Life is full of inspirational events, people, and places.
For me, I am inspired by a ska-style band that goes by the name of The
Aquabats. The Aquabats are currently made up of five members: The MC Bat
Commander, Crash McLarson, Jimmy the Robot, Ricky Fitness, and Eagle “Bones”
Falconhawk. The group’s line-up has fluctuated throughout the years, however.
Its founding members started the band in 1994 with the intention of poking fun
at the entirety of the punk rock demographic but instead found themselves doing
ska. Although, to their surprise, the band was increasingly popular most likely
in part to their crime-fighting superhero personas. The band’s gimmick was that
they all wore blue jumpsuits and masks and that they fought evil around the
world. This eventually led to touring all about and even a live-action
television show.
The
Aquabats recorded a pilot episode to their show that they’d wanted to do for so
long but it was a massive failure. Not even the band liked it, the show had
failed. Soon after, the label that signed The Aquabats, Goldenvoice, suffered
great financial losses and was forced to drop the group of musical superheroes
in the year 2000. The label was unable to keep up with the increasingly
expensive performances that the band was putting on. Naturally, their career
declined to the point where the band could no longer perform shows. Many of the
members resigned permanently to focus on their families and day jobs; today,
only two of the original members remain: The MC Bat Commander and Crash
McLarson, the rest are replacements for those lost. To avoid complete
bankruptcy, a new drummer was recruited and the band began writing music for
the pilot of a show aired on Adult Swim that never made it as a series, once
again putting The Aquabats out of work. In 2004, a label by the name of Nitro
Records signed The Aquabats and they made their comeback with a new album
titled “Charge!!” The Aquabats then
recruited the remainder of their roster and began performing live shows once
again. Costumed villains were often used during live shows for battles and
comic skits throughout. The Aquabats had a truly unique style of performing.
In
2010 The Aquabats were back in action. The men in tights were given
opportunities of which they could have only dreamed. They toured throughout the
United Stated and United Kingdom as well as a festival appearance in Australia.
2010 also brought with it another pilot episode for The Aquabats’ long-desired
television series. Instead of failing this time, “The Aquabats! Super Show!” was a hit and was releasined on Hasbro’s
“The Hub” television station in close succession with the band’s fifth album.
The show consisted of live-action crime-fighting battles similar to the style
displayed in the popular television series “The
Power Rangers” as well as animated adventures that seem to poke fun at
early Japanese anime styles. The comedy-oriented series is very popular and
airs regularly. The crime-fighting Aquabats have forever placed themselves in
the history of superheroes, television, and ska music alike. I, for one, very
much enjoy their music as well as “The
Aquabats! Super Show!”
The Aquabats inspire me to do one thing: persevere. A
ragtag group of college kids just decided one day to form a punk rock band and
became a huge success. Despite all of the hurdles and hardships that The
Aquabats experienced they still pulled through in the end because they did not
give in. The Aquabats will always be in the back of my mind, pushing me to do
what I really desire to do and never give up on it. Persistence is the key to
success and they helped me understand that.