Entering the Iron Age
The Inspirations & Motivations Behind 365 Infantry...
Speed. Power. Freedom.
The roar of the engine, the wind in your hair, the music cranked to 11.
When I started 365 Infantry, it was founded on a love of a few things: old-school science fiction, hot rods and motorbikes, and heavy metal, with a 20th century varnish atop it all.
As a filmmaker first and foremost, it was naturally inspired by kickass flicks such as Blade Runner, Mad Max, and Heavy Metal, as well as my love of the western, the horror picture, and the film noir. As a writer, the rock-em-sock-em pulp action of legendary characters like The Shadow and Doc Savage would come to inform my approach, as did the work of veteran craftsmen like Philip K. Dick, Harlan Ellison, and Roger Zelazny. And all of this doesn’t even cover the long, loud hours spent writing to the likes of Black Sabbath, Motörhead, Judas Priest, W.A.S.P., Alcatrazz, and half a million other heavy bands.
In short, 365 Infantry is me.
It is all I’ve ever loved as a creative. Every ounce fused into a colossal world populated with the kind of characters I’d like to kick back, have a drink with, and take for a ride. I want to see these guys kick ass, take names, and be the best they can be. I want to see them fight for their lives, struggle for that sweet taste of liberty everyone’s after, and some shining day down the road, have every ounce of it they deserve, as do we all.
I want to escape. I want drama that captivates, action that excels, and above all, I just want to enjoy myself. 365 is here to entertain you, not proselytize. I’d sooner call the whole damn thing off than preach. We’ve got our own ideas about how the world ought to work, sure, but we’re not here to cram that down the stories’ throats, and by extension, yours.
If you dig metal in its musical, automotive, and cybernetic forms, 365 Infantry is for you! If you dig speculative science fiction with a mile-wide streak of fun to it, 365 Infantry is for you!
When asked “why the name,” I say an all-day everyday fight. Fight for freedom, for justice, for something grander and better than the place our heroes find themselves in, and by some extension, the place we find ourselves in the modern day.
When asked “why wolves,” I say power fantasy. The wolf carries with it a brutality, a viciousness, but a majesty as well. An iconography that is as noble as it is savage. The wolf is a powerful beast, and it takes powerful beasts to make a real change in a world as volatile as the Wastelands.
When asked, “why all the cars and bikes,” power fantasy once again. In my mind, nothing’s more thrilling than revving your Indian up to full roar or kicking the throttle of your Chevelle to the ground, hurtling headlong into battle with a radio full of rock-n-roll and a fistful of electric lead.
When asked “why tell these stories,” I simply say: because I want to.
I have studied the breadth of 20th century cinema, literature, music, and fine art. I’ve rocked out to a thousand riffs, indulged in a thousand painted fantasies, read a thousand stories, and watched many more unfold on the Silver Screen. My lexicon is beyond just pulp literature, movies, or music. It is all of the above chucked into a molten vat, the emergent iron monolith channeling the strengths of each. The evocative qualities of music and art, the compelling characterization found in filmic and literary drama, and the white-knuckle action of pure unapologetic pulp.
From these disparate influences comes the heart and soul of 365 Infantry, a world and series where almost anything can happen. Psychological drama, explosive action, noir-laced espionage. All this and more in short story form, FREE FOR ALL, and supported by generous donations. Not to mention the plans for books, audio adventures, comics, merch and so much more coming down the pike that will further support the creation of stories and treat you, the reader, to even more exciting and captivating stories in multiple formats.
And that leads to perhaps the most important piece of the puzzle. I’m telling these stories for you. Yes you, the reader and the fellow creative alike.
I write these stories as much for myself and my own gratification as I do for you. For your leisure, for your entertainment. To give you a little window into the fantastical and a break from the strife of the day. I know writing it has been my way of letting all the turmoil slip away, and I hope reading it can help provide some of that much needed relief. Because I’ve seen the landscape, we all have. We’ve seen the foolish pride of modern purveyors of “entertainment,” belittling audiences and holding their sacred cows up on a soapbox for all to see and hear. We’ve been getting eyes-and-earfuls of it for the better part of a decade.
Not here.
365 Infantry abides by a simple principle, codified into metallic law by the almighty Judas Priest in the year of our Lemmy, 1984. That rule?
That’s what we’re about here. Distilled into five-and-a-half minutes of unadulterated badassery. The stories may showcase darker, sensitive, even somber sides, but at the end of the day, the promise of a 365 story is a story set in a riveting world, loaded with electrifying characters, and sealed with a blend of sharp drama and livewire action. It is a loud yet humble participant in the ongoing Pulp Revolution that cherishes fun and tight storytelling over the posturing and fluff.
If the verbose verbiage hasn’t tipped you off, I am indeed a fan of Arizona’s very own linguistic heatseeking missile, better known to us mortals as The Rageaholic. If it wasn’t for Razör’s promoting of classic and underrated metal acts, pulps, comics, the works, I probably would not have been half as inspired to create a project like 365 Infantry as I am today. And it is on the back of one of his most scorching declarations that I would like to issue one of my own:
Welcome to the Iron Age Soldier.
May God bless you and this Force. See you in Autumn!