Tyrannian Concert Hall Bands: An Origin Story

     The Blue Kacheek Group has a very unique show- no pet in Neopia is going to disagree there. If you’ve ever gone to a concert for BKG and not previously heard of their eccentric humour, their blue-coloured paints, heavy percussive music or their throwing toilet paper into the audience, well you are certainly in for a surprise at your first show! One thing you really cannot say about the group, is that they aren’t creative, creativity simply radiates off every element of the show.

     Concerts are always fun at the Tyrannian Concert Hall, but the first of its kind, BKG members are actually mute during the whole show! Wearing black jumpsuits and painting their fur blue, the concert is not only music, but also spontaneous audience interaction, comedy sketches, and sensory experiences. The music is not typical either. From sewer pipes to PVC pipes, trash cans to normal rock band drum kits, even a whole band and interesting electronic instruments, Blue Kacheek Group is astounding. And just how did this band start?

     My super-secret insider has recently secured access to some of the most amazing contact with exclusive bands that play at the Tyrannian Concert Hall- and yes reader, I’m taking you along for the ride. In the first actually talking interview of their time, I sat down with BKG to “unmask” the concept of the band, how the three Kacheeks had the ideas that became BKG and to talk about their future too. Blue paint stripped off, I’ve been asked not to divulge their identities, since it is part of the mystery of the show.

     Welcome Blue Kacheek Group! Thanks for coming to meet on the epic stage of the Tyrannian Concert Hall itself! It’s so great to meet you all and learn about your amazing concert and essentially variety show! Can I ask how you all came up with the BKG?

     “Thank you for the interview. We always love to invite new pets to come out and enjoy our family-friendly shows. So, the three of us Kacheek were fresh out of college with no jobs, and really no promise of jobs. We’d done the work, but hadn’t really committed to a path yet,” recalls BKG Member One.

     “We knew we worked well together, we knew we enjoyed music and comedy and we knew that we’d love to work for ourselves. Nine to five didn’t really suit our personalities. So, we decided to combine all the things we liked and call it work. I guess it has worked out so far!” BKG member two laughed.

     BKG member three more seriously mentioned, “I had the business degree, so they looked to me to keep the group afloat financially while they had all the fun… just kidding, we all honestly have fun every single day.”

     So, following your path was attractive for you. And really, who wouldn’t want to work for themselves? But, isn’t it a little dangerous to make the things you love work?

     “It might be troublesome if you find something that isn’t profitable, but it’s really good for us. We all really enjoyed performing and I think it shows in our audience. We love to do a lot of deadpan comedy that even children would enjoy, it just brings us a lot of joy to hear people laughing and reacting to the things we are putting out there. It’s so rewarding,” said BKG member two graciously.

     So, you decided you were forging your own path. How did you get straight out of college to where you are now?

     “So we initially created the “Blue Kacheek” character, which seemed to a lot of people like, rather strange, but we were confident that it was just edgy enough to be silly and bring a lot of laughs. We all have various backgrounds and strong points, but music was the thing that brought us together. He (points to BKG member 1) is really strong ties to technology, while I have a background in art and entertainment, and I’m not really sure what (points to BKG member 2) is good at, he’s just been following us around for a few years and we finally just let him stay,” laughed BKG Member #3.

     Blue Kacheek group member 2 smiled as he continued, “We all pitched in and bought a really small theater, almost a hole in the wall at the Neopian Bazaar. It’s not even large enough to identify on the map. Once we had the studio, I think a lot of our friends that had known us a while realized how serious we all were with following this pursuit. I really think they thought we were crazy. Sometimes we’d forget and leave the studio with the blue paint all over, and get some really strange looks when headed to the shops around the bazaar. Anyway, we had a lot of really long nights brainstorming this crazy show we were putting together. There were times where you think… what did I do?! Should I just go get a 9-5 and forget this dream? But, we were sort of invested at that point. So, essentially we put together this variety show. There are lots of “weird” things we do, like catch excessive amounts of marshmallows in our mouths, but like, what little Neopet doesn’t relate to sneaking a marshmallow off the table when baking? We are just older Neopets doing it, and I think when you put adults in kid situations, kids can really relate and find it funny.”

     Okay, sewer and PVC pipes? What’s all that about?

     “Yes, we get a lot of flack for that! When we bought our tiny home theatre at the Bazaar, we had to redo all the plumbing in the building to make it habitable, and we were somewhat new to the plumbing system, I guess we just didn’t play Sewage Surfer enough growing up! Anyway, we bought way too much piping and one day when we were in a brainstorming process (points to member number three) he started playing a song. Then I jokingly started shaving off pipe to tune them to the correct pitches to play notes, and the musical sewage and PVC pipe playing was born. We love to do a love of cover songs of popular music, but in our “unique” way with the bands interesting assortments of musical instruments. Sometimes we will have guests come and sing their hit songs while we play the instruments and when the audience recognizes which song we are playing, the mood in the room sort of changes and they let down their inhibition and start singing the song along with the sewage pipe. It really allows Neopets to go back to a simpler time where you don’t have to be so grown up. We are here to teach people, you can still have fun when you are older,” said BKG member number one.

     And your tour coming up? I hear you are using a hit song from a band we might be familiar with already?

     “Yes! We are so very excited to be doing a concert with M*YNCI’s song “Hi Hi Hi.” I think the audience will recognize it fairly quickly, and we might even surprise a few locations of the tour with some M*YNCI appearances. It’s super fun to involve the guest tourers and include them in some of the comedy sketches. I can’t wait for the tour- coming to a Neopian location near you!” BKG member two said enthusiastically.

     The band proceeded to take me on a tour of some of their most unique instruments and taught me a few simple notes, and even allowed me to don the famous blue paint and become an honorary member for the day. I can’t wait to check them out in person live at the Tyrannian Concert Hall!

     The Blue Kacheek Group performs at the Tyrannian Concert Hall on the 7th, 21st, and 28th of each month. Once again, our trusty pal Skalpo has secured a Neopian Times reader discount of 10% off BKG tickets plus an extra souvenir for the show. The items you can get with a ticket purchase are as follows: Blue Kacheek Group Cap, Blue Kacheek Group CD, Blue Kacheek Group Jacket, Blue Kacheek Group Poster, Blue Kacheek Group Shirt.

     Thank you so much for joining me again! Come back next week as I spotlight another band that plays at the Tyrannian Concert Hall in our Neopian Times Series! I hope you are “jazzed” to hear about this Zebra coloured legend!

      To be continued…