Drokk's Debut Gig at Orbital Comics announced

Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury will be performing extracts from the new record, Drokk - Music Inspired By Mega-City One, released on Invada UK, at Orbital Comics on the 16th May.

As we've previously reported, this project kicked off when Barrow and Salisbury revisited and started expanding upon some of their early material, deciding to continue writing what was essentially soundtrack music.  Barrow, along with album designer and long term friend, Marc Bessant, were both avid 2000AD readers from a young age, and the sprawling metropolis and classic stories of Mega-City One seemed the ideal inspiration for this ‘soundtrack’.

Although Mega-City One has been brought to life in great detail over many years by the acclaimed work of writers and artists alike, the creators of Drokk feel there's still huge scope for readers to have their own vision/soundtrack of the city. Rather than intending to be the definitive sound of Mega-City One (could there be a ‘definitive sound’ of a city so vast, changeable and varied?), Drokk is Barrow and Salisbury’s personal, outsider’s’ interpretation.

Drokk was written in a six month period between Barrow’s Portishead world tour and Salisbury’s composing jobs for the BBC.  Although it is a soundtrack of sorts, Barrow and Salisbury instinctively felt that music for MC1 should steer clear of the rich orchestration common to many contemporary film scores.

Barrow and Salisbury instinctively felt that music for MC1 should steer clear of the rich orchestration common to many contemporary film scores.  Even for electronica the music is purposefully stark and spare, with the majority of tracks created exclusively on the Oberhiem 2 Voice Synthesizer (a 1975 classic keyboard), and its onboard sequencer used to create rhythm and drum sounds.

The only exception are a handful of tracks which combine the synth with digitally manipulated and time-stretched performances of acoustic instruments - such as piano, violin, mandolin, ukelele, voice and hammered dulcimer.

"2000AD is delighted that Judge Dredd continues to inspire artists in the year of the character's 35th anniversary, especially such high profile talents as Geoff and Ben," said a 2000AD spokesperson. "You can tell, from their vision of the Big Meg, that they're massive fans of the strip."

Drokk track offered in new Megazine

The latest issue of the Judge Dredd Megazine (322) is on sale now with an exclusive downloadable track from a brand new album by Portishead’s Geoff Barrow and Emmy-nominated composer Ben Salisbury.

 

DROKK is the pair’s ‘soundtrack’ for Judge Dredd’s world, creating a soundscape befitting a nightmare 22nd Century megalopolis filled with criminals and crazies, and policed by authoritarian Judges.

 

Readers can scan a QR code and exclusively download the first track from the album: Lawmaster/Pursuit.A founding member of Portishead, Barrow is the producer/owner of the Invada Records UK label and a lifelong 2000AD fan. Salisbury is a soundtrack composer with over 200 film and TV credits to his name, including three David Attenborough series.

 

DROKK was born out of a meeting in late 2010 with a screenwriter to discuss possible work on a feature film project. Although their involvement in the film did not continue, they were encouraged by early demos.The issue also comes with an exclusive interview with Barrow about the album, his love of 2000 AD and the challenges of bringing Mega-City One to life with music.

 

This issue, priced £5.60, includes the debut of Snapshot, a new creator-owned series by Andy Diggle and Jock, as well as the first work for the 2000AD stable by Leah Moore and John Reppion, who have penned a stand-alone Tales from the Black Museum story.

You can order the Meg online via the 2000 AD website or find it in all good newsagents and comic shops