Posted By Kaitlin Tremblay on April 9, 2013

The Future Prophecy is a dystopian graphic novel, set in a savage wasteland where gangs fight for control of what little resources and manpower remains. Sounds familiar, right? As a medium, graphic novels and comic books are no strangers to the apocalyptic genre, with works like The Walking Dead, Crossed and Y: The Last Man taking center stage. Where The Future Prophecy differs, though, is in it’s choice of hero and villain: rather than a rag-tag group of unlikely survivors banding together to fight off unspeakable evil, The Future Prophecy features Sara Simms, a heroic DJ called forth to defend and save herself and her allies from other corrupt DJs and musical monopolies. Part concept album part epic narrative, The Future Prophecy begins with Volume One: Arcanum and sets the scene for these musical showdowns that are all about life and death. Check out the trailer for a glimpse of the dazzling and yet gritty world of The Future Prophecy.

I was fortunate enough to run into the lovely and talented creators of The Future Prophecy on a very exhausted Sunday morning of Toronto ComiCon, as we were all setting up exhibits for the second day of the con. I was underslept and under-caffennaited and saw Sara Simms’ incredible cosplay, which was sparkling and shimering enough to act like a shot of espresso. She immediately reminded me of Marvel’s Dazzler, a superheroine made for the spotlight, and I walked away from the con with a business card and immediately downloaded the first volume of The Future Prophecy: Volume One Arcanum.

KT: The Future Prophecy is a fairly fun concept, an unique mash-up of a dystopian apocalyptic setting, with the world of DJs and music production. What was the main source of inspiration for this story?

Melle:  Growing up with my sister in Toronto was probably the main source of inspiration for this story.  We totally ran amok and were constantly embarking on adventures that took us to all corners of the city.  We were always exploring nightclubs, back alleys, record stores, rooftops, sewers…I think when you are young your imagination is open to creating a very exciting existence for yourself and you really soak in the details.  I try to think back on those evenings we spent roaming around and pull from those memories of the city to inspire the setting for The Future Prophecy.  It was a very magical time where it seemed like anything was possible, and a lot of the things I learned, saw and experienced seemed almost supernatural.

The Future Prophecy: Vol 1 Arcanum

My sister has been DJing since she was 17 and has always loved the EDM scene, so I was always tagging along to raves, clubs and events with her. If you’ve ever been to a rave in an abandoned warehouse or old factory, it’s not so hard to imagine that the world has ended and you are surrounded by displaced citizens who are fighting for survival.  The DJ up in the booth overlooking the crowd has always reminded me a bit of a mad scientist: turning knobs and pressing buttons and controlling the crowd.  A crowded dancefloor always has an aura of comradarie; music really has the power to unite people, and that is what our story is all about.  I’m a very visual person with a healthy imagination and I always sort of felt that all of the electronic equipment behind the DJ booth had a mind of it’s own…like an army of  intelligent robots.  Even now when I’m in Sara’s studio I feel like at any moment her synth could light up and start beeping at me like R2D2. 

KT: Absolutely — there’s a sense of everyone’s being in on it together and everything outside of the scene ceases to exist. On that note, where did Sara Simms originate from as a character and as a concept?

Melle:  Sara Simms in the graphic novel is based off of my sister, Sara Simms, who is a real life DJ and music producer.  The concept of her ‘superpowers’ (controlling musical technologies with her mind) is based off her skills in reality: controlling musical technologies to make and play music.

The Future Prophecy, Vol 1: Arcanum

I think when you are watching any DJ/musician/performer there is a sort of spiritual element to experiencing someone who is really dedicated to their craft.  It’s easy to sort of view that as an extension of the person, like they were born with something special that allowed them to master that skill set and become one with it.  I watch Sara perform all the time, and sometimes I really do believe that she is having conversations with the equipment and music, telling it what to do and how to affect people.  It really is like a power.

KT:  As someone who has zero musical talent, but having watched musicians work and create a piece, I get what you’re talking about: it’s like there’s a bond there that we, non-musical folk, just aren’t privy to. So obviously the musical element is one of the main driving forces behind The Future Prophecy, and it’s being described as a “concept album:” what do you mean by this?

Sara:  In the next stage of production, we will start to release musical tracks to accompany each issue of The Future Prophecy.  In our series, the characters are all based on Toronto’s top DJs and musical talent, and the songs will be composed by the story’s characters.  Each musical track will relate to the story, and describe the theme of each issue, and emotions and/or experiences our characters have.

(KT: To watch the illustrious superheroes and villains of The Future Prophecy performing on stage, check out this video from the official launch party.)

Sara: A few of the artists we’ll be featuring on the album include:  Melleefresh as ‘Dextra Delano’ (electro/dubstep performance artist, DJ and founder of Play Records), King Selah as himself (from House of David Gang, Canada’s biggest reggae band) and Terence Kissner as ‘Gui Guillotine’ (international ‘techno DJ/producer).

KT: Without spoiling too much, what can we look forward to in terms of the other characters?  Can you speak more on this process of identifying powers for each character? How do you select the musicians you did, and are they working collaboratively on this project, or did they just serve as inspiration?

Sara:  The characters in The Future Prophecy are all based on real Djs and musicians, from a diverse range of genres; from techno to electro, to dubstep, reggae and rock.  The inspiration for the characters came from talented Toronto-based DJs and musicians who Melle and I both personally know and respect.  We chose specific DJs and musicians for our project based on their musical talents and unique styles; Melle and I have both known the entire crew for many years.

The Future Prophecy Vol 1: Arcanum

The artists we selected were inspiration for our story’s cast of characters, and in many cases their individual talents were exaggerated or used as a basis to create their character’s superpowers.  For example, our story’s main characters include:  Dextra Delano, a seductive temptress who paralyzes victims with her scream, and Gui Guillotine, who has a mechanical heart that beats at the bpm of techno.  These powers were inspired by the talents of Melleefresh, a rocking electro house/dubstep performance artist/vocalist and Play Records founder, and Terence Kissner, an internationally renowned techno DJ/producer.

Our cast of artists will be working together this year to create tracks for The Future Prophecy album.  We also perform live as a superhero and villain DJ collective; I highly recommend you check out our next show!

We plan on adding more characters to our series as we move forward, but you’ll have to read our story to find out about them…

KT: Obviously the different characters and musicians all hold their own weight and power in The Future Prophecy, and this is one of the biggest draws in reading: they’re not just characters, but actual musicians. By pairing the dystopian setting and framework with the idea of certain music “gangs” ruling (a la the division of Gotham into each villain/hero’s area in No Man’s Land), is there an intended political leaning to The Future Prophecy?

Melle:  In our story, all structured government has been disbanded or overthrown, so the city is functioning socially and economically on a very primal level.  There is a strong juxtaposition between powerful modern technologies and fundamental daily existence.  The citizens who are pushed to the margins of existence have to band together to create an echo of the life they once knew.  People outside the Bogtown elite have to struggle to merely survive, and this environment creates the impending uprising/rebellion that the central story circulates around.

I think anytime you are writing about ‘The End of Civilization’ and future wars, a bit of political undertone sneaks in there, but the pre-war politics aren’t a major theme in the story.  There are lots of mysterious gaps that the mind has to get creative to fill in, like a pick your own adventure story.  Everyone has their own favorite theories of the apocalypse: nuclear war, zombies, mass infection.  My hopes are for a war that includes giant rideable cats and lightsabers

KT: I, for one, will be pretty let down if there aren’t any lightsabers. Moving on to the idea of fighting and defending yourself in this world, I would love to hear you speak more on the idea of using music and “negative sound waves” to create a super army.

CACU Character Sketch

Melle:  I was fascinated by conspiracy theories in my college days, and I tend to nod a lot to those sorts of things in my Sci-Fi writing…mostly because now that I’m a bit older and less terrified of the world so many of them just seem like really intriguing and gruesome fairy tales.

I read an article about 10 years ago on the use of sound waves as ‘correction’ for criminals.  There was a very graphic photo accompanying the article of a man with half of his face burned away and a metal plate inserted over his eye who was a victim of the process.  That story really stuck with me, and the CACU are based on sort of a similar process.  They are assimilated into the mutant CACU army by process of mind control/torture using negative soundwaves.  They are controlled by receiving instruction by way of notes on a frequency that only they can hear and process, similar to dogs and high pitched sounds.  And of course they are outfitted with an array of musical goodies to do their evil bidding, like a giant turntable needle arm that when inserted into the earth can cause massive earthquakes.

KT: I’d like to thank you both for taking the time to answer my questions, and I look forward to seeing more from Sara Simms and the other goodies that The Future Prophecy has to offer!

For now, check out Volume One: Arcanum here and stayed tuned for more on how this band of DJs navigates the end of the world. Want more from the creators of The Future Prophecy? Find them on Facebook, Twitter, or on Instagram: Sara (sarasimms) and Melle (melleoh).

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Categories: Comics, Interviews
Tags: apocalypse, Batman's No Man Land, Crossed, Dextra Delano, end of the world, evil DJs, Guid Guillotine, House of David Gang, King Selah, Melle Oh, Melleefresh, Sara Simms, Terence Kissner, The Future Prophecy, The Walking Dead, Volume One: Arcanum, Y: The Last Man