Space Funk With Theremin

Hi

I've been following this page for a while and decided to finally create an account. My name's Greg, and I'm from Halifax, Canada, and play in a space funk band called Unidentified Funk Object. We wear sci-fi costumes and the songs are about aliens and such. Here's one of our songs, which is about a UFO incident in my home province of Nova Scotia, and features a theremin/vocal duel at the end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vCXsxTku-A

I'm not the world's greatest theremin player - Clara would not be impressed with my playing at all - but I feel like there's something to be said for exploring the potential of the theremin just to make crazy otherworldly sounds rather than trying to play it like a conventional instrument. Part of it has developed from context - my band is usually crammed onto a small stage with mic stands everywhere and iffy sound on stage, so trying to play complex music on the theremin isn't usually an option. So, while I don't want to be one of those guys like Jimmy Page who uses the theremin purely as a novelty, so many of us have grown up associating the theremin with the eerie, otherworldly sounds of classic science fiction, and I think trying to evoke that retro-futuristic vibe is a way of honouring the theremin's history.

I play the theremin through a Roland Cube guitar amp, with overdrive, compression, flanger and delay laid on thick. Hope you enjoy!

Hi Greg,

I loved it! ;-) It was fun - I liked the theremins parts too - IMO, it really fitted the 'vibe' .. Ok - probably no one will take me seriously (not that I think anyone ever did ;-) now that iv'e 'endorsed' such 'frivolous' use of this great instrument - but I have a feeling that a young Lev would probably have been bopping to this funk!

Welcome to TW!

Fred.

Just been listening to your stuff on you-tube. Ive been on a real downer lately, and music wasn't lifting me like it usually does.. Then out of the blue, Amey sent me an MP3 yesterday which just 'resonated' and lifted me - and now your music - completely not the stuff I usually listen to - well, its all really great.. Hey, ive been going 'round and 'round in my orbit - Thanks for bumping my trajectory !

I agree with Fred. It fits well. I bet you could do some really funky things with a theremini. :-)

Shagadelic baby, yeah!

I wish I could trade places with you Greg, Nova Scotia is a gorgeous place!

Great song & video, thanks for posting the link!  (Embeded below)

From http://www.ufocasebook.com/Shagharbor.html:

"Coincidently, RCMP Constable Ron Pound had already witnessed the strange lights himself as he drove down Highway 3 in route to Shag Harbor."

<snip>

"The Shag Harbor incident would have new life breathed into it through the efforts of MUFON investigator Chris Styles."

Shag Harbor, Constable Pound, MUFON - more double entendres than you can shake a stick at (so to speak).

I like it a lot!

The theremin wobbly bits work well and the brass just won me over :-)

Oh, and funky to boot!

"Shag Harbor, Constable Pound, MUFON - more double entendres than you can shake a stick at (so to speak)." - Dewster

Better beware making statements like that! - Captain Pugwash was sailing near Shag at the time.. You REALLY wouldnt want a crowd of ETs in suits to come after you, would you?   ;-)

"There is a persistent urban legend, repeated by the now defunct UK newspaper the Sunday Correspondent, that ascribes sexually suggestive names – such as Master Bates, Seaman Staines, and Roger the Cabin Boy – to Captain Pugwash's characters, and indicating that the captain's name was a slang Australian term for oral x. John Ryan successfully sued both the Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian newspapers in 1991 for printing this legend as fact."

 Suits! - they're all bloody ET's IMO, A sub-species of humanity, or perhaps from some ET "civilization" more extreme than the Ferengi .. Bank Managers, Solicitors, Estate agents.. "for printing this legend as fact." - "legend"?? "Fact" ?? What F*ing planet....... I would love to have heard the legal arguments, LOL ;-)...

"No your honor, there was absolutely nothing dirty in my mind, either consciously or unconsciously, when I picked those names, I have absolutely no idea what 'Master Bates ion' is or what could possibly be questionable about the name 'Seaman Staines' - Why, there's a suburb of London called Staines, is that vulgar ? I am an innocent Catholic, I was educated in a Catholic boys School, and I have no idea at all how these anchors can bonk up such pugwash! "

Glad you liked it! Thanks for listening. @Fred: And glad to hear that the funk got you out of your funk. @Dewster: Yeah the double entendres are too perfect. @Gordon: I saw the demo for the theremini and have been scheming about how to get one. Soon.

"I saw the demo for the theremini and have been scheming about how to get one. Soon." - Greg

Nah! - You actually control your theremin musically - the theremini isn't a theremin, its a capacitive sensing toy! - the only use for it is a crash dive into Shag harbour! (might even produce some yellow foam ;-)

see the last post on this page.

Fred.