Viva Voce Mind Tricks

Seeing A New Hope as a young boy with his family at an Alabama movie theater made such an impact on Viva Voce's drummer/singer Kevin Robinson that he and his brother couldn't help but use Jedi mind tricks on pets.

"My mom and dad took my brother and I to see the original Star Wars in Huntsville, Alabama," Robinson recalls. "I was 10 or so and it was the '80s. I think it was in the theaters to build up the next release. We sat through it and after the credits had rolled my brother and I refused to leave. We talked my dad into going to McDonalds and getting us all hamburgers so we could sit there and watch it again!"

"We didn't sleep for days and I can remember my brother and I making lightsabers out of tree branches as soon as we got home," Robinson continues. "It was less than a week until my mom got a call that we were using the 'Force' on the neighbor's cat."

While A New Hope may have convinced Robinson that he was Force-sensitive, it was Return of the Jedi that encouraged a few minor transportation modifications.

"After seeing Jedi, I can vividly remember sketching out how my friends and I were going to rig up our bikes to become speeder bikes," Robinson remembers. "One of my friends went so far as to rig up these crazy poles on the front of his bike. He couldn't turn properly and hooked one of them on a stop sign, sending him, literally, flying into a lawn sculpture. We fell off our bikes laughing. No true Jedi would have let that happen!"

By the time Halloween came, Robinson was the first to join the Rebel Alliance, though he would have preferred to be everyone favorite's scoundrel.

"I would have given anything to have been Han Solo for Halloween but since I was a beginner at karate, the outfit was a dead ringer for a Luke's outfit," Robinson says. "There were only the cheap plastic faced costumes back then -- the kind that made your cheeks and nose sweat from breathing -- and my neighbor had the Chewbacca one. He couldn't do the growl, which I had mastered (still have), so I had to double as Luke and the Chewie-growl that Halloween."

Even though Robinson doesn't spend much money on Star Wars collectibles as an adult, it's easy to speculate where his childhood allowance went.

"When I was a kid I was mad about Star Wars toys," Robinson says. "I had everything -- the original Millennium Falcon, AT-ATs, Darth Vader, TIE fighters (with ejectable wings) -- you name it. I was always on the hunt for the elusive ones -- the really hard-to-find guys back in the day. Stores had tons of Hammerheads, but when you found that one last Boba stashed way back in the back --- score!"

"I even saved up UPC symbols and mailed them in to get the Emperor figure in Return of the Jedi which promptly got confiscated at school the next day," Robinson laughs. "Probably due to my teacher hearing me shout, 'then you will die!' from the back of the room."

Robinson's knack for entertaining his classmates with impromptu Star Wars soliloquies later were replaced with his musical skills on stage with his band Viva Voce. Consisting of himself on drums and keyboards with his wife Anita on vocals and guitar, the indie-rock band formed in their native Alabama, released their first record Hooray for Now in 1998. After touring with Sunny Day Real Estate, the band relocated to Portland, Oregon, and released their next album Lovers Lead the Way. In 2004, the band released Heat Can Melt Your Brain on Minty Fresh records.

True to their band name's translation (Viva Voce is Italian for "word of mouth"); the husband-and-wife duo's unique indie sound garnered interest from the hard-to-impress hipster set as they toured around the world. While on tour in Europe, Robinson says he made a point to see Revenge of the Sith opening night in London "in line with the full-on costume wearing Brits."

Episode III quickly became Robinson's favorite of the prequels even though "the ending was just grueling," he says. Robinson was happy to have his burning questions finally answered including why old Ben Kenobi kept to himself on Tatooine before events during A New Hope. "Episode III answered for me why Ben was so content to hang out alone," Robinson says. "Especially since he was able to chit-chat with the dead."

Now that the film saga has come full circle with Revenge, Robinson says he understands why Star Wars has such an impact on its fans and pop culture as a whole. "Star Wars was just a part of my childhood like grade school pizza, or 'School House Rocks,' or the Reagan Era -- it was a cultural thing," Robinson explains. "In retrospect, there are probably tons of reasons why the films are so popular. When the original films were released members of the hippie generation were having kids of their own only to discover a new wave of unsettled home life."

"The underlying family issues with the original Star Wars trilogy were actually pretty deep," Robinson continues. "Luke denies authority then comes to accept it; he has a controlling dad and problems at home; plus abandonment issues. These were probably social issues that a large portion of America could identify with -- not to mention the evil political plots (i.e. Cold War), good vs. bad (Russia vs. everyone else), and a large sense of wanting to identify with a spiritual meaning (the Force). And so you have the recipe for striking a monster nerve with the world."

However, even with all the heavier political and social themes throughout the saga, Robinson says there's still a fundamental purpose to the films. "The films are extremely political, especially Episode III, but just try to tell thatto a 6-year-old fan going 'bzzzzzz' with his new lightsaber toy!" Robinson laughs.

To listen to songs from Viva Voce, visit the band's official site here. Stay tuned to Star Wars Rocks for more interviews from some of your favorite bands and celebrities.