The Blackrain Session — When Characters Take the Mic.
The Blackrain Session — When Characters Take the Mic.
What Happens When Fictional Characters Stop Following the Script?
What happens when the characters of a novel are handed a microphone and given permission to express themselves? In the case of The Seven Magnificent Dwarfs, the results are anything but predictable. A wealthy, irritable old man decides that the blues might be the appropriate language for his grievances. A half-human, half-machine military officer has a few things to say about the human race, none of them particularly flattering. A fashion-obsessed socialite turns her own magnificence into a tango, while a demolition enthusiast finds an enthusiastic musical justification for blowing things up. And those are merely the more predictable members of the cast.
Welcome to The Blackrain Session, the first collection released under the fictional label GNOME RECORDS, where the inhabitants of The Seven Magnificent Dwarfs have temporarily abandoned the pages of the novel to pursue careers in music. Whether any of them actually possesses musical talent is a question best left to the listener.
No One Here Sings the Same Tune
There is no common musical language holding these recordings together. Blues, rock, R&B, jazz, country, tango, and vaudeville coexist without making the slightest effort to accommodate one another. This lack of stylistic discipline is entirely intentional. The characters themselves have very little in common beyond their involvement in an increasingly complicated series of extraordinary events. Expecting them to agree on a musical direction would be rather optimistic.
Johnas Blackrain, a seventy-year-old billionaire who has spent decades protecting himself from the inconveniences of ordinary human existence, finds refuge in the intimate sound of acoustic blues. Yul, a decorated military officer whose body is partly mechanical and whose patience is almost entirely nonexistent, takes a considerably more aggressive approach. Zeeno, a sorcerer with a questionable relationship to the forces of nature, explores the possibilities of rhythm and blues, while Alita transforms the tango into another opportunity to celebrate her impeccable taste and extraordinary importance.
Elsewhere, Henrietta Cole brings her particular brand of country music to the proceedings, Topsy ventures into the eccentric territory of old-fashioned musical entertainment, and Ebenezer and Mala approach rock music with ambitions considerably larger than the average recording contract. Teo-Bomb, predictably, is unlikely to be satisfied with anything that doesn't make a substantial amount of noise.
But GNOME RECORDS extends beyond the principal characters. Cayo Bolivar and His Mutants, the New Claw Members, Jasper, and the mysterious Cake Man contribute their own recordings, introducing additional voices from the strange and occasionally alarming world of Blackrain Estate.
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Every Voice Has Its Own Version of the Truth
These songs are not intended to reproduce the events of the novel or accompany particular scenes. They are musical self-portraits, performances in which fictional characters reveal how they see themselves, how they would like to be perceived, and occasionally how spectacularly mistaken they may be about both.
A character's version of the truth is not necessarily the author's. Pride, vanity, nostalgia, resentment, and ambition can be remarkably persuasive songwriters. Some performers confess more than they intended. Others are perfectly willing to rewrite their own histories. A few appear convinced that the universe exists primarily to appreciate their talents.
The listener is free to believe them. Or not.
That is part of the experiment. The songs offer another way of encountering the personalities inhabiting The Seven Magnificent Dwarfs, independently of the novel's chronology and without requiring the listener to know what happens in the story. They may illuminate something about a familiar character or introduce a complete stranger whose musical performance raises more questions than it answers.
Coming Next: Behind the Characters
Every recording in The Blackrain Session belongs to a personality with a story worth exploring. In the coming articles, we'll step behind the microphones to discover the characters who inspired these songs, the contradictions that define them, and why each found a voice in a particular musical style.
Our first guest will be Johnas Blackrain, a seventy-year-old billionaire who has accumulated almost everything money can buy and spent most of his life complaining about what remains. A man devoted to his sacred routines, fiercely protective of his privacy, and spectacularly intolerant of anyone who threatens either.
So why would someone like Johnas choose the blues? And what could possibly make a man who owns practically everything feel that he has something to lose?
His contribution, Six Dwarfs Blues, offers a few clues. The rest will have to wait until we meet him properly.
The Blackrain Session is a musical experiment conceived and creatively directed by Andrea Bigiarini, using generative artificial intelligence to explore the personalities of his fictional characters.
For the story behind the project, read When Fiction Finds Its Voice.
GNOME RECORDS
Every character has a voice. Every voice has a story.