Here Comes Gorbot!

Well, after that less-than-optimistic previous post it’s time for some kick-ass news that’s actually been months in the making. Time to premiere the video for Call Me Greenhorn‘s Here Comes Gorbot – off the coming CMGH2 aka The Abandoned Project album! Directed by Robert Griffith it stars Jerry Kokich and Olivia Dunkley from The Adventures of Superseven and Sandra West web series – Olivia at her best Fay Wray and Jerry doing some great work as the King Kong-esque Gorbot, one of my fave criminal characters from the series.

The album itself will feature eleven tracks that actually were abandoned once I started creating music using Reason 6.5 in early 2013 – which if nothing else should tell you how much of a difference said DAW is to work with compared to other software available today. There’s nothing wrong with the tracks per se, it’s just that once I got into Reason I felt it was a second phase and that initial work just didn’t cut it. If memory serves me correct the video was shot in November 2012 and the songs were created some time during fall of said year.

Anyway, the album is due to be released later on this month complete with bonus tracks and the video. In the meantime check it out and share away! Cheers!

UPDATE: I’m stoked to announce that the video has been selected top pick at Frequency.com! Check it out here and if you install their application you can even watch it on your iPhone!

They Call Me Superseven!

copyright Sellergren Design 2013!

Well, put on your mask and dance the Batusi to Call Me Greenhorn‘s just-released They Call Me Superseven OST album! A total of nineteen tracks written for and inspired by the The Adventures of Superseven and Sandra West webseries, it’s a mix of garage, 60s Beat, schmaltz, French ye-ye and circa 1960s Ennio Morricone.

I’m excited as hell about this ’cause listening to it now I think it sounds great and manage to cover a lot of different styles while still being quite retro in its sound. Personal faves – and these are damn hard to choose – are the lounge-y Swizzle Stick, Les Rayons Gamma, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion-esque T.H.E.M. Distress Signal, and how funny isn’t the I Am Superseven track featuring actor Jerry Kokich on vocals?

Anyway, tons of goodies that took roughly a month and a half to produce, so check it out here (and do share) and I also uploaded the Superseven Chase Theme on SoundCloud so check that one out below:

Jerry Kokich on GenreTainment

copyright SciFi Pulse!

Check out the GenreTainment interview with Jerry Kokich that aired yesterday on SciFi Pulse Radio. About an hour in length Jerry shares tons of info about The Adventures of Superseven and Sandra West, plus a wide variety of topics like his love for Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther movies, Superseven’s career as a recording artist (soundtrack album coming soon, hint hint), classic 60s TV, a funny anecdote regarding Kentucky Fried Chicken, some great advice regarding low budget productions (something he also covered in his great article How To Make A Web Series that he wrote for Filmmakingstuff.com), plus a much appreciated plug for me and my music.

Check it out here and don’t forget to share!

Jerry Kokich on GenreTainment!

copyright Jerry Kokich

Tune in on Tuesday this coming week (March 19th) as Superseven himself – Jerry Kokich – appears on the GenreTainment show hosted by Marx and Julie. As the feature They Call Me Superseven is coming closer to be released I’m guessing the main focus will be on that one, but as Jerry not only stars but also produces and sometimes direct, there’l probably be lots of anecdotes and trivia shared in this our long interview. Stream it online here. And while on the subject of the feature I am now finished with all the 14 tracks and only have some audio tweaking to do before it can be released.

Speaking of Jerry, he recently asked me to provide him with some music for a pitch trailer he was working on. And if you like me have no idea what that is, I googled after I said yes – always say ‘yes’ and then find out what the hell it is all about – it’s apparently a way for producers/directors to sell the concept of an idea to a network or film studio along with script, production sketches etc. I liked the idea and started working on something that’s based on the Gilligan’s Theme but sounding a lot more 21st century. I finished it, sent a .zip and this morning he sent me an email with the link for the finished pitch trailer for his Gilligan’s Island of the Dead. Check it out and feel free to share!

Les Rayons Gamma!

En français, s’il vous plaît!

Well, as I am getting pretty damn close to finishing the soundtrack album for The Adventures of Superseven and Sandra West‘s feature They Call Me Superseven – it’s been sequenced and I’m finishing up the final song – I thought it was time to share a second teaser taste from it: Call Me Greenhorn‘s Les Rayons Gamma featuring a vocal contribution from ‘Seven himself! There’s a nice, almost Aerosmith-y Walk This Way kinda beat to it with some pretty gnarly hammonds wailing away on top of it. Check it out on SoundCloud.com here.

Like I already told Jerry Kokich – who stars as Superseven – the album is coming near to completion now. There’s one more track to be finished, then it’s just a matter of some overall audio tweaking before it’s released. Fourteen songs in total (give or take just in case I get super-inspired this coming week), give it a spin below:

How To Make A Web Series

I was hepped to this article via The Adventures of Superseven‘s official page on Facebook:  Jerry Kokich‘s How To Make A Web Series that he wrote for Filmmakingstuff.com. In it he gives some great advice when it comes to indie filmmaking using his own experience producing the Superseven web-series. And I think he brings up some great points in his article, but the main one is that many hopefuls waste their time (and money!) on the tech side when it’s the creative one that really matters. And that’s something I’ve been trying to tell people for years. You think you need a zillion dollar’s worth of equipment in order to make that masterpiece? No, all you need is a good, compelling story (or just a plain entertaining one!) and people will watch it even if you shot it on your darn iPhone.

In the end tech means very little. Sure, it can add a nice polish to an already good product, but – as the old musician’s proverb go – you can’t polish a turd pal. And that’s one of my main problems with today’s film industry.  I’m gonna use Alien 4 as an example: I’ve done lighting on small local indie projects (and I’ve learned my fair share of available tricks when it comes to film editing) and from a strict technical point that movie is just perfect. Each scene is an individual masterpiece and is nothing short of breathtaking when it comes to scenery, lighting, camera filtering and editing. Still, I find it duller than watching the lawn grow. In November. The story is a hack-job at best, the characters pure cardboard and the dialogue is so excrutiatingly bad I can almost enjoy it on a pure ironic level. I have no idea how much it made at the box office, but I seriously doubt it had the same impact as Alien or the follow-up Aliens. Compare that to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (yep, Angry Old Fart is gonna bring up Tobe Hooper‘s classic once again!) or John Carpenter‘s Halloween that were shot on a beat-up old 16 mm camera (although I think Carpenter went with 35) with an inexperienced crew of enthusiasts, starring noob actors and for laughable budgets somewhere  around $300,000.

That’s all you need. Enthusiasm and a great story. Don’t get stuck on the tech hooplah because chances are you’re gonna find yourself paralyzed by it. The average viewer is willing to accept a lot if he or she is truly entertained by your product. And to people that insist on the tech-talk (and FYI there’s a lot of that when it comes to music as well) I’ve got the same question I’ve had for years: So what typewriter did John Steinbeck use?

Anyway, it’s a great article. Read it here.

Monday is Superseven Day!

Yay! Monday again and by now you should know what that means: A sparkling fresh new episode of The Adventures of Superseven! And this one is (in my humble opinion) their best one yet! Hilarious dialogue, some great puns (as always), excellent Adam West-esque delivery by leading man Jerry Kokich, a kick-ass fighting sequence and overall just great!  A winner!

Check it out, make sure you check out the official website as well and visit them on Facebook too!

Kiss Kiss Kill Kill II

Here we go; director Scott Griffith just sent me a heads up the second part of The Adventures of Super7even Operation: Kiss Kiss Kill Kill is available online. Pretty cool episode and I’ve already told the guys I like the concept and leading man Jerry Kokich‘s kinda deadpan delivery – the whole thing actually reminds me of 60s Batman TV-series!

Check it out and make sure you visit them on Facebook here.

(more) Adventures of Super7even!

Director Scott Griffith just posted the news that The Adventures of Super7even have officially entered into the The International Academy of Web Television Awards for 2013. This is really cool news and both me and Staffan are keeping our fingers crossed for the guys – and hoping there might be a nomination for Best Original Music as well, he he he. So far the show received some neat awards at the LA Web Fest (including Outstanding Lead Actor and Lead Actress for Jerry Kokich and Olivia Dunkley respectively) as well as Indie Intertube, but it’d be great to see the guys getting some more recognition for their time and effort.

Read more about it at IAWTV’s official website here and again, check out the series on YouTube here, Facebook here and their official website here.