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With David Tennant actively involved in other projects, Doctor Who fans on both sides of the pond are left bereft of a proper fifth season – or series, as they say at the BBC – until 2010. For the more rabid among us, that’s a very long time. But for casual fans? Well, it’s a long time for them too.
However, a motivated YouTuber by the name Nerimon has elected to bide his Who-less time with a bit of musical experimentation. Inspired by the ever-burgeoning Wizard Rock community, Nerimon has unleashed upon an unsuspecting world Time Lord Rock. Yes, Trock.
Hit the jump to climb aboard the TARDIS. (It’s bigger on the inside.)
Following the community model of Wrock, Time Lord Rock invites interested Who heads of all skill levels to form bands and write songs celebrating the various characters, elements and incarnations of the Doctor Who series. The project seems to be off to a good start, with some 28 video responses and nearly a thousand comments attached to the initial Trock announcement video in just under a week.
In addition to all the YouTube action, Trockers have already begun to converge in a dedicated Facebook group and at the Trock On! BBS. With band names like The Medusa Cascade, Heart of the TARDIS, and Quantum Locked, Trock is poised to become a referential feeding frenzy for musically inclined hardcore fans and a fun diversion for neophytes. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t namedrop Nerimon’s own project, the aptly named Chameleon Circuit, whose tracks "Blink" and "An Awful Lot of Running" are at the vanguard of the movement.
There’s bound to be cranking from purists regarding the creation of another genre (or sub-genre) of geeky rock – which is, in turn, merely a modern manifestation of classic filk – but if Wizard Rock has proven anything it’s that a largely youth-oriented musical movement rooted in the nerdier side of fandom is capable of both fostering quality creative output and channeling that boundless energy into distinctly non-geeky endeavors.
Whether Trock goes on to make as big a splash as Wizard Rock remains to be seen, but the combined power of the web and a wildly popular entertainment franchise shouldn’t be underestimated. And in the end, the relative success of the concept is far less important than the simple fact that geeky musicians are being creative within another supportive, cohesive community.
