CANMORE – Captain's log, stardate, 2021: Music from Canmore's Northern Quarter has boldly gone where no Bow Valley bands' tunes have gone before.
The indie pop group's new single "Perfect Fit" was downloaded onto a USB key and rocketed into outer space with Blue Origin's New Shepard, also known as the Second Human Flight, which famously blasted Star Trek's William Shatner off this planet on Oct. 13.
The entire trip lasted about 11 minutes and among the three other astronauts accompanying Shatner was Dr. Chris Boshuizen, an aeronautical engineer and musician, who put a call out on social media for any bands or musicians to send their songs to him and he would fly them out of this world.
"He made a post that said, 'do you want to send your music into space?' That's a tantalizing title that you can't really avoid," said Dave Crewe, Northern Quarter's drummer.
Crewe said the presence of "Captain Kirk" on the shuttle added to the band's motivation, consisting of Crewe, Kerry Hunter (vocals), Carlos Nadeau (guitar) and Wendy Crewe (bass).
Crewe joked that the Canmore group are all Star Trek fans except Hunter, who wrote "Perfect Fit" for her husband and sang it on their wedding night.
"So she's the odd one out in this, but I felt it was fitting because the song was written for him and he's also a fan of Star Trek," said Crewe.
"Perfect Fit" was one of more than 400 songs by musicians from around the globe taken into space on the USB that was appropriately designed as Star Trek's Starfleet insignia.
After the flight, Boshuizen said the USB was given to music opportunity creator, Musack, which will be auctioned off at its next charity event.
"A sizeable fraction of people sent in music that was not online, was sacred, or private for their own reasons, or simply not ready for the world at large," said Boshuizen in a blog post after the flight. "It took courage to send your precious and beloved creations to a stranger on the internet – and so I am grateful for your trust. Knowing that in some way this has inspired you makes it all worthwhile."
At 90 years old, Shatner is the oldest person to fly into space.
After decades of playing a man of space travel, the Canadian actor, whose portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk has entertained millions, has officially become an astronaut.
"For a man that you've imagined trotted around the galaxy and met all sorts of aliens, his actual 10 minutes into space really humbled him," said Crewe. "He was really emotional, very blown away by it and it was quite something to watch."
As for the Northern Quarter, COVID-19 had shot a photon torpedo into live gigs, but Crewe said the team is looking to release an album in the near future.
"We're going to keep trying to get that dream and aim high – like Captain Kirk," said Crewe.
