Robotboy MK 2 (99-03)
The Mechanical Walking Robotboy has always thrived on change, changing sounds, changing instruments and inevitably changing members. The group’s open door policy, i.e. “anyone can leave whenever they want, no hard feelings” insured that no friendships would suffer due to band issues.
Approaching the end of the century and the end of recording the first Robotboy CD, it was no surprise that the band was in a state of change. Original guitarist John Aselin was to relocate to Chicago and months later drummer Matt Medellín was to move on as well.
With pianist Erik Sanden picking up the extra guitar duties, ex-Lowdown Son drummer Jamie Roadman joined as Robotboy time keeper, and one time Cordial bassist Adam Johnson took over synthesizer and space noise duties.
An immediate chemical reaction occurred with the group taking a less rock more piano/organ dominated approach, Roadman concentrating on a floor tom dominated beat, and Smart abandoning rhythm guitar for full time frontman/singer status.
Musically Robotboy MK I.1 re invented itself as “space lounge”, a kind of fake piano jazz with a heavy accent on slow pounding drums, dark moody synth atmospheres and unpredictable manic emotional swings.
A busy live schedule ensued including an infamous sold out show supporting Frank Black where the group, without warning, set off explosive flash pots that nearly blinded the front row.
Performance pieces like the “round robin reading circle”, featuring each member reading lines from random books, combining bits of romance novels, auto repair and dog grooming tips, became standard fair for a Robot show.
Re-recording half the songs to reflect the new lineup, “Baby, Baby, Baby, We’re All Doomed”, Robotboy’s debut CD was finally completed after nearly two years.
Released in early 2000 “Doomed” confused many. Although unanimously positive, most reviews were more concerned about the disk’s lack of easy pigeonholing than the quality of the music. You can hear MK I era Robotboy in songs like “Walkin Out” and “Confused’ while newer tracks like “Catapillar Man” and the re-recorded title track reflect the MK I.1 lineup.
After an exhaustive year of live shows and CD promoting, original bassist Jeff Price and space noisemaker Adam Johnson retired from the group.
The Mechanical Walking Robotboy Mark II
Los Mescalero guitarist Roland DeLaCruz took over the robot bass spot while ex Leopold Green bassist Rod Castro joined as head noisemaker creating “Wilson”, his toy box of samplers, synthesizers, tone generators and things with flashing lights.
The Mechanical Walking Robotboy MK 2 officially debuted in early 2002 with a showcase performance at the Austin Texas SxSW music convention, receiving glowing reviews and garnering interest from a few European music industry types (still just a little too different for the USA).
Over the next two years, MK II would redefine and simplify the robot sound into a more modern streamline affair, featuring less and less effected sounds and more tightly constructed songs, each member adding their sparse bits only where needed.
With Smart playing less and less guitar, Sanden spending more time on his cheesy little organ and Roadman and DeLaCruz becoming a singular rhythm unit, Castro was filling in the spaces with synth riffs, outer space samples, theremin like tone generator sweeps and strange little squeaks and squawks.
Recording began for a new CD in Smart’s efficiency apartment and Castro’s livingroom and continued on and off for the following year. With technological advances and cracked software, the computer recording process had become more of a cut and paste affair, giving the band total control to manipulate their material beyond the “band playing in a room” sound.
Although perfectly capturing the MK II sound on tracks like “Slow”, “Double” and “Beautiful”, live the band was evolving in different directions and as always, change was in the works.
Time and schedules were becoming an issue. Roadman and Sanden were busy playing weekly gigs with their side project Buttercup. DeLaCruz and Roadman, both still active with Los Mescaleros, were trying to finish recordings of their own.
Meanwhile, Castro and Smart were in the midst of finishing a CD with yet another side project, the Genuine Electric Latin Love Machine featuring DJ Jester.
With the Robotboy CD in limbo and the band’s direction uncertain, something had to give.
To save friendships and facilitate Robotboy’s musical progression, Smart retired the MK II lineup with a great final show in January of 2004.
Now with nothing but free time and a specific sound in his head, Smart pushed the recordings in a new direction, mixing bits of ‘70s glam swagger with modern cut-n-paste beats and a swanky, sexy electro groove. The Mechanical Walking Robotboy MK III was just on the horizon.