Transistor Radio - Cloud Cult

...."I heard Grandpa on my Transistor Radio..."

As per usual, I took my inspiration out of a song for this piece. This time it was one of my absolute favorite bands in the entire Universe (not joking here), Cloud Cult - with their ever-smiley Transistor Radio. What better visual way to tell a story than via a medium that's not visual at all?

The song (that you can listen to right here, although there's also a pretty beautiful live version on KEXP radio over here if you wanna keep going) talks about a boy that hears his dead grandad on his transistor radio - you know, those really cool and portable radios from the 50's and the 60's. Which obviously meant I'd have to set this tale in a 50's ambiance... can you hear the excitement resignation in my voice as I type this? :D

So! Radios telling a visual story. 50's ambiance. Brightly colored radios. To add coherence to the scenario, I decided to treat it in black and white as if it were some sort of 50's animation. And there you go :)

And well, in the end, the boy finally finds what his granddad wanted to show him (if you haven't heard the song and the lyrics yet FINE, I'll tell you what it ends at, but SHAME ON YOU for it's gorgeous :3): "Where I am, Where I've been, It's the Show". It doesn't get deeper than that :)

I particularly love his grand dad - a smiley skeleton is one of my favorite cultural elements that I just don't get tired of. And of course, the clouds are a nod to the band's name - do listen to them, their music and their lyrics are guaranteed to lift you up, I swear!