RPM Challenge 2015 Part V: M31

M31, or the Andromeda Galaxy

Impossible Universe Track 4 -- M31

So yeah, track 4 is named after the Andromeda Galaxy, well, the "official" name of the galaxy, which is also my musical moniker. This galaxy's name has some historical meaning for me, so read on....

The Andromeda Galaxy (also known as M31) is the closest galaxy to our own Milky Way. It's only 2.5 million light-years from us, and gets its name from the area of the sky in which it can be found, in the constellation Andromeda.

We are expected to collide with Andromeda in ... 3.75 billion years, at which time the two galaxies will combine to form one great elliptical galaxy. We'll have to see if that actually happens.

When I started a Mannheim Steamroller cover band in high school, there were initially four of us: my brother Brett on bass guitar, recorder, french horn; friends Joseph Hawkins on keyboards and David Kinard on drums, and myself on keyboards and arrangements. After the Sophomore assembly which brought us together, we competed in the Davis County Fair talent show. We didn't have a name for ourselves, and my cousin Brad Mottishaw suggested "Andromeda." Well astronomy was a hobby of mine, and it sounded pretty cool, so we went with it.

Andromeda's 1st incarnation in 1983.
L to R: Joseph Hawkins, Brett Tippetts,
Kyle Tippetts, David Kinard

We ended up winning 1st place in our category and went on to compete in the Utah State Fair talent show, many school assemblies and other community performances, and even did a live radio broadcast in Evanston Wyoming, where a Golden Retriever sauntered on to the stage. Fortunately it was radio, so no harm no foul, and it kind of brought the rural ambience of Evanston into the auditorium.

Nice touch.

I should mention that by the time we did the radio broadcast, the band had a few more members: Mark Steiner on EVI/Trumpet, Lonnie Nybo on keyboards and oboe, David Long and Cathy Brande on Keyboards, and several members of the Davis High School Band and Orchestra. Clif May and Todd Leishman provided excellent live sound.

We even got invited to perform at the 1985 Stadium of Fire (we had Douglas Spotted Eagle do the live sound for our final performance at the end of the 1985 school year since Clif and Todd weren't available to do it. Doug got us the gig. Alas, since most of us graduated that year, we couldn't pull it together. One of the biggest regrets of my musical undertakings).

Close-up of M31. This shows about a 61,000 light-year piece of the galaxy.

Probably TL;DR, but when I started doing music again 25 years later, I wanted to use the same band name, Andromeda. But, I found that there was a Swedish progressive metal band using it. But rather than give up on all the history, I chose to use the "official" name of the Andromeda galaxy, M31.

I wanted this track to be an upbeat, trance-y/house-y tune. At the break, I imagined what it might be like to be floating in space, thousands of light-years out from M31, watching it in all it's glory.

I don't believe in coincidence. I don't believe that any of these wondrous, fantastic, unbelievably beautiful things in our universe are just coincidences, that they just "happened." That is what is impossible.

What is possible, and I believe what is most certainly true, is that all these things, including our galaxy, solar system, our planet, and even ourselves were purposely created by the Great Creator, God.

And so, M31.