HeroQuest

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Cadet Dawn and I were restless and wanting Spring. Unfortunately for us, the weather in the Syracuse quadrant is unpredictable at best and clouds obscure the system's main star most of the time. The stifling boredom of the quadrant was affecting our crew in strange ways. We would often find ourselves in the recreation area of our outpost watching TV. Most TV transmissions are sketchy with not much more than bottom-feeder content.
The boredom was crushing down on us with the pressure of a Black Hole.
Later, while checking the Internet, I saw that The Phenomenauts were coming to Syracuse and the boredom seemed to melt away. I was chomping at the bit to see them live.
Imagine if the The Kinks, Devo, Stray Cats, and The Ventures were galactic pioneers and joined forces to defend Earth's Right to Rock. Combine that solid songwriting and a smart Sci-Fi theme and you've got one of San Francisco's most talked about bands.
The Phenomenauts combine a fast driving blend of Rock and Roll, Pop, Punk, New Wave, and Rockabilly along with a futuristic science fiction theme, dubbing their style "Rocket Roll".
But, The Phenomenauts are more than a band; they are a lifestyle. They call their shows "Missions" and their fans "Cadets." The Cadets are considered part of the show. The band is known for their inventive and fun-filled live shows, which often include smoke machines, the Streamerator 2000, and various on stage theatrics.
The Phenomenauts set the tone for a rising subculture of fans that want less cynicism and more hope and anticipation for the future.
I requested an interview and had it approved. I couldn't wait.
I began counting off the days until April twentieth. Finally, the day of the show arrived.
I began the day by having breakfast with the lovely Cadet Dawn. When we finished, we were off to complete the day's missions.

mp3 Interview with
Com. Angel Nova

Official Website

Dawn was to go do some yard work for her mom, while I would be joining my sister Barbara (who was visiting my Grandmother) and my brother Chris at my Gram's house. Gram wanted us to build her a rose garden in her back yard. Barbara, Chris and I purchased the materials, and got to work.
Around the halfway point, Gram prepared us a wonderful lunch of chicken sandwiches, baked beans, and salad. While we ate, I contacted Commander Angel Nova, guitar player and frontman of the Phenomenauts, and confirmed our interview time. After lunch, we got back to work. A few hours later, the job was done, I was sunburned, and Gram was delighted.
I hopped in the shower and got ready for the show. Cadet Dawn arrived at our predetermined meeting time and we were off to Club Polski.
While we were on our way, I checked our gear for the evening and was shocked to discover that the camera wasn't charged. With no time to try to charge it again, I was forced to use my backup snapshot camera. Unfortunately, that needed batteries as well. So, we had to make an unscheduled stop at a store to get some AA batteries. The side trip caused us to be running a little behind, and we arrived at Club Polski at 7:30, which was when I was supposed to do my interview.
When we arrived, I immediately went inside and found Commander Nova.

He suggested that we should do the interview outside in the band's shuttlecraft: the PhenomaBomber. Angel Nova released the electronic door and it opened with a whoosh.
Cadet Dawn and I stepped inside, and we made our way to the shuttle's recreation area.
We all sat down around the table and began the interview. Partway through the interview, Major Jimmy Boom, the band's drummer, joined us.
As I talked with Commander Angel Nova and Major Jimmy Boom, Dawn took photos. Commander Nova and I discussed the band's history.
The Phenomenauts were formed in 2000 in Oakland, California (which the band refers to as Earth's capital) from the band Space Patrol, a 1980s cover band which played on homemade instruments.
The Phenomenauts gained early recognition as the east bay's "craftiest and bravest band" (East Bay Express) for their now infamous commando-style performances in which they set up in front of large music venues and perform rollicking sets for unsuspecting crowds.
Two years later the Phenomenauts released their first CD, Rockets And Robots on their own Arlington Lab Records. That year critical success came in the form of being chosen as California's Best Live Band by the East Bay Express and by being called the Best Lifestyle Music Artist by the San Francisco Weekly.

The band signed with Springman Records in 2002, and gained notoriety in 2003 when the Phenomenauts pulled off their most impressive commando run to date where they literally scammed their way into the 2003 Warped Tour.

The Cadets literally gave them the shirts off their backs and saved the day! Not many bands can claim that.
In 2006, The Sci-Fi Channel produced the film Dead and Deader starring Dean Cain. The film features The Phenomenauts song "Galactic Pioneers" as the credits roll. The movie premiered on Dec 8, 2006 and is still in rotation.
I asked Angel Nova and Jimmy Boom about Cadet Orbit, the galaxies' handsomest space dog. Angel Nova assured me that Orbit truly was very handsome and popular. In fact, Orbit is so popular that he even has his own MySpace page. And he has a lot of Babes on his friend list… even more hot babes than the band's friend list has, which the band finds "very annoying". Lucky Dog!
Unfortunately for Orbit's fans, the band was to be crossing over into the Canada system and was unsure of what Canadian authorities would think of him.
Though he usually travels with the band on tour, Angel Nova says, "It is possible that they had some dog that felt like it was the handsomest Space Dog, so maybe for political reasons they wouldn't want Orbit there too… because Orbit, for sure, was handsomer." So, for this tour, Orbit remained at the command center in Earth's Capitol: Oakland, California.
Commander Angel Nova then rolled up his sleeve and showed me his tattoo of Orbit's logo. It features Orbit's actual exact paw print in red surrounded by stars with a small space ship in orbit around it and his name under it. As a dog owner, I was very impressed.

Another thing about the band that impressed me was the fact that, like their friends The Aquabats, the Phenomenauts have a robot guitar player called Corporal JoeBot 2.0. I asked Angel and Jimmy Boom who would win in fight between JoeBot and Jimmy the Robot from The Aquabats.

I was told that although both are incredibly strong, they are also friends and probably wouldn't fight. So I asked, "But what if it did happen… Who do you think would win?"
Major Jimmy Boom said it would probably be Jimmy the Robot, because he is smart and would just flip JoeBot's "Off" switch, thereby winning.
Also, according to Angel Nova, JoeBot 2.0 is "programmed not to destroy any valuable equipment. We learned that the hard way…" (I later spoke with JoeBot at the merchandise booth, where he gave me a pair of Cadet wings. I proudly pinned it to my shirt. I told him about Angel Nova's comment and he explained that on the last night of the tour with The Aquabats, they were going to play a prank and "pie" them. But some of the whipped cream and pie fillings got on the Professors expensive keyboard and almost ruined it. The Professor was angry and JoeBot was re-programmed that night.)
As I continued my interview, I asked Commander Nova if the Phenomenauts had plans to release a new album any time soon. It turns out that the band had been recording and had everything done except the backing vocals to be ready for production, but the recording became trapped in a portable hard drive. So, the band shipped it off and currently has a team of thirty nerds working in a "clean room" around the clock to free it from its electronic prison.
So until then, the band will do the Canadian tour, a few shows around Earth's capitol, then finish up the record, and head back out on tour probably sometime around August. Though we didn't speak about it in the interview, Smiley Crew Productions, a digital production company specializing in movies, cartoons, and video games created a video game in 2006 based on The Phenomenauts. The game, titled Space Flight, is named after one of the songs off their Re-Entry album and can be played by visiting www.smileycrew.com.
Also, Emmy Award-winning writer Rich Fogel (Pinky and the Brain, Justice League, Batman cartoon) is pitching a cartoon/live-action TV series based on the Phenomenauts to major television networks.

We also discussed the band's video for the song "Mission" from the album Re-Entry. It was made by Roy Miles and friends at Anti-vision to look like a trailer to a low budget Sci-Fi B-Movie. In December 2006 Myspace.com featured the Mission video, where over 140,000 people watched it in five days. One week later, YouTube.com also featured the Mission video on their front-page where it received over 330,000 plays.
As I finished the interview, Commander Angel Nova took the Phenomenauts Flight pin off of his jacket and presented it to Cadet Dawn. She immediately pinned it to her dress and smiled. I was so jealous.
With the interview wrapped up, we stepped outside and Commander Angel Nova and I posed for a few photos in front of the PhenomaBomber.
When we got back inside Club Polski, Syracuse's own Ska boys Razbari Sumthing were finishing up their set. My friend Greg plays drums for the band. I snapped off a few quick photos as they finished up. But they didn't stick around for long, as they had another show that same night at another venue. So, they quickly packed up and were soon out the door.
I joined Cadet Dawn in the Club's bar. There was some small problem with a group of German guys from Syracuse University and Bartender Mac asked me to keep an eye on them, but they seemed ok after that.
We had a few drinks and chatted with friends as we waited for the Phenomenauts to take the stage. The wait wasn't long and soon the lights dimmed. The members of the Phenomenauts took their positions and began the show's countdown.
When they got to one, the room exploded with lights and sound as the band launched into their set with the song "The Year 2000".

As the stage was lit up, the band's futuristic stage set looked great. The curved microphone stands looked awesome and very spacey.
A giant fire extinguisher covered the audience in cold flakes as the room heated up and the crowd began dancing around and getting wild. I snapped off as many photos as my backup camera would allow.

On the second song, entitled "I Am Robot", Major Jimmy Boom and stand-up bass player Captain Chreehos held down the rhythm duties while JoeBot took over on vocals. "Progress vs. Pettiness" came up next, followed by "Composite Synthesizer", which allowed Professor Greg Arius to wail on his MOOG synthesizer.
The band was very active as they ran around the stage, jumping off of their equipment and blasted their way through "Phenomenator" and "Infinite".
As the band rocked out the song "Rocket Roll" the crowd joined in singing on the chorus. As the crowd sang, Professor Greg Arius pulled out the Streamerator 2000, a leafblower rigged up to stream rolls of toilet paper over the audience. It was set up to flip over and reload as soon as one roll was done. It was great. The Professor let loose and soon the audience looked like rejects from a bad mummy film.
The next song up was "Got The Time". During the song, JoeBot 2.0 pulled out a harmonica and began playing while Commander Angel Nova stood behind him playing JoeBot's guitar. It looked like JoeBot had four arms, and neither intrepid explorer missed a note.
That bit of showmanship led into the song "Mission" and then "Earth is the Best", which lists many reasons why our planet rules including great weather, Chinese food, and microphones.
All too soon, the Phenomenauts ended their set with the song "Galactic Pioneers", and they urged the crowd to live by the principle of Science and Honor.
The energetic mob gave the band a resounding round of applause, and then the house lights came up. The band began to clear away their equipment and much of the crowd headed outside for some air or to the bar for a drink before The Slackers' performance. Cadet Dawn and I were in the group headed to the bar… We caught up on current events with our good friend Mac and my friend J.D.

J.D. and I spent most of our time discussing music until it was time for The Slackers.
I headed up to the stage to get some photos.

Official Website

The Slackers are one of the most notable bands to emerge out of the New York City ska revival scene of the 1990s. The band consists of vocalist Marq Lyn, vocalist/keyboardist Vic Ruggerio, guitarist T.J. Scanlon, bassist Marcus Geard, saxophonist David Hillyard, trumpeter Jeremy Mushlin, trombonist Glen Pine, and drummer Luis Zuluaga.
The Slackers began their career in 1991 playing Rocksteady and Ska in the 2-Tone vein, before moving toward a more traditional style, even adding a horn section in 1994.
The band issued their debut LP, Better Late Than Never, in 1996, followed a year later by Redlight. The group resurfaced in 1998 with The Question; Live at Ernesto's appeared two years later; Wasted Days surfaced in early 2001, and featured a cover of Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive".

I also discovered that the bar was nearly empty with the exceptions of a few Rude Boys getting drinks and Captain Chreehos and Commander Angel Nova, who were sitting at the bar. I joined them and we got to talking and having a good time. JoeBot, Major Jimmy Boom, and Professor Greg Arius soon joined us. I had all of the band members sign a flyer from the night's show, which featured their white silhouettes against a black background. Not only did they each sign it, but they also each drew a caricature of their face on each one. It looked Phenomenal! So good in fact, that they took photos of it.
We sat in the bar talking about bands such as The Briefs, whom the Phenomenauts had toured with and I had recently interviewed, and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, who used to practice across the street from them.
We spoke of our adventures on the road and had several drinks. We could hear The Slackers wailing away in the next room as we had our own private little party in the bar.
Before we knew it, The Slackers had ended their set and the bar began to fill up again.
The lovely and wonderful Cadet Dawn returned to the bar, grabbed a stool next to me, and ordered a drink. She joined us for a short time, telling us how one of the German guys wouldn't leave her alone. He had been bothering her and she warned him to quit, and when he didn't, she grabbed him by his neck and took him to the floor. (And all while wearing a sexy dress and heels! She is as tough as she is HOT!) After her story, she joined one of her friends in another conversation.

A short time later, the bartenders let us know it was time to clear out.
With that, Jimmy Boom told me he had something for me and would be right back.
He returned a few moments later with a really cool Top Secret gift for Dawn and me. (I could tell you what it was, but then I would have to kill you…) With the gift came the warning that with great power comes great responsibility.We thanked him profusely and said our goodbyes. They began loading out their gear, and Dawn and I headed home.
It had been one of the best 4-20's I could remember.
If you get the chance to see The Phenomenauts perform, don't miss it for any reason. And be sure to tell them that TomAroundTheWorld sent you.
End transmission.

HeroQuest

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