GUNSHIP - THE DRONE RACERS

REWINDING 1987's MODERN VAMPIRE WESTERN 'NEAR DARK'

Kathryn Bigelow's cult movie never gets old

Below: Vampire gangleaders ( played by Lance Henrikson and Jenette Goldstein ).

''PRAY FOR DAYLIGHT''

It's typical of Hollywood's unfortunate gender bias that a clearly gifted director such as Kathryn Bigelow had to sit on the sidelines for most of the 80s, a full six years having elapsed between her low budget debut feature, The Loveless ( starring Willem Defoe ) to her stylish and assured follow-up, Near Dark.

Through its stark, dusty visuals, and featuring the blue-lit backwaters of night-time America, Near Dark's conception was rooted in the idea that Bigelow, alongside co-writer Eric Red, had originally wanted to do a movie reviving and updating the western genre. Finding difficulty obtaining the backing to do so, they decided to combine western elements with the more popular horror genre to successfully create a 'vampire western' whose critical and fan longevity has far outlasted its more successful mainstream rivals. 

Cont'd...

Below: Jesse and Mae, played by Adrian Pasdar and Jenny Wright.

A synthesis of late-80s genre ideas, Near Dark was also a great visualisation of Cyberpunk, a hot contemporary science fiction movement spearheaded by Canadian author William Gibson. The film's retro-future outlaw vibe, plus the pulsating electronic score by Tangerine Dream, heavily suggests that the writers were aware of what was going on in the realm of speculative fiction, and added a dash of that to the mix, too. The result is that Near Dark serves as a high-water mark in an era of great cult cinema. 

In terms of box office, Bigelow's film compared unfavourably with hit MTV-friendly vampire movie The Lost Boys, of that same year. Directed by Joel Schumacher, The Lost Boys had the advantage of a summer release preceding Near Dark by three months. That, plus an easy-on-the-eye teen cast whose audience had already been primed with numerous 'Brat Pack' ensemble movies featuring their favourite teen heart-throbs, ( such as movie lead Keifer Sutherland ) meant that Near Dark's marketing department had its work cut out to get the movie across. Bigelow's film, while featuring many fan-pleasing moments and great effects, was perhaps too dark and intense when compared to its lighter contemporaries. In fact, 1987 was a year positively stuffed with high-performing movies of varying budgets and genres ( Hellraiser, Predator, Witches of Eastwick, Lethal Weapon, etc. ) so it is possible that Near Dark simply failed to make itself heard above the noise.

Interestingly, the movie featured a prominent portion of the Aliens cast from the preceding year: Jenette Goldstein, Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton all played members of Near Dark's band of undead drifters living off the margins of society. As the film's leads, unknown actors Adrian Pasdar played farmhand Caleb, and the luminous Jenny Wright put in a star turn as Mae, the vampire ingenue who wants to induct Caleb into their group.
( Aliens director James Cameron even has a cameo in the film. He and Bigelow were dating at the time, and later married ). 

Perhaps due to the film's lack of box office impact, it took a while for Pasdar to surface again ( most notably in 2006's hit TV show Heroes ), while Wright dropped off the radar entirely, maintaining zero internet presence throughout the nineties and beyond. Apart from a rare guest character spot on NYPD Blue and a couple of other minor TV roles, it's readily apparent that she must have decided to leave screen acting behind. Luckily, in recent years Wright has come out of seclusion to attend fan conventions, acknowledging the film's growing stature among cinephiles. 

Below: Mae, played by Jenny Wright.

Of the Cameron regulars, both Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton went on to have long careers in movie and TV, although Paxton sadly died unexpectedly of complications during a routine operation in 2017. You can read his Sight & Sound obituary here, but keep scrolling for a great interview by Dean Delray on Soundcloud.

Below: In the ensemble cast, Bill Paxton played the anarchic Severin.

Director Kathryn Bigelow's story does have a neat ending, however: She and Cameron separated and he then went on to cement his reputation as Hollywood's premiere director, with blockbusters such as Terminator 2, True Lies, and record breakers Titanic and Avatar. However, in 2010 she staged the mother of all comebacks with The Hurt Locker beating her ex-husband's Avatar at the 2010 Oscars, winning six awards to Avatar's three. She then went on to direct acclaimed movies Zero Dark Thirty ( 2012 ), and Detroit ( 2017 ).

There was talk around 2006 of a Near Dark remake, but Bigelow was not attached and luckily the idea was shelved because apparently it bore a resemblance to schmaltzy  noughties franchise Twilight.

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Dean Delray interviews Bill Paxton

You can hear this fantastic chat with Near Dark / Aliens / Apollo 13 actor Bill Paxton just a few weeks before his untimely death, on comedian Dean Delray's podcast series Let There Be Talk:

Follow Dean's interviews with luminaries from the music, movie and comedy worlds on iTunes and elsewhere via his website.

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TANGERINE DREAM: NEAR DARK SOUNDTRACK

'Bus Terminal / Mae's Theme'

Many thanks to Dean Delray. Podcast link used with permission.

NEW SCANDROID ALBUM IMMINENT!

The greatest 80s Synth-Rock band that never existed is about to release its debut album!

One of the many brainchildren of production mastermind Klayton ( who is also Circle of Dust, Argyle Park and of course, the legendary Celldweller ), Scandroid are the spiritual gene-splice of New Romantic pop stars Duran Duran and William Gibson's Neuromancer.

The album features 15 tracks of ridiculously catchy cyber-rock, ideal for those late nights when you've got Near Dark, Bladerunner or Akira on subtitles and you want a more rockin' soundtrack to go with the visuals.




''The debut, self-titled Scandroid album features 15 tracks, ranging from the driving instrumental energy of "Destination Unknown," to melodic vocal tracks like "Awakening With You," "Aphelion," and "Neo-Tokyo," rounded out with the cinematic epics "2517" & "Singularity." As a child of the 80's, Klayton has also included a cover of the classic Tears For Fears song "Shout," that he has been patiently waiting to cover since he first heard the song on U.S. radio in 1985. The digital album concludes with a bonus remix from synthwave artist Waveshaper. The 72 minute album depicts themes of a cyberpunk future where humans and sentient robots struggle to find a connection in their dystopian world.''

The album is out on November 11th, with an early-bird release the day before, via the label website ( see below ).

'THE ULTIMATE IN RETRO-TECH'

Yes, for Eighties completists, you can also experience the album via the extremely convenient cassette format!

Available as a strictly limited edition.

This and many other collectables are available at FIXTSTORE.

ELECTRIC DREAMER: SOUNDTRACK TO A FUTURE PAST WITH CODE ELEKTRO!

William Gibson's short story 'The Gernsback Continuum' brilliantly encapsulated what has become common currency in the realm of science fiction and the popular imagination: The idea of a 'future that didn't happen'. In that instance, it recalled the 'art deco futuroids' of a 1920s/30s-envisioned future, like the ones written about in pulp mags such as Thrilling Wonder Stories and Astounding Tales. 

Gibson was again ahead of the curve, because now that we are actually living in a science fiction future, for those creatives who find their own milieu just a tad too dull, they can use their talents to evoke these more romantic 'lost' visions, either in books, films, and more recently, music. Possibly the exemplar of this would be film director Panos Cosmatos ( interviewed here in this blog a while back ), as his visually-stunning film Beyond The Black Rainbow not only looked like a straight-to-VHS sci-fi chiller, but utilized the Sinoia Caves soundtrack to force the effect of a temporal dislocation upon the bewildered viewer.

Alongside Sinoia Caves, other artists such as Pilotpriest, and even the film director and synth maestro John Carpenter himself, have released quasi-soundtrack albums of neon-soaked, rainy eighties fantasias. 
So, with this concept now firmly entrenched in pop culture, Future-Rocker talks to Danish newcomer, Martin Ahm Nielsen - aka CODE ELEKTRO - about his music, and the need to go 'back to the future'. We also debut Cyber Dreams, his stunning promo video, too.

So Martin, who - or what - is 'Code Elektro'..?

Code Elektro is my electronica “band” where I’m the only member. The genre is a mix of synthwave and modern electronica. This year I've released my first album with ten tracks on vinyl, download and stream. The title is Superstrings. And it has been really well received. I didn’t know what to expect before the release, because I started from absolutely nothing. But the reviews have been great – and people from all over the world tell me they like it.

How would you describe your music - futuristic or retro-futuristic?

I would say mainly futuristic. There’s some retro elements, but for the main part, I try to create music that sounds like it’s new. However, I love the synthwave scene and I think there’s a lot of talented artists out there – and it’s great to see how it’s slowly getting more and more attention.

Clearly, your music is very cinematic - do you have visuals in your head when you compose?

Yes. I do that a lot. I find that having a movie or a certain atmosphere in my head can help me create. And I think that you can hear that in my music.

What instruments / technology do you use?

My main digital audio workstation is Cubase Pro 8 on the Mac. It’s the program you record in on your computer, similar to Garage Band and Protools. And for plugins I use U-he, Omnisphere, Retrologue, Padshop, Kontakt, TAL-U-NO-LX and all the synths from Arturia. I also have a few hardware synths – I used the Moog Sub Phatty the most.

What are your favourite albums, books or movies? From your music I can detect certain reference points. 

If I did an all-round science fiction Top 5 list it would be something like this:

1.    The Incal (Jodorowsky/Moebius)

2.    Blade Runner / Vangelis

3.    The Matrix (the first one)

4.    TRON: Legacy / Daft Punk

5.    Neuromancer (William Gibson)

Honorary mentions would have to go to John Carpenter, Alien, Terminator 1+2, Moon, The 5^th Element, Stargate, Philip K Dick, TRON, Starship Troopers, The Cyann Saga, Trent Reznor, Jean Michel Jarre, Deus Ex and many more...

So, given all those influences, what movie would you love to do the soundtrack to?

Blade Runner and TRON: Legacy have fantastic scores – and I would love to have worked on them. But they're awesome because of Vangelis and Daft Punk…and I think they did a great job because they are who they are. Also the movie Beyond the Black Rainbow has an incredible synth score. And of course ( Swedish martial arts and eighties homage movie ) Kung Fury!

What do you see Code Elektro doing in the future? Concerts, movie scores, CD releases..?

Right now there’s a lot of work in promoting the album and the new music video…also I’m sending out vinyl all the time! Which is great fun…but yes…there’s a few new plans taking form. Too early to say more about it..!

Sounds interesting! Until then, check out CODE ELEKTRO's beautiful new promo video:

Web: www.codeelektro.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/codeelektro

Twitter: www.twitter.com/CodeElektro

Instagram: www.instagram.com/code_elektro

SYNTH YOU'VE BEEN GONE: ANTHONY SCOTT BURNS - PILOTPRIEST

Anthony is a movie director ( see his work with TENDRIL, in the recent MONOBLOG, and our BONUS FEATURE, below ), as well as an accomplished musician, and as you may have gathered, since childhood he has been immersed in the polished-chrome ambience of 1980's films and soundtracks.

His beautiful debut album PILOTPRIEST - ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK is available to buy now, and is due out on vinyl shortly. You can hear the whole album on FUTURE-ROCKER right here, while we chat with Anthony:

- How long have you been playing? Has the synth always been your instrument?

I’ve been playing for 20 years. I play drums, bass, guitar,and keys. I started with synth. 

I’ve always been into this sound ever since I was 5. I loved the way it was so odd, yet popular. I have been writing this style since I started... I’m lucky it came back into style.

- Explain the titles - you wrote all the music, so they're not cover versions. Did you watch the films first, then write the music?

I just titled the tracks based on the film from my childhood that the song made me feel the most. ( Cont'd ).

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PILOTPRIEST - TOP THREES

ALBUMS 

3. Lou Reed – Transformer

2. Jeff Wayne – War Of The Worlds

1. Michael Jackson – Thriller

SOUNDTRACKS

3. Repo Man – Various

2. The Thing – Ennio Morricone

1. Bladerunner – Vangelis

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- Any scoops on the collaboration with artist / designer Ash Thorp?

We are developing numerous films right now... All different types of genre stories. We are really trying to bring back the realism of character, that was in stories put to film before the studios got scared of new untested ideas.

- Apart from that, what's next from you?

I’m always working on new music, and I’m trying to develop the next album as an oculus rift experience [ - meaning a head-mounted, high-field-of-view virtual reality device ].

I'm mostly focusing on directing... This month I’m directing an episode of a new horror anthology series.

Pilotpriest - Bodydouble (Phace Remix) / Neodigital 001