fbpx
X
X
<span id="back-to-top-inner"></span>

X-Files

The Sex Files (Californication vs The X-Files)

With the recent news that The X-Files are coming back to television, I was not only excited to start believing again, but also to do a cover of one of my favourite theme songs of all time.

I remember watching the X-Files for the first time in the nineties, and it scared the shit out of me! I was hooked, and soon I had my mom helping me pick out which episodes to rent from the video store. In fact, whenever we’d sing the theme song to one of our dogs, “Flower” would start freaking out and jump up on the face of whoever was singing. Then, I would eventually relay the frightening details of each episode to my younger sister Megan who to this day cannot hear the theme song because it scares her! Fast forward many years, and my close friends Conrad, David and I would watch through (most of) the seasons of the show while giving our pancreas’ a tough time with a treat called a “flying saucer”. It was 3 scoops of mint chocolate ice cream covered in syrup, squished between to waffles, and I eventually taught my nephews the way, and it became a celebrated, yet painful treat for them too.

I was always a big fan of the musical score of the series, as well as the soundtracks. Not only did I find out about some great bands (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Foo Fighters, Filter, and so many more), but there was also the main theme by Mark Snow, as well as different remixes of the main titles.

You can either watch the video I put together on YouTube, or stream the audio on Soundcloud:

In the spirit of those remixes, here’s my newest offering, a medley of three songs that I’ve called “The Sex Files.” I started with David Duchovny’s other TV sensation, “Californication” and used that as the basis of the piece. The opening titles of Californication were written by Tree Adams and Tyler Adams and can be heard at the beginning and end, framing the song and becoming the swinging groove which was perfect to overlay Mark Snow’s X-Files theme. I even managed to squeeze in the guitar riff from Foo Fighters‘ “Walking After You”, which was included on the first X-Files feature film “Fight the Future” soundtrack. That chord progression then managed to work for one of the other melodies from the X-Files theme, leading back into the Californication intro before ending with the eery triplet motif fading into the ether. If you listen closely, you can hear no less than 4 different melodies and progressions from the original X-Files theme, but redone to suit the sultry garage-band vibe of the Californication theme. I would’ve included something from Gillian Anderson’s newest show, but it doesn’t have any theme music!

Here are the original three songs, see if you can hear all the different parts!

US Odyssey Part 6: Roswell / Albuquerque

One of the few places I HAD to go on this odyssey was Roswell. Having seen far too many X-Files, it would’ve been a waste not to go there! Right? Right?!

Not so much.

First off, we hauled our asses all the way from Plano just to get there. And for what? We wanted to see the crash site, the themed restaurants, anything alien themed!

Abduction! - photo by Shannon Lepere (www.shannonlepere.com)

When we arrived, it was after 5pm so everything was closed. No museum or other tours for us. Also, the ‘crash site’ is located on private property so we couldn’t even check that out (although nobody else can, as they only allow people there once or twice a year during festivals). In the X-Files, there’s a diner called the Flying Saucer that Mulder visits in Roswell, however, there are no longer any themed eateries at all, as they’ve all gone under. THAT, and the actual Hilltop Cafe where they shot the scene is in fact in Langley, BC. Damn!

We managed to find one trinket store open late, so we got some answers, and a few tacky gifts. I bought myself a really nice polo shirt with Roswell embroidered on the left breast (with a silhouette of a spaceship behind it).

There weren’t really any opportunities for photos either. There was supposed to be a large model flying saucer somewhere near the highway, but nobody seemed to know anything about it. This meant that the only one we found was attached to the closed museum. I did my best to stage my own abduction though!

HIghway driving - photo by Shannon Lepere (www.shannonlepere.com)

That night we drove to Albuquerque to sleep, which was also disappointing, not because we had a ton of expectations, but because it was very normal. There are certain mentions of that city that gave us the impression that it must have a lot of character. Not so much.