We had this wild idea—what if we played a full sci-fi movie during one of our live sets? It was one of those moments where it just felt too cool not to try. With Padded Waltz, we're always looking for ways to blend the strange and the theatrical, so syncing up an old sci-fi film with our music seemed like a perfect fit. This article dives into how we took that idea and turned it into something real—from the first flashes of inspiration to the final, immersive live show. We ended up going all in with the 1960s German sci-fi flick First Spaceship on Venus, weaving it together with our music to make something that felt unique and out of this world.
The Great Hunt Began
This all started while I was digging through the endless pit of public domain films, searching for something that could fit our vibe. I knew sci-fi was the way to go—it's always been one of my favorites, and it just makes sense with our music's "outer-worldly" compositions and the way our themes often explore the far stretches of the known.
After scrolling through mountains of duds—ones that either dragged on too long or had way too much talking—I initially landed on The Eye Creature. We were actually set on using it for a day or two, but as I really got to know the movie, it became clear that it had outdated and problematic sexist elements. So I kept looking. That's when I stumbled on First Spaceship on Venus. <angelic "WAHHH" noises> Right away, it just clicked. The campy special effects had charm, the visuals were surprisingly good for the 1960s, and it had the right kind of quirkiness. And honestly, the movie is just a good movie, especially for its time. Finding First Spaceship on Venus felt like a lightbulb moment; it had the perfect mix of old-school wonder and kitsch that matched our sound.
One of the biggest "aha" moments was seeing the Cosmostrator—the film’s spaceship—in action. It was the final piece that solidified everything for us; I knew this was the movie we had to go with. The visuals just clicked with our music in a way that felt right.
Background Visuals to Cosmic Epic
The idea of bringing the film into our live shows wasn't a huge leap for us. Our music is often described as theatrical, and we’d already been playing our shows with visuals—from abstract textures to full-blown music videos—playing in the background during our gigs. At one point, we started setting up a massive TV on stage to show these visuals alongside our set.
This time, it was about going further—putting our music into a complete cinematic experience. It was one of those spur-of-the-moment ideas that made us say, "Wouldn't that be rad if..."
Cutting, Splicing, Beeps and Bloops
Editing the movie to fit our show was a beast of a task, but the challenge was part of the fun. I used Adobe Premiere to cut First Spaceship on Venus from its original 90 minutes down to a tight 55. A lot of the dialogue had to go—after I removed the audio, many of those scenes were just people standing around silently, making them visually dull, and it just didn’t fit with what we were trying to create. Plus, we only had an hour slot for the set we were debuting. Despite cutting it down, I still wanted to keep the story flowing, so I transcribed the entire movie and added necessary captions over some b-roll scenes to fill in the gaps. I took liberties to put the most essential dialogue over visually striking parts of the film, making sure that both the storyline and the visual atmosphere stayed intact.
We structured the setlist based on each scene’s mood and atmosphere—every track had to enhance what was happening visually. This approach let us keep only the most visually striking parts of the movie, with each song carefully chosen to match the feel and pacing of the scenes. In some parts, we leaned into improvisation, using audio cues from the movie to guide us. A spaceship sound or computer beeps and bloops would let us know it was time to switch things up, and I'd make sure to have a monitor facing me during the performance so I could keep everyone in sync. It was quite the challenge to pull off the first time—remembering every cue, while also playing, singing, and orchestrating the band. All the cues landed on my shoulders. (Don't get me wrong, I loved it.) As time goes on, I’m sure it’ll all become second nature for all of us, but that first performance was a lot. It was fun and successful, but definitely a lot. The setlist turned into a kind of road map—more of an instruction manual than anything.
Asteroid Fields and Sentient Lava
There were parts of the movie that seemed to align effortlessly with our music. For example, there’s a scene where the spaceship flies through an asteroid belt—pure chaos. It felt like it was meant for the intro of our song Better Together, but we extended the part, building up the tension just as the danger meter in the movie started dropping. Another standout was a scene where sentient lava starts rising, threatening the astronauts. We paired that with a jam section of Cascade, using a rising crescendo to match the visual tension on screen. (And as long was we started to wrap up the jam by the lightning scene, the next song would line up perfectly!)
This wasn’t just about syncing up visuals—it was about making the audience feel like they were stepping into something beyond the typical concert. We used every cue we could—sound effects, visual hints, and even scene cuts—to make sure it all felt unified. To ensure the film's audio enhanced rather than overshadowed the live music experience, I actually ran an 1/8" stereo to an XLR cable straight to the sound guy, and we sound-checked it just like any other instrument. It was important that the volume fit seamlessly with the rest of the band.
Reactions and Evolutions
Seeing how the audience reacted made all the effort worthwhile. People said they felt like the movie and our music were made for each other—that they fit together seamlessly. We had listeners telling us they’d want to come back to see it again, just to catch everything they missed the first time around. It was gratifying to hear people describe the show as something they wanted to experience multiple times, as if there was always something new to discover.
Each performance has taught us something new. For one particular show, we had to cut it down to 45 minutes, and that meant trimming the movie even further while still keeping the core storyline intact. I had to get extra creative with the captions and rearrange some of the jams—it was a puzzle, but one that felt satisfying to solve. For that particular show, we actually had stage space restrictions, so we strapped a TV to Jess's chest that played the movie! That was a whole process within itself, but we'll do whatever it takes to make this show work.
This is not a one-time thing. We want to take this show on tour, and it feels like there's enough depth for it to remain compelling even if we do it again and again. People have already expressed their desire to see it multiple times—which is all the encouragement we need. We’re also considering other genres. Next Halloween, we might lean into horror. We’re not setting limits; we want to keep exploring what’s out there and find ways to blend film and music into something that feels unique. We'd even love to perform this in cinemas and movie theaters with the movie behind us! The possibilities are endless. For festivals, we'll get bigger screens and projectors and further enhance the immersion, with props and lights that sync up with the movie. (Maybe even get a life-sized Cosmostrator!!!) This is worth evolving, and evolve it we shall!
Cosmic Roadmap
This project has been all about the hard work paying off—taking our music, syncing it with a classic sci-fi film, and making it all come together in a way that felt cohesive and immersive. It wasn’t easy—every cue, every moment, and every transition had to land perfectly. But seeing it all work, seeing the audience react, and knowing that we pulled it off was worth every bit of effort. We're incredibly excited to take this on tour, to further enhance the immersion, and to keep pushing what's possible with bigger screens, synced props, and lights. This is an experience that’s only going to grow from here. The possibilities are endless, and we can't wait for everyone to see it for themselves. If you want to see our debut performance of this at the Marigold Theater, please go to this link: https://youtu.be/407ARBZlOQw
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