Because the world needed a weapon against the threat of giant monster invasion, and nothing tames a monster like music! In 2003/2004, Go Hero began making neo-retro collectibles & designer toys. With the first original property, a 70s-style Japanese robot hero, Mechabot. We produced a music CD called HI-FI Sci-Fi, which was filled with 30 minutes of original techno music to accompany the toy release and kick “robutt.” The response to the music was an overwhelming delight.

Just because a product is in every mall across America, [does not mean it is] a good product. Some of the best songs never make it to the mainstream radio. Often the music that does get into regular rotation is more or less products of a company, not a product of an artist. In a real way, the art toy scene is a response to the lack of creativity and originality found in big corporate products.

With that philosophy, the response to HI-FI Sci-Fi, and our love for music, Go Hero set out to make something bigger and better. What is bigger than giant monster music? ...NOTHING! With Kaijuice, we wanted to pull together a unique collection of original music from great unsigned bands, loosely bound together by this pervasive pop culture theme.

1. Rinse 2. Add shampoo 3. Repeat. We defined what Kaijuice was going to be, set the rules, and wrote it all down. We did some limited research on what it would take and what the potential returns would be. In the end, we viewed this more as a high quality promotional product with legs of its own. Then we went out to find some help, bands, and music. After a lot of work, negotiation, and design ideas, we began to pull together what felt like a great collection, albeit varied.

Don’t quote me, but I think that the internet may very well be the next big thing. In addition to those who answered the open call, we assembled bands and songs that we felt captured the spirit of Kaijuice. We ended up being quite overwhelmed with open call artists’ track submissions as the PO Box just gave birth to inspired songs of all calibers. Like the giant monsters themselves, the songs we picked were ferocious, rampaging, sketchy, grotesque, cute, and funny. We remain honored to have had so many great songs at our disposal, so much so that it spurred us on to make it a double album with over 33 tracks.

We mostly threatened to send monsters to people’s homes if people did not pony up the cash; the rest were blackmail and ransoms. Getting help is easy when one is surrounded by like-minded, competent, and creative individuals. There are standard functions within the scope and life cycle of any project. The key is networking with people who can take on a role which they are already good at, and [make sure] they can personally benefit from helping you. Super7, Rocketworld, Android 8, and Kaiju Big Battel are great friends and powerful creative entities unto themselves. We are all part of a growing community and are gratefully benefiting from the mutual cross-promotion and each other’s successes.

Does that include aliens, monsters and mutants? While there were basically only three of us coordinating, managing, branding, and promoting the project, there are other resources mobilized to help. It is hard to say exactly how many people touched the project, but basically you need each major function owned by a person. Often, we wear a lot of hats because we are small, so for this project we divided up the tasks, assigned them, and did them as best as we could under the constraints. There were some learning curve issues, but we are not afraid to make fools of ourselves, as long as we stay true to the product.

Cool toys, collectibles, art, and music represent a unique feeling that people want to capture, collect, and enjoy. We know from the toy scene that there is strength in niche markets. People are not loyal to Wal-Mart; they just want to save a dollar on toothpaste. However, people are passionate and will fight to have a limited run collectible made by an artist they love. We love toys and music, and are tapping into those markets with products geared toward a small but devoted fanbase.

Many new designer toy companies operate just like record labels. Companies, like our friends STRANGEco, are great at finding “up and coming” artists, signing them to create a product line under their label, and then promoting the artists themselves. We’re in the midst of an art scene akin to the early 90s Seattle grunge scene. It’s kaleidoscopic candy for the senses!

Yes, we have plans for a Kaijuice Volume 2 and related music project. As long as there is great music to be heard and people wanting to hear it, we will try to bring those folks together – even if it takes monsters as the muse! Once we released Kaijuice, we got calls from very well-respected bands saying they wanted to be a part of the next one. We will endeavor to strike the best balance of underground and emerging artists, as well as named folks.