A few weeks ago we covered the Rock-afire Explosion documentary that’s currently in post-production. If you don’t recall, there is a whole community of people who grew up with fond memories Showbiz Pizza Place, and now there are people who have bought the old animatronic robots from the house “band” and they’re reprogramming them to play new songs.
This whole idea seemed awesomely crazy to us at Glorious Noise—exactly the kind of obsessive fandom that we celebrate—so we tracked down the guy who’s responsible for the whole phenomenon. Aaron Fechter created the Rock-afire Explosion with his team of assistants in 1980. This is the same guy who invented Wack-a-Mole in 1976. That’s right: dude’s responsible for half of your favorite arcade memories.
Recently, Fechter sold the few sets of robots he had left in crates to fans who “promised they would love and cherish them forever.” And now, you can bid on which songs will be choreographed. Recent winners have included Against Me‘s “Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart” and Usher‘s “Love In This Club.” They just completed their version of the Arcade Fire‘s “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels).” Check it out after the jump.
We caught up with Fechter via email to discuss how this all came together.
Continue reading Glorious Noise Interview with Rock-afire Explosion creator, Aaron Fechter