Oct 26, 2024
Aliens in Antarctica Digital artwork by me, 2024
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Aliens in Antarctica Digital artwork by me, 2024
music by @nessiejoe
Rock & roll 🎸 & crunch 💪 some metal 🏗 to ‘Crashland’ ⚡️, streaming 🔊 above!
[Map] Crashlanded Transport
A bounty hunter ship has crashlanded in the jungle. This is your chance to rescue your friends #RPG #scifi
Marauder-class transports are mid-sized freighters used typically to transport cargo, troops and/or prisoners. The transport is equipped with a hyperdrive and uses astronavigators (prescient alien creatures capable of navigating the ship intuitively in hyperspace) to navigate over interstellar distances. (more…)
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How was it for you? - Alex Troup of Crashland, Matt Bellamy of Muse, & Som Wijay-Wardener of My Vitriol [NME (September 30th, 2000)]
How was it for you?
Three upcoming pop stars speak of their post-school experiences
“STUDENT LIFE HELPED ME GET USED TO LIVING IN SQUALOR AND EATING SHIT FOOD, WHICH IS WHAT BEING IN A BAND IS ALL ABOUT.” – ALEX
Alex Troup CRASHLAND
Where and what did you study? “I went to Preston Polytechnic, which I believe they've now renamed the University Of Central Lancashire. I got in doing Physics & Management Science, but I changed within the first couple of weeks of being there to English & American Literature.”
Why did you choose to go? “I was a reluctant student, really. I wasn't that keen on going. But unfortunately the only work in my home town was cleaning up after the local agricultural show. And I think my father was trying to make me pay rent as well. There's nothing like that threat to get you out of the house by the age of 18.”
Were you a good student? “I did pretty well, although I didn't go very often in my first year. I didn't stay in the halls of residence initially, because the university hadn't enough accommodation. So I was housed in a Pontin's holiday camp in Southport. I had to get up at seven in the morning to go to college and hang around in the refectory skiving lectures, rather than most people who were able to walk in whenever they wanted.”
Did you ever live in nasty student accommodation? “Oh yeah. It's a rite of passage, isn't it? You have to live in what is effectively a squat. One of my roommates built a wall out of empty beer cans. My over-riding memories of living in shared accommodation are a blur of This Morning and daytime soaps, walking around in my dressing gown eating Pot Noodles and arguing about the washing up. Shit, really.”
Did you take out any student loans? “Yeah. That's probably one of the best things I came out of college with, really – a load of debt. But I was lucky because I did go at a time when tuition fees were paid, and I got part of a grant. Now they means test your parents and everything, and basically if you haven't got any money and your parents haven't got any money, you're fucked and end up having to go into enormous debt. Which is a nice way to start the rest of your life.”
What was the best thing about being a student? “I enjoyed the demise of first-year relationships. That was before mobile phones were ubiquitous, so you could see all these little weepy-eyed 18-year-olds running around with pockets full of change, clogging up the public phones in futile attempts to prevent the inevitable demise of a relationship with a school sweetheart. It also helped me get used to living in squalor and eating shit food, which is what being in a band is all about.”
What was the worst thing about being a student? “People in polo shirts with their collars turned up, building can walls and playing Erasure really loud.”
What was the craziest thing you did at university? “I don't know. I drank too many pints of watered-down lager. I think I heckled a bad comedian once. But I did have a mate who, in an experiment, took acid on his own in the dark and stayed in his room for 12 hours. His face was the best thing, when he came out at the end. I don't think he ever did it again.”
What one moment sums up your life as a student? “Getting a tin of value hot dogs and watching the Eurovision Song Contest. That was probably my most exciting night at college.”
What's your advice for new students? “Do loads of reading over the summer because A-levels have gotten really easy, so they're probably going to find it really hard when they get there. Also, always label your food.” April Long
Matt Bellamy MUSE
Why did you not to go to college? “I never really had any plans to go to university, even though everyone says that's what you've got to do to get by nowadays. Which is absolute bollocks. And I knew that. I think the teachers knew that I didn't ever want to go. I didn't actually care about becoming intelligent, not that type of intelligence anyway, textbook knowledge. Also, I didn't go because I always knew I wanted to do this, whatever level it was on. I didn't feel I needed to do that to achieve what I wanted to achieve. But also, I couldn't afford it.”
What did you do instead? “I stole cars and sold various drugs. I painted houses. Stuff like that. Cleaned out drains with a glove that went right to my shoulder. Built scaffolding really high, demolished walls. I demolished an entire shopping centre once. I really enjoyed it. Really had a good time.”
Do you regret not going? “I think I probably will go in a few years. I just didn't feel ready for it then. I also couldn't find a subject that I fancied – that was the main thing, I probably should have said that first. I couldn't find a subject that I really wanted to learn about. Later on, I'll probably fancy it and I'll probably be able to pay for it as well.”
What subject would you do if you go later? “Theology. Or Film Composition. I found out there was a degree in composing music for films. There's even a degree in Klingon language now because degrees aren't about what you learn about, it's about proving you can absorb a certain amount of information and repeat it later. There's so many jobs these days that they just want a degree in anything because it proves you can function in that way. That's what it's about. But, yeah, I probably will do one eventually in some sort of religious thing to find out if I can believe in spirituality, because there's a part of me that wants to believe in life after death. I want to test myself fully to see if I am the atheist I think I am. So I'd probably study lots of religions and see if there's anything that tickles my fancy.”
Would you recommend people take time off as you have? “Just do what you feel. When I was in college, as in A-level time, I did do some travelling for six, seven weeks and I think that changes you. A lot of people who've done travelling between A-levels and university end up not wanting to go. Or they go travelling after university and then don't ever want to get a normal job. That's what I did. Just do what you want to do really. Enjoy it while it's there because it's gonna be over in a flash.” Siobhan Grogan
“I ACTUALLY WENT SLIGHTLY CRAZY-CRAZY, BECAUSE I DID DRINK TOO MUCH.” – SOM
Som Wijay-Wardener MY VITRIOL
Where and what did you study? “I went to UCL, where I studied Genetics. I started out in Biology, then specialised later on. I had quite a few avenues to go down. I actually wanted to go to art school. I was one of those kids who used to draw on the walls, a regular crayon demon. But in the end I decided to do something more academic.”
Why did you choose to go? “I had just broken up my last band. We had a big argument about whether we should all take a year out and try the band thing, or split up and go to university. I wanted to do music, but I was being pressured and advised and everything, and I knew how risky it was to stay in a band and earn no money.”
Were you a good student? “Studies were never my priority. I never turned up to college, and I felt so guilty about it. I'd sleep in until four every day, and if I went into lectures everyone would just look at me and giggle. The lecturer would be like, ‘Who the fuck are you?’ I still got surprisingly good marks. It was just luck, I think. But I knew my luck would eventually run out so I decided I wouldn't go on to pursue a PhD or anything. And by the end, the band started to kick off, so it was OK.”
Did you ever live in nasty student accommodation? “Yeah. In the second year I lived in this total dump in Manor House, north London. It was a nightmare. I shared with seven other people, and to cut the rent down we had to take it in turns to share bedrooms. It was disgusting, a classic student scenario; there'd be fungus growing in the corners and the washing up was never done.”
Did you take out any student loans? “Oh yeah. All of them. Every year. I owe something like seven grand and they take it in £50 lumps. It's going to take me about ten years before I'm free of it.”
What was the best thing about being a student? “Going to university isn't just an academic thing, it's a social thing. You learn so much about life. You're so used to your little circle of friends and hanging around with the same kind of people and then you get to university and there's like a million different kinds of people. It broadens your mind. You also learn how to take care of yourself. You move away from home and have to learn responsibility.”
What was the worst thing about being a student? “Having no money.”
What was the craziest thing you did at university? “You don't want to know. Actually, I probably don't even remember it. I actually went slightly crazy-crazy, because I did drink too much. I never realised how much of an effect alcohol can have on your personality. I drunk so much I got very depressed. I had split up with a girlfriend I had been with for two years when I got to college and suddenly everything kind of collapsed. I stopped doing that in my second year, and it was amazing to wake up and feel OK.”
What one moment sums up your life as a student? “Ravi (My Vitriol drummer) turning up at the college bar and asking, ‘Where's Som?’ and the answer was, ‘Under the table.’”
What's your advice for new students? “Remember the friends you make in the first week you may never see again. So don't worry about it. You'll find your own way. Just have fun.” April Long
Translator's Note: I found this in a University Guide booklet that was attached to the NME magazine issue that I got. I did a skim read through the booklet to see the best universities for students back then for good education, activities to do, the pubs and venues that were recommended, and the bands that came from within those regions.
These interviews do shed some important information to show you that even back then, your favourite musicians had their reasons in why they did or didn't pursue tertiary education. And also, what their lives were like in what we think of as that critical years of our young lives.
That said, given that it's now 2026, out of the three that were interviewed here, Matt Bellamy -who didn't even finish studying his A-levels and dropped out- ironically became the most successful musician here. Crashland broke up in 2003 and Alex Troup later moved to the US and has a band named Troup. And while My Vitriol is still active (and were the opening band for Muse during the Drones Tour residency in the O2 Arena, they haven't released much music. Which sort of shows that success doesn't really depend on tertiary education, there are so many other factors at play.
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Coming in for a landing 🛸. Artwork for 'Crashland' off The @astronotmovie 👩🚀 soundtrack. The single features legendary drummer Steve Ferrone & INXS bassist Garry Gary Beers. Written with Eric Alexandrakis, the song was mixed by producer Paul David Hager & mastered by engineer Emily Lazar of The Lodge Mastering. 'Crashland' is 1 of 11 tracks off the album & streams above.
These Incredible Geckos Crash-Land on Rainforest Trees but Don’t Fall, Thanks to Their Tails
These Incredible Geckos Crash-Land on Rainforest Trees but Don’t Fall, Thanks to Their Tails
An Asian flat-tailed house gecko, Hemidactylus platyurus. Videos of these geckos, common in the forests of Singapore, showed that their tails allow them to recover effectively from crash landings on tree trunks. Credit: Ardian Jusufi Scientists find another use for lizards’ versatile tails: stabilization after headfirst crashes. A gecko’s tail is a wondrous and versatile thing. Gecko after…
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Arcturus | Crashland