When AetherFest’s chairmen, Pablo Vazquez and Cameron Hare, invited me as a guest to AetherFest in San Antonio, Texas, I instantly thought of three things:

“The stars at night

Are big and bright,

Deep in the heart of Texas!”

And then Pee Wee Herman’s Big Adventure when he went to find his stolen bicycle in the basement of the Alamo (Note: Alamo website plays music and sounds).

And finally this:

Oops, wait, wrong city.

As it happened, the hotel for AetherFest, the St Anthony Wyndham, was just a few blocks from the historic site, and this year’s attendees trekked over on Saturday morning, braving the thousand-degree heat, for the traditional group photo.

Having never been to San Antonio before, I took advantage of some free time before and after the convention to see some of the city. There are plenty of places to visit, including the Riverwalk, the Alamo and other historic buildings and churches in the area.

One of several Texan events this year, AetherFesthad a very healthy list of guests to entertain fellow steampunks, with a good variety of programming during the three day event.

While Pee Wee was disappointed in his search at the Alamo, there was nothing disappointing about AetherFest. During the day, there were readings by O.M. Grey (Avalon Revisited ), Joselle Vanderhooft (Steam Powered series), and Margaret Killjoy (Steampunk Magazine, What Lies Beneath the Clocktower).

Airship Isabella , the Delirium of Grandeur, and the Celestial Rogues shared their thoughts and perspective on Steampunk 101, DIY, and FX. They were joined by The Wandering Legion of the Thomas Tew and the Emperor of the Red Fork Empire to discuss topics such as forming and running social groups and artist collectives, regional steampunk similarities and differences, and the positive ways steampunk had affected their lives.

Doctor Q gave a summary of steampunk in comics, followed by Margaret’s frank talk about survival and a post apocalyptic life. There are some great comics out there to read, in various degrees of availability and reprinting, which will help you pass some time when electricity disappears and everyone starts living a real steampunk life.

Each day, the wonderfully creative people from gaming companyCracked Monocle demo’d their steampunk RPG Tephra in the game room. Also participating in games were A.N.K.H (the Alamo Network of Khet hobbyists) and ChimaeraCon, San Antonio’s premier gaming convention.

Each night, there was musical entertainment lasting deep into the night. Or shallowly, as the case may be. Some of us aren’t 25 anymore 

OK, OK, truth be told, I was up until 3:30am because after the concert, there may or may not have been some other music playing, which may or may not have included several prime ‘80s hits which delayed a number of people from wandering off to a respectable bedtime.

The feeling of AetherFestwas that of a family reunion. People from all over the state, and a few neighboring states, attended and many people knew, or at least knew of, others who were there. There were quite a few people I only knew through Facebook and Twitter, and it was nice to finally meet these people in person. Because of that familiarity, and no doubt to typical Texan hospitality, I felt quite welcomed into this new-to-me group. Thank you, everyone, for creating such a wonderful, memorable experience. I went home with some great stories and plenty to think about.

Pablo and I had talked about this on the drive in from the airport, and also how conventions of small to medium size contributed to making stronger connections. It was nice for me during the whole weekend that I could spend more time on more occasions talking with people, getting to know them a bit beyond the convention as well as sharing comments and perspectives about the panels of the day.

As often happens at steampunk conventions, people came together to share information and opinions, without any regard to age or background or any other labeling factor. There were a few families sharing the event together, at least one steam-tot, and two steam-dogs. We all commiserated about the heat and humidity (1,000 degrees Kelvin, easily! OK, maybe closer to 90+ F, but it felt like 1,000 in the searing blistering death rays of the sun.)(And it wasn’t just me as the lone person from Seattle, land of clouds, rain and cooler temperatures, who thought it was hot.) and everyone traded information – books they had read, music they liked, how something was made on their outfit, and what opportunities might lie ahead.

People were eagerly taking about their future plans, from the next Tephra game night or movie group, to fashion and prop projects, to road trips to another convention.

Throughout the convention, I was continually impressed by people’s outfits. There was some truly stunning leather work, from gauntlets and braces to full body armor. People really brought in their personal interpretation of steampunk using their experiences, culture, and creativity to express themselves beyond the standard Victorian garb. Making it all the more impressive was hearing from attendees, and reinforced by Cedric Whittaker, captain of the Airship Isabella, that Texas groups and involvement are comparatively new to the scene. Some people at the convention had only been involved for three to six months.

Despite some annoyingly dismissive and unhelpful behavior by hotel management and restaurant staff, ranging from inaccurate and misleading information to overcharging people for incorrect items on their room charges, as well as the challenges of an older building truly showing its age outside the grand shiny public spaces of lobby and meeting rooms – including an elevator malfunction which trapped several attendees for about ten minutes, and water dripping from the air conditioning vent and pooling up in a guest room –  the weekend was a great and enjoyable success on many levels.

May is a very busy time for steampunk conventions and events, and AetherFest is a fun way to kick it off!

***

Kevin Steil is the creator and writer for the Airship Ambassador website and blog.

Now that graduation has happened, I can take a break from academia for awhile, and you’ll start seeing more new content here (yay!). Also, it’s my pleasure to announce a new cross-posting partnership. As you may already know, this blog already shares a cross-posting partnership with the race & pop culture blog Racialicious. In addition, a selection of Beyond Victoriana‘s articles will also be featured on Xerposa, the newest steampunk news resource site.  And what are they all about? Well, in their words–

Xerposa is the blog that gives steampunk fans what they need – a place that gathers fashion, art, literature, and the latest genre-appropriate costumes and gadgets all in one place. Our articles feature the newest up-and-coming movers and shakers in steampunk, as well as the latest in gear, clothing, games, bands, and electronics. Read More.

So feel free to check out their content, and follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

After my last posting on Anti-Fascist dieselpunk and the Spanish Civil War, which owed much to Steampunk Emma Goldman’s original blog, I began thinking about the other great anti-fascist struggle also lost in the shadow of WWII. In 1935, before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Mussolini’s Fascist Italy invaded Ethiopia–one of the few African territories at the time not under European colonial control. The brutal attack on Ethiopia (then also called Abyssinia), which employed poison gas and flame throwers on civilian populations, was partly strategic, and also revenge–for an Italy still smarting from their humiliating defeat by Ethiopian forces at the Battle of Adwa in 1896. While the near impotent League of Nations remained shamefully complicit in their refusal to denounce Mussolini or allow arms to a beleaguered Ethiopia, outrage was heard from throughout the black diaspora. Ethiopia had long functioned as a symbolic political and cultural historical site in black popular culture, politics and thought; and the invasion by Italy was seen by many as an attack on the entire ”black world.”

In the United States black newspapers covered the war extensively, citing fascist atrocities, criticizing American neutrality and calling for blacks around the world to rally to Ethiopia’s defense. In an act of early Pan-Africanism, Black Nationalism and anti-fascism, diverse voices in the US from the African Patriotic League to the president of the National Baptist Convention to the Fraternal Council of Negro Churches, called on African-Americans to support Ethiopia by any means. In the black mecca of the age, Harlem, the Provisional Committee for the Defense of Ethiopia was formed in February 1935, bringing together black fraternities, sororities, nationalists, communists and more in a united front against fascism. Similar pro-Ethiopian groups emerged from the urban North to the deep Jim Crow South. Black columnist George Schuyler of the Pittsburgh-based Courier, claimed at the time he had not spoken to blacks anywhere in the country that did not want to do something for Ethiopia.

By 1936, a call for volunteers to travel to the defense of Ethiopia began to emerge. From New York to Kansas City, thousands of African-Americans voiced their willingness to enlist to fight on behalf of the East African nation. The Ethiopian government even inquired the US government on the legality of African-American recruits. But the United States, fearful of being drawn into the conflict, threatened that any such recruits entering into a war against a country (fascist-Italy) with which their government was presently at peace, would face both a stiff fine and imprisonment. Many black groups, dismayed by this response, scaled back their activities to relief aid and lobbying on Ethiopia’s behalf. Others however, vowed to skirt the law. A 1978 article by historian William Scott relates:

…other groups, undeterred by the government, openly defied the ruling. Spirited recruitment of volunteers continued in Harlem, where one militant group boasted publicly of 2,000 volunteers and boldly discussed plans to buy or charter a freighter that would carry black soldiers to Ethiopia. Another organization, the Black Legion, reportedly 3,000 strong, established a training camp in up-state New York with instructors for five hundred pilots and for two full regiments of infantry.69 Sufi Abdul Hamid, leader of the group, considered that his followers stood ready to renounce their American citizenship in order to serve the “mother country.

Despite their best intentions, such hopes never fully materialized. Only two known African-Americans ever made it to Ethiopia to fight independently–the aviators John C. Robinson of Chicago’s South Side and the Trinidadian-born Hubert F. Julian from Harlem. Greatly frustrated by their inability to participate, black anger over the fascist attack on Ethiopia was acted out in clashes with Italian communities in the Northeast, many of whom at the time openly supported Italy’s invasion. Still, years after Ethiopia’s eventual defeat, African-Americans held out hopes to join the guerilla war against fascist Italy and continued their financial and political support.

Similar dynamics played out throughout the black world, with varying degrees of success and failure. In West Africa there was outrage, and direct confrontation with the British colonial administration for its lack of support for Ethiopia. Nationalist anti-colonial groups like the Prominent Lagos Women Society of Nigeria insisted that the League of Nations refuse recognition of Fascist Italy for its aggressive war, while the British Ex-Servicemen’s Union of the Gold Coast (Ghana) passed a resolution threatening to “‘never again take up arms to defend European nations in the event of any future war.” As historian S.K.B. Asante noted, the seeming unwillingness, and impotence, of Britain in the Italian-Ethiopian conflict was “a shattering experience” in the minds of many West Africans, and served as “the beginning of the end of British prestige as one of the props of colonial rule.”

In the British West Indies, there was considerable fervor, where Ethiopia had long-held strong meanings for Pan-Africanists and in popular ideologies of black pride. In Jamaica, some 1400 people signed a petition to the British King requesting that Jamaicans be allowed to enlist in the Ethiopian army “to fight to preserve the glories of our ancient and beloved Empire.” In nearby Trinidad, boycotts were demanded of Italian goods, as longshoremen refused to unload Italian ships and public protests denounced Italian aggression. Well known Trinidadian intellectuals George Padamore and C.L.R. James were both members of the London-based International African Friends of Abyssinia (I.A.F.A.), alongside Kenyan anti-colonialist Jomo Kenyatta and Pan-Africanist Amy Ashwood Garvey, first wife of the UNIA leader Marcus Garvey and intellectual-activist in her own right. On the small island of St. Kitts, rioting broke out in 1935 over British inaction against fascist Italy, while the local Workers League passed resolutions of solidarity with Ethiopia. There were similar protests in Grenada, St. Lucia, Guyana, Venezuela and other nearby regions. The unrest proved distressing to local authorities, who worried that the Italo-Ethiopian War would lead to “racial” strife and agitation among their respective populations. In each case, black military volunteers were either prohibited outright or firmly discouraged.

Pulling on Steampunk Emma Goldman’s suggestion, this all begs for some wonderful re-imagining through the lens of alternate history that can simultaneously shed light on lesser known struggles and give voice to under represented groups in the dieselpunk genre. What if, blacks from across the diaspora had been able to fulfill their dreams of joining the fight against fascist Italy in Ethiopia? What might their dress and fashion have looked like? What would an anti-fascist dieselpunk soldier fighting on behalf of Ethiopia against Mussolini have looked like?

Here are some fantastic ideas plucked right out of our own history:

A photo-op of Emperor Haile Selassie with Ethiopian troops during the war. While Selassie was no radical, by any means, history nevertheless cast him as one of the earliest fighters against fascism. And who can’t say that quarter length military jacket and sun-helmet (with chin strap no less) is not some fly anti-fascist gear?

Even after Selassie and the Ethiopian regular military were forced to flee fascist Italy’s assault, others stayed on to harass and lead hit-and-run raids against Mussolini’s troops as part of a guerilla force called The Patriots. Pictured above is Jagama Kello (middle) who left home at just 15 to fight Italian invaders. Rock that fro’ with your dieselpunk!

So if you were an African-American or Afro-West Indian eager to engage in some righteous fascist ass-kicking up and down East Africa, what might you wear for such an occassion? I think maybe the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) Garveyite uniforms of just a decade and a half prior might serve as inspiration. Marcus Garvey’s UNIA probably did more to uphold “the banner of Ethiopia” throughout the black diaspora in the earliest 20th century, than any other international movement. And though Garvey himself had a complex relationshipwith the call for fighting on Ethiopia’s behalf, the legacy the UNIA left behind undoubtedly influenced the country-spanning Ethiopian assistance campaign. Called “bombastic” by critics, and certainly gaudy, these UNIA outfits still had a military flair that a volunteer off to fight fascism in East Africa might find quite appealing–though they might have to be trimmed down for the heat!

And don’t think it was just the men! Garveyite UNIA uniforms for women sported their own militaristic style, making them perfect wear for the anti-fascist struggle. Pictured above are members of the UNIA Women’s Brigade, from 1924.

Of course these uniforms and outfits aren’t dieselpunk in of themselves. They’ll need that touch of imagination members of the genre bring, to outfit them properly for this alternate history that never truly was, but begs to be imagined. Sodieselpunk nazis, blackshirts and brownshirts, beware! From Spain to Ethiopia, we’re doing our part to smash fascism!

Think Imagine BIG!

***

P. Djeli Clark, aka The Disgruntled Haradrim, is a writer, blogger and fan of speculative fiction. You can find his ramblings at his blog. A few of his literary works are scattered among the e-zines of the virtual world; most are sitting in someone’s slush pile. You can also follow him on Twitter at @pdjeliclark.

I was watching Guillermo del Toro’s excellent dark fantasy realism flick, El laberinto del fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth) the other day, and it reminded of an excellent blog article I read on Emma Goldman and dieselpunk late last year. Huh, you ask? Yes, like a Third Stage Guild Navigator, my mind “moves in strange directions.” Stay with me, and I’ll connect the dots….

Guillermo del Toro’s tragic tale, told through the eyes of an imaginative little girl named Ofelia, is set during the brutal Franco regime in the wake of the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), a conflict that is almost lost in the long shadow cast by WW2. Yet like Mussolini’s brutal campaign against Ethiopia, the Spanish Civil War was one of the first battlegrounds against fascism. While Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy supported the right-wing General Francisco Franco, with weapons and bombing campaigns, the leftist Republican government was supported in part by France, Mexico and the Soviet Union.

Beyond nation-states, brigades of international volunteers also flocked to fight what they saw as a war against fascism. Some forty thousand men and women from fifty-two countries, many of them socialists, communists and radicals, traveled to Spain to join the International Brigades in support of the anti-fascist Republican government. Some 2,800 of them were from the United States, and served in what was called the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

Composed of regiments with such names as the George Washington Battalion, the Abraham Lincoln Battalion and the John Brown Anti-Aircraft Battery (that last one is too righteous!) the group was composed of people from varied walks of life, men and women and (surprising for its age) multiracial. Among them were a good number of African-Americans, who identified with the leftist Republican government’s fight against fascism:

Black newspapers like the Pittsburgh Courier, the Baltimore Afro-American, the Atlanta Daily World and the Chicago Defender “unequivocally sided with the Spanish Republic and occasionally carried feature articles about black participants in the Lincoln Brigade. … Several black medical personnel from the United Aid for Ethiopia offered medical supplies and raised money in the community; Harlem churches and professional organizations sponsored rallies in behalf of the Spanish Republic; black relief workers and doctors raised enough money to purchase a fully equipped ambulance for use in Spain; and some of Harlem’s greatest musicians, including Cab Calloway, Fats Waller, Count Basie, W.C. Handy, Jimmy Lunceford, Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake gave benefit concerts sponsored by the Harlem Musicians’ Committee for Spanish Democracy. …”– Dr. Robin Kelley, quoted by Workers World.

For many African-Americans the struggles at home against oppressive racism, lynching and anti-black mob violence, was one in the same with these foreign struggles against fascism–be it in Spain or Ethiopia. One of these black volunteers was Salaria Kea, who at the age of 23 traveled overseas to serve in a medical mission in Spain for the leftist brigades; she would tour throughout the US during the war, pleading the cause of the anti-fascist struggle. Other African-Americans would serve as soldiers and even commanders of battalions:

The lynching of Negroes in America, discrimination in education and on jobs, lack of hospital facilities for Negroes in most cities and very poor ones in others, all this appeared to them as part of the picture of fascism: of a dominant group impoverishing and degrading a less powerful group. The open pronouncements of Germany and Italy against all non-Aryans is convincing evidence. Thinking thus, hundreds of Negro men went to Spain. Here in the international Brigade of Volunteers they found other Negroes. From Djibouti, Emperor Haile Selassie’s chief mechanic came to strike a blow for a free Ethiopia.’ From South Africa, from Cuba, from French Senegal, from Haiti, from the Cameroon’s, Negroes came, stayed and fought.–excerpt from A pamphlet issued by the Negro Committee to Aid Spain with the Medical Bureau and North American Committee to Aid Spanish Democracy, New York, 1938. Reprinted at the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives.

Emma Goldman, the prominent American radical, was sixty-seven when the Spanish Civil War broke out, and saw in the struggle the hopes for an anarchist revolution. Though too mature in years to physically join the fight, like Paul Robeson and other notable figures, she fervently supported the anti-fascist cause. In 1936 the Spanish Republicans drafted Goldman for their English propaganda campaign, a role which she relished, writing hundreds of letters in their support. Even after Franco’s 1939 victory, Goldman spent the final year of her life fighting for refugees who faced murderous persecution by the pro-fascist regime.

This all leads to an excellent article written by Steampunk Emma Goldman this past December, which questions the disturbing trend in dieselpunk of borrowing fascist uniforms as part of the genre’s fashion:

If you’ve been in the steampunk or dieselpunk subculture for any lengthy of time, chances are you’ve encountered what I think of as steamnazis. You know what I’m talking about. Their costumes range from full-on SS uniforms with goggles thrown on, to fascist-inspired, somewhat fetishistic uniforms with vaguely ominous made-up insignia. My reaction to them ranges from a brief moment of involuntary fear, followed by intense discomfort, disgust, and outrage, to a vague sense of wishing I, or they, were somewhere else. Their reactions to being confronted with my, or others’ discomfort, has ranged from vehement, vocal defense of their costumes to frank, apologetic, and respectful apologies and the removal of offending Nazi insignia.

This of course isn’t the totality of diselpunk, which also embellishes their fashion with Allied military uniforms from WW2. Yet the Nazi or SS uniforms are common enough in the subculture, where they’re usually described as “hip” and ”cutting edge” or even “sexy.”  Still, it’s a trend that’s always eerie to behold, perhaps as eerie as the Nazi fad in some cosplay–but that’s for another time and another blog. Those who wear such clothing often use the defense that it’s just make-believe, which has become speculative fiction’s default hypocritical reply in such instances: we gush proudly when the genre is shown to have serious, intellectual, political worth, but out of the same mouth will dismiss any controversy with the claim, “it’s just all fun–stop taking it so seriously.” Steampunk Emma Goldman makes an excellent point about placing these matters in historical and social context, and suggests a great alternative to romanticized fascism–using the costumes and depictions from the anti-fascist volunteers of the Spanish Civil War:

We all know a lot of people fought against various fascist armies in World War II. I’m not here to tell you to put on a British, American, or Soviet uniform instead of a German one, though. There are more interesting alternatives. Interesting, not just in terms of costume, but in terms of the potential backstory you can have for your persona, if backstory and persona is a thing you do. . . . [These people] come from many different countries, and many different ideologies. Some believe in anarchism, some communism. Some are believers in Western democracy. Some are Christians, some are Muslims, some are Jews, some are atheists. What they all have in common is that they risked their lives to take a stand against the rise of fascism. . . . yes, I personally think it’s cooler to dress up as an anarchist than to dress up as a fascist. Not that I think people must always present themselves as heroes rather than villains, but I think the role of anarchists in history is frequently misrepresented and ignored. Plus, this is a chance to create an alternate history. One where the anarchists and the communists won in Spain. OF COURSE I want to see people do that!

There you have it–alternate history with a radical dieselpunk kick! There’s more than enough diversity and inspiration there to keep seamstresses busy for a while. And it makes a statement that dressing as a fascist is not somehow inherently “cool” because its dark and chic. Check out Steampunk Emma Goldman’s blog, for dieselpunk costumes inspired by the anti-fascist volunteers of the Spanish Civil War. Some other time I’ll go into Steampunk’s fetish for the Confederacy of the American Civil War, and perhaps suggest some alternate history uniforms of the 54th Massachusetts Nat Turner Brigade . . . .

***

P. Djeli Clark, aka The Disgruntled Haradrim, is a writer, blogger and fan of speculative fiction. You can find his ramblings at his blog. A few of his literary works are scattered among the e-zines of the virtual world; most are sitting in someone’s slush pile. You can also follow him on Twitter at @pdjeliclark.

Just a quick post to announce the three winners for our Peter & the Starcatcher ticket giveaway! All from New York:

Linda T.

Sarah P.

Adrienne O.

Congrats to the winners and thanks to everyone who entered!

And, as a quick reminder, this weekend is the Watch City Festival in Waltham, MA!  My schedule is already up, and hope to see some of you readers there.

Earlier last month, I checked out the newest music video from PROPS!, a hip-hop artist based in Seattle and enjoyed his use of the steampunk aesthetic. More than “insert gears here,” it told an engaging storyline, featured local talent, and the song itself — about romantic longing and loss — seems more appropriate for a steampunk music video than, say, an autotuned command to “turn me on.” I had the opportunity to interview both PROPS! and the director of the music video Paul Maupoux, both relative newcomers to the scene, about the experience filming “The Taste of Heaven.”

Hi-hi and welcome to Beyond Victoriana! First, PROPS! tell me a little about yourself, your background in music and the primary inspirations for your sound.

PROPS!:  I’m originally from Indianapolis, IN. I moved to Seattle a little under four years ago from Miami and started this music company called The Planet Of MARz, Inc. with my partner Chidike. My musical background mostly came from being a roadie for my father, he’s a bass guitarist and has been playing for over 30 years. Art, words, and life Are the primary inspiration for my sound.

You’ve traveled extensively across the United States and lived in many different cities: Indianapolis, Atlanta, Miami, and now Seattle. How did the music scene from each scene impact your musical evolution?

PROPS!: I would have to say that it was the differences in every scene that had the most impact on my musical evolution. The different lifestyles, cultures, and experiences opened my mind a lot.

One of your current projects is the MARz trilogy, with the final installment coming this spring. Care to speak more about it?

PROPS!: The final installment to the MARz trilogy is titled “High As The Stars: The Planet Of MARz”. This is a big project for me. I collaborated with some very talented people locally and nationally to cook up this album. It’s a fun project with videos that were fun to make but even more fun to watch.

How was the storyline for “The Taste of Heaven” first conceived? Did you always envision it as steampunk?

PROPS!: ”The Taste of Heaven” was inspired by the passing of a dear friend of mine. The original idea I had in mind was a stop motion animated short about regret and lost love. I never envisioned it as steampunk but Paul introduced the steampunk theme and the robot dying of a broken heart to me a couple days after hearing the song. I loved it! I think I loved how different it was more than anything.

Paul: I started thinking of steampunk imagery pretty much right away upon listening to the song. There was something about the industrial rhythmic quality of the accompaniment track that brought to mind the image of a mechanical heart beating in time.  Listening to the lyrics, it seemed that the song was about the regret and nostalgia of lost love.  Putting those themes together with the image of the mechanical heart, the story of a robot dying of a broken heart came pretty naturally.

How familiar were you with steampunk before the video? How does the aesthetic appeal to you?

PROPS!: I had never heard of steampunk before filming this project. I must say, I think it’s a very intriguing and unique world full of imagination and creativity which, in my opinion is a great combination.

Paul: I was actually just introduced to steampunk a couple months before we started working on the video when I went to Steamcon inSeattle.  I was really drawn to the DIY aspect of steampunk culture.  It’s really fun to see the love and time that people put into crafting their own costumes and accessories.  As a filmmaker, my favorite part is always making things, such as the mechanical heart, the zeppelin miniature, and the actually functioning typewriter/computer keyboard Props types on in the music video.  So that love of creating physical objects was something I could really connect to.

Are you familiar with the Steamfunk musical movement? A common definition of this is, basically, “A person who seeks to bring together elements of different periods in this case particularly blaxploitation films and comedy and merge it with that of Steampunk fiction.” Did this influence the creative process for this video for you?

PROPS!: No, I’m not familiar With the steamfunk movement.

Paul: I’d actually never heard of Steamfunk before this question, so no, it didn’t really influence the creative process.

How did you get your creative team together for “The Taste of Heaven?”

PROPS!: I came across Paul through some mutual friends of ours and he pretty much put the team together.

Paul: I was lucky to have some very talented friends who had the availability and interest to work on the video.  My friend Julia Bruk, who I knew from the DXARTS program at the University of Washington, did our cinematography.  I knew Cammi Upton (make-up/prosthetics effects) and Holly Williams (wardrobe) from a commercial animation project I’d worked on the year before. Mark Igama, a friend from my day-job at a hospital, drew the storyboards and also helped out on set.  Ben Harris, my film-making partner at Cro-Magnon Pictures, also helped out as an acting coach for Props and Tahirah.

What was the most exciting part of the filming process for this video? What was the most challenging part?

PROPS!: The most exciting part of the filming process to me was getting into character and seeing everyone’s costumes. The most challenging part was the dancing HANDS DOWN. I was born with two left feet I’m not much of a dancer at all.

Paul: It was exciting to shoot the dance sequence.  The Century Ballroom was a beautiful place to film in, and it was my first time having a large group of extras on a set.  Everyone was extremely pleasant and patient as we worked through our shot list.  Shooting the thumb and cheek scenes was also very exciting.  We had a lot of people on set that day and it was really fun to feel the reaction in the room when the fake thumb came off.

The most challenging part for me was probably putting together the zeppelin miniature.  It was a great learning experience that taught me some new skills and tools, but it took quite a bit longer than I expected. Here’s link to a webpage I made a couple weeks ago about how I made the zeppelin, the typewriter and the heart.  

How has the reception of your music video been since its been launched? Have you gotten different reactions from the hip-hop community and the steampunk community?

PROPS!: I can honestly say I was scared to put it out at first because it’s so different but the response has been great.

Paul: I’ve mainly been hearing a lot of positive feedback.  People from both communities seem to be excited to see something a little different.

What other projects are you looking forward to working on in the future?

PROPS!: I’m also working on an E.P. it’s still in its development stages but expect it to be hot if not even hotter than the high as the stars project.

Thanks for stopping by the blog! Readers can check out other music videos featuring PROPS! on his YouTube channel. You can also see more of his work on his official website, on SoundCloud, and on BandCamp. More of Paul Maupoux’s work is available on his production company website Cro-Magnon Pictures.

Abney Park at the Florida Steampunk Society Exhibition East, Daytona Beach Resort, Florida.

The main event was Saturday night.  Opening with Cog is Dead, an intermission performance by local artist Perego, the audience was thoroughly warmed up for headliners Abney Park. This was my first time seeing the “quintessential” Steampunk band live, and I was really impressed with how the band’s energy fed into the audience and vice versa.

Judging by the lack of dancing during the Masquerade and the concert, Florida Steampunks are either too restricted by their costuming or are more interested in watching performances than jiving around.  There were a few dancers, including myself, off in the corner, but overall the audience was akin to the Los Angeles crowds, or so I was told by frontman Captain Robert Brown the next day.  When I asked them what other crowds were like, he mentioned that he found “Florida has a really pretty Steampunk crowd.”

But the dancing aside, it was clear that everyone was having fun, and after an hour and a half set, the Florida Steamers lined up afterwards for another hour to meet and buy signed merch.  One of the things that makes Abney Park unique is their extensive line of merchandise from their world, including the recently published novel The Wrath of Fate that weaves together the Abney Park mythos, and which author Brown read from earlier that day. Having relics and artifacts from their world has inspired other concerts and bands to follow, and I was curious how the band came to develop their innovative brand:

“It was really all fan requests,” mused Captain Robert on the novel “We had all of these fans saying I’m seeing this ongoing story through these different songs, and it feels like its all part of one big saga. So I sat down a couple years ago to write a novel of the saga that feeds through all these songs.”

Bassist Dan Cederman chimed in about the branding birth: “Our concerts are a community event. So we will contact all the local fan groups, Steampunk groups—vendors come for free, artists who want to show their artworks—everyone brings their stuff and show it off.  And so we want everyone to come in and participate in a community event, and that’s our concert. And that kind of sense of inclusiveness to everyone who is coming has expanded beyond just the shows and that’s how it branched out to branding, the novel, fanfic, the artwork and everything else.”

Abney Park is releasing a new album, Ancient Worlds this summer, and its first track “Steampunk Revolution” was just released as a new video featuring content submitted by fans, including images from Florida Steampunk Society Press Representative and Tampa Steampunk founder Daylina Miller.

With Ancient Worlds, Captain Robert says they are pushing the envelope:  “We always try to look at where Steampunk hasn’t hit yet—and so one of the things we haven’t seen in Steampunk music is Ragtime. It’s like THE Victorian music and nobody is doing it. And we figured out why. Do you guys want to know why? It is really hard!”

He added:  “We try to look at a direction it hasn’t gone and go there, so that we’re not being clichéd, so we’re keeping it fresh, even if we’re just keeping it fresh for ourselves.  I would love Steampunk to just feel comfortable with itself so everybody can do that.  There are so many ways that this wonderful aesthetic can manifest itself why put it in a teeny little box and let it die there? Let it go out in these different directions….”

Abney Park is famous for reinventing the wheel when it comes to their music.  They are isolationists almost, it seems, from Steampunk at large, only judging and monitoring their own unique take on it. They are unconcerned with trends, avoid them as much as possible, and concern themselves with where the aesthetic could go next.  However, that take often defies definition and that seems to bother some other Steampunks. During the Sunday interview, several references were made to instances where the band was told it wasn’t doing Steampunk right, or they weren’t Steampunk enough.  I found it amazing that anyone would tell anybody how to “do” Steampunk, and the band agreed:

“I don’t understand how you can define Steampunk so rigidly,” Brown said.  “While she [[a convention planner who told denied Abney Park future gigs because they were Post-Apocalyptic Steampunk enough and below her standards] was talking about this and telling me about how Steampunk could only be defined as Victorian era science fiction through such a such year and such a such a year, I’m saying: Well, how do you account for time travel? How do you account for this? How do you account for that?…  I’m trying to explain to her that the books that define Steampunk in the early days when the term was coined were set in all these different places, and half of them were set after the fall of man kind–The Peshawar Lancers, The Diamond Age–all these different books were set in the far future where the far future for whatever reason is forced to mimic Victorian times….  And that was part of what defined the thing. And I kept asking her ‘Did you read this?’ ‘No.’ ‘Did you read this?’ ‘No.’ And then finally she said ‘Well, I just don’t have time to read.’ You are forcing your definition of a literary genre on a populace that are reading the books and you have not read them yourself!”

“And taking the fun out of it at the same time!” chimed in vocalist Jody Ellen.

“Yeah,” Cederman added. “One of the points of this subculture is to be inclusive. There’s plenty of exclusive subcultures in the world, why do we need to make another one?”

I couldn’t agree more and found a very positive self-awareness present at FSEE.  My overall impression, and answer to my original question of Florida Steampunk expectations, was that they seemed cut-off from the melting pot of the other faraway conventions, and bubbled like a newly tapped spring, eager to discuss issues and future of the movement. Everyone, even those steeped in it aesthetically, asked that familiar koan “What is Steampunk?”

The Exhibition made a great stab at quenching these Steamers thirst, but there can be much more imported to the Sunshine State, and based on the success and impressive efforts of Exhibition East, I think the next Exhibitions will continue to deliver and bring the best the movement has to offer, while further playing and expanding upon its own unique roots with Florida history and the sea. But then again, maybe not. As Brown concluded in our interview:

“As an aesthetic, it [Steampunk] can do anything you want too. …It’s people who want to pretend its make believe that have to control it….Like any good aesthetic it brings up all these different nostalgias, and I think ours does it more blatantly than most, but almost all art is a nostalgic experience–this takes you back to high school, this takes you back to–.  This all takes us back to the glory days of adventure, when every thing in the world was  adventurous. Just let that aesthetic be the ruling principle and not try and force it in all the other directions.“

Who knows in the end what “Florida Steampunk” may be.  It may have its own brand of Steam, or it may be unclassifiable, but I’m pretty certain one thing it will always be is an adventure.

***

Floridian S. J. Chambers is the co-author of the Steampunk ChronicleReader’s Choice Award for Best Non-Fiction and Hugo nominated The Steampunk Bible.

Dr. Imro: Impressive medicine cabinet of Dr. Imro, Provider of epic potions, tablets, and lotions. Made to be worn like a backpack for house calls.

When I first heard there was going to be a Florida Steampunk convention, I had two reactions. The first was “Yay! Home state representing.”  Second was, “What on Earth would Florida Steampunk be, exactly?”  Would it be corset jumpers and flip-flops? Solar blocking monocles and Mecha-Gator surf boards? There was only one way to get an answer, and it was to check it out myself.

Florida has a bit of an identity issue, and this was something I thought about the day I arrived at the Daytona Beach Resort where the inaugural Florida Steampunk Society Exhibition East was held.  This exhibition is the first in a proposed series of events all over the state.  According to their mission statement:  “The Florida Steampunk Society is a collection of Steampunk and Neovictorian enthusiasts from all over the state ofFlorida. Our goal is to provide a meeting place for discourse and the sharing of ideas and accomplishments.”

After driving for four hours at a Neal Cassidy beat, I crumbled onto the sublime beach to commune with the sea and take in the area and the people.  Florida was and is mostly bolstered by tourism.  Known as the North South, most of the state is filled with “snow birds,” tourists or seasonal residents mostly from up North.  It is a state run by construction, hospitality, farming, Margaritaville, and Mickey Mouse.  The demand for service and building brings in a huge immigrant faction, and depending on what part of Florida you are in, the city you are in can be widely diverse, monochromatically pale, affluent or rural, youthful or decrepit, or a bit of all the above.

The fruit of all those tourist efforts walked before me:  bronze children building sandcastles and singing controversial songs like “This is how I pee,” while their parents watched them from the pool bar in bland khaki shorts and muscle shirts.  Co-eds in designer bikinis promenaded by bros playing volleyball. I wondered whether these folks knew that within 24 hours their world would be infiltrated by Time Machines, well-dressed persons with cybernetic appendages, and sword fighting Landsknechts (for the Old Ones, of course)? I was looking forward to seeing how these two worlds melded in the lobby of the Resort.

Daytona Beach: Held at the Daytona Beach Resort, con-goers could also enjoy the beautiful sunrises and warm waves.

The con officially began Friday (the 13th) night, and it took no more than an hour, as the Steampunk revelers began to gather, for the Tourists to stare agog.  However, they were not afraid of the unusual scene they walked into. Many people asked questions, tried to get a definition of Steampunk, and walked away impressed and even into the vendors room to explore more. I’d say about fifty people walked out of the Resort that weekend filled with the word of Steampunk. I thought that was a nice sign when two worlds can collide amiably and exchange ideas.

In fact, I felt like that was the Florida Steampunk Society’s overall achievement with their exhibition, which is a more apt word than “convention.” Not only does it recall the show and tell of old, but it captures perfectly what the FSSE planners set out to bring to the Sunshine state: inspiration, education, and a showcase of the myriad ideas, groups, genres, and people within the wide-ranging community.  With a line-up including O.M. Grey and Abney Park, this first of firsts was absolutely impressive and I think is only the beginning of a unique Steampunk con experience.

Admiral's Feast: The first event of the Exhibition was the Admiral's Feast, a five course meal based upon the Titanic's first-class last meal.

Friday night saw two main events: the Admiral’s Feast and a Masquerade.  The Admiral’s Feast was a fun sojourn into foodiepunk, featuring a five course menu inspired by the last first-class dinner on the Titanic.  Each course, beginning with an Iceberg Wedge salad (not actually on the original menu) was to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the ship’s sinking, explained Doug, one of the Exhibition’s founders and menu-planning mastermind.  He wanted to do this commemorative meal because he saw the Titanic’s sinking as the “last gasps of Victorian elegance.”  Each course was delicious, but I enjoyed Doug’s commentary the most, which was filled with nice anecdotes like how gelatin used to be a huge decadence because it took two days to prepare, and how ports between New York and Ireland lead to an introduction of sweet potatoes to the first-class menu. Eleven courses were the de rigueur in 1912, and after having sampled each course, I felt absolutely gorged. I couldn’t help but wonder in this aggrandizement of the last dinner of the last gasps what the steerage and crew ate, and why was it only the first class that deserved commemoration? Doug did mention that the White Star line in fact took care of all their classes, serving the third-class three meals a day.  They were not granted the luxury and networking potential of a eleven-course meal, but compared to other steam cruise lines who made steerage bring their own food, it was progressive (but of course not complimentary, it was offered as an “upgraded accommodation”).

Speaking of ice-breaking, the Feast was also a nice way to meet the other attendees.  I sat at a table with a lovely couple from Toronto who flew down to catch Abney Park, several members of the Cowford Steampunk Society, and two lovely young ladies, one of whom was C.J. Bourke of Black Feather Graphic Design and the Exhibitions Graphic Designer.  I asked my feast-mates whether they attended other conventions up North? They said most of those conventions were too far away, Dragon*Con being the closest.  It sounds like while there are several Steampunk groups in Florida (Tampa, Cowford, Central Florida, Indian River, and North Central Florida) most participate in meet-ups or intimate picnics, but never have the groups really come together, or been able, for various reasons, to go to conventions beyond the Panhandle.  This fragmentation was what inspired Florida Steampunk Society founder Mickey “Flint” Haugh to found the Exhibition, to bring all the groups together and expose them to national idea-exchange.

Following the Feast was a Masquerade DJ-ed and led by members of the Texascrew Airship Isabella. It was here that I began to get my first real sense of what Florida Steampunk might be.  There were several homages to the sea, beginning with the Titanic feast and resonating throughout the weekend with odes to pirates, be it Steampunk Jack Sparrow or the presence of a top-hatted plush Octopus riding its owner’s shoulders.

Octopus Friend: Dancers reveling at the Masquerade Ball--note perched Octopus with top-hat.

The next day was when things really got started.   With a diverse variety of panels, readings, performances and the promise of a musical evening with local band Cog is Dead and Seattle’s Abney Park, the body count surged and the pageantry and performance you would expect to find at any Steampunk convention was on display all over the resort.

Weather affected costuming greatly. Because of the humidity and heat, clothing was a lot lighter and comfortable. Like you would in general in the Sunshine state, you saw a lot more flesh and a lot less updos.  However, there was also a lot of leather, something that was perhaps a result of overlap with the Exhibition founders’ participation in Pirate societies. In fact, they are revered leathermakers with their own shop, Two Gentlemen of Fortune.

Of course, there were a lot of whimsical devices and wonderful contraptions, including an authentic replica of the Time Machine from the 1960s eponymous film, and a traveling medicine man, Dr. Imro, Provider of Epic Potions, Tablets and Lotions.  There were also a lot of beautiful weapons that did not necessarily cross the threshold of sci-fi ray guns, but played upon the original form of nineteenth century weaponry with extra extravagant flourish as in the weapons of Chris Ahrendt, from the Cowford Steampunk group (Jacksonville).

During the panels and vendors area called the Grand Bazaar, the imported goods and doings of Atlanta based Penny Dreadful Productions and Airship Isabella fueled fires for DIY making and creating.  Penny Dreadful was actually promoting their new film series Remnant via an exclusive screening of their third episode.  It is an impressive concept about a dystopic uchronie world with stellar costumes. The cast and crew discussed their intense production schedule and modeled several of the costumes featured in the film. As can be expected from Penny Dreadful, everything was top-quality, Remnant especially, as it is produced by the Brothers Young. Together, the Brothers and Dreadfuls have taken Steampunk DIY filmmaking to another plane.

Remnant Drone: A Drone from The Penny Dreadfuls' new film series REMNANT.

The Grand Bazaar seemed to be the de facto watering hole, and while I spent a brief time selling and signing books there, I met and chatted with several interesting people. There was Vaughn Reynolds, a Floridaartist who just completed a highly successful Steampunk art exhibition in Ft. Lauderdale and spoke to me about plans for future shows.  I was also thrilled to learn that there is an upcoming Mini Maker Faire Orlando this May 26^th.

By the end of the weekend, I left the convention immensely pleased to find that there was a lot more brewing in my home state than I realized.  From my panhandle hometown, it is pretty easy to assume nothing but heart monitors are running in the Sunshine state. It was refreshing and reassuring to find so many young people creating and running major cultural initiatives like Maker Faire Orlando and the Steampunk Legion Exhibition.

O.M. Grey's High Tea: One of the main events of Saturday was the opportunity to have High Tea with award-winning author O.M. Grey.

In addition to her readings and panel, literary chair O.M. Grey (Olivia) hosted two high teas, which were savory and fun and featured a rousing round of Charades.  For those who haven’t come across Olivia yet, she is the author of the Steampunk Paranormal Romance novels, Avalon Revisited (which just recently won Best Fiction in the Steampunk Chronicle Reader’s Choice Award) and The Zombies of Mesmer, as well as Caught in the Cogs: An Eclectic Collection of short stories, love poetry, and her widely popular relationship essays which advocate the often much misunderstood polyamorous dynamics.  Her short story “Dust on the Davenport,” won her another Steampunk Chronicle Reader’s Choice Award for Best Short Story.  I had a chance to catch up with Olivia, and was interested in why she chose to write for a Steampunk audience when her relationship articles could have such a wide appeal to more mainstream publications:

“I think the nature of Steampunk allows for more sexual exploration than perhaps other genres because Steampunk is more about being on the fringes of society, anyway. And with so many people in the geek culture, of course, polyamory is already prevalent … and so I think Steampunk is ripe for that because what Steampunk is about … is the past the way it should have been rather than the way it was.

“A lot of times in Steampunk literature, it really speaks to gender issues and racial issues that were ignored, and there was serious prejudice going on in the Victorian era, and serious prudishness as well. With the table legs covered, the chair legs covered, everything had to be skirted so no one was reminded of sex.  That’s what I like to play with in my novels a lot, is this prudishness, this behavior in public, but then people being completely open if not debaucherous behind closed doors. That idea that when you are suppressing something so natural as sexuality that it is going to come out (and maybe in not so healthy ways sometimes) behind closed doors–but even so, … it comes out very passionately with the women who are strapped into corsets and bustles and keep their hands folded in their laps….but at the same time what they are doing is really getting in touch with their sexuality behind closed doors and I really do love that part of it.

O.M. Grey: Award-winning author O.M. Grey was one of the guests of honor, as well as the literary chair at the Florida Steampunk Society Exhibition.

“And so polyamory, along with my relationship essays, really speak to that a little bit with Steampunk because it is pushing those boundaries of sexuality. It’s saying ‘What we have learned as society is that there may be a better way, or at least a different way—better for some people not others–that love is not finite, that by loving another person the love for the first person does not minimize, it actually deepens and broadens, and I think that’s beautiful. And the same thing with sexuality. Desire breeds desire; love breeds love, having, I think, Steampunk is a great outlook to promote a sex positive culture…. It can be a place to explore not only societal boundaries, but exploring gender roles and different sexual preferences.”

Another check in the Steam Sex Positivity box was the Orlandotroupe Cupcake Burlesque, who were on site doing several performances, and were probably the best and most experimentally dressed of the whole convention. I wanted to catch one of their shows, but schedules would only allow for so much and I missed it.
S.J.’s coverage of the Florida Steampunk Society Exhibition East will continue on Wednesday, with an exclusive interview with Abney Park!
***

Floridian S. J. Chambers is the co-author of the Steampunk Chronicle Reader’s Choice Award for Best Non-Fiction and Hugo nominated The Steampunk Bible.

This weekend I’ll be at the Steampunk Empire Symposium as a guest speaker. Looking forward to seeing authors Leanna Renee Hieber and Emilie P Bush, artist Myke Amend, Lord Bobbins of TeslaCon, Steampunk Boba Fett, and rocking to the Extraordinary Contraptions, This Way to Egress, Frenchy & the Punk and the polka-ballads of Veronique Chevalier! And I’m also very, very curious about this tea-duelling thing doing on…  and looking for a Skyline Diner for some Cincinnati Chili.

I’ll be presenting in the Stratford Theater:

Friday, 10 PM  – Steampunk in Anime
Saturday 11 AM – Steam Around the World: Steampunk Beynd Victoriana
Saturday 2 PM — Envisioning a Better Steam Society – Steampunk & Social Justice Issues

Next in May, I’ll be at the Watch City Festival May 12 & 13 in Waltham, MA presenting with Jaymee Goh!

My schedule:

Saturday:
CDIA (Front Gallery) 11 AM — Steam Around the World: Steampunk Beyond Victoriana (with Jaymee)
Indian Market 5 PM — The Wandering Legion Presents: A Roast of Baron von Lahey

Sunday:

CDIA (Screening Room) 1 PM —  Culture Shocks: Is Steampunk Really a Subculture?
CDIA (Screening Room) 3 PM – Envisioning a Better Steam Society – Steampunk & Social Justice Issues (with Jaymee)

Annnnnd on June, a new convention for me: PortCon in Maine from June 21 – 24, where Lucretia Dearfour and I will be their Steampunk Guests of Honor.

We’re off to Never-Neverland…

For those who follow my blogging on Tor.com, you’ll know that I recently reviewed Peter and the Starcatcher, currently playing at the Brooke Atkinson Theater on Broadway.

Thanks to special arrangements with the production, Beyond Victoriana will be giving away three pairs of tickets to see the show. These tickets will be good to see this entertaining & irreverent romp on any available performance date between May 2nd through June 1st. See below to check out below for details on how to enter for a chance to win a pair for your own.

There are three ways to enter:

1) On the blog: Comment on this post here.

2) On Twitter: Tweet “Enter to win tickets to see Peter & the Starcatcher on the multicultural #steampunk blog #beyondvictoriana! http://wp.me/pPSIU-1yT” and be sure to include the link to this post in your tweet. Re-tweets do not count.

3) On Facebook: “Like” Beyond Victoriana’s Facebook page, if you haven’t already,  and post on the wall with the mention, “I want to see Peter & the Starcatcher because….” with whatever reason you’d like (but trolls with be fed to Tick-Tock).

This contest will be open from now until midnight EST on Wednesday, May 2nd. You can only enter ONCE per method (meaning one comment, tweet, and FB post per person). The winner will be contacted via FB, Twitter, or email and must respond to attic.hermit@gmail.com within 24-hours of contact, or else a new winner will be selected.

International readers are welcome to enter as well (but of course, it might be hard for you to get to NYC for the show. But if you’re planning to visit anyway…)

Good luck!

Additional info for Peter & the Starcatcher: