SonicBlu Darkfold

July 27, 2024

SonicBlu Darkfold, or just SonicBlu (real name Brett Blumfield; born May 19, 1972), is an artist that portrays a Dilophosaurus (dinosaur) character online who lives in Columbus, Ohio, USA. He made his first Guest of Honor (GOH) appearance at Wild Nights 2012.

Fandom involvement
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.

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!

Broadcasting
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.

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.

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 7 in 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.

Time Machine Show
A few months later, SonicBlu started the Time Machine Show, which was based on the five demo tapes he made years ago.

The Time Machine Show is an online radio broadcast which features classic rock and oldies from the 50's, 60's, 70's, and early 80's. The show began in October 2003 and is hosted by SonicBlu. Music played includes classic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, doo-wop, rockabilly, psychedelic, pop, folk music, blues, jazz, and soul. The show is co-hosted by a wise-cracking drunkard named Bar Hoppin' Bill and a retired Vietnam War sergeant major named Mad Cajun. The Time Machine Show usually runs from 10:00 PM until approximately 3:00 AM EST. The show has even been known to occasionally run until 7:00 AM.

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.

Celebrities take an interest
Some of the celebrities that have appeared on the Time Machine Show via phone-in include:
 * Eddy Medora (Former lead guitarist/vocalist of The Sunrays)
 * David Kaffinetti (Keyboardist for 60s group Rare Bird and the mock group Spinal Tap)
 * Christopher Young (Musical composer for films such as The Grudge, Exorcism of Emily Rose, and Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge)
 * Fat Momma (Final contestant on season 1 of Who Wants to Be a Superhero?'' on the Sci-Fi Channel)

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.

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. As of 2017, SonicBlu provides voices for and operates over sixty-seven different puppet characters.

As the seasons for Oh! Pawpets! continued on into 2010, SonicBlu started involving the show into its own productions, where all the pre-filmed footage is shot. Some notable segments involve parodies of popular television shows and films, which include The Pawpets Court, Pawpet Idol, The Dogfather, Whose Line Is It Anyway, and Are You Smarter Than A Doofus. Also included in the show's lineup are original segments such as Cooking with SonicBlu, Food Vs. Crew, Consumer Reports, Talent Search, and Fox Talk. Beginning in 2011, Oh! Pawpets! Pwoductions' first full length motion picture was filmed and released, and produced the film 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's Halloween special in the previous year.

In 2014, the Oh! Pawpets! crew fell under very hard times, and was unable to reside in their Gustavus Lane location in Columbus, and were forced to move, which caused the group to separate, leaving SonicBlu to set up his new studio in Pennsylvania. Since the move, the group had to resort to broadcasting the Oh! Pawpets! live shows via webcam and Skype calls, where SonicBlu performs ventriloquism acts with a random pick of puppet characters each week.

Over the years, the Oh! Pawpets! Show has inducted the aid of many supporting actors to perform during the live shows, which included Sajin Candour Flux and Rune the Wolf (seasons 2, 4, and 5), Max Degroot (season 3), Mike Stanley (season 6), and Whitefire Nomura (season 8).

Interviews and articles

 * Interview: Ben Chapman (Actor: Creature from the Black Lagoon - 1954) - Wicked Karnival #4
 * Article: Ouija Boards: Paranormal Reality or a Subconscious Mind Trick? - Wicked Karnival #5
 * Interview: Bob Clark (Director: A Christmas Story - 1983; Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things - 1972) - ''Wicked Karnival #6
 * Article: Strange Case of the Living Doll - Wicked Karnival #6
 * Interview: Claudia Pennington (CEO: Key West Arts and Historical Society) - ''Wicked Karnival #6

Furry

 * SonicBlu Darkfold's books (furry)

Albums

 * SonicBlu Darkfold's albums

Singles

 * SonicBlu Darkfold's song singles

Filmography

 * SonicBlu Darkfold's films