Steam Powered Giraffe
Encyclopedia
Steam Powered Giraffe is a musical project formed in San Diego in 2008 that is popular in the steampunk subculture. The act combines the visual of robot pantomime
with sketches, pop culture references, improvised comedic dialogue, and original music.
. Afterwards they became members of local San Diego mime group Troupe SD. Trained in pantomime by Seaport Village
mime Jerry Hager (known as "Kazoo"), and with collective backgrounds in clown, theater, music, and visual design, Jon Sprague and the Bennett twins, Christopher and David Michael, started street busking as quirky robotic characters (then known as "Peoplebots") in January 2008 at Balboa Park, California, along with fellow mime artist Erin Burke ("Upgrade"), who left the group in 2011.
Since their inception, the band has performed at popular Southern California venues including The San Diego County Fair
, The San Diego Zoo
, The Wild Animal Park, Legoland California
, Ontario Mills
, The Queen Bee's Art & Cultural Center, and at numerous Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Steampunk Conventions. Festival and convention appearances have included:
In 2009 the band released their first album, "Album One." In early 2011 the band released a single, "Honeybee", announcing that it would be on an upcoming second album, and in late 2011 the band announced the release of an interim "live" album entitled, "Live at the Globe of Yesterday's Tomorrow". Their music can also often be heard on a number of steampunk radio broadcasts that stream worldwide, such as The Clockwork Cabaret
. The band's song, "Electricity Is In My Soul" is available on the Rock Band Network
.
On October 30, 2011, the band was mentioned by name in the comic strip Luann
. The strip showed the title character and two of her friends dressed in steampunk attire, going out to attend a SPG concert. The title frame, which didn't appear in the online version but only in print, showed a giraffe's head and neck with steam escaping its ears and nostrils.
Besides their musical endeavors, the band publishes a web comic and has produced a card game based on characters in their backstory.
and The Ed Sullivan Show
.
Mime artist
A mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art, involving miming, or the acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech. In earlier times, in English, such a performer was referred to as a mummer...
with sketches, pop culture references, improvised comedic dialogue, and original music.
Career
The members of Steam Powered Giraffe met while taking Theatre Arts at Grossmont CollegeGrossmont College
Grossmont College is a community college located in El Cajon, California, in the county of San Diego. The campus sits in the Fletcher Hills community of El Cajon and is bordered by the cities of San Diego and Santee. Grossmont College is one of the two colleges that make up the Grossmont-Cuyamaca...
. Afterwards they became members of local San Diego mime group Troupe SD. Trained in pantomime by Seaport Village
Seaport Village
Seaport Village is a shopping and dining complex adjacent to San Diego Bay in downtown San Diego, California. It houses more than 70 shops, galleries, and eateries on of waterfront property. The Village contains several freestanding buildings in an assortment of architectural styles, from...
mime Jerry Hager (known as "Kazoo"), and with collective backgrounds in clown, theater, music, and visual design, Jon Sprague and the Bennett twins, Christopher and David Michael, started street busking as quirky robotic characters (then known as "Peoplebots") in January 2008 at Balboa Park, California, along with fellow mime artist Erin Burke ("Upgrade"), who left the group in 2011.
Since their inception, the band has performed at popular Southern California venues including The San Diego County Fair
San Diego County Fair
The San Diego County Fair is a county fair held every summer at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in Del Mar, California...
, The San Diego Zoo
San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, is one of the most progressive zoos in the world, with over 4,000 animals of more than 800 species...
, The Wild Animal Park, Legoland California
Legoland California
Legoland California is a theme park located in Carlsbad, California, focused on Lego bricks. It opened on March 20, 1999. It is the third Legoland park to open, and the first Legoland outside of Europe...
, Ontario Mills
Ontario Mills
Ontario Mills is a large enclosed shopping mall, calling itself an outlet mall. It is located in Ontario, California and it is one of the primary tourist attractions in the Inland Empire. It is located across the street from the former site of the Ontario Motor Speedway. Like all other Mills...
, The Queen Bee's Art & Cultural Center, and at numerous Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Steampunk Conventions. Festival and convention appearances have included:
- ConDorConDor (convention)ConDor is an annual fantasy and science fiction convention held in and around San Diego, California in the early spring. It is sponsored by the California Association for the Advancement of Speculative Media, a California non-profit corporation. ConDor is the longest running science fiction...
in San Diego, California, March 2010 - Anime Conji in San Diego, California, April 2010
- Oceanside Music Festival (OMFest) in Oceanside, California, October 2010
- Wild Wild West Con at Old Tucson StudiosOld Tucson StudiosOld Tucson Studios is a movie studio and theme park just west of Tucson, Arizona, adjacent to the Tucson Mountains and close to the western portion of Saguaro National Park. Built in 1939 for the movie Arizona, it has been used for the filming of several movies and television westerns since then,...
in Tucson, Arizona, March 2011 - VIP Dinner - Anime Conji in San Diego, California, March 2011 - Musical Guests of Honor
- Gaslight Gathering steampunk convention in San Diego, California, May 2011 - Performers and panelists
In 2009 the band released their first album, "Album One." In early 2011 the band released a single, "Honeybee", announcing that it would be on an upcoming second album, and in late 2011 the band announced the release of an interim "live" album entitled, "Live at the Globe of Yesterday's Tomorrow". Their music can also often be heard on a number of steampunk radio broadcasts that stream worldwide, such as The Clockwork Cabaret
The Clockwork Cabaret
The Clockwork Cabaret is a live radio variety show focusing on steampunk music, created and hosted by the Davenport sisters. The show runs two hours on Mondays from 11pm to 1am Eastern Time, and usually originates from the studio of WCOM Community Radio in Carrboro, North Carolina, although it is...
. The band's song, "Electricity Is In My Soul" is available on the Rock Band Network
Rock Band Network
The Rock Band Network is a downloadable content service designed by Harmonix Music Systems with the help of Microsoft to allow musical artists and record labels to make their music available as playable tracks for the Rock Band series of rhythm video games, starting with Rock Band 2...
.
On October 30, 2011, the band was mentioned by name in the comic strip Luann
Luann (comic strip)
Luann is a syndicated newspaper comic strip distributed by United Features Syndicate since 17 March 1985. Luann is written and drawn by Greg Evans, who won the 2003 Reuben Award as Cartoonist of the Year....
. The strip showed the title character and two of her friends dressed in steampunk attire, going out to attend a SPG concert. The title frame, which didn't appear in the online version but only in print, showed a giraffe's head and neck with steam escaping its ears and nostrils.
Besides their musical endeavors, the band publishes a web comic and has produced a card game based on characters in their backstory.
Backstory
The band 's fictional backstory explains why they pantomime as robots. According to that narrative, the "musical automatons" were invented by a rich San Diego inventor named Colonel P. A. Walter in 1896 and kept in the Walter family over the years. Called the 8th 1/2 Wonder of the World, the robots were a technological marvel that ran off steam powered engines and artificial intelligence. The band's name is said to come from Walter's first robot, a giant mechanical giraffe. A fictional timeline on the band's website chronicles the band's supposed "appearances" throughout the years at such notable places as the 1933 Chicago World's FairCentury of Progress
A Century of Progress International Exposition was the name of a World's Fair held in Chicago from 1933 to 1934 to celebrate the city's centennial. The theme of the fair was technological innovation...
and The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
.
The Robots:
- The Spine (David Michael Bennett) is a futuristic dieselpunk robot with a titanium alloy spinal column and convincing human mannerisms. His skin is smooth silver, and he wears a black fedora and red tie. He plays guitar.
- Rabbit (Christopher Bennett) is a copper clockworkClockworkA clockwork is the inner workings of either a mechanical clock or a device that operates in a similar fashion. Specifically, the term refers to a mechanical device utilizing a complex series of gears....
android, who wears a short black tophat with steampunk-style goggles on it and a black tunic with red accents. He plays the melodica. - The Jon (Jon Sprague) is an art decoArt DecoArt deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
-style brass robot powered by soda (primarily Crystal PepsiCrystal PepsiCrystal Pepsi was a caffeine-free soft drink made by PepsiCo from 1992 to 1993 in the United States, Canada, and for a short time in Australia. Crystal Pepsi was sold for a longer time in Europe.-History:...
), who wears a tall black top hat and red suspenders. He generally plays the mandolin.