SonicBlu Darkfold

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SonicBlu Darkfold
Dino01.jpg
SonicBlu, hard at work
Born May 19, 1972
Profession or hobby performer, singer, songwriter, author, columnist, voice actor, puppeteer, indie film maker, actor, and radio broadcaster
Species Dilophosaurus
Website
*SonicBlu's Realm

SonicBlu Darkfold, or just SonicBlu (born May 19, 1972), portrays a Dilophosaurus (dinosaur) character online, and considers himself a performer, singer, songwriter, author, columnist, voice actor, puppeteer, indie film maker, actor, and radio broadcaster. He made his first Guest of Honor (GOH) appearance at Wild Nights 2012.

At conventions, SonicBlu performs in variety shows and/or masquerades. From 2005-2007, he was a horror author and headed the Furry Writers of Ohio (FWO). In November 2005, a local movie making company granted him with yet another endeavor, which increased his interest in acting. Since 2004, SonicBlu started recording furry and non-furry parodies of popular music; his albums are available for purchase at any convention he attends. In addition to the parody productions, he also hosts a nightly classic rock and oldies internet radio show, featuring voice impersonations of his zany cast of co-hosts and celebrities, some of which appear on his puppet show, Oh! Pawpets!

Due to a back injury, SonicBlu is no longer able to work any job which requires lifting, bending, stooping, standing, or sitting still for prolonged periods of time, and thus makes his living on his many endeavors. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A.

Contents

[edit] Biography

SonicBlu officially entered the fandom in 1997, when he had begun to write stories alongside his job, mostly pertaining to manual labor work. Because he kept constantly active and athletic, SonicBlu was never the type to sit still for too long.

[edit] Dreaming in radio

While living in New Mexico, colleagues, friends, and people he would meet on a daily basis suggested to SonicBlu that he should look into radio broadcasting. Through his extensive knowledge of classic rock and oldies, naturally deep voice, and outgoing personality, he decided to create five demo tapes of his broadcasting style and his ability to provide impromptu commentaries. He worked feverishly on five demo tapes, which displayed these and many other qualities that would get him airtime for a radio show, including voice talents, celebrity impersonations, and knowledge of musical history. He set out for the only radio station in town, headed by a DJ he once knew in passing. He handed the demo tapes over to the head DJ, who took an immediate liking to the style and material being used. Unfortunately, the DJ informed him that his style and personality was "too loud for a small, quiet town," and that he should "consider taking the show to a bigger city with a bigger audience." Not knowing whether to smile or frown at the news, SonicBlu put away his desires for broadcasting, and concentrated on his regular work duties.

[edit] Joy and misfortune

SonicBlu moved from New Mexico to Baltimore, where he started becoming more interested in writing after a visit to Anthrocon in 2000. Just a few months later, SonicBlu sustained a major spinal injury at his workplace, which put him out of commission from performing hard labor jobs, and also restricted his standing and sitting times. Though he had always considered himself to be a hard worker and the only one who didn't mind doing the majority of housework, he could not stand to be completely helpless in the face of the working world.

[edit] Words and music

He began concentrating more on his writing career, and in 2003, he published his first non-furry horror novel, which was a revision of The Outer Realm -- an old manuscript he originally started in the winter of 1996. By this time, he wrote eight furry stories, and was already beginning work on his second non-furry horror novel. A full year later marked the finalization of Brandish Mountain. SonicBlu is currently considering the release of his longer works of fiction with two separate publishers. His shorter works of literature -- including quarterly articles -- can be seen regularly in the horror magazines Night to Dawn and Wicked Karnival. Online magazines such as Naked Snake Online and Dark Walls have also featured his poetry.

SonicBlu did not stop at these writings. During Mephit Furmeet 2003, he met with a PlanetFurry moderator, who mentioned a story-posting forum he may have found interesting. Later that weekend, he also learned of the community's radio broadcaster server, which caught SonicBlu's immediate attention and re-opened the door of opportunity on one of his many dream jobs.

A few months later, SonicBlu started the Time Machine Show, which was based on the five demo tapes he made years ago. The show has been running for what would have been two solid years, but he was forced to take a nine-month hiatus due to lack of income to pay for an internet connection. During his downtime, SonicBlu concentrated on whatever paying projects he could find, which came from a few regular submissions made to horror magazines that continue to feature his literature. The Time Machine Show returned to internet radio with a new time schedule, and it still runs to this day. The show is aired via Shoutcast on weeknights from 10:00 PM to 3:00 AM Eastern time.

At times, SonicBlu will resort to celebrity impersonations to produce a more realistic feel of sending his listeners back in time to the prime ages of classic rock & roll. He is also known to provide voice talents for the show's comic relief.

[edit] Celebrities take an interest

SonicBlu plans to arrange live phone-in interviews with actual celebrities on his show. Some of the celebrities that have appeared on the Time Machine Show via phone-in include:

Other celebrities that have expressed interest in being interviewed live on the show, but have yet to appear as a guest include Gary Lewis (Jery Lewis' son, and front man for the rock group Gary Lewis & The Playboys), Wanda Jackson (The Queen of Rockabilly), Whimsical Will (Demented News broadcaster on the Dr. Demento Show), and Jimmy Weldon (Yakky Doodle voice actor from the Yogi Bear Show), to name a few. Many other celebrities SonicBlu met with (and most cases, befriended) have contributed a 15 - 30 second radio spot to be played between songs and commercials.

[edit] Friends and performances

After his visit to Anthrocon 2004, he met with furry artist David Von Foxkin for the first time, where he welcomed the newcomer into the convention crowd by getting his fursuiting friends to surround him in an ever-growing group hug (furpile). Seeing how happy it made Foxkin, SonicBlu kept in touch with him on a regular basis.

A few months later, SonicBlu attended Mephit Furmeet, where he considered performing during karaoke night. His plans fell through: he got up enough courage right before the crew was ready to break down the equipment. With disappointment in his heart, he returned home, where he began to collect instrumental backing tracks to popular music. He practiced his poetic writing skills, audio mixing abilities, and singing voice to produce his own parody songs.

The first song he recorded was a tribute to Foxkin's "furpile" moment, entitled Pile of Furries (a parody of Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash). Many more parodies were written -- one after the other -- before he realized he had enough material to fill at least three albums. SonicBlu put his writings aside momentarily to work on honing his singing/songwriting abilities, and ended up recording, mixing, and producing his first four albums, which included coming up with cover designs for each of them.

[edit] Film Making and the Oh! Pawpets! Show

In 2005, his friend Siege shone a light upon the opportunity for him to appear in a horror film that was being locally shot. He was included with the cast in a matter of a few days, and went on to offer his insight and acting/voice talents for the film. The movie is entitled Wormwood.

By Spring of 2009, SonicBlu was introduced into the world of puppetry by Wolfdog, who ran sound and video for PA Pets Live. Having provided voice acting talents on his own radio show, SonicBlu had plenty of voices to provide for the newly formed Oh! Pawpets! Show, which continued where PA Pets Live left off. To this date, SonicBlu provides voices for and operates over twenty different puppets.

As the seasons for Oh! Pawpets! continued on, SonicBlu started involving the show into its own productions, where all the pre-filmed footage is shot. Oh! Pawpets! Pwoductions' first full length motion picture was Paw II (a complete re-write of the Saw movie series, done to puppets) which was a sequel to the series of short videos that aired on the Oh! Pawpets! Show the previous year. Oh! Pawpets! Pwoductions are planning on re-filming Paw I to better coincide with the story line to its sequel.

[edit] Furry bibliography

  • A Tailor's Honor
  • Stewart Gordon
  • The Gorokk Trilogy (Anthology)
  • Miko's Fire
  • Kamara's War
  • Gorokk's Peace
  • Insurrection of the Werewolf
  • The Magic of Zhane Tarnsworth
  • Furry of Darkness (Anthology)
  • Howl Three Times By Midnight
  • Challenging the Gods
  • The Ring of Kraig
  • Of Wilderness and Mystical Might
  • Beast of the Blood-Red Sands

[edit] Non-furry bibliography

  • The Outer Realm (First Pressing) (Novel, Trafford)
  • The Outer Realm (Second Pressing) (Novel, Raccoon's Bookshelf)
  • Brandish Mountain (Novel, pending release)
  • The Little Vampire (Poem, Night to Dawn, issue #6)
  • Death's Hands (Poem, Naked Snake Press, March 2004)
  • Birds of Prey (Poem, Dark Walls, spring 2004)
  • Belly of the Beast (Poem, Dark Walls, spring 2004)
  • Voices (Poem, Dark Walls, spring 2004)
  • Demonic Doom (Poem, Dark Walls, summer 2004)
  • My Goblet of Gold (Poem, Dark Walls, summer 2004)
  • A Damsel's Passing: A Tribute to the Late Fay Wray (Poem, Dark Walls, summer 2004)
  • They Always Come Home (Poem, Dark Walls, summer 2004)
  • Otrava: The Vampire of Venom (Poem, Night to Dawn, issue #7)
  • Family Blood Flows Thicker (Short Story, Night to Dawn, issue #9)

[edit] Interviews and articles

Pending Publication:

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Year Album
2004 Fur Folks & Fun
2005 Sprout Your Fur
2006 Keep Frozen Until Ready To Use
2007 Four on the Floor...And Ready to Roll
2008 Who's Naughty, Who's Nice: The Best of SonicBlu Vol. 1: Mundane's Annonymous
2008 Who's Furry, Who's Flesh: The Best of SonicBlu Vol. 2: Furry Frenzy
2010 Oh! Pawpets! presents: Bwing's Twansfowmation: The Official Soundtwack
2011 Oh! Chwistmas!

[edit] Singles

Year Title Album
2004 The Pile Of Furries b/w Gimme One Reason to Fursuit Fur, Folks, & Fun
2004 Yerf! I Feel Like a Furry! b/w Making A Fursuit Fur, Folks, & Fun
2005 Welcome to McDonalds b/w Rudy Sprout Your Fur
2005 We're Still the Furs b/w I'm a Furry One Sprout Your Fur
2005 Landing on Boardwalk b/w Sprout Your Fur Sprout Your Fur
2006 Soft to Cuddle b/w Sweet Childs A-Fryin' Keep Frozen Until Ready to Use
2006 Artist's Alley b/w Ice Within your Veins Keep Frozen Until Ready to Use
2006 Tail After Tail b/w Don't Stop the Fandom Keep Frozen Until Ready to Use
2006 The Furry b/w Summer of Y2K Keep Frozen Until Ready to Use
2006 Snowman b/w Butterball Keep Frozen Until Ready to Use
2006 The Jack the Ripper Trilogy (Maxi-Single) Four on the Floor...And Ready to Roll
2007 It's a Fur's Life b/w Cozy Little Thing Called Fur Four on the Floor...And Ready to Roll
2007 Bathroom on the Right b/w Con of the West Coast Bay Four on the Floor...And Ready to Roll
2007 Whore in my Lap b/w Welcome to McDonalds (Live) Four on the Floor...And Ready to Roll
2011 Fursuit Head b/w Walk Upright SonicBlu Darkfold NOW
2012 My Fursuit's On Fire b/w 15 Minutes to Go SonicBlu Darkfold NOW

[edit] Songs

Welcome to McDonalds
Welcome to McDonalds Single.jpg
The cover for the CD single "Welcome to McDonalds", taken in front of a McDonalds restaurant in 2007 in Kansas City, KS
Artist SonicBlu Darkfold
Released January 2005
Format CD single
Recorded July 2004
Genre Filk
Length 4:28
Label Time Machine Records

Welcome to McDonalds is a filk song written and performed by SonicBlu Darkfold and parodies the song Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N' Roses. This song was first written by SonicBlu in 1991 at the Cambridge Coffee House in Newhall, California after a full night of bowling in a nearby bowling alley with his neighbor and his neighbor's then girlfriend. The conversation between the three of them led to their possible wedding, and several pictures of rings and champagne glasses were drawn on sheets of paper, which led to them drawing pictures of 7-Eleven employees using the drawings of wedding rings for their heads. Out of keeping with the silliness of the group, SonicBlu procured the score sheet from their bowling game and jotted down the lyrics to Welcome to McDonalds. The original lyric sheet is still kept in SonicBlu's bowling bag for posterity and stored in a garage in Lompoc, California. The song itself was not put to music until 2004 when SonicBlu recorded and mixed the song for release on his new album Sprout Your Fur in 2005. This song was performed on stage at Anthrocon 2006 with the aid of his furry friends including David Von Foxkin and Babs Bunny. in Columbus, Ohio SonicBlu performs this song live at various Karaoke bars around the city, and it has become the most requested Karaoke rendition by DJs and fans alike.

The Jack the Ripper Trilogy
Jacktrilogy.jpg
Cover for the Maxi-single "Jack the Ripper Trilogy" featuring a blood-stained SonicBlu standing before a backdrop of a collage of Jack the Ripper letters.
Artist SonicBlu Darkfold
Released November 2006
Format CD Maxi-Single
Recorded October 2006
Genre Filk
Label Time Machine Records

The Jack the Ripper Trilogy consisted of three songs that appear on the album Four on the Floor...And Ready to Roll released by filk artist SonicBlu Darkfold. The songs consisted of Whitechapel Nightmare (a parody of Rhythm of the Rain by The Cascades), Saucy Jack is Gone (a parody of Here I Go Again by Whitesnake), and Eyes of a Killer (a parody of Eyes of a Stranger by Queensryche, with two extra tracks for the featured contest and one hidden bonus track appearing on SonicBlu's traditional 69th track number. This maxi-single was only released for a very short time, as it was only meant as a means of promoting the forthcoming album. The maxi-single came accompanied by an audio contest, in which the listener received instructions for the contest on Track 4, and instructed his listeners to listen to a re-enactment of a search for Jack the Ripper on Track 5. The winning entries were awarded a free copy of the limited first print run editions of the new album, in which only ten copies were made, and came encased in red-tinted jewel cases. The contest ended on Midnight, December 31, 2006, and anyone who was able to return a winning CD to SonicBlu via the address mentioned would have been awarded a free copy of the new album on the day of its release. The maxi-single only underwent one print run in which only fifty copies were printed. Out of the fifty copies of the maxi-single, only ten CDs were marked as winning contest entries. The final released print run of the Four on the Floor album covers were then placed in solid clear CD jewel cases without the red tint to differentiate them from the first print run. The cover of the CD depicts SonicBlu covered with blood splotches and standing before a backdrop featuring the original Jack the Ripper letters that were written by the serial killer himself. When asked why SonicBlu recorded a tribute to Jack the Ripper, he replied, "My friend David Kaffinetti (keyboardist of the group Spinal Tap) and I were talking about Spinal Tap's own tribute to Saucy Jack and whatever happened to it. (David) told me that it was merely only used in random conversation toward the end of (This is Spinal Tap) and they had no intention of actually recording it. I mentioned to him that I have ideas for not one, but three songs to contribute, which should make up for a Saucy Jack no-show from Spinal Tap. David was all for it, and when the maxi-single was done, David received the first copy. I don't think it was a winning entry, since he never sent it back to me, which either means he enjoyed it too much, it was not a contest winner, or he just hadn't listened to it yet." As of January 1, 2007, no further copies of this maxi-single were printed, and is deemed out of print.

Bathroom on the Right
Bathroom on the Right Single.jpg
The cover for the single Bathroom on the Right (feat. Bar Hoppin' Bill)
Artist SonicBlu Darkfold
Released June 2007
Format CD single
Recorded October 2006
Genre Filk
Length 2:18
Label Time Machine Records

Bathroom on the Right is the third single released from the filk album Four on the Floor...And Ready to Roll by SonicBlu Darkfold. This song's inspiration is based from the common mistake people often hear when listening to the original song Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival, so in late 2006, SonicBlu was in the midst of writing and recording songs for the new album and figured that if nobody else has done a true Bathroom on the Right parody by this time, he should be the first to actually put it to music and release it on an album. Better yet, SonicBlu decided to let his character Bar Hoppin' Bill provide the vocals for the song and base the lyrics off of a busy bathroom at a bar during "happy hour". Recording the song took about 4 takes in order to get the Bar Hoppin' Bill voice to get into tune with the backing track, since this was the first time SonicBlu ever recorded a song in a different voice. The B-side of this single is Con of the West Coast Bay, a parody of the song House of the Rising Sun by The Animals, which would give another furry convention a song to call their own, as he has done with his first album Fur Folks & Fun. The cover features the outside of a public bathroom with the typical stick-figure sign adorning the entrance, and the male stick figure seeming to have jumped off the sign (leaving behind a trace outlining where he was) and getting ready to head inside to use the toilet.

Landing on Boardwalk
Boardwalk Single.jpg
The cover for the CD single "Landing on Boardwalk" depicting SonicBlu's MeddleBear character standing on the Boardwalk space on a traditional Monopoly board and holding a pair of dice in his paw.
Artist SonicBlu Darkfold
Released July 2005
Format CD single
Recorded October 2004
Genre Filk
Label Time Machine Records

Landing on Boardwalk (a parody of Under the Boardwalk by The Drifters) is the third single released from the 2005 album Sprout Your Fur by filk recording artist SonicBlu Darkfold. The single is backed with the title track of the album Sprout Your Fur, a parody of Spread Your Wings by Queen. The song features spoken vocals by Spyke Tyranno during the instrumental bridge, where is heard the sound effects of Spyke and SonicBlu rolling dice and moving game tokens around on a Ouija Board to give the impression of the duo playing a game of Monopoly.

Snowman
Snowman Single2.jpg
The cover for the CD single "Snowman", depicting a snowman body built around MeddleBear, leaving only his snow-covered head and arms for the top portion, wearing a black scarf, and having a carrot stick for a nose.
Artist SonicBlu Darkfold
Released June 2006
Format CD single
Recorded November 2005
Genre Filk
Length 2:48
Label Time Machine Records

Snowman is the fifth single released from the 2006 filk album Keep Frozen Until Ready To Use by SonicBlu Darkfold. During the recording of this song, SonicBlu was going through a bad cold, and his scratchy throat and stuffed-up nose can be distinctly heard in the vocals. SonicBlu decided to leave the song the way it is to help better elaborate the wintry effect of the song's snowy theme. The song is a parody of Soul Man by Sam & Dave.

The song was first played before a crowd during Midwest FurFest 2005 shortly after the song was first recorded, and would have worked out well for an immediate single release to promote the forthcoming album, but the B-side to this single hasn't been recorded at that time. Despite being the first song recorded for the third album, the release of Snowman was put on hold until the end of that year, due to the single's wintry theme. The B-side of this single is Butterball, a parody of Wonderwall by the group Oasis, and a dialogue between SonicBlu and the voice of one of his Time Machine Show characters "The Mad Cajun" can be heard through the song's extended outro.

[edit] Filmography

  • Wormwood (2006)
  • Paw II (2012)

[edit] External links

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NOTE: Retrieving sonicblu.net links on 15Nov2008 shows that the domain has been cybersquatted.

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