Building Community With The Spaceship Of The Imagination

Welcome to the first episode of the On The One Podcast!

In this episode, I sit down with The Spaceship of the Imagination, a Nashville theater troupe that grew out of a Christmas season synthesizer band. The founding members are Matt Rowland, Don Bermudez, Peter Wallace and Catfizch Taylor.

The Spaceship of the Imagination has been producing their own quirky brand of Christmas shows since 2008 (this ain’t your grandmother’s Christmas extravaganza!), and for the last five years has grown to include a larger team of people involved in the productions. Their 2017 play, “Nativity Now”, was awarded Best Holiday Show in Nashville Scene’s Best of Nashville 2018.

I met The Spaceship while they were doing a residency at The Music District in Fort Collins, CO. They first hosted a “Synth Hang” where they discussed their process of composing music and explained how they synch up their various machines (and Maschines). I got a deeper glimpse into their process when they conducted an open rehearsal in preparation for this year’s version of their Christmas play. It was then that I learned about their years of building community around the play’s production and performance. Their story was so interesting that I just had to grab a microphone and interview them.

We had a wonderful conversation about how the band was formed and the unique contributions that each member brings to the table. Using Ableton Link and Maschine to orchestrate the various sequences so they can apply sound design in the moment. I’m also really impressed with how they’ve built a community around what started off as a synth band and is now a theatrical multimedia experience. While the group’s approach to the topic of Christmas might be controversial in some circles, it’s notable that they’ve built up a community of people working together to attract a larger community of people. There’s also something to be said about getting Christians and Atheists singing “Silent Night” together. 🙂

The Spaceship’s show “Krampus Gone Wild” took place December 20 and 21 at Trinity Community Commons in East Nashville. You can learn more about The Spaceship Of The Imagination at www.thespaceshipoftheimagination.com.

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Until next time…find your superpower, fuel your passion — light it up!