The Cybertronic Spree’s Ravage Review

Hi, this is Dan Gilbazan, and you're listening

to the GeekCast Radio Network. Rocking and rolling

with Savage Ravage! Mike? Yes? Hello? Yeah, uh,

what are you doing here? Well, I'm here to talk

about the power of rock! Yeah, the power that

compels us, right? Yeah, there you go. The power

of rock compels you! Yes, that's right. So this

is a crossover between the Mike's cyber radio

podcast and of course geek cast radio I'm of

course to June Mike. He is Mike's cybered of

the MSRP and we are here tonight to talk about

Ravage from a spray. That's right. Oh that old

line from blaster. I guess we're rocking and

rolling with Savage Ravage that was Think it

was from I know obviously it's generation. I

want to say it's like one of the first five episodes

I think it's actually probably more than meets

the eye when they capture him that sounds about

right. I think I don't know 40 years who the

hell remembers these things So Mike and I contributed

to the Cybertronic spree Kickstarter. Oh god.

What was that two years ago a year ago? I don't

even remember now. It's been at least a year

and yeah We've had this album so long I I had

to revisit it to really kind of get back into

it cuz like I uh I don't know how much we want

to talk about kind of the the history of Cybertronix

brie and why for those that don't know we should

probably break it down a little bit sure So I

knew them basically because they were the transformers

Rock band co I don't want to say cover, but I

mean they do covers, but they I don't I don't

how would you describe them? Well, basically

they it is kind of difficult to describe one

that they're at their core. They're a rock band

and musically they do rock music in the style

of The transformers the movie soundtrack and

other 80s nostalgia properties so, you know at

their shows and on their videos they do a lot

of covers of old classic TV theme songs aside

from the transformer stuff, but at the end of

it They, they are the robots in disguise. You

know, you got, you got rumble and a quintesson

and RC and sound wave and even the chaos bringer

himself, Unicron, along with bumblebee, hot rod

and shock wave. So they're, they are a, a very

large band of robots in disguise and what I think

they're most known for Certainly in transformers

fandom but i think even outside of that because

they have had some crossover. Breakthroughs as

well like their their cover of barracuda by heart

as well as immigrant song from lead zeppelin

of both of those videos when pretty viral in

fact you know something has gone viral outside

of your own fandom. When people outside of the

fandom, like friends and family and things like

that, send them to you. Like I had like my uncle

send me the immigrant song song. It's like, Oh,

you're into transformers. You should like this.

And I'm like, yes, yes. I'm, I'm very much aware.

Yeah, exactly. Um, my, uh, my history with the

spree goes a little further back in that, um,

You know, I I was immediately taken with them

one with their their aesthetic and their vibe

and the fact that their primary focus of content

was covering the songs of the Transformers the

movie soundtrack and so obviously Transformers

the movie means a whole lot to me and a large

component of why that movie is so special to

me is because of the soundtrack. So you have

this delightfully Canadian band of robots from

cyber Toronto doing just killer cover versions

of these songs. Of course, I'm going to take

notice of it. But this was around I want to say

either 2015 or 2016. I don't remember which off

the top of my head. But but yeah, it was like

six years ago. And cyber tracks free put out

their first original song it was a song called

cyber tronic warrior and they had a music video

to go with it and at the time i was a college

dj on radio station kgrg out of green river college

in auburn washington and so. um it's we played

today's rock it was a brand new song so it's

the rock of today it's today's rock i um uh i

reached out to them via social media and asked

them for a interview i had i had played the song

on my show a number of times and i thought it

would be fun to interview the cybertronic spree

and i don't know how much of the uh myth and

legend of the spree we're we're going to be able

to maintain during this this conversation but

the the um not gimmick i don't want to say gimmick

because that that's that's uh diminutive but

um the the conceit with the the cybertronic spree

as they are the transformers they are the characters

that they um appear to be and their manager,

a really cool cat named Sean, uh, let me know

about that. He's like, just so you know, when

you talk to these, these robots on the phone,

they are who they perform as. And I, I've talked

about this on my show before on Mike cyber radio,

but like, it is one of the most difficult interviews

I ever did because it was, um, a challenge. for

me to figure out how to talk to Hot Rod and RC

and Rumble as the characters and not necessarily

as musicians performing as those characters.

So I kind of ran into some stumbling blocks and

then also kind of being part of Transformers

fandom, I'm just like, where do they fit into

continuity? What continuity do they belong to?

Because part of it, is that Transformers the

movie from 1986 is a documentary of their lives,

basically. That's the other conceit when you

participate with the Spree. So it was a little

bit of a challenge, but it was a whole lot of

fun. I really enjoyed Rumble talking about how

it gets crowded living in. Soundwaves tape mode,

cassette recorder mode, and things like that.

And, you know, how Hot Rod just, you know, he

had to get rid of the Matrix, give it back to

Optimus so he could live that hot rockin' lifestyle.

And so it was a really fun conversation. So that's

kind of the beginning of my history with Cybertronic

Spree. But I, you know, I watched their career

with great interest. And then back in 2019, they

were set out to go on their first major tour.

Now, as I mentioned before, they hail from Cyber

Toronto. So they would do shows like in the Chicago

area and the Toronto area, but really nothing

outside of kind of like the Northeast. So living

in the Pacific Northwest and in Seattle, not

really something that was gonna be on the radar,

but then they announced that they were gonna

do a tour, the party till we break tour for 2019.

And if 2019 sounds like a great year to see a

concert, you would think it would be, but then

that led into 2020. And then we're just now getting

over three years of two weeks to flatten the

curve and COVID. really torpedoed the tour and

their output. And I think finally, the show that

was meant to happen in Seattle in late 2019,

I think it was supposed to be around Thanksgiving

time, I ended up seeing like in like spring of

2021. And it was the first concert I had gone

to since kind of like restrictions and lockdowns

had lifted. um to the point where like i mean

we're it was still in the point of uh covid where

we're still wearing masks inside concert venues

um that kind of thing and so that was kind of

a it was kind of an interesting experience um

but good god what a terrific show it was it was

worth the wait and i i'm glad that um i had the

opportunity to see them live and it was in a

small uh venue so i'm basically like right up

there uh right up on stage next to them and man

they uh they they just put on a hell of a show

lots of fun and the thing also to keep in mind

with Cybertronix Bree is that yes the the costuming

is is awesome but the musics the musicmanship

the the musicality of you know they're they're

playing they They are a terrific band and a really

rocking band that puts on, again, an incredibly

fun show, while, and again, kind of breaking

that fourth wall a little bit, while in these

elaborate and heavy costumes. So they're playing

as hard as heavy as any other rock band with

all of this gear on. So it makes it that much

more commendable. What they do so i've i've i've

been ride or die for for the spree of for for

quite a long time they they did a kickstarter.

Oh gosh what was it in 2019 yeah yeah it was

a it was a it was before the. The tour tour announcement

and basically they did a fully produced studio

cover album. of the Transformers the movie soundtrack

they called it Transformers 1986 and it's it's

a phenomenal album and the thing that's fun about

covers is that it provides new context for your

favorite songs like I I went through a phase

where I Think and and I still kind of do in a

sense. So so dare is my favorite song off of

the Transformers the movie soundtrack the the

Stan Bush version and I think I like the Cybertronix

brie version just a little better because when

you have the the tandem duo of both hot rod and

RC on lead vocals they turn it into a duet of

sorts, where there's kind of like a call and

response going on to it that isn't there in the

Stan Bush version. And I love that extra new

flavor and texture that's added to a song that

I've known and have been in love with for the

last 35 years. So it's cool to have something

new and fresh and different. But that was their

first Kickstarter and it was... I think successful

beyond their wildest imaginations. I remember

the goal for it was incredibly low. And I think

like on day one, they had already doubled whatever

their funding goal was. So I think it was at

that point when they realized how voracious the

fan base was. I remember being... um a little

upset and a little disappointed because I I wanted

to back at the at the highest level and what

and whatever the highest level was um there was

only like say like 25 backers and that was gone

in less than 10 minutes and I missed out um and

it's funny because like I I have that and one

one of those highest level backers has you know

you get your name like in the in the liner notes

and every time I look at it I see that my name

is not in there and I'm like ah darn it I really

missed out but because I mean I'm such a fan

and I love supporting this band so much so then

they do the new Kickstarter for their album of

all original songs, the album we're going to

talk about. This is a long, long preamble for

all of that just to get us here. But basically

it's a, I remember when I talked to them six

years ago and said, well, hey man, Cybertronic

Warrior is terrific, but would you guys ever

considered? doing more original stuff. And the

answer was kind of boilerplate, like, oh, yeah,

we're always working on stuff. You know, we would

like to do something more original in the future.

But, you know, we're kind of kind of concentrating

on doing shows and all of this other stuff. And

we'll get back to it. Well, six years later,

they drop the Kickstarter for a original album

Ravage. And it's it's phenomenal. It's it's everything

we were waiting for. Yeah, it's one of those

things where, like you were saying about the

cover, which I need to find a copy of the cover.

I didn't back the original Transformers 86 album,

so I need to find that. But yeah, it's one of

those things where I've heard their covers of

the songs before and I like them enough, but

I wasn't like super die -hard, like I wasn't

like following them around or I wasn't following

every move they made kind of thing. However,

I took notice in the midst of the pandemic when

they're like, when we were whatever, you know,

when they're like, Hey, by the way, guess what?

All new original. I'm like, Oh, okay. And I looked

through besides of my budget that I could afford

to pledge to. I'm like, okay, I looked through

all the tiers and I'm like, okay, I can't do

any of the high, high tiers. So I'm like, okay,

I can do the $75 tier, obviously 15 bucks shipping,

et cetera, et cetera. So I ended up paying like

90 bucks or so. And my thing was I wanted the

CD and I wanted the USB because I wanted to have

the files on my computer for Spotify or whatever

kind of thing. I've got the CD, it's right here.

I've got the patch, I've got all the stickers.

The USB transforms into a ravage. So it's you

know It's kind of a cool little little thing

to have on a shelf So so that's that's awesome.

And yeah, these songs man, they rock The 80s

are not dead. They they live on Cybertron Well,

and I think that's a terrific way to describe

it because, you know, I was kind of struggling

to describe their music style earlier. And it's

it's basically 80s flavored power rock, you know,

kind of hair metal arena rock type of thing with,

you know, huge guitars, huge synthesizers. Everything

is big and and big, bright production value.

And it And of course, wailing vocals. One of

the things that I like about this album, which

is a little bit of a departure from their cover

of Transformers 1986, is that they give R .C.

way more to do. She's basically the lead singer

at this point. Whereas in Transformers 1986,

it's mostly hot rod. with a lot of RC and backup.

And of course, you know, she leads a lot of the

more iconic songs like like instruments of destruction

and things like that. But this is more ravage

is is certainly more of a playground for her

to really cut loose. And and she has just got

a a phenomenal rock singer voice, just just an

amazing singing voice. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah,

so there's ten there's eleven tracks here Yeah,

and the only one I'll say this to get this out

of the way and it is what it is The only one

I wasn't too thrilled with was the last track

Mechanical Maelstrom because it's just an instrumental

now. I love instrumental music I love all kinds

of soundtrack scores and things like that, but

it wasn't what I was Expecting from them at all.

I wasn't just expecting instrumentals from them.

But the other 10 tracks, I love them. They're

great. Yeah. And the thing that I think you and

I talked about this previously, and I know I

have mentioned this to all of my friends that

are fans of the Spree as well, it's remarkably

hard. I mean, it is a hard and heavy album. So

I wouldn't go so far as to say it's metal. But

in terms of the type of The the style of rock

that it is it is on the harder spectrum which

which i really like because a lot of the songs

off the transformers nineteen eighty six like

like the you know kick -ass specter general type

of stuff i'm kind of leads into a a darker harder

edge so i'd like that they really leaned hard.

into that aesthetic here where again you got

some like really dark synth and some really chunky

guitars and it's um yeah it's it's heavier than

i think i was initially expecting from what original

music from Cybertronix Spree would sound like

because you know like like i had mentioned like

six years ago they put out Cybertronic Warrior

and that song has a It's it's lighter on its

feet Then then a lot of the songs on ravage,

you know, I would say though that The thing that

I like about the songs on ravage is that even

though With the exception of I would say well,

I mean there's there's there aren't any like

explicit references to transformers but there's

a lot of subtle references to transformers like

you know obviously in the fourth song nothing

left to lose you know they even drop the line

it's ravage it's real you know the line you know

obviously the title of the album but also referring

to the character of logical lover the song right

after that which is surprisingly sultry. It's

sultry and it's slow. How do you go from nothing

left to lose to logical lover? And I was like

shockwave would be unimpressed with this logic.

Yeah But it's a sexy ballad, but it is very much

about shockwave. So I like that the references

are there for us as fans, but it's not so as

on the nose as, say, Transformers 1986, if that

makes any sense. Yeah, that makes sense. And

plus, like we said, they are an 80s full -on

rock synth, whatever you want to call it, band.

And they are from that. They are producing music

that is specific to that time, the new wave,

the this, the that, the whatevers. And it literally

sounds like this could be an album that was released

in August of 1986, right along with the other

Transformers albums that were released for the

movie. The actual soundtrack, plus the score,

and whatever else. Well, the score technically

wasn't released yet. Right. Not at that time.

Yeah, it came later. Yeah, but I'm saying like

I could see these 11 tracks being something on

an album in 1986 because it sounds like I'm like,

okay, I'm going to the 80s this weekend. I'm

just going to sit here and listen to these, you

know, listen to the Cybertronix Breeze Ravage

and it is so, so good. I think my, I think the

one is so weird. When you talk about the Transformers

references and track two, Don't Fear the Demon.

For a minute there, I started singing along with

this, and I'm like, don't fear the rea - wait.

The reaper is the blue oyster, but wait a minute.

There's nothing wrong with it. But it's literally,

if you listen to that, if you listen to those

a little bit, it's like, wait a minute, hold

on here. That's not what that really is. Right,

right. But yeah, it's so fun. It's a lot of fun.

And what I like about this album is that it is

at once wholly original. but also feels like

a perfectly appropriate uh and and a perfect

sequel to the transformers the movie soundtrack

like if there was like transformers the movie

too i feel like this is what the movie the the

songs that would have gone with that fictional

movie that i just made up yeah just like you

know from like the vibe and the aesthetic and

and it's it somehow finds a way to blend the

influences of all of the music and all of the

bands that are on that soundtrack. There's a

lot of Vince Nicola in there. There's a lot of

Stan Bush in there. There's a lot of Kickack

slash Spectre General in there. And it's... It

weaves and blends in a way to where if you listen

to these two albums back to back or even like

you were saying throw in the score album it all

feels consistent it doesn't it doesn't feel.

Jarring which you can make makes for a very satisfying

listen i would also like to mention a i think

a focus on me posting about this. on social media.

So I, I, I backed at, I, I don't even remember

what level of the Kickstarter, because like I'm

going through my, my sack of stuff and I just,

I, I have like, I, I got like a pin and a, and

a pack of trading cards and a, a sticker sheet.

These stickers are awesome by the way. They very

much are. What's so funny though is I backed

both. kickstarters and I have both sticker sheets,

I haven't done anything with them. They're just

pristine on the sheet still. But it's got the

Ravage patch, the CD that's autographed. Where

I'm going with that is the thing that I'm most

excited about I got in my level of Kickstarter

backing was I got Ravage on cassette. And I have

a tape deck in my car. It's a 2005 Toyota Camry.

I have I have no Bluetooth capability at all.

I listen on my phone like for like podcasts and

streaming or whatever. I listen to that through

a cassette adapter that I plug into my phone.

That's how low tech I am. But anyway, I have

I have a six disc CD changer and a cassette.

So any time like I have a I have a relatively

decent collection of cassettes. So anytime like

an independent band does like a run of tapes,

I'll pick them up. But like I was listening to

this on the way to work today. And there is something

about the fuzz that goes with cassette that you

don't get on CD. CD has like razor sharp clarity.

You know, digital streaming has its own thing.

But there's something special about listening

to it on cassette. That like I even posted I

was like I feel like I'm listening to these songs

The way that they were meant to be heard on cassette.

So I just I just kind of wanted to shout that

out as well. It's a It's it but it's a man. It's

a fun listen. Yeah, it absolutely is a fun lesson

Now the interesting thing to me is that the I

don't like I'm trying to look through all the

tears because I have mine pulled up so I know

what I got but because I got the CD and the USB.

But the cassette, according to the pages, it

was an optional add -on to whatever you originally

got. And I love how they say in all caps, cassette

does not transform. Well, and, and it's, and

it's funny you mentioned that because like I,

and, and it's probably one of those things that

they did have to say, because, um, you know,

because you have your, um, sticker sheet where

it has the ravage cassette, the, um, the actual

cassette of ravage has a tampoed version. of

that sticker image where, yeah, yeah. So I mean,

it's not a sticker. It's part of the plastic.

It must be some kind of Tampa graph or something,

but it's Ravage folded up into cassette mode

and it fits perfectly in this cassette. It's

gorgeous. I mean, it is a lovely cassette, but

anyway, to the untrained eye, if you know Ravage

the Transformer, you could probably, you know,

If you're a dummy, you could probably assume

that perhaps it does transform. I don't know,

but yeah, you gotta, yeah, you gotta have that

public service announcement there. I do kind

of wonder, I'm trying to find Kickstarter and

see if I can log into it to kind of see where,

log in to see what I backed at because I think

it was the highest tier that I could without

the crazy ones, because they had some, and again,

they learned for this second Kickstarter based

on the success of the other one, where basically

they had more tiers, more options, and some more

super premium items. But let me see, view, pledge.

Okay, here we go. I backed at the shockwave.

tier uh with the with the the laser beak special

which included um let me see you'll also receive

a limited run of screen printed poster oh that's

right they haven't even put out the poster yet

um we will thank you in the liner notes plus

we'll give you a signed photo um so i got assigned

eight by ten uh you'll also receive limited run

screen printed poster which is still coming later

this year. The Ravage USB key with bonus content,

an iron -on patch, signed copy of the album on

CD, sticker sheet, digital file of the album,

and our spark felt thanks. And then like you

said, I added on the cassette and the enamel

pin. So I was... out the door. I was a 175 bucks

Canadian, which, which is probably like 30 bucks

us, but whatever. But, and it's funny when you

have like currency exchange rates, it's like,

Oh no, I could just go nuts. Cause it's funny

money. But like, yeah, when, when, when that

hit my wife was like, what is this? Did you say

it wasn't Canadian? 175. $175? Well, that according

to this is like $133, I think. Well, no, it would

be more, wouldn't it? I don't know. I know I

paid $75 Canadian plus $15, but it ended up being

$90, whatever. Exchange rates, they suck. But

yeah, no, it was just fun to be able to say,

hey, I was a part of this. I, you know, backed

this and I don't back a lot of Kickstarter projects.

I just like, I can, yeah, profile. And I think

it's like, I've backed exactly six, two failed

and the rest were successful kind of thing. Uh,

one of them I'm still waiting on may the man

rest in peace, but I'm still waiting on legend

to the white dragon. I know they're working on

it. So there's that, but, uh, but yeah, no, I,

I really dug this and I love all the, like you

were saying, the sticker sheet, I've got the

cassette and the Ravage logo sticker. I put stickers

on my tower because I'm stupid. But it is what

it is. I've got it on the side of my PC So every

time I sit out at my desk I can look right at

the sticker there and all the other stickers

I have on it. And yeah, this sticker sheet is

awesome They've got multiple colors of their

own Cybertronic spree logo and they've got multiple

covers colors of the Ravage Kitty logo There's

a red one a purple one and a bunch of black ones

and there's a white one with black inserts And

yeah, it's it's very very fun. Very very awesome

and like we're saying earlier the music it just

It's an album you can always listen to. Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. I mean it rocks Yeah, if you like what?

What they're doing, you know if you like that

type of music then absolutely it is something

most definitely that you can That you can you

know Always listen to which is awesome Absolutely.

Well and and I don't remember if You mentioned

this up top, but the reason why we're doing this

podcast now is, uh, you know, yeah, we've, well

we've, we've been living with this music for

so long. It didn't even occur to me that, uh,

that we were the only ones that had it. Like

this hasn't been available to the public, you

know, and it's been available to us for, for

the last several months, but, uh, coming up on,

well, I guess it would be. today or yeah yeah

the fourth uh august fourth uh ravage is being

unleashed uh being ejected as it were ravage

eject um operation uh uh rocking or or something

like that i didn't really think that one all

the way through um rock music domination uh but

anyway like so so it's being released to the

public so now folks are going to be able to experience

for themselves what we've been jamming on for

quite some time. So I'm really excited for this

to get into more people's ears and for them to

experience it because I mean, again, they're

a terrific band and the music is just awesome.

Yeah, absolutely. It really, really is. The music

is awesome. The band is awesome. I would love

to be able to interview them and I think I could

pull off interviewing them in character. so you

know that's that's more than fine uh but yeah

folks check out Ravage from the Cybertronic Spree

all new album 11 original songs available August

4th 2023 and you know take a take a trip in the

DeLorean and put your cassettes in there because

holy crap we're going back hopefully that DeLorean

has a has a tape deck and you know before we

before we get out of here i don't remember if

i asked but we called out a number of songs but

which one is your favorite oh favorite i oh man

i'm gonna put me on the spot maybe pick i will

say that don't fear the demon and Probably logical

lover or the two I like I like nothing left to

lose as well. So that was my top three out of

the eleven What about you? Gotcha. Um, you know,

I, mine is, uh, is a far and away favorite and

everything else kind of lines up from there.

I love wheels of fire. That is, that is, that

is my favorite one because it, it combines all

of those elements. I was, I was talking about

earlier. It has a, you know, it's like got a

really heavy synth tone and the vocal is there.

And I I'm a sucker for just like an 80s style

catchy chorus. you know where I just like singing

along just like we're the fire you know that

that kind of thing so it's got that type of uh

texture that I like but also as I mentioned that

uh I listened on uh cassette that's the last

song of side one So, it feels like it's closing

out that first half of the album and really kind

of sets the stage for the second half as it goes

into run for your life on the beginning of side

two. But it's experiencing that way that makes

me appreciate it that much more. I also like

Turbo Heart, the intro track. And and yeah, I'm

with you Don't fear the demons really good nothing

left to lose is a lot of fun and and I have a

lot of affection for a logical lover as well

because it is it's so Unusual from some of the

stuff that that they've done. So I like I like

that this album is obviously a lot of the same,

but still very fresh and original and and new,

which is a lot of fun. Yeah, it's a lot of fun.

And yeah, like they said in the in the in the

promotional stuff, it's 11 new completely new

tracks. Yes, they put their influence and their

influences are Transformers the movie. I mean,

they are Transformers character. They are the

robots. So, of course, those inspirations are

going to be there. But this isn't them. trying

to remix or redub or re whatever or cover like

Look, they can do covers all day long and it's

great. They can cover dare all they want. That's

awesome But that's what attracted me to this

was because I have heard them do dare I've heard

them do instruments of destruction instruments

of destruction. I've heard them do all this stuff

And I was like, ooh original songs. I wonder

what that's gonna sound like I know it's gonna

sound like them and yes I do remember Cybertronic

war air and I did really love that song as well

at the time but like literally my my Transformers

fan antenna just started screaming beeping at

me as I'm like putting in my information to get

this the this pledge in for the for the Kickstarter

because literally I was I think it had just over

2 ,100 backers. I was number 2 ,083. Oh, nice.

I was going back and forth, back and forth. I'm

like, screw it, we'll just do it. Where, where

is that info by the way? Cause I, I'm kind of

curious what, what, which a number I am be. Okay.

Let's see. Where would that be? Let's see. I

mean, I'm sure we can, when you're on their page

or it says marked as received on whatever, whatever,

whatever, right under there. It said you should

say view pledge. it should pull up your pledge,

and if you scroll down to the bottom, it'll pull

up your credit card information and the pledge,

and then right under the date, estimated delivery,

October 2022, backer number 2083. Got it. Got

it. So putting it in context with what you were

talking about, you kind of hemmed and hawed,

and I, on the other hand, jumped on immediately.

In fact, I was waiting for the Kickstarter to

go live. because I didn't want to get left out

in the cold again. And I, I, I, and I'm flipping

through the, I haven't shared a photo of this,

but I'm, I'm, I'm flipping through the liner

actually literally in halfway down, I, I see

I'm in the liner notes, Mike cyber radio podcast.

So a little bit of vanity, uh, for myself there,

but like, so even then as for raciously as I

wanted to support it, I'm still backer number

238. So 238 people got in there ahead of me and

I was there like as soon as it got live. So that

tells you about the support and my CD is hand

numbered number 323 of 1129. Oh man. I don't

even know. I'm sitting here in the dark. I couldn't

even tell you what my number is. Yeah, yeah,

I'm not sure but it's fine. I just happen to

have it all in front of me Yeah, no, absolutely.

I love that the the autographs though are on

the inside covers They're not on the outside

cover where they may where it may get smudged

or something but the all the the band autographs

are all next to their Their their characters

on the inside of the cover not just on the outside

of the album, which is so cool I had a little

bit of gold pen transfer on the back of my sticker

sheet, but it's not bad. I mean, all the autographs

are intact. It's fine. But yeah, it's a, it's

really cool stuff. So I guess as we, as we get

ready to kind of move on, as we're, we're just

kind of like really actively pump of this band,

I want to steer folks towards the YouTube channel

for Cybertronix free. They've cause You know,

listening to the music is one thing, but you

also need the visual for it. I can't wait till

they start doing music videos for the songs off

of Ravage, but like, you know, they've got their

cover of Ballroom Blitz and obviously Barracuda

and Immigrant's Song and The Touch and a couple

of my favorites. It's so funny the things that

bring down the house in a live show. So I saw

them live when they came to Seattle They play

trouble again the theme from the droids cartoon

the Star Wars droids cartoon and and a surprising

banger run with us, which is the theme to the

raccoons, which is a delightful Canadian Saturday

morning cartoon. And so, yeah. So, I mean, I

just, when I watch those videos, I think of the

memories of seeing them play those songs live

and they're just absolute bangers. And it's so

funny to have a room full of people just like

cheering for these children's cartoons theme

songs. It's so funny. But yeah. So, and so one

last story, one last story. Just cause I was

thinking, I was thinking about the YouTubes here.

And one of the coolest experiences that I had

with, tangentially with the Cybertronix free,

I didn't actually participate in this myself

personally, but I was part of the organization

team for Iacon online, which was a virtual convention

that we basically created during the pandemic.

And one of the ideas that folks it had was like,

well, we should do something with Cybertronic

Spree. And I was like, you know, I kind of felt

like, uh, Mad Max in the road warrior for a second.

It's like, Oh, you, you, you want to, you, you

want to know where that oil tanker is come to

me, you know? So it's like, I'm like, you know,

I had their manager's contact info and I was

still in touch with members of the band. So I

was able to facilitate that. that meeting, but

what felt very rewarding to me is that I got

to set up something that I wasn't a part of that

was so exciting for everybody else. Like everybody

was just hopping up and down. Like they played

a couple game shows. They did like a Wheel of

Iacon, which was like a Wheel of Fortune style

show. And there was also like Cybertronic name

game. And there were a lot of memeable moments.

If you've ever heard the phrase mental scorponok,

that's where that came from. And it kind of became

like a meme with the band. So it was satisfying

for me to make those connections for my fellow

convention organizers and the band. and for them

to have so much fun. In fact, I, when I went

to that concert in Seattle, I was wearing my

icon online shirt and it's so funny. You know,

I, I'm going to be, I'm going to be 45 years

old in September. And I felt like a squealing

fan girl. Like I was watching the Beatles when

like, you know, hot rod from upstage points at

my shirt and does a thumbs up. It was just like,

I mean, it's like they even, even through all

of the elaborate uh aspects of their costume

they were still able to like see and acknowledge

me and i thought that that was um uh i mean just

just an incredible experience they they are really

cool bots just just really cool folks yeah absolutely

i mean their costumes i mean rc and hot rod specifically

of course they can i mean it's just color they

just have like visors over their eyes as far

as, like, the hot rod in the arse. But the rest

of them, like, I don't know how Shockwave sees

anything. I don't know how. You know, because,

yeah, good old one eye. But yes, this Friday,

August 4th, 2023, Ravage will be unleashed to

the world from the Cybertronic Spree. Also, August

26th, 2023, at the TD Music Hall in Toronto,

Ontario, the Ravage release party will happen.

September 9th of this year, RetroCon in Oaks,

PA. That is sold out currently. Well, probably

forever at this point. September 19th, 2023,

Capital Ballroom in Victoria. September 21st,

2023, the Biltmore Cabaret in Vancouver, British

Columbia. So, very, very cool. Cybertronic Spree,

check them out. I will have all the links in

the show notes for... Uh, us over at geekcastradio

.com. I'll also have all those ready for Mike

on Mike's Cybert radio. So yeah, folks, Cybertronic's

free ravage. Go check it out. It is awesome.

Woo. Rock and make good choices and stuff. I

don't know. Yeah. Make good choices. Don't do

anything Megatron would do. Please don't do anything

Megatron would do. Like grab a young Autobot

and try to frame him. This is getting expensive!