD or vinyl pressing plants, printers or distribution companies. All I have to do is build a website and market it.” The decision became a very easy one for MacDonald to make. “Now, the only hard decision is, '...should I ever go back to hard copies after this?'”

As incentives for people thinking about pledging their support to the kickstarter campaign, the Telescope is offering a wide variety of gifts. They range from limited edition hand printed T-shirts to a personal concert for big spenders. Others include a personally sewn renaissance shirt, a custom oil painting, an opportunity to appear in one of the videos and a hand screenprinted newspaper that is written in MacDonald’s own weird binary writing that he calls ‘The Dan MacDonald Studios Logo’ language. One of the most attractive offers is an exclusive never before heard Spitzer Space Telescope EP that won’t be available after the campaign ends. The thing is yours for a mere five bucks. The price is what a regular EP would cost anyway and you not only get the music, but you’re also helping out the band. As with the EP, all of the items will go back into the Spitzer Space Telescope vault once the pledge drive it over. The T-shirts offered say ‘A True Friend of Spitzer Space Telescope.’ MacDonald remarked that “It will be cool for me to see supporters wearing their t-shirt to a show or something. I can say, ‘that dude is cool, he was there for me when I needed him, he really is a true friend of Spitzer Space Telescope.’”




published on thebomberjacket.com

Transcript of the interview::
First of all, have you discovered yet the portal to a mystical realm like maybe a magical ring or an armoire or mayhaps the tornado from your last album?

No, but truth is stranger than fiction my friend. Since my last album, with more fantastical imagery, I've learned more about dark matter, quantum physics, spirituality, etc. These are the kinds of strange, other-worldly phenomena that are influencing the songs I'm working on now. But, they won't make it onto this interactive album. The video-album is going to take a slight step away from spinning wild tales and images and instead be modeled more closely to historical folk music. One of the driving motivations behind this entire ridiculous project is: don't let people know that some 24 year old white kid wrote these songs in the last 2 years. I plan to use visual media (video in this case) to further disguise my songs as "authentic".

Do you have all the songs written or are the songs and the videos going to be stylistically similar?

Not all the songs are written, but the majority of them are. I would say the music will not necessarily be stylistically similar to its video element, I can only think of a few tracks where that will be the case. The unique thing about folk music, especially the folk songs that I've discovered in YouTube videos, is that the same song will always keep an ancient quality to it, even if several versions of it jump around from decade to decade or style to style.

With that in mind, one layer to this project that I'll leak to Bomber Jacket which I didn't get to describe in my Kickstarter video, is that I am planning on presenting 2 or 3 different versions of each song on the album. Imagine: a folk album that offers a few different killer interpretations of each song; you can save a playlist of your favorite versions; and download that playlist to iTunes/computer/mobile device or something. The exact model for the interactive system is still crystallizing, but I feel that it wouldn't be enough to just offer ten awesome videos for SST fans to buy and watch, nor would it be very interactive. So, to really engage users with the album, one song will have a couple different arrangements for the user to interact with. I'm still trying to develop functions like this for the project, it’s all about, "how can a digital album compete with the experience of actually holding an LP in your hands?"

Are the ten songs and videos going to be conceptually connected? Will they tell a story?

Not at all. I'm working very diligently to make sure that they are all starkly contrasted, much like I’ve experienced in YouTube playlists. It’s tough though man. It’s so easy for me to imagine most of these songs captured in a documentary of some kind, or performed by a fake band on some old TV show, but it would be cheap to do them all like that. I really have to get creative, and I'm loving the challenge of it.

Will there be an only audio version available?


So glad you asked that, no there will not be (sorry people older than 50, you probably will need help hearing this album). This might be the boldest part of the whole project. It was a decision that I made recently after playing with the idea of possibly pressing DVDs or some kind of interactive hard copy that I could sell on tour. But, I realized that that’s straight up wimping out, man. To develop an idea like this and then turn the volume down at the last minute? Fuck no dude, I want to crank the volume up motherfucker! I imagine a future where I can go on tour and take a stack of little download cards with me instead of a huge box of LPs. I can envision a day when indie bands are setting up meetings with multimedia design firms instead of record labels for their next albums. The internet has global distribution, I don't have to talk to any cd or vinyl pressing plants, printers, or distribution companies. All I have to do is build a website and market it.
Making the decisions to not offer any exclusive audio version of this album was relatively easy. Now, the hard decision for me to make is, '...should I ever go back to hard copy after this?'

What are some example of folk musicians or types of videos that inspired the idea?

Over the last year or 2, I have been bookmarking any video that has a sick folk song in it. Let’s see, there is tons of footage of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem who seemed to love being in front of the camera. I can also think of these clips I've found from some Irish music documentary. Buffy Sainte Marie's performance of Cripple Creek on Sesame Street will be specifically informing one of my video-tracks. In the movie The Secret Garden there is a very brief shot of a cook in the kitchen of this old English manner singing a verse of Greensleeves which is ssssooooooooooo cool. That's a great example of the types of clips that have inspired this whole idea. I remember thinking, 'what a cool way to showcase a folk song. Seeing it performed in this movie illustrates the song in a way that I could never get from a hundred different recordings of it.' So, the most inspiring clips that I've found are the ones whose video footage makes a song seem super bad ass.

How did viewing all those video change the way you experienced the music? Or what sort reaction do you hope that listeners/viewers have to a video album?
Well, the difference between hearing an entire album of prison work songs and seeing footage of the prisoners actually working to just one song is profound (similar to the version of Greensleeves found in The Secret Garden). Viewing all those videos made it very clear how engaging it is to see the face that is performing a folk song, or the hands that are playing it, or the body that is expressing it. It also gave me the idea to offer several different versions of each track, which is a very familiar feature in my YouTube cruising. Basically, we are at a point technologically where everybody is comfortable with the video: passing it around, posting it, watching it in a tiny facebook size or blowing it up full screen. It’s a language we are all speaking, that we all like to speak, that is entertaining and visually stimulating and part of our everyday practice now. Viewing all those videos made me realize this. Now, I'm simply trying to convert my album into this language exclusively, no translations.

How do you feel about the current state of the music industry and the mediums that are available to ingest music?


Maybe to your disappointment, I don't have rants on the music industry. I just simply 1.) quickly got over the novelty of contemporary bands putting out vinyl records and tapes; 2.) have always wanted to inspire and empower the individual to be self-reliant and use their creativity.

I don't even know what's going on with the music industry besides their problems with CD sails plummeting, but that was news like 10 years ago. Are they back on their feet? I truly have no idea, I only hear things about it here and there, it doesn't really interest me. All the statistics and projections for the industry, it all falls under the category of 'business news' which I find ssssoooo boring. It honestly doesn't apply to me or any of the musicians I know personally. It’s not like people are going to stop supporting bands they like, so it’s just a shame that record labels got stuck on a boat that's now sinking, but fuck man, there are tons of other boats out there. And I happen to building my own.

Which infomercial item do you expect to be flying off the shelves the fastest? (My bet is the renaissance shirt.) Will they be available after the kickstarter campaign ends?
The t-shirt is doing the best right, probably because of the price tier it’s in. Which may be best for me because I don't know if I want everyone out there trying to take my renaissance-chic look. None of the gifts that I'm offering on kickstarter will be available after the pledge drive is over, they'll all be discontinued I'm afraid. But it will be cool for me to see supporters wearing their t-shirt to a show or something, and I can say, "that dude is cool, he was there for me when I needed him, he is a true friend of Spitzer Space Telescope."

What sort of material is written in the newspaper?
The newspaper is article after article of this weird binary writing that I call the Dan MacDonald Studios logo. It might sound kind of stupid, but it’s actually a really cool little item.

Will fans be able to purchase that new age touch device featured in your kickstarter video?
I was afraid of this question, no, that was just a piece of duct taped cardboard. It was a risky move to show that on camera, but I had to describe the album somehow, and I'm not sure how it’s going to look yet myself. The actual album will be featured on an online platform of some kind, but will probably feature some kind of downloadable app for your computer or mobile device

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