24/03/2025
MACHINE ELF: A SWEET ‘N’ GROSS OPERA
After months of rambling, today’s topic will finally be the current Sweet ‘N’ Gross project: MACHINE ELF.
It was autumn, the last day of September 2023. Joe King, Kody Smith, and Mike King gathered at Mike’s cottage on the Gulf Shore. They brought whatever recording gear they had (for the most part, the same ol’ stuff they used back in ‘07/’08). The guys had a general idea of what they wanted to accomplish, but, as usual, no one wrote or rehearsed anything in advance. Also, they only had 24-hours together, so whatever they did would have to be by-the-seat-of-their-pants.
The recording session went well, though they didn’t complete as much as they'd hoped. So, the trio agreed to meet again in the spring, this time for a 48-hour stretch. And in the winter between, Joe and Kody would file share and record at their respective houses to keep the project moving along.
Why so much work, you might ask?
“I convinced the guys that Sweet ‘N’ Gross should record a 66-track triple album called MACHINE ELF,” Kody says. He shrugs. “It sounds like a fool’s errand, I know. But… we did it.”
“I mentioned this new Sweet ‘N’ Gross project to some friends,” says Mike, “and they asked why we made a specific number of songs. Why 66? Why not 65? Why not just 10 or 12 songs, like a normal band?”
“It’s because Machine Elf is the soundtrack to a novel Kody wrote,” explains Joe. “The book has 64 chapters, plus a prologue and an epilogue. So, 66 parts altogether. Sweet ‘N’ Gross created a song for each part and split the whole thing into three albums, or three ACTS, like a play or an opera.”
“How do you create a soundtrack for a book?” Mike asks. “The same way you’d make one for a movie or a show. The only difference is the scenes are in your mind instead of on a screen. Everything else is the same basic concept.”
“We tried to create musical-mood depending on what was happening in each chapter,” Joe explains. “We used sound effects and leitmotifs to help achieve that. The story very much dictated how the albums ended up, that’s for sure.”
What is the story of MACHINE ELF, anyway?
“Machine Elf tells the tale of Leo Moore,” explains Kody. “Leo was eight years old in 1989, when he and his family moved from their townhouse in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia to a haunted house in the quiet, fishing village of Doldrums. The story follows Leo over the next seven years as he matures, navigates life in a small community, and unravels the otherworldly mystery residing in his home. Machine Elf was inspired by Brat Pack movies, Stephen King novels, David Lynch and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and Charles Dickens, ‘90s music (from Kriss Kross to Kataklysm), and growing up in Pugwash, Nova Scotia. Leo’s village, Doldrums, is simply a fictional version of Pugwash.”
Although there is more to the Machine Elf project than a novel and triple album (for instance, there’s Ken Potter’s cover art and Chris Gooding’s 22 music videos), we’re going to stop babbling for now and announce that previews/teasers for this project will be available TOMORROW!
That’s right! A PDF with the prologue and first four chapters of the MACHINE ELF novel, plus a 15-track condensed version of the MACHINE ELF albums will be floating around the internet, for your enjoyment, in just a handful of hours from now.
The condensed MACHINE ELF album has five songs from each ACT. Some tracks have been edited to avoid being hassled by copyright robots, but the complete songs will be available when MACHINE ELF is released in full.
For now, here’s the tracklist for tomorrow’s teaser album. See ya’ll then!
1. City Mouse – Country Mouse (Prologue 1989) (Avoiding Copyright Version)
2. The Gathering of the Clans (Chapter 4)
3. Shrieks and Fireworks, Into the Attic, Sepia Boy (Chapter 7)
4. Battle on the Beach (Chapter 10)
5. Investigation at the Doldrums Library (Chapter 12)
6. Gateway to Junior High (Chapter 22)
7. A Pair of Sisters (Chapter 27)
8. A Boots Bonfire Invitation, Brea Green (Chapter 30)
9. The Pennyhose House, A Commotion in the Schoolyard (Chapter 43)
10. Slow and Gray (Chapter 47) (Avoiding Copyright Version)
11. The End of a Moldy Tunnel, Cassette Demos (Chapter 48)
12. The Empty Farm (Chapter 53)
13. Another Griswold Christmas (Chapter 56)
14. Lightning Strikes the Ghost Ship (Chapter 59) (Short Version)
15. Curtains (Chapter 61)