This week: The Steampunk Explorer turns seven; Bandcamp Friday is back; Steam Powered Giraffe on tour; New Neovenator video; Time for The Revelry Ball; New Kickstarters.
The Steampunk Explorer launched on March 6, 2018, and against all odds, we’re still here seven years later, with a spanking new website that we unveiled in December.
The publication never made sense as a business venture. The steampunk community is too small and lacks the kinds of corporate advertisers that could sustain a for-profit media company.
But for us, it’s the ideal passion project. There’s enough activity to keep us busy, but not so much that it’s overwhelming. And covering such a creative grassroots community is much more rewarding than attending corporate trade shows and press briefings.
Read the full story: The Steampunk Explorer Turns Seven
Bandcamp Fridays are back this year after a winter hiatus. During these promotions, the platform waives its revenue share and musicians get to keep more of what you pay. The first one takes place this Friday, March 7, from midnight to midnight Pacific time.
The others are scheduled for May 2, Aug. 1, Sept. 5, Oct. 3, and Dec. 5.
Many steampunk artists sell their music on the platform, and we’ve created a directory to make it easier to find them.
Virtually all these artists make their music available on Spotify, but they’ll tell you that they earn only a pittance from music streaming. If you like their music and want to support them, it’s best to buy from the artist directly or go to Bandcamp. (And no, we weren’t paid to say that.)
Steam Powered Giraffe announced concert dates for later this year, marking their first performances outside the San Diego area since the Covid-19 pandemic.
They’re currently booked for shows in Los Angeles (May 11), Phoenix (May 31), and Jefferson, Iowa (July 26), after which they will cross the pond to appear Aug. 24 at the Asylum Steampunk Festival in Lincoln, U.K.
Then they’ll be back near their home base in the San Diego area, performing Dec. 13 at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido.
Each U.S. show is two hours long and will feature selections from their full 16-year repertoire. Learn more on their website.
Neovenator released a new music video featuring “Effing Bohemians,” our favorite track from their 2024 debut album Songs From The End Of The Pier. The video depicts 1960s youth culture in London.
The 1960s, of course, were far removed from the Age of Steam, but the video shows how some fashion styles of the time, specifically the peacock revolution, anticipated steampunk. (Others have noted the influence of Art Nouveau on poster and album cover art of that era.)
The band, frequent performers at U.K. steampunk events, describe their sound as “off-kilter but entertaining English psychedelic-pop.”
The album is available on CD from Flicknife Records and digitally from multiple online platforms. See their Linktree for additional links.
Events
The Audeville Society in Boston will present the inaugural Revelry Ball on Saturday, March 8 at the Royale Boston. This neo-vintage costume ball, inspired by events such as The Edwardian Ball and Labyrinth Masquerade, will feature music, dancers, clowns, circus arts, and burlesque performers.
Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys will headline the 21+ event. Proceeds will benefit performing artists in New England.
We conversed with founder Thomas Drury-Wang back in February.
Tickets cost $80 for general admission and $120 for a VIP package that includes early entry and other perks. The venue is about two blocks south of Boston Common. See the website for more info.
March 8 is International Women’s Day, and The Menagerie will celebrate by presenting Women of Oddities, an oddities & curiosities market featuring the event organizer’s female vendors. The program also includes music, tarot readings, and workshops.
It takes place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Preservation Park, 1233 Preservation Park Way in downtown Oakland, California. Tickets cost $10. Learn more on the website.
See our website for comprehensive event listings, including steampunk events and regional fandom events in Canada, the U.K., Australia/New Zealand, and the New England, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest, South Central, Mountain, and Pacific regions of the U.S.
Crowdfunding
Zombies Need Brains, a small press in Binghamton, New York, is crowdfunding Skull X Bones, an anthology featuring science fiction and fantasy stories about pirates. It will feature approximately 14 original works by established authors and newcomers. The anchor authors include R.S. Belcher, Alex Bledsoe, Jennifer Brozek, C.C. Finlay, Violette Malan, Misty Massey, and Alan Smale.
The anthology is edited by David B. Coe and Joshua Palmatier. Palmatier, an author and mathematics professor, is the founder of Zombies Need Brains.
Pledges begin at US$7 for an e-book version and $25 for a trade paperback. The publisher estimates delivery in December.
The campaign launched March 1 and reached its US$5,000 funding goal within two days. It runs through March 31. See the Kickstarter page for more info.
Author E.R. Paskey launched a Kickstarter campaign for A Tale of Star-Crossed Hearts, described as a “YA Romantasy with a dash of steampunk.”
The novel is a prequel to the author’s steampunk fantasy The Other Side of the Horizon. It tells the love story of Raphael and Elena, two characters from the latter tale.
Pledges begin at US$9 for a digital edition, $35 for the retail paperback edition, and $50 for the retail hardcover edition. Special paperback and hardcover editions are also available, beginning at $60 and $75 respectively.
The author expects to deliver digital editions in April and printed copies in July.
The campaign launched March 4 and reached its US$300 funding goal within 16 minutes. It runs through March 20. See the Kickstarter page for more info.
Eagle Eye Comics is on Kickstarter with Volume 1 of Tales of The Witch Hunters, a steampunk fantasy series about a group of vigilantes who are “sworn to fight against the misuse of magic by any means necessary.”
In the first volume, they are tasked “to face a looming threat when a power-enhancing drug known as ‘pixie dust’ causes citizens to go berserk across the world.”
The 60-page graphic novel is written by Justice Wright and drawn by Ian Waryanto, with coloring by Michael Woods.
Pledges begin at US$10 for a digital edition and $15 for a print version.
The campaign launched March 4 and seeks US$5,000 by April 3. Learn more on the Kickstarter page.
Gearwheel Grimoires is back on Kickstarter with a new steampunk-themed RPG. Aerathain - The Shards of Souls is the first entry in a trilogy set in the same world as the creator’s Ars Mechanica series, but 30 years later. As with their previous games, it’s a steampunk setting for D&D 5e.
Some illustrations in the book are AI-generated.
Pledges begin at €5 (US$6) for a PDF edition. The creator estimates delivery in April. Rewards also include a 186-page novel set in the same world.
The campaign launched March 4 and quickly reached its €100 (US$108) funding goal. It runs through April 3. See the Kickstarter page for more info.
Ongoing Campaigns
Dracula 2168: Shadows On The Future – A new comic book series from a Marvel vet places Dracula in a dystopian steampunk future ruled by artificial intelligence. The campaign easily reached its US$5,000 funding goal. It runs through March 22.
Legacy of the Brightwash – A deluxe edition of a dystopian Gaslamp fantasy novel originally published in 2021. The campaign quickly reached its CA$12,000 (US$8,357) funding goal. It runs through March 18.
Elsewhere in the Aether
Tesla Science Center recovering after devastating fire (Long Island Press)
Gillette Castle: discover the secrets of the Sherlock Holmes mansion in Connecticut (Love Property)
Fiction meets Innovation: Jules Verne’s underwater dream versus early Submarine design (The National Museum of the Royal Navy)
10 Cool Animals Named After Lord of the Rings Characters (Mental Floss)
Fantastic Four’s Nathaniel Richards, Explained (CBR)
Primer: The socially conscious spectacle of Korean sci-fi (AV Club)
Eight Places to Experience a Movie Like It’s 1925 (Smithsonian Magazine)
Iowa: The Young Footliters’ “Alice in Wonderland,” March 14 through 16 (River Cities Reader)
Highly anticipated steampunk FPS Sand finally has a launch date, and it’s close (PCGamesN)
PS5 Lovecraftian Sequel The Sinking City 2 Plots Crowd Funding Campaign (Push Square)
How a Leading Black Historian Uncovered Her Own Family’s Painful Past (Smithsonian Magazine)
See Stunning Illustrations of Prehistoric Life From One of the Most Renowned Paleoartists in the World (Smithsonian Magazine)
