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The five-time Grammy®-nominated British artist quit the music business in the early ’90s and spent many years in Silicon Valley, where his tech company Beatnik Inc. created the ringtone synthesizer embedded in more than three billion mobile phones shipped by Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and others. Now retired from Beatnik, Dolby has returned to his native U.K. and is busy recording an album of brand new songs in a renewable energy-powered studio he built aboard a 1930s lifeboat in the garden of his beach house on England’s North Sea coast.
will accent current album A Map of the Floating City with a touch of sci-fi
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — In the wake of his critically acclaimed album A Map of the Floating City, and the groundbreaking FloatingCity.com transmedia game he co-designed, Thomas Dolby will embark on a 26-date North American tour this March, with a rather unusual vehicle in tow (pictured).
The Time Capsule is a chrome and brass-plated road trailer that seats three. With handcrafted leather and wood fittings, and complex electrical wiring that could have been designed by Nikola Tesla, it resembles a Jules Verne/HG Wells-inspired time-travel machine. Inside is a high-tech video recording suite that allows a music fan or guest artist to upload a personal video message to the Future. The Time Capsule will be parked in the street outside each venue on Dolby’s month-long North American tour, and in front of select local radio and TV stations. It will capture hundreds of 30-second clips over the course of the tour, assembling them into an online video montage.
Fans will be able to walk up and step into the Time Capsule to make their own fully produced and effected digital 30-second video clip. The clips will then be automatically uploaded and viewable on a brand-new YouTube channel
“If you had 30 seconds to explain to an alien visitor what went wrong with our civilization, what would you say?” said Thomas Dolby. “Our species may not be around on this planet much longer, so you might as well leave a welcome message for the next guys!”
The Time Capsule Tour kicks off at SXSW in Austin, TX March 12-17, and will take in 24 U.S. cities and two in Canada. A full list is at http://www.thomasdolby.com/tour, while news, merchandise and additional perks are available at the Flat Earth Society fan club. Anyone joining before January 31, 2012 will earn a free download of an exclusive three-remix Thomas Dolby EP entitled Return to Oceanea.
TOUR DATES
Fri., March 16 AUSTIN, TX SXSW
Sat., March 17 NEW ORLEANS, LA Tipitinas
Sun., March 18 ORLANDO, FL Social
Mon., March 19 BIRMINGHAM, AL Workplay (Seated)
Tues., March 20 ATLANTA, GA The Loft
Wed., March 21 GREENVILLE, SC Handlebar
Fri., March 23 ANNAPOLIS, MD Ram’s Head
Sat., March 24 PHILADELPHIA, PA World Café
Sun., March 25 ALEXANDRIA, VA Birchmere
Wed., March 28 SELLERSVILLE, PA Sellersville Theater
Thurs., March 29 NEW YORK, NY Canal Room
Fri., March 30 NORTHAMPTON, MA Iron Horse
Sat., March 31 RIDGEFIELD, CT Ridgefield Playhouse
Sun., April 1 MONTREAL, QC L’Astral
Mon., April 2 TORONTO, ON Mod Club
Wed., April 4 DETROIT, MI Royal Oak
Thurs., April 5 CHICAGO, IL Park West
Fri., April 6 MINNEAPOLIS, MN Cedar Cultural Center
Tues., April 10 VANCOUVER, BC Rio Theatre
Wed., April 11 SEATTLE, WA Showbox at the Market
Fri., April 13 SAN FRANCISCO, CA Red Devil Lounge
Sat., April 14 SACRAMENTO, CA Harlows
Mon., April 16 SAN DIEGO, CA Anthology
Tues., April 17 LOS ANGELES, CA Largo
She blinded me with ringtones! ha.. you learn something new every day.