“I had this idea once when listening to Vangelis’ soundtrack for ‘Blade Runner’,” says songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and all-round fine human, Kevin Pearce. “I wondered what a soundtrack of songs would be like. So I imagined a film, lost myself in that thought and went for it. What came out was ’Science Fiction Ballads For The Lost Generation’.”
Kevin recorded the album as an experiment, just for his own ears initially. Experiment over, it languished on a hard drive, all but forgotten for five years until he rediscovered it while searching for another piece of lost work. There is a theme developing for losing things here. Anyway…
“I really enjoyed listening back to it and thought it had something about it,” offers Kevin. “In a way it felt like I’d dug it up out of the sand. Like an audio fossil or something.”
Having worked with Castles In Space as one half of The Sound Of Science with Dean Honer, Kevin pointed his freshly unearthed discovery in the direction of the label’s Colin Morrison.
“His songs shine as being beautifully arranged, produced and performed,” says Colin. “There are echoes of early Peter Gabriel and ‘Hunky Dory’ era Bowie, all scrambled up with Kevin’s inspiration taken from his love of the ‘Blade Runner’ soundtrack.”
Which is some mighty Billy Big Boots talk. Some vast names there to line up against, eh Kevin?
“Indeed,” he beams. “I think if I could fill very tiny boots that looked similar to their giant ones I’d be happy.”
Oh and ‘Science Fiction Ballads For The Lost Generation’, that’s an appealling title if ever there was one.
“Ever since I was a boy, I’ve always loved sci-fi and the worlds your imagination can get lost in, be it comics or films. ‘The Lost Generation’? I think we find ourselves in a strange time in history. I just feel that we are floating around, lost and looking for some kind of direction to head in. Maybe we can find it through music, art, films or maybe we can find it meeting a pal for a brew and having a good ol’ chat.”
Neil Mason, Moonbuilding