16-Bitocracy !
A New 1980's Inspired Comic Book and Metal Music Soundtrack
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Reno City, 1989...
Through Unwitting Exposure to 16-bit Energy, Power Metalwave Band 1-900 is Transformed Into a Phone Fighting Force!
A New Comic Book Story. A Real-Life Band.
Read It, Rock Out, and Strike Back Against Computerized Communism and Touchtone Totalitarianism.
Join Us In Battle
Become an Official Member of the Phone Fighting Force! Get the new 1-900 SnareWare EP for FREE when you join us at SILICon '89 (the largest computer technology convention of the 1980s).
This free 5-day online listening event is a great introduction to 1-900! You'll get the new record, plus unreleased demos and behind the scenes Bonus Content you won't find anywhere else.
The New Comic
A steampunk-esque tale of 80s tech gone awry, A Band Of Heroes (issue #1 of the 1-900 saga) introduces our headbangin' heroes (Brett Shredd, DD Bass, & RotoTom), and reveals the sinister origin of the inter-dimensional phone handset known as The Operator and his evil henchman Modem.
The boys from 1-900 use their new-found powers to thwart these fiendish foes and their plans to conquer the planet. It's a fight to the finish between good 'ol fashioned American Metal, and the looming threat of Computerized Communism - on an interdimensional scale.
You'll encounter the Synchrons, a conquering race of 16-bit energy beings who have come to prey upon our primitive world of 8-bit technology. And, you'll meet Pager, a good rebel Synchron who imbues the boys of 1-900 with some of his own 16-bit power!
Check out some pages from the upcoming first issue, coming soon to Kickstarter!
Fact: 1-900 is also a band in real life!
Another Fact: just cover the $5 shipping, and we'll mail you a FREE CD single of the 1-900 song TouchTone Attack plus a limited run signed physical copy of the Rise Of The Operator ashcan!
The Team
Meet the guys behind 1-900 and HyperRot Comics!
Brett Miller writes music. He shreds on Guitar and teaches students from around the World. But perhaps most importantly for 1-900? He’s a kid from the ‘80s.
Brett conceived of this novel melding of Comics and Metal after getting heavily into Synthwave (a type of music that sounds like '80s synth soundtracks, but is created by contemporary musicians).
As guitarist and vocalist for the band, 1-900 has become Brett's main musical and creative vehicle for spreading Metal mayhem and '80s awareness.
DD plays bass. With the '80s being his formative years as a musician, DD makes no bones about his affinity for Power Metal, Glam Metal, and those sensational Shrapnel shredders.
Under Brett’s musical tutelage, DD continues the Metal journey, which started long ago when his main digital device was the PCjr.
In addition to playing the bass, DD has been a long-time fan and student of comic books, and the unique storytelling form they offer. With Brett, he crafts and writes the story of the 1-900 world and the Band of Heroes at its center.
Jason Heida makes art. He's been scribbling since he could hold a crayon, and hasn't stopped yet. In fact, Jason is the penciller and inker for the Band Of Heroes issue!
Captivated by the superhero comics at the local drugstore, a seed was planted. Now all grown up with a family of his own, his childhood love for comics is alive and well.
With his love of comics and his artistic chops, Jason has launched out on a new adventure with 1-900. He's now ready to put his talents to work to bring you a new and exciting story!
Purpose
Purposeless art is nothing more than commercialism. Nothing wrong with that when it's a shampoo label, or a motorcycle advertisement. But a project like this, with comics and music, needs a purpose behind it. That's the only way it'll connect with people, and become a signal through the noise.
The story, the characters, and the setting of the 1-900 universe - while quirky and fun - to us are an important allegory about the times we live in. And, about reclaiming important things from an era before the rise of mobile phones, social media, and the constant connectivity that has divided us all more than ever.
Issue #1 is an origin story. It sets the stage for further exploration of darker themes like social obedience, media manipulation, and interminable surveillance - reflecting the darkness, anguish, and alienation that many feel today as a result of our technology far outpacing our ability to handle it responsibly.
We’re also extremely concerned about the worldwide rise of a New Totalitarianism, enabled by this technology. All of the lessons that should have been learned from the 20th century, about the twin scourges of Communism and Fascism, are being forgotten.
Our purpose here is to use our combined skills - creatively, artistically, and musically - to do something to combat this technocratic mind control that is steadily eroding individual liberty & freedom.
We believe that stories and music have an enormous impact on societies. The story of 1-900 is fun, but the undercurrent is all about thinking for yourself and rejecting groupthink and brainwashing. Our mission is to reinvigorate those traits in today’s overly unquestioning culture, and to do it through Comics and Metal.
If you believe in that mission, then you can help us achieve it. It all starts with Issue #1!
© HyperRot Comics 2024