Episode 10: Super Space Robot Gets Back!
Listen to the Super Space Robot Podcast Archives
Note: This episode and all episodes of the Super Space Robot Podcast pre-dated the current podcast on this site, The Rock and Roll Content Show. Though the format is new, these episodes have been collected and archived here as the content is still relevant.
In today's episode of the Super Space Robot podcast, your host, Mark Dauner gives an update on Super Space Robot and other projects that are underway. Then we get into the Beatles: Get Back documentary and talk about several key takeaways that should be inspiring to you, no matter what kind of content you're creating. How will Super Space Robot change based on lessons learned from the Beatles? You might be surprised. Listen now!
As I shared in the mini-episode that was released last month, some changes are coming to Super Space Robot because I've decided to work on a few other projects in addition to it.
Let's start with the other things first, then we'll work our way back around to Super Space Robot. Back when I left my corporate job at the beginning of last year, I had an idea to start a brand focused on rock and roll and other adjacent topics. I called it Rock and Roll Reclaimed and the idea was to create content in several different areas, but each with a connecting philosophy. That philosophy is, to:
Learn from the old
Seek out the new
Prefer homegrown (or homemade, or homebuilt)
Embrace creativity
Don’t take things too seriously
Do it all with rock and roll in mind
A part of that was going to be some kind of content. I wasn't sure what yet, but it would be related to digital content creation and content marketing. That content eventually became Super Space Robot.
The only problem was that I had a couple of missteps on the Rock and Roll Reclaimed side, to the point where I ended up abandoning that philosophy - and that brand - almost entirely for a while.
rockandrollreclaimed.com became markdauner.com and I focused all of my energy on figuring out Super Space Robot. Except that didn't come out as I'd hoped either. I loved making those early Super Space Robot podcasts. They're really stupid but they make me laugh. My message wasn't quite right. I needed to make some kind of change.
I’ve Got a Feeling
Three things happened over the last few months that started to facilitate that change:
1. I started experimenting with several new AI, machine learning, and automation tools for digital content creation and marketing. These tools gave me a new interest in this area and made me very curious to dive more deeply into artificial intelligence. So, you know, I started working with actual robots - not just made-up ones.
2. The last full episode of Super Space Robot before the mini "Happy Holidays" episode was about repurposing content, but it told the story of the hard rock band Whitesnake. Telling that story rekindled my interest in creating content about rock & roll-related topics.
3. I watched the Disney+ documentary The Beatles: Get Back! I was mesmerized by it and, even though it was 8 hours long, I wasn't ready for it to be over. Still, after it ended, I had several takeaways that served as a strong inspiration for me. Sit back, because, like the documentary, this explanation is going to go on for a bit. Not 8 hours or anything though. Probably like 10 minutes. Here we go:
Gimme Some Truth
The Beatles were often seen in this footage to delve back into their roots - noodling on an old blues or rock and roll tune, or even one of their own early tunes, to get them in the right frame of mind to create something new. I think that's powerful, and that, in a nutshell, was what I was hoping to do with Rock and Roll Reclaimed: Get inspired by the old to build something new.
The next thing wasn't as inspiring as it was relieving. The greatest band in the world, The Beatles, also sucked at project management. Director Peter Jackson's visual of the X's on the calendar ticking off days until their self-imposed deadline illustrated something that I think we've all felt if we've worked on big content projects. There are never enough days. Quite often the result doesn't turn out as originally intended. For example, from starting with a plan for a televised concert on a soundstage, or perhaps at ruins in Libya, before finally just shooting footage on the roof of the Apple Records corporate office building in London.
They were hindered by obstacles that most of us are familiar with, like scope creep, procrastination, interpersonal relationship issues, negative external forces, and a general lack of clear leadership to make critical decisions and keep things moving along - their manager Brian Epstein had died a year earlier and left the band in disarray from an organizational standpoint.
Somewhat connected to that is another lesson that I'm quite intrigued by. Sometimes it helps to have a friendly outsider to come in and contribute to your project. Maybe they will add something that works perfectly, or see something that you had missed. Billy Preston was that person for The Beatles. Not only did he add some amazing keyboard parts to their music, but they also tended to be on better behavior in his presence. They liked him. They respected him, and they really needed him at that moment. I don't exactly know what to do with this lesson yet for my own projects. Maybe you do. You'd better believe that I'm filing it away for future reference.
Here's another lesson: Teamwork is important. That sounds fairly obvious, but it proved to be true. Despite their troubles and turmoil at that time, they were all very willing to help, and be helped by, one another (well, most of the time). Case in point: the very helpful advice that George gave Ringo on song structure as he was developing Octopus's Garden (which eventually ended up on their next, and last album, Abbey Road).
They also weren't afraid to try new stuff. From new musical instruments to state-of-the-art recording equipment, they seemed to be always looking for something else to use or something new to try - some other sound or technique to bring something new to their record.
Don’t Let Me Down
Ultimately, because they're the Beatles, the band managed to overcome most of their obstacles and create amazing music - though most of it didn't come out until after the band had released another album. Oh, and also broken up.
On another level, the work that Peter Jackson did on this documentary, through his thorough and painstaking editing, and use of pioneering AI technology to clean up and weave the hundreds of hours of audio and video footage together into a cohesive and compelling narrative that told the real story of the (near) end of the Beatles is beyond extraordinary.
Whether the subject is The Beatles or not, putting together 8 hours of people sitting in a room and working on a major project that is fraught with issues, into a compelling and accurate narrative not only tells me that Jackson is a master at making documentaries. It also tells me that content should be as short or as long as it needs to be to tell the right story.
In contrast, the Let it Be movie that was made in the 1970s used the same raw footage, but told a very different and depressing 90-minute story that made us sad about The Beatles and inspired decades of what many now believe to be misplaced hatred for Yoko Ono. If something needs to be longer to tell the right story in the right context, then it needs to be longer. That's all there is to it.
I'm sure if I sat here and thought about it I could come up with more lessons and takeaways from The Beatles: Get Back. Simply studying the creative process, particularly of McCartney and Lennon, could serve as inspiration for any content creator. I'll leave it there for now.
The Long and Winding Road
So all of that - the AI tools, the Whitesnake podcast, and The Beatles - corrected my course and guided me back down the long and winding road to my original intention.
This year I'll be launching several new content initiatives, and possibly some physical-world things that have a content component to them, There will be more on that when they happen.
The first initiative, though, is a new podcast. I had a feed in place for a Rock and Roll Reclaimed podcast that I had started and abandoned last spring. I've resurrected that as a new podcast called Out of Breath Albums. You can check that out on rockandrollreclaimed.com for more info but basically, I put a turntable in our home gym. I listen to a vinyl record while I'm exercising, and then I review it. There will be more to come throughout the year, and that brings us to Super Space Robot.
Get Back
Here are some of the changes you can expect:
The timing: That's not changing. Super Space Robot will continue a twice-monthly schedule, so look for the next episode two Fridays from today.
The format: Super Space Robot will be dynamic. Most times, I will talk about the tools, strategies, and tactics I'm using to make digital content. That even includes robots, and more specifically, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation tools for digital content. In other words, robots.
Occasionally, I'll pull the actual Super Space Robot out of his storage crate and send him out on a mission to help people with content problems. Mostly it'll just be me. I talked in previous episodes about the need for that change, but to make a long story short: it's time and resources.
From time to time I might also bring you examples from independent content creators I've seen that are doing cool things, as well as the lessons we can learn from them when making stuff online. I might even bring you another story about the Beatles - or Whitesnake - or another awesome rock and roll band, and make the loose connections, wild metaphors, and make the strange conclusions that I tend to make. I enjoy doing that very much.
Let It Be
If you've got comments, questions, suggestions, ideas, threats - actually, no threats please - send me an email at podcast@rockandrollreclaimed.com or leave a comment on this post. You can also connect with me on social media. The links are above. Also, below, are links to the Super Deluxe version of Let it Be, which includes a lot of the audio outtakes seen in the Get Back documentary. Enjoy!
Apple Music
Spotify
Podcast Episode Details
Episode Credits
Super Space Robot: Mark Dauner
Mark Dauner: Mark Dauner
Announcer Voice: I worked with a great voice actor named Joy for all of our announcer narration. If you liked what you heard and would like to work with her, send me an email and I’ll send you her link.
Thank you for joining us today. Super Space Robot Will Return.