Festival diary: Stu at geek pop

Festival diary: Stu

18Mar10

Dr Stu I am half excited, half terrified. Geek Pop: The Science Sessions is looming (it's tonight!) and never have 40 minutes of music seemed so daunting. It’s not that we’re not rehearsed or anything – we’ve been trying out songs and getting the set together since before Christmas – but now suddenly it’s here.

To add to the pressure we’ve got the superb Spirit of Play and Helen Arney, our fellow acts, to live up to, too (that’s surely not good English but you get the idea that they’re fab). If only I had a whizzo-relativity-time-drive-thingy to squeeze in another rehearsal. But then, I’m the kind of musician who always wants "just one more" rehearsal.

But, enough of the "terrified" and on to the "excited". As well as bringing last year’s Geek Pop track, Neutron Stars, to full-blooded (full-bloodied?) life, we’ve delved into our iTunes playlists like never before to find songs that have an astronomical, or at least a scientific, theme.

We’ve got obvious numbers such as Pink Floyd’s Astronomy Domine and Rush’s Cygnus X-1 (if you’ve never fallen down a black hole, you’ll feel like you have by the end of that song). And some newer ones such as Muse’s Supermassive Black Hole and Soundgarden’s Black Hole Sun (spotting a black hole theme here?). There are a couple of others tracks too, including another Rush number that we are very excited/terrified about. We’ve had a total blast learning them, arranging them, occasionally train-wrecking them and finally enjoying them. Now, it’s time for you to help us RAWK with them!

We’ve also got a new song for you – but you’ll have to hang on for that a little bit longer. By placing the emphasis on the gig, and having not yet invented the aforementioned whizzo-relativity-time-drive-thingy (although Nik’s drumkit looks like he could travel through time and space), unfortunately we’ve not finished recording it yet. But let me tease you with title: “Once a planet”. Bet you can’t guess what celestial object it’s about!