Interview With The Band: One Ring Zero

Eclectic New York band One Ring Zero has a history of producing interesting concept albums: their last, As Smart As We Are, featured lyrics from famed authors including SciFri favorite Margaret Atwood. ORZ’s new album, Planets, is based on our very own solar system: there’s a song for every planet, and then some.

Sci-Arts talks with ORZ members Michael Hearst and Joshua Camp about the science behind their music. For more, catch them at the Planets album release party on Tuesday, September 7th at Joe’s Pub in New York. We’re told there will be space suits.

First, let’s get the most pressing question out of the way. A song about Pluto? Haven’t you heard?
Joshua Camp: Ha ha! Yes, well the demotion of Pluto to the category of “dwarf planet” is really what sparked the idea for this album. A few years ago, when we read the NYTimes article about Pluto’s fate in the hands of the International Astronomical Union, we thought it would be the perfect subject for a One Ring Zero song. The tune turned out to be such a success, we decided, why not revisit the idea of “the planets” as a musical suite, in the spirit of Gustav Holst’s 100-year-old composition? And so PLANETS, the ORZ album, was born.

Did you do scientific research for the album?
Michael Hearst: Quite a bit, actually. And the research served as great inspiration for the album. Lyrically speaking, the song “Mercury” gives shout-outs to the Messenger and Mariner probes, “Venus” references the planet’s yellow-white atmosphere, in “Jupiter” we sing about how there are only ten hours in a day, and, of course, “Pluto” is the story of the AIU’s big decision in 2006. One of my favorite moments, however, is at the end of “Mars,” where we embedded the high-pitched whistling sound of the Phoenix probe making it’s decent onto the red planet. Aside from the direct references, the research also proved helpful in coming up with musical coloring and moods; for example, reading about the 100m/s wind speeds on Jupiter inspired us to use a Thunder Drum at the beginning and end of the song. Good thing I happen to own a Thunder Drum.

Were you influenced by earlier space rockers?
JC: Definitely! David Bowie and Pink Floyd, obvious ones. But also Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, ELO, even a smidgeon (if we’re honest) of Rush. Basically any records recorded in the 70’s that aren’t disco. Actually there was some good sci-fi disco, scratch that. Maybe not Steve Miller, even though he is called the “Space Cowboy.”
MH: If there ever was a period of space-influenced rock, it would certainly be 1970’s prog. (Progressive rock, that is.)  Without a doubt, this album reflects 70’s prog more than anything we’ve ever done before. “Uranus” clocks in at 5 minutes and 40 seconds with something like 5 different musical sections, not to mention one of the longest and most absurd drum fills ever.

You’ve got the very sci-fi theremin all over the album. What other unusual instruments did you use, and why?
MH: Yes, the theremin is a part of our regular arsenal of instruments, and of course, it’s about as sci-fi as you can get. In addition, we used some really fun old analog sounds like Mellotron, Stylophone, and a Casiotone drum machine.  Another instrument, which is a staple with One Ring Zero, is the Hohner Claviola, of which only about 50 were ever manufactured. Some really amazing bendy, haunting, celestial sounds come from the claviola. And then there’s the layering. Most of the songs on this album have at least 30 tracks layered on top of each other, often with multiple effects. You can’t have too many effects on an album about the planets.

I guess technically, all music I’ve ever heard would count as “Earth” music. How did you decide how our home planet would sound?
JC: We made the song “Earth” completely instrumental with a very simple and “cute” section, contrasted by a pounding, dissonant, Stravinsky-like section to imply the extremes of our planet: the beauty and the violence. It’s dark music with a hopeful ending. I guess we’re trying to be realistic AND optimistic about our planet’s future.
MH: Yes, this one was tricky; however, it didn’t take long for us to realize there were no words to sum up all that we know about Earth. It was the bigger picture which became more important to us. The Earth was around for millions of years before we showed up, and it will be around for millions of years after we disappear.  We are but a blip of rather intense activity, much like the shrill, ominous strings in the middle of this composition, which are book-ended by a simpler and prettier beginning and ending.

If we ever have to evacuate Earth and set up camp on another planet, what’s your vote?
MH: I think our best bet would be an extra-solar planet. Though, of course, getting there is a slight problem. Even the closest exoplanet (in the Epsilon Eridani system) would take us something like 10.5 years to get there… traveling at the speed of light! Until then, we might have to settle for Saturn’s moon Enceladus, which would still take us six and a half years with today’s technology. Wow, that might be the nerdiest answer I’ve ever given to an interview question. [Editor's note: Don't worry, we've seen nerdier.]
JC: I’d probably go with Mars, because the travel time’s not so bad (I worry about space-madness). Though Arthur C. Clarke’s idea of creating another Earth out of Jupiter’s moon Europa might be good too.

On the track “Mars,” you sing, “we’re not alone.” So do you think there’s life out there? If so, what might alien music sound like?
JC: Alien music would probably be unrecognizable to us as music. It might follow similar intervals of pitch that we’re familiar with because they’re based on mathematical ratios, but the sounds might be out of our range of hearing or based on scientific principals we’ve yet to discover and understand. Or even function differently in their society: aliens might use music to fight their wars or feed their livestock. Woah, I just blew my own mind…
MH: I think it’s incredibly small-minded to think that we are the only life form that exists. There are billions of stars in our galaxy alone, most of which have a number of planets just as our own sun does. I’m not a scientist or mathematician, but I’d say the odds are pretty likely that other life exists, even if it’s just a single-celled organism. On that note, like Joshua said, who knows what alien music might sound like. Probably like nothing we’ve ever heard before. Then again, maybe it would sound just like the cantina scene in Star Wars?

What’s next for you? Any more science-themed concept albums on the way?
MH: I’m actually working on a solo album about unusual animals that roam the planet (The Aye Aye, The Magnapinna Squid, The Chinese Giant Salamander, etc).  And One Ring Zero is working on an album of recipe songs, though perhaps that’s not so scientific.
JC: Gastronomical science! It’ll be a collection of songs that have food recipes by well-known chefs.  They are sung word-for-word, and we also asked the chefs to recommend a music style.