The Rock-afire Explosion
An Interview with Brett Whitcomb and Bradford Thomason
If you grew up in the 80s, it was a magical time which introduced us to fashions like leg warmers, TV shows like the Golden Girls and, entertainment like Showbiz Pizza Place. For those of you who missed out on Showbiz, it was part game room, part pizza place, and part concert as it was home to The Rock-afire Explosion; an animatronics band of animals. Unfortunately, like the Golden Girls, Showbiz didn't make it much past the 80s.
Fast forward 20 years and The Rock-afire Explosion starts performing in YouTube videos playing songs like "Miss New Booty" and "Love in This Club". All of a sudden, The Rock-afire is back! Writer Brad Thomason and director Brett Whitcomb saw the videos and decided they needed to learn more about the resurgence of the band. The result is an upcoming documentary aptly titled, The Rock-afire Explosion.
If you are unfamiliar with The Rock-afire then you need to do two things before you continue reading: One, watch the trailer for the documentary by clicking here and two, click here to watch The Rock-afire Explosion perform Usher’s "Love in This Club".
TDS: Can you give us a brief overview of the documentary?
Whitcomb: It started out as a film about Chris Thrash who is half of the focus. He is this rural Alabama individual who got his hands on this Rock-afire Explosion, which is an animatronics band that played at Showbiz Pizza, which is like Chuck-e-Cheese. But, then Showbiz disappeared and just remained dormant in the memories of the "twenty/thirtysomething" age group.
Chris got a hold of one of the bands, put it in a shed in his back yard, and put videos on YouTube of the band performing popular songs. We revolve the film around him and his story: what he is doing with the band, what he is doing with it now and how he came to get it.
It is also about an individual named Aaron Fechter who was the creator of The Rock-afire Explosion.The success from Rock-afire made Aaron a multi-millionaire in the 80s; so our story tracks his rise and fall with the band. It deals with those 2 parallel stories.
TDS: Brad, as the writer, when you look at this you are not just seeing a guy who bought the old Showbiz band but a deeper underlying story, right?
Thomason: Yeah. Chris kind of represents this idea of childhood and eternal childhood and not letting go of the things you view as magical or interesting as a kid. Everyone says that when you become an adult you have to ascribe to these adult things. But his story says you have to keep a little bit of your childhood close and he does that.
There is also this different sort of sub-textual story with Aaron as well and his whole rise and fall. He is very concerned with bringing the Rock-afire back and he wants it to be popular again but the band is affecting the lives of these people in these small towns so it has already come back in its own way.
TDS: Is there value in holding on to the magic of childhood?
Thomason: I think it is imperative to hold on to that kind of stuff. The origins of creativity lie in the more instinctual childhood kind of elements. The things that come to us not after excessive thought but the things we experience when we are young and not thinking so much about things but just out there doing things and enjoying ourselves. And you have to keep those ideas close to remain creative and to keep life from becoming overbearing. Chris speaks to that in the film. He talks about having the show and how being able to enjoy it keeps the problems of his life from becoming too much.
Whitcomb: Chris balances it really well. That is key also, you can’t do that kind of stuff your entire life, you have to find balance in it all.
TDS: When the Rock-afire first appeared there wasn’t as much computer generated content or video around. So, seeing this “live” gorilla playing the organ was this amazing thing. With regard to the magic of childhood, how do you think a 7 year old is going to grow up and look back, have we lost some of “the magic” with computers?
Thomason: Yeah, personally, I think it is a bit of an imagination stifler. I think there is something special to seeing entertainment, in any form, in real space. I think it allows you to better relate to it, better connect to it and imagine yourself a part of it. I think imagination and creativity can be stifled a bit through the idea of a video screen or everything being related through computers because you aren’t touching anything, there is nothing real there. It all has this kind of filter. It causes a bit of a disconnect.
There are positive sides but, relating specifically to your question about the magic of childhood, there are going to be some elements of what is explored in this film that are going to be lost, or have been lost already, on younger kids.
Whitcomb: Also, you never leave your house. There is no getting in the car. There is no ritual of driving in the car, having to talk to somebody and having to interact with people in public. Video has taken that away.
Thomason: You have to get outside. You have to explore. You have to create and build. And seeing the Rock-afire in real time and space-we hadn’t seen it since we were kids—it was really amazing. In some ways it was really simple but in other ways it connects in a special way.
Whitcomb: Whenever I go to my old neighborhood from my childhood everything looks smaller, the streets more narrow. But, when we walked into Chris’ shed and saw the Rock-afire it was just as big as I remember from when I was a kid. It really blew me away. There was definitely some magical stuff going on from when I was younger. For whatever reason the Rock-afire still holds that.
TDS: So how big are the animals, when you are a kid they are humongous?
Whitcomb: I bet if Beach Bear stood up he might be 8 feet tall. They are huge. And they are always on a stage that is about 2 feet tall and then you have these 6 foot tall animatronic robots starting at you. They are huge, to anyone.
Thomason: They are so imposing in their faces. There is so much detail in everything about them. Even if they aren’t as big as they appeared when we were little they still have this very strong presence, because of the detail.
TDS: The film showcases some fans of the Rock-afire as well. Did it surprise you to find so many fans?
Whitcomb: Yeah, I didn’t know there was such a strong fan community. There are people like us who just went to Showbiz as a kid and liked it and remembered it and it was an awesome thing from our childhood. Then there are people that have tons of collectibles and they hold conventions called Cheese Conventions.
TDS: How was the collaboration process working together as a writer and director?
Whitcomb: Horrible. Just kidding.
Thomason: It has been good, we are both learning and feeding off of each other and are both playing a lot of roles. If I am the writer and Brett is the director we both end up becoming editors so we both end up writing and directing. It all kind of blends in a way and we always keep each other in check.
TDS: What is the one thing you want people to take away after seeing it?
Whitcomb: I love how nostalgic people get and how memories they have forgotten come flooding back when they watch the film. For me, that is exciting. To bring something back like this that was so prominent, especially for me as a kid, that is rewarding.
Thomason: It is important to me that when a person leaves the theater or turns off the DVD player that they have connected with the characters in the film in some way or another. I want people to have genuine relationships with people in the film; those can be negative at certain points and positive at certain points. But at the end of the day, whether or not you loved the character, I want you to have identified with, or at least have had a respect for the character. That is very important. And if we can do that with people who have never heard of The Rock-afire Explosion that is a big for me.
And, like Brett said, it is amazing to bring the band back and to have people walk out of the theater smiling because they have had a little piece of their childhood brought back. That this cinematic experience can accomplish that is what it's all about. We are bringing what is happening on the film, into the theater, and each person is getting a little individual piece of that.
TDS: Just for fun, what song would you love to see the Rock-afire do in the future?
Thomason: "Bohemian Rhapsody." I know this has come up on Aaron’s fan bid page. I keep hoping it will get picked.
TDS: What’s next for the film?
Whitcomb: We are just starting to let it out. If people go to the website and check screenings they can get an idea of where it is playing. Hopefully we can get it in enough places people won’t have to drive too far.
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