Welder Inc. – The Altair Chronicles LP

Welder Inc. is the revived project of Wellington noise provocateur Jak Pepsi. From time served in iconic Wellington noise acts Skinshed and Dome, to hosting Active 89FM’s Wild Wild Rock Show, the self-appointed Prince of Plaid returns to Te Whanganui-a-Tara to “keep making as much racket as possible”.

Welder Inc: The Altair Chronicles is a grunge space opera science fiction soundtrack chronicling a day in the life of a blue-collar space welding crew. Frustrated with the perception that science-fiction soundtracks tend to be epic, pretty, ambient, synth-driven masterpieces, this record takes a different tack.

Side A features every bang, clank, hum, feedback and drone you’d expect to find on a clapped-out service starship, telling the story of a crew repairing an outpost on Altair 9 after a sulphur fire. Side B finds our intrepid bunch unwinding in the crew mess after their return home—shooting the shit and listening and watching their favourite music and movies.