RealAudio interview with the guys building the BB's CD-ROM.
It's two in the AM and Philip Fierlinger is carrying a box with a pair of MCA Adam Yauch basketball shoes, a giant kung fu poster and a Luscious Jackson LP through Grand Royal Records in Glendale, California. Upon entering the adjacent G-Son studios, he climbs up the wall with tacks in hand and starts to hang the posters. In five hours, a photo crew will haul a lighting rig and camera equipment in to shoot the small space in QuicktimeVR, a virtual reality photography technique. Philip's mission today is to transform the Beastie Boys' studio from a practical recording space into a navigable image filled with hot spots that launch videos and sounds.
Check it out.
Adjacent to the recording studio is a basketball court and half-pipe. Philip's brother, Peter, is cautiously riding a skateboard around the floor, avoiding boxes of Beastie t-shirts and baseball hats. Philip asks Peter's advice on the placement of a Jimi Hendrix poster. Peter follows him and says "Naw, you'll never be able to see that up there, it'll be too dark." The brothers discuss lighting for a few minutes and return to the offices to search for more paraphenalia. In the hall, they bump into Bob Mack who is busy producing Grand Royal Magazine. They all decide on a quick bong hit before getting back to work.
Philip and Peter Fierlinger are a two-man crew sometimes known as Turntable Media. They are currently developing an enhanced CD (or CD+, an audio CD with a multimedia portion) for Grand Royal and the Beastie Boys. The San Francisco Multimedia Gulch-based duo has been working on the title since February. The project has had a succession of working titles, including Space Dust, but the current choice seems to be Breakin in Space. Regardless of titles, everyone involved wants a Christmas ship date.
So who tapped in to the digital side of the vinyl-loving rap trio?
A young man in Indiana named Ian Rogers started a web site dedicated to the band in April of last year. On his own time and direction he created one of the most well designed, comprehensive web sites ever dedicated to a band. Fans can search the Beastie's discography, find the source of samples used in songs and download hard-to-find audio and video clips.
One day Beastie management called Rogers up. Ian thought he had a lawsuit coming his way. Instead, he had a job touring with the band.
Philip Fierlinger was also a fan who had digital B-Boyz ideas. Philip was working for Capitol records on the preliminary stages of a Megadeath web site. He sent some email to Ian praising the site and asking about plans for a Beastie's CD-ROM.
"He called me back two minutes later, it was frightening." They discussed a grassroots, independent-style CD-ROM that would benefit Milarepa, an organization that the Beasties set up to educate about the problems in Tibet and to lend aid. A portion of the profits from the CD will go to Milarepa.
