By Keith Walsh
Across the 20th Century and beyond, classic science fiction has sparked the imaginations of artists working in all media. Now Black Market Dub, working out of Nashville, Tennessee, have conjured up some very tasty dub tunes inspired by the 1953 film version of H.G. Wells’ War Of The Worlds.
These tracks give a keener look at the creative chops of Black Market’s Nate Bridges and Wise Owl (Brandon Niznik) as the process was different than their usual approach to reimagining pop and rock classics in a reggae style. I had the chance to ask a few questions of Bridges:
Synthbeat: The idea to revisit this sci-fi classic was inspired. You’re featuring bits from the 1953 film. Any other sources?
Nate Bridges: War of the Worlds was my favorite book at one time as a kid, and I’ve always known I’d want to do something with it at some point. Wise Owl and I have discussed how cool it would be to make dub soundtracks to our favorite books, and although this isn’t quite that – this is our first step in that direction. The 50s film was the main source of inspiration by far. That movie was recently released on Criterion and it was amazing getting to watch something so ahead of its time presented so beautifully. I truly don’t think you get Star Trek, Star Wars, or most other modern sci-fi without that film. … we didn’t use any of the Orson Welles broadcast, (but) there is one sound effect from the Spielberg movie we snuck in.
Synthbeat: This EP seems particularly relevant due to the xenophobia that’s always been there but now has a louder platform with the popularity of cable news and social media. Do you think so, and did this influence your choice to tackle WOTW?
Nate Bridges: I do think we are living in extremely scary times. Personally, I don’t think it’s that far-fetched that the United States could collapse in my lifetime, and climate change is going to make all but the smallest parts of Earth nearly inhabitable. War of the Worlds depicts a crisis where humanity is about to be wiped out by an invading force and depending on when the story is being told, that can be a stand-in for any number of existential crises. In the past, it was communism and terrorism; now it’s just us. We will be dealing with the consequences of our own inaction for the remainder of my lifetime, so I do think now is a great time to revisit this material. I’d still love to see a more faithful adaptation of the book presented on screen. Give it to Guillermo del Toro.
Synthbeat: This time round, you created original music to go with soundbites from the film? How did you source the audio?
Nate Bridges: All the audio I use is typically already on YouTube and I just download it and drop it in. This almost always makes my music disqualified for monetization, which is why I’m constantly trying to get fans to join my Patreon page. As far as the musical themes go, we didn’t rely on those from the movie at all. An old score like that is typically just background music, and this movie was lacking a strong theme I could pull from. We love making original music anyway!
Synthbeat: You wear many hats on this project. What role is the most challenging?
Nate Bridges: It used to be the performing aspect. I can mix, dub and master a track well. I even can arrange things fairly well! But getting my performances down in a satisfactory way has always been a challenge despite being a musician for most of my life. Luckily for me (and the fans), the growth of Black Market has allowed me to bring in much more exciting collaborators to play on these albums. Wise Owl is my key partner and he takes so much of the stress off doing these by myself since he is such an accomplished musician.
Synthbeat: What theremin do you play? Was it difficult to master?
Nate Bridges: Crediting myself with ‘theremin’ was kind of a misnomer. I actually purchased an incredible Theremin VST by Adam Monroe music. So even though I’ve literally wanted a Theremin since I was 12 years old, and this project was the perfect excuse to finally get one – I could not justify that purchase. Luckily the Adam Monroe Theremin is a fantastic tool and I think I would have had a much harder time getting acceptable sounds had I tried to play the real thing.
Synthbeat: This EP, rather than being song-based, is more free form. How did that change the way you worked?
Nate Bridges: I wouldn’t call it a different sub-genre or anything like that, but we definitely took a new approach to this material. Ultimately I wanted this to be fun, first and foremost. The material is very campy, and we’re playing reggae – so at the end of the day, we should be laughing all the way up to release day (which was the case). Also, this was the first EP we put together completely while live-streaming during our weekly show on my YouTube channel, so it was a great way to solicit input from our fans while we were working. Many weeks people on the stream would suggest great ideas that we incorporated into the album. It was a really cool way to work that I have no doubt we’ll revisit as soon as we get started on the next one.
Synthbeat: Finally, any new synth gear, (hardware or VST) or new processes on this EP?
Nate Bridges: The Adam Monroe Theremin was the biggest addition on this project, but also I used my new Roland drum machine on every song. Brandon and I are always looking for pieces of gear that will expand our sound and both of these helped us accomplish that in spades.
Synthbeat: What’s the new drum machine? I love Roland gear.
Nate Bridges: The drum machine I have is the Roland TR-8S. It’s super versatile and has a ton of vintage samples from older Roland units that I love to use. This is the same machine I used on The Five Fingers of Dub from a few months ago, I expect it will make a return sometime this year as well! I bought this machine because it was as close as I could find to replicating the workflow of some of the older 808, and 909 machines from the 80s. I think it’s important to be able to make beats on hardware even though it’s easier than ever with software.
War Of The Worlds by Black Market Dub features Nate Bridges: drum programming, percussion, guitars, keys, dub, mixing and mastering. and Brandon Niznik, aka Wise Owl: guitar, bass, organ, synths and keys.
Blackmarketdub.bandcamp.com
Patreon.com/BlackMarketDub
Instagram.com/BlackMarket_dub
HighNoonAudio.com
Instagram.com/HighNoonAudio
Wise Owl on Facebook
Wise Owl On Bandcamp
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