4-D Is Here!

Now that every track on Second Player Score's latest release 4-D has been launched, it's time to reveal the official entire album, complete with cover art!

It features the main characters of the underlying story, Wynn and their fourth-dimensional companion Gogo. As for the story itself, some of the details have changed over time, but the main plot (inspired by things like Pokemon and Avatar: The Last Airbender) is essentially the same: four kids become involved in a high-stakes scavenger hunt to retrieve powerful objects from the fourth spatial dimension in order to make their dreams come true... but, of course, nothing is as it seems.

The tie-in novella that was originally planned has been put on the shelf for now, but the associated card game is still in production. And we also have concepts and ideas for a possible TV show adaptation. In the meantime, you can check out the rest of the album's artwork and order a CD copy of it (do people still listen to CDs? Of course they do!) at this link.

Hold My Beer In Progress

Preproduction on Hold My Beer has officially begun! I mean, we already had a script, storyboards, a few actors, and a couple of locations lined up, but now that we've been approved for the grant from the Vancouver Culture, Arts and Heritage Commission (as mentioned in this previous post), activity is ramping up.

This past weekend, we did our first filmed chemistry read with two of our cast members, Karen Krejcha and Kevin Coy, both of whom knocked it out of the park! So now we'll be working to fill out the rest of our cast (which is kind of the priority, since if we don't have a cast, we don't have a film) while juggling any number of other items on the to-do list. Ah, the joys of indie filmmaking...

Also, tomorrow Second Player Score will be dropping the final track off our latest album 4-D, titled "Everything's Fine." It's a mellow, acoustic (with ukulele!) song meant to evoke images of sitting around a campfire during the denouement chapter of the story, where the heroes are licking their wounds and celebrating their victory over the bad guys. Here are the lyrics:

Things will always change and they will never, ever be the same

But well, hey, that's okay

Didn't really like them anyway

Beaten up and broken down from playing all your games

Bottom line, I won't whine

As long as there's a sun still left to shine

'Cause everything's fine

Take a breath, and calm yourself

Stay focused on the now

Like they say, come what may

Get a little better every day

Don't you worry, just relax and it will all work out somehow

So unwind, clear your mind

And wait for life to send some kind of sign

'Cause everything's fine

Check it out on all the usual streaming platforms!

I Was A Production Assistant On A Film Set!

For the past three days, I had the privilege and pleasure of being a Production Assistant on the set of a brilliant documentary-in-progress called Our Mr. Matsura. Directed by my good friend and awesome independent filmmaker Beth Harrington, it tells the story of a photographer named Frank Matsura who journeyed from Japan to live in rural Washington state in the early 1900s.

Beth was kind enough to let me join the production during the time it spent filming in Seattle, where I had the opportunity to learn and observe the ins-and-outs of filmmaking while performing typical Production Assistant duties like watching equipment (a job apparently called "Fire Watch" in show biz language), moving equipment, driving crew members around, and picking up lunch. Locations included a store called Vintage Posters, Photographs, Postcards and Ephemera, the Lake View Cemetery (where Bruce and Brandon Lee are buried!), and the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington (pictured above).

Big thanks to Beth and the incredible, gracious crew (Nora, Kevin, Asia, Caitlin, and Jordan) for being patient with me and answering my questions. I learned a lot and had a great time while (hopefully) lending a helping hand. All in all, it was a terrific experience and an invaluable education as I attempt to level up my filmmaking skills in preparation for Hold My Beer.

Oh, and tomorrow, my band/multimedia production team Second Player Score will be dropping the second-to-last track off our latest album 4-D. It's an anime-theme-song-inspired, six-minute-plus epic affair titled "Battle Royale" that, in the grand concept album scheme of things, is about the climactic final confrontation between the heroes and the villain, but can also apply to any fight you have in real life (which is hopefully not as violent as the one in our story). Here are the lyrics:

I lost the war before I even began

This whole charade was just a part of your plan

You only wanted someone else you could blame

Well now I've gone and changed the rules of the game

And you won't take me down tonight

'Cause all you have is selfish spite

So yes, I guess it's finally come down to this

And no, you won't be someone that I will miss

'Cause only one of us will stand in the end

My lone regret is that I called you my friend

And you won't take me down tonight

'Cause all you have is selfish spite

And I will take you down tonight

'Cause we both know that I am right

And you won't take me down tonight

'Cause all you have is selfish spite

And I will take you down tonight

'Cause we both know that I am right

I don't care

And I swear

To mend the broken little pieces of my heart

Check it out on all the usual streaming platforms!

More New Music Tomorrow: Divide and Conquer

If you've been following this blog for the past five weeks, you know that my band and multimedia production team Second Player Score has been dropping a new track off our latest album 4-D every Friday. The first four were from the "Summer Suite" (4-D is divided into four seasonal suites), while the next four, which began last week, are from the "Spring Suite" (graphic below).

Tomorrow's new song is "Divide and Conquer," which is a song about, well, dividing and conquering. You see, 4-D, like all our albums, tells a complete story while still having lyrics that are relatable to everyday life, and "Divide and Conquer" is told from the Big Bad's point of view near the beginning of the final act right before the climactic fight with the heroes. This song is probably the album's least relatable one (unless you are an evil supervillain), but it's still a rocking, energetic track that is perfect for a good shout-along (fun fact: it used to be slower tempo-wise and didn't really work until our drummer Kyle, inspired by an Offspring song, suggested that we play it a lot faster). Or, I don't know, maybe you can relate to it, read the lyrics and judge for yourself:

And now that we're at the final battle

They come together like herding cattle

Since when they gather, they drive you bonkers

You'd so much rather divide and conquer

Hey!

Alone you know they won't last much longer

And joining forces will make 'em stronger

To kick their britches from here to Yonkers

You're gonna have to divide and conquer

Hey!

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

Check it out on all the usual streaming platforms!