The Sonic Society

Episode 32: Aired 4/11/06This week's meeting completes our voyage into Hell. Not some travelogue by Dante but rather a ghoulish vision of the Abyss on Earth. A play on words like "Aftermath" in which the authors of Ollin Productions look at how humanity would fair with Hell superimposed upon it. This idea, the brainchild of Joseph Medina works on many levels, not the least of which is mythic/psychological. As I've mentioned on previous episodes, I find when you explore religious icons and myths in tales you provide an excellent opportunity to look at the human condition. Maybe it's because myths deal with such stark archetypes it's easier to explore the human heart, truth, belief, love, good and evil. I think the use of anthology stories, while incredibly popular in past radio dramas has been underutilized today. Now, I love a good continuous story where we can get to know and explore characters, but it's in the anthology format that I find we can especially focus on themes and concepts. We continue with "Dark Descent", then finish our interview with the "After Hell" crew.We close out this meeting with a very special treat from Shadowlands Theatre. A sobering lesson on the consequences of greed is taught to the crew of a cargo holder soon to be lost in what appears to be deep space. From the Deadly Sins Scripts we present to you part 1 of "Greed: Ghosts of the Present".AfterhellDismay PromoConsortium ComicsShadowlands Theatre

Episode 31 Aired: 4/4/06The Sonic SocietyThe series "AfterHell" arrived in my mail and once again I feel like a kid waking up on Christmas morning- or perhaps in this case Hallowe'en Morn. The episode "Dark Descent" has everything in it I love about good audio cinema. A strong narrative, powerful actors, great music, and attention to one of the most important details- an understanding of the medium. I've spoken before about the brilliance of the very first known radio drama that explored the millieu through a tale of miners sealed off in the darkness. To tell a really good radio drama, you can't simply do a movie without pictures. The best audio stories use sound as a plot device. When you're left in darkness in a mining shaft, sound is your world. When you spend most of your time on the telephone trying to elicit help, sound is your savior- or your damnation. The folks at Ollin Productions recognise this and use sound to drive their story forward. After our feature we'll have an interview with the good folks from Ollin Productions about the After Hell project, then finish up with a final set of Wasted Tape.Ollin ProductionsSpaceship RadioShrink Rap RadioDream Realm EnterprisesWasted Tape

Episode 30: Aired 3/28/06

Featured:

Kerric Harvey

Coyote Radio Theater

www.coyoteradio.org

Wasted Tape Radio Comedy

In this week's late St. Patty's Day feature, two American tousirsts become lost in Western Ireland and stop to ask directions of a local shepherd. A hilarious exchange ensues, as each tries to slog through the hidden cultural assumptions of the other- helped along by the comments of several local sheep. Fresh from our mailbag, this addition to the first season of the Sonic Society comes from our friend and member in good standing Kerric Harvey with her play, "Driving in Ireland."

After, we travel to Prescott, Arizona and hear a sketch from Coyote Radio Theater, followed by the realending of the interview with Sam Mowry of Willamette Radio, and finishing up this meeting with some more Wasted Tape.

Promos:

Shrink Rap Radio

shrinkrapradio.com

Consortium Comics

Episode 29: Aired 3/21/06

Featured This Episode:

Willamette Radio Workshop

www.radiowork.com

Promos:

Spaceship Radio

spaceshipradio.com

Dream Realm Entertainment

www.dregold.net

Decoder Ring Theatre

decoderring.libsyn.com

Light a candle, stoke the fire, and lean back in your plush chair curled up with a warm blanket as we present Willamette Radio Workshop's "Frankenstein". This week's feature is an adaptation of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's "Modern Prometheus".

Afterwards we'll finish our interview with Sam Mowry.

Episode 28: Aired 3/14/06

The Sonic Society

Texas Radio Theatre

Schlock Audio Theatre

Wasted Tape Radio Comedy

Have you noticed that recently Westerns are making a bit of a comeback? I'm not speaking directly about the most recent Oscar buzz of "Brokeback Mountain", but rather the successes of shows like Colonial Radio Theatre's "Powder River" which is getting rave reviews and thunderous applause from all quarters. XM Satellite radio can't seem to get enough Powder River, and Jerry Robbins is now working on season three of the hit series. On televsion, even science fiction takes a turn moseying along with the "wagon trains of the stars". Gene Roddenberry claimed to sell Star Trek in the 60's with that phrase, and Joss Whedon's pre-empted triumph "Firefly" along with its followup movie "Serenity" leans heavily on that age of old west. While I'm well aware that genres weave in and out of popularity, I'm more interested in why cycles occur rather than suggesting that they somehow have a regular pattern- if they did, wouldn't it have been time for a big 30's pulp movie like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow? How long has it been since we've had a new renaissance in that genre?

I think there's something about the world we live in today, and the values that the Old West represented- simplicity, even a clearer sense of what's right and what's wrong. In today's complex society, there's a real yearning for a tangible way to make a better life.

Later we'll finish our interview with Schlock Audio's Bruce Humphries, and end this meeting with a little... Wasted Tape.

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Episode 27: Aired 3/7/06

The Sonic Society

Willamette Radio Workshop

Dream Realm Enterprises

There are a few genres that work especially well in radio drama- comedy of course is the most popular. Fantasy and Science Fiction are also exciting options because audio cinema really has no limits. It's as easy to identify an alien planet through sound as it is to have your story earthbound. Suspense and horror are some of my favourites as well because the things that scare us and fascinate us are always best left to the imagination. Willamette Radio Workshop produces a number of audio gems that understand the best ways to use radio drama. This week's presentation "Next Year's Girl" offers us a broadstroked look at a gothic fairy tale. The story of "Beauty and the Beast" can titilate the imagination as we ask primal questions... about ourselves, our place in society, our capacity to be loved and to love, and in the case of this week's feature what we're willing to sacrifice.

We'll talk to Sam Mowry from Willamette about his projects and his passion for audio cinema, and finish off this week with a special extended-version of DRE's Robotz of the Company and the Bot War.

Please vote for Sonic Society on Podcast Alleywww.podcastalley.com

Episode 26: Aired 2/28/06

The Sonic Society

Schlock Audio Theatre

Shadowlands Theatre

One of the great elements of the Schlock Audio re-mastered masterpieces, is that so many of the "goofs" from the movies can be discarded from distraction or added by the narrator as schlocky flavour. Of all the favoured filmmakers in Schlock audio drama, its hard to find a Director more hallowed than Ed Wood. Ed's amazing "one shot" direction. His economical sets and scripts, and his ineffable humour permeates all his works. It's hard to imagine that Bride of the Monster is considered one of the top 100 worst movies. Compared to Plan 9 it's nearly a masterpiece on celluloid. We'll talk more about Schlock Audio with one of its founders and producers Bruce Humpries. After, we end this meeting with the 6th and final installment of Biff Straker and Spaceways!

Episode 25: Aired 2/21/06

The Sonic Society

www.sonicsociety.org

Dry Smoke and Whispers

drysmoke.com

Spaceship Radio

spaceshipradio.com

Before we look into our main feature this meeting, I'd like to thank you the listeners once again for your thoughts on improving our show. You can always send us your thoughts by emailing us at [email protected].

In my regular quest to find more audio cinema out in the ethers of the Internet I ran across an immaculately designed webpage from the folks at Dry Smoke and Whispers. Listening to a portion of their show "The ShadowMan" I knew I wanted to include these stories into the Society. Marc Rose gratiously sent me the first episode as a download an followed up with three gorgeous looking CD box sets. In the insert in episode one Marc writes "It all started with David Bowie. We wanted to write a character for Dry Smoke that would suit his character: his mystery, his ambiguity." With that kind of inspiration we can certainly expect a unique story to be told. After we'll continue our discussion about podcasting with Andy Doane from Spaceship Radio and of course end this meeting with the 5th installment of Biff Straker and Spaceways!

Episode 24: Aired 2/14/06

The Sonic Society

www.sonicsociety.org

Shadowlands Theatre

I would like to thank those many people who have written in to give us their thoughts and ideas for the continual improvement of our show. From the very beginnings Andrew Dorfman and I have conceived of the Sonic Society as a collective effort. It is a partnership beginning with those who kindly offer us their works, and ending with you our listening members. We believe very deeply in audio drama's cause and look forward to bringing you more and more of your favourites while presenting new shows you might not have heard before. So please if you haven't dropped us a line, email us at [email protected] to give us your thoughts on how we can improve.

The idea for this story came from a simple walk to the local Corner Store. There I met a middle-aged woman buying a pack of smokes. Not exactly an unusual sight. Now I don't smoke, and I don't really understand the habit, but neither is it for me to judge. I did note however there was a huge picture of a diseased lung and warning labels all over the package as is the law in Canada. Basically, it struck me, this woman was paying with full knowledge that this was going to kill her. Maybe that's true, maybe it isn't. The fact is, it seemed a little absurd and I mumbled out loud yet entirely to myself, "It wouldn't matter if they attached electrodes to those... would it?" The woman heard me (which startled me to no end) and grinned saying as she opened the pack, "Not a bit."

There's a story in that, I was certain. I hope you'll agree.

Sit back and relax as we present for the first time ever, an old Shadowlands Theatre story, "Spin, Spin, Spin". Followed by episode #4 of Biff Straker and Spaceways.

Episode 23: Aired 2/7/06

The Sonic Society

www.sonicsociety.org

Texas Radio Theatre

www.texasradiotheatre.com

Spaceship Radio

spacehipradio.com

In our previous incarnation as "Shadowlands Theatre" one of my very favourite forays into the past was listening to the old time radio drama series "Sherlock Holmes" with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. Rathbone was arguably the best Holmes capturing some of the quirky spirit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's creation. It was only after Jeremy Brett's turn on the BBC production that people considered there was a new great Sleuth with the Deerstalker. This tale adapted by Jim Cort was presented to us by our friend and member of the Society "Richard Frolich".

Later we'll have a discussion about podcasting with Andy Doane from Spaceship Radio, and our third episode of Biff Straker and Spaceways!

For this month of February I would like any of our listening members to give us an email and tell us what you think. What do we do well? What could we improve on? What would you like to hear for next season? Who would you like us to interview? Would you like to see practical tips on making radio drama, or would you simply want more stories? Do you like serials? Would you prefer anthology stories? Crack your knuckles and tap out a few lines to us at [email protected] or visit us at www.sonicsociety.org. Let your voice be heard, so we can improve OUR show for the future!