One genre in particular which has always held a dear place in my heart is Sci-Fi horror. At a ripe age of 8, my dad sat me down in front of the TV and showed me a film which starred a muscle bound commando who ran around the jungle trying not to be brutally killed by a space alien. Since then, depictions of man’s conquest of nature through science has taught me that our scientific advancements may lead to some very scary consequences. Fear not! because although we can’t hear you scream in space, we do have the ability to to listen to Greydon Square down here in the relative safety of Earth.
Perhaps hip hop artist Greydon Square might be somewhat of a departure from a website that specializes in Metal music and Horror films, but all one has to do is listen to his music to understand that he knows his stuff when it comes to the possibility of what is out there in the vast reaches of the cosmos. Greydon Square’s main themes in his music are science and exploration. As well as the importance of shedding theology, superstition, and the belief in a god or gods. He imagines the universe and its implications, but somehow seems to bend them into the English language and pumps them out to amazing beats. His music blows my mind. Just listen to Cosmic Harvest, one of my favorite songs on his three disc opus; Omniverse.
I recently reached out to Greydon to talk about Sci-Fi films and horror. I wanted to know if there were any films in the Sci-Fi Horror genre that had influenced his music. During the interview, one film in particular seemed to have struck a chord early on in his life; Event Horizon. Greydon really liked Event Horizon because it dealt with the possibilities of inter dimensional travel and the consequences of such an endeavor. In any discussion about Sci-Fi horror, Event Horizon is essential. Only a few films get to re define a genre, films like Alien (1979) and Event Horizon (1997). If you haven’t seen Event Horizon yet, then I would bring into question your horror credentials.
I asked Greydon if science fiction films harmed the progression of science or contributed to it. I am usually hard pressed to find a scientist in a film that doesn’t have a god complex that bends nature to his or her ambitiously diabolical will. From Jurassic Park (1993) to the Re-Animator (1985), scientists are portrayed as some evil mutherfuckers! I was happy to hear Greydon reassure me that it wasn’t the case. He mentioned that romantic comedies do more damage to personal relationships than Sci-Fi horror does to the scientific community.
Greydon also lamented that science fiction doesn’t like to address the topic of atheism. He reminded me that the last film to really deal with a society who worshiped false gods was Stargate back in 1994. I believe that science fiction has a great opportunity to demonstrate that the belief in gods is primitive and superstitious, but Greydon reminded me that movies were about making money; that it would be a really sticky subject and that no film wants to get too deep in that conversation. It makes the masses uncomfortable and they will stop buying tickets. I tend to agree with him, we live in a world where a shitty film like God’s not Dead grosses $64,000,000, but a brilliant hip hop artist who promotes rationalism and humanism has to bravely stand against waves of criticism. Where is Greydon’s yacht on the beach at Key Largo? The writers of Sci Fi films certainly aren’t going to risk their paychecks to address the philosophical implications of their genre.
Ok, sorry I got a little preachy there. All in all Greydon Square was a class act. The interview felt like we were just buddies hanging out and he had a lot of insightful things to say. It was a lot of fun talking to him. We talked about Star Wars vs Star Trek and where they land on the Kardashev Scale. We discussed which film from the past he would like to go back and score (spoiler alert, it’s the Goonies). You should definitely check him out, follow him on twitter and buy his album. Also a few weeks back he tore his ACL and since he lives in America he has to pay a crazy amount of money for the surgery. You can donate here. Go ahead and listen to the interview below. Remember, don’t let the things that go bump in the night stop you from traversing the galaxy. Enjoy!
