Red Light Bytes: 8-25-2023
Catching Up on the Latest with 365 Infantry
Overview
August has been moving way too fast for my tastes, holy moly! And on the scheduling front, it has kinda caught me with my pants down! More on that in the new releases, but in the meantime, a quick update from the production line.
Beta-reading has wrapped and revisions are heating up. An audio mix on Alan Firedale is in and will be going through the usual nips and tucks therein, alongside sound design and scoring. Kevin is nearing the finish line on his amazing illustrative work and I have another sheet of line art to share with you all as a teaser!
New Releases!
Steeled Spies #5: Below the Avenue Deep - Agent Roger Steele, Lita, and the thoroughly scrambled revolutionary Lucille Devenreux follow up one final lead, the mysterious utterance of “22 Aca” by a White Coat before his death. What they find on the Avenue could make or break their chance at saving the freedom fighters of Haven!
Solar Joint Stories #4: The Tale of the Blood-Red Biker - During his young-buck days, a certain foot soldier named M.A.D. Dog, known by his blood-colored Indian motorcycle, decides to tell the Oasis a ghost story as tall as his brandy bottle is deep…
Normally I would cap this off with this month’s behind-the-scenes article, but I have ran myself way too damn ragged to cobble it together in time. However, expect it on Thursday the 31st at the very latest.
The article is called “The Rules of Cool! A 365 Style Guide” and concerns the overall aesthetic vision of the series, informed in equal parts by the vehicles our soldiers fight with, the guns they wield, and the post-apocalyptic fashion donned by all in the 25th century. A lighter, but fascinating trip all the same.
Coming soon!
Supporting the Force!
Here are all the awesome ways you can help us out and keep us rolling in the fight for quality independent entertainment:
FOR SALE
Subscription on Substack - At just $5/Month or $50/Year, gain access to all exclusive stories, comics, audio adventures, behind-the-scenes content & more! Founding members under our “General of the Armies” plan ($100/Year) gain access to free digital products like eBooks and music.
The 2022 Annual Collection - Collect all 24 of last year’s electric tales and bonus novelette “Lions Among the Lambs” in this special print collection.
Alan Firedale: Original Soundtrack Vol. 1 - Dig into the wild world of a young loner and his magnificent machine with this half-hour blend of vintage electronica and classic orchestral radio scoring. Buyers get THREE FREE MONTHS of 365 Infantry’s paid membership.
Available on Bandcamp ($5 USD)
Wolves of Steel - Rock hard and ride free with the official anthem of the 365th Infantry, an epic metallic instrumental in the killer tradition of classic acts like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple.
Available on Bandcamp ($3 USD)
Merchandising, Merchandising! - Buy our quality range of designs on everything from shirts to mugs to posters and more!
NO VICTORY BONDS? NO PROBLEM!
Donate via Ko-fi - Our goal is to raise $900 USD to cover all basic production costs for the rest of 2023. This includes three issues worth of art. We have raised $100 of our goal, with $800 left to go!
Minimum Amount on Ko-fi is $1 USD
Donate via PayPal.Me - All donations made here will count towards our goal on Ko-fi. Big or small, we welcome them all!
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We encourage contributions of 25 cents ($0.25 USD) to keep in the spirit of our pulp magazine roots. If everyone subscribed to 365, as of today, dropped us an American quarter, that would be over $65 USD alone! More than a full annual subscription!
From the Frontlines
Abandoning the news format for this week, just because I haven’t had much time to look up from the desk as it were. Do expect a real blitzkrieg of bulletins next time. All the same, there are two creatives who I would like to make mention of before I hit you with this week’s playlist.
First up is Tyrone Fernandez, a composer of fine vintage awesomeness.
Under the banner “Sudrian Afro,” Fernandez made a name for himself recreating the soundtracks of Mike O’Donnell and Junior Campbell from the beloved children’s series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. However, Fernandez’s own knack for melody and plush retro production has allowed him to take that sonic palette in wonderful, fresh directions. If you pine for a sincere emulation of that classic 80s synth sound, dive headlong into his album “Time Machine” on YouTube. A true treat for the ears. You can also find earlier mixes of some of these exceptional tunes in his Original Compositions playlist. That original take on “Midnight Disco” is some of the most infectious post-disco you’ll ever hear!
Last up is a one-man salute to classic ITC programming of the sci-fi and spy-fi variety, X-06: FUTURESPY
The brain-child of a bloke from Oxford, James Baxter, X-06 follows a globe (and planet!) trotting secret agent of the future, dedicated to maintaining the balance between universal powers, what ever it takes! It was conceived as a “lost” program from an era of live-to-tape television, back when UK broadcasters would often wipe tapes with no care for preservation.
The show wears its love of shows like Ralph Smart’s Danger Man and the Supermarionation productions of Gerry Anderson on its sleeve, with Baxter always dishing up the proceedings with charm and conviction. Though it’s a little rough around the edges of production, and it can share the occasional slightness of story shared by other programs from the era, it more than makes up for it through that dogged commitment to its 60s influences.
Presented in radio show form, I find both a kinship in Baxter’s pursuit as a one-man-three-ring circus, as well as pure delight in the show’s sincerity and vision. Available wherever you procure fine podcasting delights, and well-worth popping on at that.
Streetwise Caviar
No full-on classic recommendation this week, but the beat goes on!
This Week’s Playlist: Classical Gas
To keep it short, sweet and to the point: there are times when I revert back to one of my oldest obsessions: orchestral music. Be it for the concert hall or in accompaniment to a film or show, there is something uniquely stirring about classical and orchestral music in a way unlike the electric and electronic ways of modern music. This week’s collection pulls together ten pieces of film music that reflect some of the character of 365 as a whole while also bringing to it a classical sense of grandeur unlike a lot of my usual rock-n-synth faire for the series. Included in the list are a lot of my favorite composers like Jerry Goldsmith, Miklós Rózsa, John Barry, and Bernard Herrmann. Do enjoy!
Conclusion
One week left. One week and then our next issue comes out. I’ve kept the details close to my chest on what exactly is going down, but expect that silence to break next week. Until next time…May God Bless You and This Force.