TF01 3,S.P.O.C.K - Interviewed 4,by Simon Plumbe Most of you reading this won't have heard of S.P.O.C.K. They are a two-piece Swedish band specialising in electronic pop who have now been going for over 5 years writing songs about... you guessed it... Star Trek! Their debut album, "Five Year Mission" has now been released in the UK through Cold Spring Distribution along with a re- issue of their 1993 single "Never Trust A Klingon". The band consists of Android (who answered most of the questions in this interview) and Captain Eddie B. Kirk. Android is 26 and is responsible for the vocals and lyrics on all their songs along with writing the occasional song. Eddie B is 32 and is the guy responsible for the music and backing vocal effects. The group are currently based in Malmo, in the south of Sweden. This interview was conducted internationally by fax (!) thanks to assistance from their record company, Energy Rekords, and the UK distributor, Cold Spring Distribution. Many thanks must go to Justin Mitchell of Cold Spring for setting it all up for us. Okay, let's get on with the interview! TFF: What are your first memories of Star Trek? A: It was quite many years ago since they showed Star Trek the first time in Sweden, so it's hard to remember, but I think my first memory was that strange guy with the pointed ears - know who I mean?... E: My first memory is from 1976 when they first aired Star Trek. The VCR was hardly invented at the time so I recorded the shows on a normal cassette recorder! Unfortunately they only showed 5 episodes... TFF: How and when was S.P.O.C.K formed? A: Long story... At the beginning of 1986 Eddie B gave 5 songs to a guy named Cybernoid as a birthday gift. Eddie B thought that Cybernoid could perform those songs at his birthday party aboard his shuttle. Eddie B also asked if I could sing (!), and I said, "Yes, I can try". Anyway, we performed the songs at the party and since then it's been going on. Lots of shows and festivals around Sweden and Germany, alone and together with groups like Electric Music, Psyche, Dance Or Die, In The Nursery etc. etc... TFF: Who were your musical influences when you decided upon the style and sound for S.P.O.C.K? A: Our musical references are still the same - early 80's electronic pop e.g. Silicon Teens, Soft Cell, Telex, Depeche Mode, Human League and so on. But we DO listen to very different kind of music, from Jimi Hendrix to soul and house to speed metal to anything, but electronic pop is what we grew up with and it'll always stay in our hearts. TFF: Do either of you own a computer and if so which one? A: We both own an Atari (please print the interview anyway!!!). Eddie B also owns a 486DX with CD-ROM - only to play Rebel Assault. Both of us have owned an Amiga, but Eddie wanted to play the cool CD games. Android has been selling the Amiga 1986 - 1994, so I know what it's about, so to say... However, if I have one at home I'm afraid I'll end up playing loads of space adventures and then there won't be much music done. So I use the Atari because Qubase is a ******* good program - and who can play games on an Atari?? By the way, Eddie B also got an old ZX Spectrum somewhere... TFF: Have you ever seen the Star Trek disk magazine, The Final Frontier, and if so, what do you think of it? A: I've heard about it but I haven't seen it yet - sorry! More about the Amiga; 4 out of 5 S.P.O.C.K record covers are made on the Amiga!!! By Android, by the way... TFF: Many European groups find it difficult to penetrate the British market. How do you think you will fare and what makes S.P.O.C.K so special that they will succeed where others have failed? A: Hard to say, really. In a way we don't care. I mean, we're playing music and are having a good time, so we're quite satisfied. IF we'd become more successful e.g. in England, we'd appreciate it but we won't be upset if nothing happens. So, how would we fare? Actually - we don't know! Could go well because our music isn't extreme in any way, it's pop music on synthesizers, and we're doing quite funny shows, so who knows? But in England, as well as all over Earth, music media don't care about electronic music, so the big crowd never gets the chance to discover the thing. In a rush I see that I also answered the "what's so special" question - happy, good show, both feet on the ground. TFF: I've been told that you are currently making a video to be shown on MTV. Could you tell us a bit about it? A: Actually it ain't a real music video, it's a live video from a show in December 1993. We guess that maybe one song will be extracted and then (maybe) broadcasted on MTV. However, the full video will soon be released, so maybe you'll get to see what S.P.O.C.K is all about! TFF: Did you enjoy the production of the video and (if this is your first video) was it anything like you expected? A: Well, as I said, it's a live video so the only thing we had to do was perform - quite easy! However we HAVE made one "real" video but that was 4 years ago and only for fun. It was funny making it because we made all of it by ourselves, but you will NEVER see that one!! TFF: In the UK, Star Trek is very popular, on television about 12 times a week (!) and it is very easy to buy merchandise, find out about clubs etc. Is the situation similar in Sweden, or is Star Trek more of a minority interest? A: There aren't many people in Sweden that knows about Star Trek. One reason is that the original series has only been broadcasted once and that was in the 70's. However, there is a cable TV channel airing it right now but everybody can't tune in. The Next Generation has been shown but only the first 11 episodes. DS9 - no! The films are available on video and only the first one reached the cinemas... However, we've seen some DS9 episodes as a friend of ours got them on video. And Eddie B got EVERY original episode on original video cassettes, imported from England!! TFF: Do you feel that you are cashing in on the Star Trek name to help your own music careers? A: What the...?!?!?! Absolutely NOT!! We've always been real fans and this is our way of honoring the Star Trek world. Like we said in the last question, nobody knows about ST in Sweden, so it was impossible to ride on the ST wave to become famous. No, we're doing the thing because we love ST - and there's no other group celebrating ST! Other groups only make fun about it (Edelweiss) or tries to make profit out of it (different German techno freaks). And THAT really makes us upset - people, bands, fan clubs etc. that are cashing in on Star Trek. We've been going on for 6 years and I can assure you that we haven't become rich. However, we've had a GREAT time, coming out and play, meeting people, seeing new civilisations and boldly going where we haven't gone before!! This leads a little back to the last question. By doing our ST thing we've spread the Trek "message" among our fans, and we've noticed a bigger interest in Star Trek! Just like a fan club - spreading the information - but in another and new way! TFF: Do you think that, if your group had no connection with Trek, you would still be as successful as you are? A: Hard to say, really. Like I said, nobody knew/knows about ST in Sweden so we could have picked up any style. Science fiction has always been very obvious to us, but Star Trek was so close to us (hard to explain...) so we chose that, and it came out fine. I mean we could have chosen any style, but the music would be the same so I think the answer to the question would be - yes! We play and act what we are! To us this is no image - this is us! TFF: Have you ever been worried about legal action by Paramount as you are not officially licensed to use the Star Trek name? A: No! Why? Because we are NOT using the Star Trek name! S.P.O.C.K stands for "Star Pilot On Channel K" and that's no Star Trek name! We know that Paramount are quite tough when it comes to Star Trek so we are staying on the right side of the border, whatever we do. We can't afford a $1,000,000 law suit... One dream we have is that Paramount would accept our thing, because then we could really make our thing, but that'll be the day... TFF: Do you ever get the opportunity to attend conventions and if so, have you ever considered performing live at one of them? A: As there are no conventions close to us we never get the chance to attend one. But there are some German fan clubs who have asked us if we'd like to perform at conventions. Of course we've been positive but nothing has happened yet. We'd really like to play at a convention because that would give us the chance to really visit one. How about you guys? Why don't you bring us to England to some conventions, just to play a couple of songs?! We don't care that much about the money, we'd be grateful if somebody just pays our tickets and gives us a place to sleep!! Just because that would give us chance to attend a convention, finally!!! (Get the point about S.P.O.C.K? We wanna have a good life, the money isn't that important.) TFF: Have you ever been to a convention in America? A: No, but we'd really love that!! I mean, that's the Star Trek country #1. We could see everything and everybody we've only dreamed of!!! We've been thinking about contacting some convention organiser and present the idea about S.P.O.C.K performing. Another reason for wanting to perform at a convention (anywhere) is that we would see the reaction of the true ST fans. Would they accept us? Would they think we are doing a good ST work? You see, we really wanna do good ST work as we are fans (this goes back to the earlier questions as well...) TFF: You've had quite a series of successful concerts in Europe, especially in Germany. Are there any plans to expand your touring to include England? A: It's a problem out of our control. Our record label, Energy Rekords, hardly distributes records outside Sweden and Germany. If the distribution was better in other countries as well maybe we could go to, let's say, England. But currently nobody knows about us in England so I think it's quite hard to go there. But, once again, we'd really love to, because it would be something new to us! TFF: Have you noticed any differences in the audiences from one country to another? A: I think the audience differs more from city to city. In one city they can go wild, in some other they might do the same without knowing you (!), in some they are stiff like a fridge but buys a lot of merchandise after the show and so on. And that goes for any country. TFF: Out of all the Trek shows so far, which do you prefer and why? A: We both agree on that one - we prefer the original Star Trek show because it's the original Star Trek show! TFF: What is the most unusual experience you have had on stage? A: Long and important story... Well, in January this year we were doing a show in Sweden. At the time it was the two of us plus the former mentioned Cybernoid. It was at a small club and we were standing on the floor about an inch from the audience - and the place was really full! Anyway, we were doing the show and people were really going wild so in the middle of the set somebody fell over Cybernoid's synthesizers and they fell down with a crash! However, they didn't appear to be broke so we put them in order again. But we couldn't get any sound from them! Cybernoid was really upset and refused to go on playing. I and Eddie B said that the show must go on (classic, but true!). We didn't want to keep the audience waiting too much so after a few minutes we decided to go on. This made Cybernoids circuits burning - he left the "stage"!! But I and Eddie B carried on the show and it was going really good. Then, in the middle of the next song, Cybernoid returned to the stage in civil clothes and started to load his keyboards - right in front of the audience!! And then he left again... But I and Eddie B finished the rest of the show - and it was a success! We had a lot of talking after that. Cybernoid thought we'd been disloyal to him, but we said that HE'D been disloyal to the audience. And bla, bla, bla... By the way, he's no longer in the band - can you figure out why?! Well, actually, there had been problems before but this thing was really IT!! Now we have a new live crew member who listens to the name of Polaroid! TFF: Which do you prefer, recording in the studio or performing live and why? A: Recording in studio is quite fun, but it's also a lot of boring time. Performing live is more of a whole big thing. The travelling, the places, the people, the... everything! And it's always something new, always an adventure (always a mission...). It's something we could do for all of our life!! (We could babble about our crazy adventures for hours, but we'll leave that to another occasion...) TFF: Although we know you don't trust Klingons, can any of you speak their language?!! A: I'm sorry, we can't. But we do own a Klingon Dictionary and the cassette that goes to it. TFF: What is your most treasured piece of Trek merchandise and why? A: My third season original (almost) fully functional (!) phaser - with holster!!! It took me a year to get it and it cost me a small fortune - just for a toy!! Crazy, but I love it - and I'm a fan! E: My five ultra-old Mego dolls from the original series. Old and rare!! TFF: Have you ever met any of the cast of any of the shows, and if you have, what did you think of them in comparison to their on- screen characters? A: We haven't met any of the cast, but we'd really like to - especially the original cast. To see what they are like - and to see what they think about our way of honoring Star Trek! TFF: Whose idea was it to pose in uniform on the cover of "Five Year Mission"? A: Nobody's idea! It was quite obvious because we're always wearing our uniforms - live, in videos and on records! TFF: Some people may say that your lyrics seem one-dimensional and have had very little thought put into them, for example, the chorus to "Neutral Zone". How would you react to that? A: Well I get a little upset!! When I write a piece of lyrics I always try to write a complete adventure with a beginning and an end. I don't wanna write stupid love themes like 90% of all other bands do ("I love you, can't you see, it's gonna be, you and me" - makes me sick!!). Then, when writing lyrics for a piece of music one has to make it SOUND good as well, and it's good if it rhymes. I mean, the vocals is also a kind of instrument. And then, my English might not be the best, because I come from planet Sweden. So, if people criticises the lyrics I'd ask them to go through the WHOLE song and try to create the scene in their minds. TFF: What is your favourite scene from any of the episodes or movies and why? A: Tricky again, there are MANY favourite scenes, it's impossible to pick one. But we could mention a few. * The "do you like Italian" scene in Star Trek IV. Yes, no, yes, no etc... * Spock's death, and the funeral, in Star Trek II. Horrible, but great scenes, especially emotionally. * Scotty's "It's green" thing in "By Any Other Name". Extremely funny! * When Spock's almost run over by a car in "The City On The Edge Of Forever", and only reacts by saying, "Fascinating". Typically Spock!! TFF: Do you think that it is a good idea that Kirk should be killed off in Star Trek VII? A: Yes and no. Yes, because apparently he's going to die to save the world, so to say (almost like Spock!), and maybe it's a good way of finishing the whole thing - they are getting quite old... No, because it's very sad to see a "friend" die after so many years "together". TFF: Do you ever get upset when people make jokes about you being Star Trek fans? A: Actually, they don't! We are like we are and people respect us for that. If they would make jokes we wouldn't care because we'd see them as tight minded beings. TFF: And finally, how did you feel when Gene Roddenberry died? A: Gee, that was really sad! And it was the day after my birthday too!! Happy one day and the next... crushed! Therefore it was quite obvious for us to honor him on the following record. It was "Never Trust A Klingon" and you can find the line, "To the memory of Gene Roddenberry" on it. There you go! Since then we always get together on the 24th October and raise our glasses to his honor. May he rest in peace, wherever he is. Thanks must go to Android and Eddie B Kirk for sparing the time for this interview. See the review of their current CD, "Five Year Mission" elsewhere on this issue.