Until fellow songwriter Dan mentioned, I had never even heard the word "steampunk". Wikipedia tells us a bit about the origins of steampunk, but more important than the origins to us here at the SA, is that Dan will attempt to do something not done before. Here's Dan in his own words:
Okay, better late than never, right? Hello, Songwriting Apples!
My name is Dan, and this month I will be attempting to create three or more songs in a new genre, if such a thing exists any more.
I am writing a gothic horror storylined song cycle involving mad scientists and brains, and the genre I am hoping to be able to apply to them is "steampunk". Now, if you don't know what steampunk is, I suppose the simplest explanation would be to think of the modern world if we were still in Victorian times. If we had the technology we have, but it had merely evolved from steam-powered technologies of the day. William Gibson was involved in a book entitled The Difference Engine which is seen as something of the birth of steampunk.
There are bands out there who use steampunk as a genre, notably Abney Park, however (and not to trash-talk) I feel that their steampunk influence is purely visual. I do not deny that they provide a wonderfully begoggled and top-hatted, brass-sheen spectacle, however the music is fairly well within the industrial genre - which is, I feel, the right place to start. After all, steam punk is all about industrial - just not modern industrial. Imagine a guitar amplifier as a huge brass contraption with brightly lit valves atop it, glowing like mechanised firelies in an attempt to create a distortion from steam. Think of a drum machine as a giant contraption of cogs and gears which literally plays the drums.
This is the genre in which I hope to create three songs by June.
-Dan
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