Mortimer C. Klaxton & His Big Damn Steam Band

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Band Bio

Greetings & Salutations from Mortimer C. Klaxton--the mustachio'ed man with the grandiose plan, the Dapper Dan with the glam from Siam--and his Big Damn Steam Band!

Imagine a world in which Kraftwerk discovered fiddles and tubas instead of synthesizers; a world in which Einstuerzende Neubauten picked up washboards, spoons and metal pipes to bang on instead of oil drums, jackhammers, and... well, metal pipes; a world in which the sounds of Fritz Lang's Metropolis came to life not in the form of Giorgio Moroder's cold electronic tones but instead in the thriving energy of ragtime, klezmer, gypsy folk and British music hall. This is the world, the parallel musical universe, from which Mortimer and his Band have arrived.

The Dieter Meier to his act's Yello, Mortimer C. Klaxton is a smooth operator. The big cheese. The head honcho. The mad scientist. At concerts, he bobs and weaves within the seemingly endless sea of musicians and shining brass hardware like a hapless victim caught within The Mangler's metal jaws. But far from being a midnight snack for this music machine, he's controlling it from the inside, conducting the chaos with a monkeywrench in his hand instead of a baton, waving it like a threat toward anyone who dares drift out of tune or fall out of rhythm. The songs chug along at a locomotive's pace, the steam engines chugging and hissing staccato accents and powering the organs, player pianos and automated percussion mechanisms [Mortimer's own design]. There is no spectacle quite like Mr. K and his traveling factory of auditory merriment, and the genre of Steampunk will never be the same as a result.

Band Gear

This band doesn't own any gear!

Albums / EPs

The Automated Merriment EP Date Released: 1/12/2012   Tracks: 4 Sales: 8   Listens: 9 Mortimer C. Klaxton has been busy in his workshop. After an uncharacteristically quiet holiday season, the MCK factory is again buzzing with energy. The first fruits of these rather clandestine efforts have arrived in the form of the Automated Merriment EP, a giddy sugar rush of a musical affair that takes off at a galloping pace and doesn't let up until the final track. "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" is a beloved pre-WWII classic that gained widespread popularity as the theme of the original Looney Tunes cartoons. This standard finds new life here in the form of mechanically-struck rhythms, steam-generated whistles, robotically-scrubbed washboards, and resonating self-playing pianos. A jolly good time! So also is "The Athlete's Rag," which is performed at a breakneck pace by Klaxton and his cohorts both living and mechanical. If the tune sounds familiar, it's because it originally appeared in the SNES game Super Mario World! "Sugar & Spice & a Metalworking Vise" is a delightful MCK-penned ditty about the things girls are made of-- with a few scientific advancements thrown into the mix, of course. The last track is a bit of a puzzle... amidst telegraph tones and the sounds of factory workers heatedly discussing a project in the background, Klaxton himself reads from his personal notebook a series of calculations and ruminations regarding a new invention... perhaps the next full-length album will reveal the results of his labors? Only time will tell.

Let's Crank This Antiquarian Contraption Up to 11! Date Released: 10/19/2011   Tracks: 10 Sales: 10   Listens: 15 MCK's previous offering, "Steam-Propelled and Swing-Compelled," showcased a band in transition. Since so many of their wondrous musical machines were damaged or lost in a transatlantic voyage, they were forced to build replacements and think up new designs. On "Let's Crank This...," the band is in top-notch form, the machines now purring in sublime harmony under the skilled hands of masterful audio-mechanics. With the nuts and bolts of his operation under control, Klaxton is free to put more focus on songwriting this time around, and the band is obviously having fun with their various contraptions. In the harmonious rhythms of auto-mellotrons, gyro-marimbas and synchro-mandolins, what do *you* hear?

Steam-Propelled and Swing-Compelled Date Released: 7/12/2011   Tracks: 10 Sales: 16   Listens: 20 Mortimer and his ever-shifting and expanding lineup of musicians and mechanics have done it again! Whistles, steam hisses, metallic clangs and bleating horns signal another opus from the mad inventor and his crew of misfits. Unfortunately, things have not been all roses for the band since their last release. Following MCK&HBDSB's appearance at the American leg of the Something Wicked festival, a violent storm at sea turned their cross-Atlantic voyage back to the UK into a disaster. Forced to undertake a longer-than-expected hiatus, the band re-built the various machines that were either heavily damaged or altogether lost overboard. Thankfully, the trip back from the Second City Jazz & Blues Festival was a smoother ride with "only minimal casualties," as MCK summarized the experience, but it has become clear that a better means of travel must be found for future gigs. Klaxton, however, has few regrets. He claims that his new round of musical contraptions rivals that of the band's past, and from the sound of things on "Steam-Propelled and Swing-Compelled," he might just be right!

Powerhouse EP Date Released: 2/16/2011   Tracks: 4 Sales: 16   Listens: 30 Anyone who's ever seen a Looney Tunes cartoon knows "Powerhouse"-- the 1st segment appears often in chase scenes, while the epic 2nd segment accompanies countless factory/assembly line/robot scenes. Klaxton & Co. bring it to life w/ metal clangs, whistle toots & blasts of steam. They round out the tracklist w/ 2 originals-- a cheeky number about a girl afraid of clothing & an infectious big-steam-band boogie-- and close w/ the classic rags-to-riches music hall piece turned stomper "Monte Carlo".

Gear Up... For ADVENTURE! Date Released: 1/31/2011   Tracks: 10 Sales: 16   Listens: 30 The tinny intro rises up from scratchy noise like an antique victrola recording & it's clear that Klaxton & his Band have paid attention to every last detail on "Gear Up," the title even a cheeky nod to steampunk. The songs lurch & sway joyously, madly, drunkenly with metal clangs, tooting horns & wheezing accordians. The Who cover has to be heard to be believed-- Klaxton's proper British accent recounting the salty tale over washbin bass, wilting violins, clacking spoons & blown jugs!