Creative Director’s Choice: Peter Kan of First Day of Spring on 'The Outer Limits' radio show
Creative Director’s Choice gives creative directors a chance to highlight the work they think is the best out in the ad world — the ads and campaigns they believe are making a difference.
The Outer Limits radio show
This week, Peter Kan, founder of First Day of Spring, talks about the collaborative excellence of Jeff Mills' and Nasa's 'The Outer Limits' radio show.
Detroit techno legend Jeff ‘The Wizard’ Mills has received international recognition for his work both as a DJ and as a producer.
Mills is also an artist and has exhibited his work internationally. His body of work displays a deep fascination with space and sci-fi themes, most notably in ‘The Visitor’, a sculpture of a drum machine based on a UFO sighting over Los Angeles in the 1950s.
For his latest space endeavor, Mills teamed up with Nasa and London-based online radio station NTS for a series of radio shows called The Outer Limits, named after a science fiction TV series in the 1960s. It consists of six uncompromising episodes exploring astrophysics and science fiction through abstract soundscapes and spoken word, with completely original and unreleased music by Mills and guest musicians.
Produced around the world with artists from the fields of classical, jazz and electronic music – with scientific direction from Nasa – The Outer Limits works well as a multi-disciplinary radio series, at the crossroads of science and modern experimental music. It is a great example of how a brand (Nasa), music artists (Mills et al) and media platform (NTS) can work seamlessly together to create something artistically compelling that benefits all parties involved. The Outer Limits is second to none.
The series connects Nasa’s drive to introduce a new generation to astrophysics with Mills’ love for sci-fi-inspired electronic music and NTS’s aim to develop ever-more innovative radio.
The never-seen-before format generates a profile boost to all parties and potential revenue streams to Mills and NTS on new music IP. It is a form of collaborative communication that moves away from the transactional advertising model in which a brand pays an artist and media platform for endorsement and reach. It’s exactly what we aim to do at First Day of Spring: deliver groundbreaking creative projects in the music space based on a shared value that elevates both brands and artists.
The Outer Limits is what I call a true music moonshot project.
Peter Kan is founder of Amsterdam's First Day of Spring, a creative company specialised in building brands through the power of music.
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