Tag Archives: Peter Reid

Even a robot band needs a space tour bus

I finally realised why Daft Punk decided to retire a few months ago. There is a new robot band in town. Meet Solid State, a four-piece robotic pop group from the future. Serving in the LEGO Classic Space fleet aboard a remote outpost, they overrode their programming and abandoned their boring jobs. Instead of becoming murder-bots, they did what all young insurgent mechanoids should do: unleash their creative circuits in crafting music that explores life from a mechanical perspective. In other words, “beep beep beep.” Classic Space robot expert and Solid State groupie Tim Goddard even built a tour bus to help Solid State travel to perform at gigs. It totally matches the band’s brand – grey, mechanical, and goes beep beep beep. Most importantly, there is ample room in the back for the whole band plus all their equipment. While it’s not the most luxurious vehicle that musicians and space influencers like to flaunt, it’s perfect for the up-and-coming group.

Solid State tour bus

Beep is Solid State’s debut single, as seen in the beautifully made LEGO stop-motion music video below. The song is upbeat and catchy, and exactly what you would expect from robots. It’s all performed by LEGO Space legend Peter Reid and fellow space builders Jeremy Williams, Drew Hamilton, and Chris Salt, who built the band and their equipment.

Solid State consists of: Keko (Peter Reid, vocals/guitar/synths), Mason (Jeremy Williams, decks/vocals/programming), Wami (Drew Hamilton, bass/keys), and Biz (Chris Salt, drums). A four song EP Zeros and Ones will be released later this year, and I for one, am very excited for more robot noises!

In space, no one can hear you scream

These Cryo Pods built by Peter Reid evoke the eerie feeling of Ridley Scott’s Alien hiding in the corner ready to pounce. The abundant use of grey paired with dramatic lighting gives off the feelings of being far away from earth and long travel in cold reaches of space. The scene is built with almost no LEGO studs visible, which also tricks our minds to believe that this could be larger than what it actually is — at first glance almost close to a movie-scale prop.

Cryo Pods

LEGO Space: Building the Future [Book Review]

We had previously mentioned the release of Peter Reid & Tim Goddard’s book, LEGO Space: Building the Future, published by No Starch Press. Well it has been a few months since the book was released, and I finally got around to finish reading it with my son and felt it was time for a review.

Lego Space: Building the Future

Let me start by saying that this has to be the highest quality fan-created LEGO book I have yet to lay my geeky hands on. From cover to cover, the quality of photography and overall style is absolutely top notch. You really can tell that this was a labour of love for everyone involved.

I actually had pre-ordered the book on Amazonso received it as soon as it was available, however, I purchased it to give to my 6 year old son for Christmas. I didn’t want to read through it before he got a chance so reluctantly put it away for almost 2 months. I think I was just as excited as he was about opening it up Christmas morning. For the week or so following Christmas, I would find Tate flipping through the book quite often. He is reading now on his own, but the amount of text in the book was a bit overwhelming for him. However, that certainly didn’t stop him from staring in wonder at all the beautiful photographs. He even promptly built his own turtle from the instructions provided (and added some spacemen with laser snowboards for good measure).

Untitled

The thing that sets this book apart for me is that it reads as a fantastic story throughout the history of space travel, and far into the future. It’s a science fiction novel illustrated with rockin’ LEGO models. Throughout the telling of the book, photographs of LEGO spaceships, alien landscapes, and space stations illustrate the story. And instructions are included for many of the models so the reader can build their own. I found it incredibly entertaining and inspiring to read through, and Tate even more so. As a family of LEGO spacers, I know this book will be read and re-read for years to come. The pictures on their own would inspire any right minded LEGO maniac to build SPACE!, but when coupled with the fantastic story it kicks that inspiration to a whole other level.

So needless to say I highly recommend this book whether you are a 30 something man-child like myself, or need a fantastic and inspiring gift for a child in your life.

Also check out this brilliant Trailer by Chris Salt.

Please follow the links below to buy your own copy and help The Brothers Brick at the same time: