M4/M5 Interchange by Star Schema

[Ferryman_1957]

Star Schema was formed when two IT nerds, Nerd #5708 and Nerd #6511 (IT nerds prefer to be known by their production numbers rather than the human "names" they are given to make them fit in), were inspired by German "motorik" and electronic music to start programming some of their own noises. They ignored the popular German bands and instead sought inspiration from unknown underground bands like Klang dem Dischwascheren, Mutti!Mutti! and Mein Hovercraft ist Voll dem Aalen. They also took inspiration from motorways and A-roads across Europe, as IT nerds find a strange beauty in these things.

Star Schema were busy working on their only album, Eurotunnel Breakdown, when Nerd #6511 suffered a firmware failure during a routine upgrade and sadly his remnants had to be uploaded to the Cloud. This left Nerd #5708 to continue the album as a solo effort. What you hear is one of the tracks completed by Nerd #5708. M4/M5 Interchange evokes the visceral feeling of leaving the comfort of the M4, encountering some mildly annoying holdups and then reaching the promised land of the M5 and the unrealised potential of the Gordano services.

Other tracks on Eurotunnel Breakdown included A303 Sunrise (Solstice Mix), M25 (Round in Circles) and South Mimms Services (Salmonella Mix). The album was so popular with the underground that it never saw the light of day.



(Nigel's notes: Star Schema was in fact a real band and a genuine alter ego of mine, I was one of the IT nerds and my colleague Andreas was the other. We used to perform at IT conferences organised by our company around the world. Star Schema performed in London, Orlando, Sydney and various other places that were far more exotic than anywhere I played in my "real" bands.....)

[Oldrottenhead]

Shades of hallogallo by neu. Love it.

[Ferryman_1957]

Shades of hallogallo by new. Love it.

Actually it's a virtual ripoff of "Dusseldorf" by La Dusseldorf (Dinger's band after Neu!). Don't tell anyone.......

And I just realised I ripped the choppy guitar noises from Hallogallo.....

[AndyR]

Cool sounds. Back in the day it would have left me cold... wot no vocal? sound effects? wots that all about??! M4/M5 Interchange? that's just the place where you end up in Birmingham instead of Reading... etc...

But this kind of grooved along in a very pleasing fashion.

Love the changes halfway through.

[Flash Harry]

Was that a Ford Cortina, 1600E?

Very good, I laughed immediately and thoroughly enjoyed the track, even the mild frustration as the M4 & M5 merge.

[thetworegs]

Ripoff or not I very much enjoyed the ride 

[Greeny]

I fucking love this. Star Schema need their own Soundcloud page / re-release / YouTube channel. Seriously! It has a special sound / tone in places that reminds me of when Tomorrows World would show some 'new' (mid 70's) synthesiser tech. Weirdly though, it's also not completely retro: it really feels like a Public Service Broadcast song - check out their song 'Spitfire' if you don't know them. Especially the last part when the guitars get beefed up. In fact, it would happily sit on one of their albums.

I'm a fan! Would have loved to be a vocalist with this band :-)

[Ferryman_1957]

Thanks all! This started as a bit of fun but turned into a bit of a production epic, with lots of different synth sounds.

I grew up in the 70s as a big fan of German music and loved the driving 4/4 motorik beat, so it's all about the mood for me. I guess it's an early form of trance, you kind of get into a zone. So lots of different textures over that simple driving beat was the goal.

And Mike, I used to have an Escort XR3i back in the day........

Tim, I think retro feel comes from the Boss SY-1 synth pedal. As usual, no keyboards were harmed in this, so it's all the Bass VI through the preset sounds of the SY-1. The sounds are great but are quite "traditional", even with a few added effects.

Thanks for the Public Service Broadcasting steer. I did know of them but they had dropped off my radar. My new favourite band......  

[Flash Harry]

And Mike, I used to have an Escort XR3i back in the day........

They were overhead cam, that was definitely a push rod engine on the recording.

PSB - yeah love them. Missed their gig here recently because of the stupidity of the human race.

[Ferryman_1957]

They were overhead cam, that was definitely a push rod engine on the recording.

Jeez, Nerd #5708 outnerded by what must be a different type of nerd.....

Loving PSB. This was just a bit of fun but could be the start of a new direction for me. And I was supposed to be doing simple ambient stuff......