Somewhere in the midst of ultra-catchy punk hooks, relentless electronic bloops and all of the revelry, there are telling moments of self-awareness at a Thirst Things First concert that shine.
Its not as though its members outright break the facade. Frontman Mikey Elfers and crew always keep at least one foot inside the circle of its bizarre creation.
But that’s just it. There are flashes that betray the ruse. Maybe the idea of being controlled by a transmission-being from another dimension is such a knowingly silly concept that they can’t help but crack. Either way, its there, and for the uninitiated lunchtime crowd, so is a chance to see them tomorrow on the Hear Lincoln stage.
Ahead of the show, we talked to fictional Thirst Things First overlord BOOT:\\ — with translation from the band — about the labor-intensive process of assembling their live show, Elfers’s hip-hop influences and those grinning moments where everyone is in on the joke.
(As always, Hear Lincoln is sponsored by the Cooper Foundation, presented by the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce and promoted by media sponsor KZUM.)
Hear Nebraska: You put together these elaborate transmission videos and tracking for each show. How many hours per show does it take to assemble that? Have they become easier and/or faster to make as you’ve done more of them?
BOOT:\\: I AM A TRANSMISSION. IT IS WHAT I DO. I SIMPLY ORDER TEAM TTF TO BRING LASER’S GRANDMOTHER’S LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY TO OUR TOWN HALL MEETINGS AND I DISCUSS OIL.
Mikey Elfers: I help out a little bit too. My wife let me claim a little storage closet in our basement for all of my audio/visual stuff. I have green-screened a wall and shoot BOOT:\\ in there at 2 a.m., pausing between outbursts of Pomeranians screaming to go outside and urinate. Once the video is shot I have to render the green screen and turn BOOT:\\ into a transmission of static and scan lines. This rendering process is the hard part, as my poor machine has to run overnight. Next, I robo-pitch shift the audio and plop it in the editing software to sew in the (thankfully reused) footage of the backing music playing and the transmission drinking OIL and dancing. Our band rehearsal typically falls on Wednesday night, so if I can get the ball rolling on Sunday evening and work on it a few hours each night, leaving the long rendering for the early mornings, I can usually get a fresh set on a thumb drive in time for practice. I would love to say that the process is becoming easier or faster, but we are constantly dreaming of ways to make BOOT:\\ do more stupid shit, like ziplining in a moving forest, or (in the case of our upcoming show) transforming into BOOT:\\ RICKETTS to tell the crowd to go back to work. Eventually I will know the workings of my ghetto software inside and out, but until then there are always going to be constant, but very entertaining, roadblocks.
HN: We always get to a point at a live TTF show where the mockery, the winking, the goofiness of the whole concept feels really sincere when it’s happening cumulatively. Like it’s so elaborate that the love and work of the process shine through brightest. Does that resonate with you at all?
BOOT:\\: IT BRINGS A TEAR TO MY RETINA, COMRADE. IT IS AT THOSE MOMENTS THAT I RECOGNIZE THAT OUR MISSION TO TEACH LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, UNITED STATES, WORLD ABOUT OIL CONSUMPTION AND THE DANGERS OF SAND IS SUCCEEDING TO THE MAX. #OIL
Al (Alec Wise): I can translate for BOOT:\\… Yes. Yes it does.
HN: TTF has dabbled in many corners of punk and pop worlds, mixing in occasional covers from NOFX and Devo. In terms of difficulty and enjoyment, what song or artist would be the crown jewel of covers?
BOOT:\\: AS RECENT CHAMPIONS OF HUMAN MUSIC I WILL ANSWER THAT THERE IS NOTHING WE CANNOT AND WILL NOT DO.
Al: Let me translate for BOOT:\\… We certainly enjoy paying homage to those who inspire us to do what we do. Not to put any one artist above the other but we hope to also incorporate the works of the Talking Heads in the future. In addition the Cars and the Aquabats would be a lot of fun.
HN: There are times, as in “Swoops,” where you are essentially rapping. Are you into hip-hop? Is there an emcee whose flow and style you model yours after?
BOOT:\\: A PROJECTION OF THE PELVIS AND UPPER THIGH BONE ON EACH SIDE OF THE BODY IN HUMAN BEINGS OR QUADRUPEDS MOVING BY JUMPING ON ONE’S APPENDAGE HAS NEVER BEEN AN INTEREST OF MINE. SORRY COMRADE, NEXT QUESTION.
ME: Sorry BOOT:\\ I think you are confused about what ‘hip-hop’ means… I have a soft spot for horrible radio pop, and the artists that rap on said songs. My short list would be ‘Ke$ha (underlined twice), Flo-Rida and Nicki Minaj. Just in case AZP fans stumble across this I can sigh and street-cred myself by adding that I obviously grew up listening to the Beastie Boys like everybody else, (RIP MCA forever) and there is an album by Teren Delvon Jones called ‘DELTRON 3030’ that was very influential when we started illustrating the futuristic landscape of TTF.
HN: What should Hear Nebraska’s audience keep an eye/ear open for in the near future?
BOOT:\\: THE REGION OF THE ATMOSPHERE AND OUTER SPACE SEEN FROM THE EARTH IS THE LIMIT. LASER?
Laser (Nathan Olson): Keep an ear open for ambulance and fire truck sirens, it’s important to get out of their way. Also, once our mad scientist masterer gets done solving our energy crisis via a nuclear power plant, we will have a new album called Scampi ready to release.
J.O.R.D. (Jordan Elfers): 01001010 01001111 01010010 01000100 01011001 01000111 01000101 01010100 01010011 01001101 01000001 01000100.
ME: J.O.R.D., you’re right! We may be heading to the studio in two months to record the three Nirvana covers we worked out for the Duffy’s Nirvana tribute show.