THE TRONS
BusyGamer's St. Tim gets online with the robot band
BusyGamer's St. Tim gets online with the robot band
by St. Tim
I blame it all on Youtube. There I was.. just sifting through the net bored to tears and I
pulled up the popular website to kill some time. And there it was... one of the featured
videos on the front page... the robotic band... THE TRONS. I was immediately
intrigued by the music, and the fact there was not a human on the video, yet there
they were, playing human instruments... I had to find out more, so after some digging
on the net, I found a contact to the band's manager (creator) Greg Locke, who agreed
to answer some questions via email... So here they are all the way from New
Zealand... THE TRONS!!!
I blame it all on Youtube. There I was.. just sifting through the net bored to tears and I
pulled up the popular website to kill some time. And there it was... one of the featured
videos on the front page... the robotic band... THE TRONS. I was immediately
intrigued by the music, and the fact there was not a human on the video, yet there
they were, playing human instruments... I had to find out more, so after some digging
on the net, I found a contact to the band's manager (creator) Greg Locke, who agreed
to answer some questions via email... So here they are all the way from New
Zealand... THE TRONS!!!
BG: First things first... The idea of a robot band has existed for years,but yours is
probably the most unique and complete band I have seen (It's not electronic per say,
but actual robots playing music) How did this idea come about?
GL: A few things just seemed to coincide. I was in a two piece garage band many
years ago and had thought of building a drummer then, that would have been the first
thoughts. Recently I'd been heavily involved in music again and working as a
software engineer and just got thinking about it some more. Then a friend was
throwing out a beat up old strat guitar and finally an old vending machine that I'd
been involved in the design of was decommissioned and was directed to my place
instead of the dump. It had some of the control parts in it I needed. Then there must
have been a bolt of lightning to my house or something too as it just seemed to fall
into place!
BG: Robotic Junk Band.. did you come up with the term? It's pretty spot on.
GL: I though for ages about that and found it real hard to convey that it is robots made
from old bits playing real music but the term junk adds in the "punk" idea as well as
keeping it fun. I also use the "garage band" name a bit cause they were mainly built
in the garage... and the music style is pretty close to that of the New Zealand garage
scene.
BG: How many songs does the band play?
GL: they have about 10 at the moment... it's at the stage now where I have trouble
working out which ones to drop for gigs which is great.
BG: How long does it take to write and program (I assume) the robots to play it?
GL: The ones so far have been written and programmed real fast just due to lack of
time. Some of them have been an evening and a couple have taken a day or two. I
have to revisit them as more instruments get added otherwise the new guy ends up
just sitting there doing nothing for the song. I'm really looking forward to spending
some decent time to write more.
BG: How many shows has the band played?
GL: Five now... the last one was on stage as part of a big night with "human" bands
and they even got a mosh pit going!
BG: I first saw The Trons on "YouTube" it was on the front page as a featured video. It
must have thousands of hits, has this helped the band's popularity?
GL: yeah.. it's been pretty great. And the interest is really positive too. I'm getting
heaps of hits on the myspace as well so that's great to be building up a solid fan
base. I want to keep things happening and have ideas for an interactive website too.
BG: Any plans on a tour?
GL: Definitely. I am looking at one through New Zealand later in the year, and try for
overseas next year. It's a lot of fun... and I'm developing ways that cameras on the
instruments can pick up all the small movements and project them so that it
enhances the live thing even more.
BG: Which one needs the most maitenence>? Which one was the hardest to build?
GL: Wiggy has been a bit of a nightmare. I need to add some more control into him
as the slider is a bit random and the string pressure is quite critical. I like the
rhythms he gets going the best though... there's a lot more to explore there too.
BG: Name three random parts you used, and didn't think you would.
GL: The giant horn used for Hams head was bit of a crazy coincidence. I bought it at
an auction a year back and was just drawn to it but had no idea why, then when I
started putting the band together it just was the perfect answer cause he actually
does his singing out of it too. There are some pop rivets in Ham's guitar as they are
strong yet small diameter and I try other proper things but the chords suddenly don't
change properly. Then of course there is pie plate for the snare... that was a totally
last minute thing... and some pie plates really do sound better than others!
BG: I noticed all the band members have names. Is that so you wont get them
confused, or did you want to give them real personality. (Personally Ham looks like a
cool guy to hang with)
GL: It was actually other people that started up the names thing. It is really quite odd
watching them play, the mind doesn't really understand what is going but then it just
lets go and enjoys it. Giving them names somehow helps link it all in and make it
more connected to what we are used to. Also people have been asking if they can
date certain members so it seemed fitting to name them so they don'tend up with the
wrong guy.
BG: Anything you'd like to add?
GL : Just thanks for the interview! I'm also looking forward heaps to developing them
much more and making the most of their non-humanness. There really is a lot that
can be done, getting more sounds and instruments together... expanding on the
vocals... it is just a chopped up tape loop at the moment which isfine for now but
there is a lot more that can be done there. We're going to put a DVD together too of
some stuff. They are great to work with like that!
probably the most unique and complete band I have seen (It's not electronic per say,
but actual robots playing music) How did this idea come about?
GL: A few things just seemed to coincide. I was in a two piece garage band many
years ago and had thought of building a drummer then, that would have been the first
thoughts. Recently I'd been heavily involved in music again and working as a
software engineer and just got thinking about it some more. Then a friend was
throwing out a beat up old strat guitar and finally an old vending machine that I'd
been involved in the design of was decommissioned and was directed to my place
instead of the dump. It had some of the control parts in it I needed. Then there must
have been a bolt of lightning to my house or something too as it just seemed to fall
into place!
BG: Robotic Junk Band.. did you come up with the term? It's pretty spot on.
GL: I though for ages about that and found it real hard to convey that it is robots made
from old bits playing real music but the term junk adds in the "punk" idea as well as
keeping it fun. I also use the "garage band" name a bit cause they were mainly built
in the garage... and the music style is pretty close to that of the New Zealand garage
scene.
BG: How many songs does the band play?
GL: they have about 10 at the moment... it's at the stage now where I have trouble
working out which ones to drop for gigs which is great.
BG: How long does it take to write and program (I assume) the robots to play it?
GL: The ones so far have been written and programmed real fast just due to lack of
time. Some of them have been an evening and a couple have taken a day or two. I
have to revisit them as more instruments get added otherwise the new guy ends up
just sitting there doing nothing for the song. I'm really looking forward to spending
some decent time to write more.
BG: How many shows has the band played?
GL: Five now... the last one was on stage as part of a big night with "human" bands
and they even got a mosh pit going!
BG: I first saw The Trons on "YouTube" it was on the front page as a featured video. It
must have thousands of hits, has this helped the band's popularity?
GL: yeah.. it's been pretty great. And the interest is really positive too. I'm getting
heaps of hits on the myspace as well so that's great to be building up a solid fan
base. I want to keep things happening and have ideas for an interactive website too.
BG: Any plans on a tour?
GL: Definitely. I am looking at one through New Zealand later in the year, and try for
overseas next year. It's a lot of fun... and I'm developing ways that cameras on the
instruments can pick up all the small movements and project them so that it
enhances the live thing even more.
BG: Which one needs the most maitenence>? Which one was the hardest to build?
GL: Wiggy has been a bit of a nightmare. I need to add some more control into him
as the slider is a bit random and the string pressure is quite critical. I like the
rhythms he gets going the best though... there's a lot more to explore there too.
BG: Name three random parts you used, and didn't think you would.
GL: The giant horn used for Hams head was bit of a crazy coincidence. I bought it at
an auction a year back and was just drawn to it but had no idea why, then when I
started putting the band together it just was the perfect answer cause he actually
does his singing out of it too. There are some pop rivets in Ham's guitar as they are
strong yet small diameter and I try other proper things but the chords suddenly don't
change properly. Then of course there is pie plate for the snare... that was a totally
last minute thing... and some pie plates really do sound better than others!
BG: I noticed all the band members have names. Is that so you wont get them
confused, or did you want to give them real personality. (Personally Ham looks like a
cool guy to hang with)
GL: It was actually other people that started up the names thing. It is really quite odd
watching them play, the mind doesn't really understand what is going but then it just
lets go and enjoys it. Giving them names somehow helps link it all in and make it
more connected to what we are used to. Also people have been asking if they can
date certain members so it seemed fitting to name them so they don'tend up with the
wrong guy.
BG: Anything you'd like to add?
GL : Just thanks for the interview! I'm also looking forward heaps to developing them
much more and making the most of their non-humanness. There really is a lot that
can be done, getting more sounds and instruments together... expanding on the
vocals... it is just a chopped up tape loop at the moment which isfine for now but
there is a lot more that can be done there. We're going to put a DVD together too of
some stuff. They are great to work with like that!