Local sci-fi inspired electropop outfit Chemistry Club has possibly found a way to engage finicky potential fans in ways never done before in the local industry.
The ultimate quest for artists in any creative industry is finding out how to reach fans while engaging them enough to enjoy what’s being presented. It’s harder than it sounds, and to boot, it doesn’t even sound that easy. It’s a trying task not because all artists are trying to con consumers into buying something they don’t need; rather, it’s a race to the pinnacle when millions are already signed up for the run.
There’s just simply a ton of content in this mad, cruel world. To separate oneself from the growing mess is a trying task.
But local sci-fi inspired electropop outfit Chemistry Club has possibly found a way to engage finicky potential fans in ways never done before in the local industry. Rather than release a simple music video along with its single – as protocol normally goes – the guys in Chemistry Club have built an addictive video game that uses their music as the background tune.
The game is built around the song “Navigator” and its story of two robots escaping a banal existence while searching for a better life lived amongst the stars. It sounds like the plot of a graphic novel or sci-fi film, but therein lays the shtick. Chemistry Club by their own admission is a “band born from a love of synths, robots, circuits, the cosmos, ‘80s video games, and great pop music.”
Bassist Micah Daby is the man in the middle of it all. Acting as one part band mate and the other part media creator, his time spent during the day is what inspired the idea. He builds video games as a career, and the blending of hats, he says, was inevitable.
“My day job is building video games; so I’ve always wanted to build (one) that ties into the music of a project I’ve worked on,” he says. ”We love experimenting with crazy ideas and often we’ll be sitting there talking about our music and we talk about, not just creating sounds, but creating experiences. For us that’s part of standing out, it’s an actual expression.”
The band and its developers in Offbeat Entertainment aren’t sure whether or not it’ll take off as planned, but it was developed in a way that if there is enough demand they’ll be able to offer updates with different levels based around new music.
“It’s part of us reaching new people, right?” says Daby. “There’s a bajillion bands, and a ton of them are great and amazing, and they still get lost in the shuffle. It was really exciting when I saw that somebody downloaded the game in the UK. [It was selectively released before the coming show to work out bugs] How else are we going to reach that person? It’s exciting to see that, and maybe somebody in the UK will play the game, and like the music, and share it with their friends. That’s the hope at least.”
What: Chemistry Club w/ Post Paradise and Instant Empire
When: Saturday, August 2, 2014 – 8:30 p.m.
Where: 1UP Colfax (717 E. Colfax Ave. Denver, CO 80203)
How Much: $10 presale // $12 door
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