Music that Inspires David Mack to Write. ***Please note that this podcast contains spoilers for the entire Star Trek: Vanguard series of novels.***   Writing novels can be challenging, considering the amount of details needed to flush out a entertaining story. Each author has their own method for keeping track of the details, but sometimes detailed plan for plot and character developments aren't enough, and writers can find themselves stuck with where to go, or they may have difficulty in conveying the proper emotional tone on the page. So where can an author turn when they need to find just t ..read more

Star Trek: The Motion Picture's 40th Anniversary.    After its cancellation in 1969, Star Trek fans didn't have many options for new adventures of Captain Kirk and the Enterprise aside from a few comics and novels, and a short lived Saturday morning animated series. Even with very limited new material, television reruns fanned the flames of fandom. Star Trek conventions began to pop up, and one burning question that every fan asked was whether or not their show would return to television. Attributed by many to the success of Star Wars, Paramount shelved the plans of a new series in favor of a ..read more

Star Trek can be very important and influential in people's lives. There are many stories of people becoming doctors or engineers because of their heroes portrayed on the screen.  Sometimes, the music of Star Trek can be a soundtrack to our own lives. People use the music for weddings, graduations and birthdays. In this special supplemental episode of Melodic Treks, host Brandon-Shea Mutala walks the hallways of the Rio All Suites Hotel during the 50th anniversary convention and asks the fans what music from the franchise is memorable or has a special place in their hearts. Chapters Intro (0 ..read more

The Music of The Man Trap. One reason that the music of The Original Series are memorable because it was only necessary to compose and record for a certain number of episodes each season. The rest would be tracked with previously recorded material. Gene Roddenberry was extremely happy with the music that Alexander Courage created for the two pilot episodes, "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Therefore it was no surprise that he didn't hesitate to enlist Courage's talents once again when it was decided that the first episode to air would be "The Man Trap." In this special 50th episo ..read more

In Memoriam of James Horner. One of the most successful film composers of the past half century, James Horner began scoring films at the age of 25. By the time of his unfortunate passing, he had amassed a resume comprising more than 150 titles. Some of his most notable works include Braveheart, Krull, The Rocketeer, Clear and Present Danger, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. He was the winner of two Academy Awards for Titanic—one for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score and the other for Best Music, Original Song—and was nominated for an additional eight ..read more

Escape from the Planet of the Apes With John Jackson Miller. One of the most famous franchises in the history of science fiction is The Planet of the Apes, originally written as a novel by Pierre Boulle. This one book inspired a film, four sequels, a remake, a prequel series, a television series, and animated series, comics, books, and so much more. In January of 2017, Titan Books released and anthology of 16 short stories called Tales From the Forbidden Zone. These 16 stories are set in a variety of time periods of the rich history of the Planet of the Apes mythology. In this episode of Mel ..read more

"Yeoman on the Bridge" With Leslie Hudson. Star Trek has inspired many people in many different ways. It has inspired people to write stories, paint, and write songs. Leslie Hudson, a Canadian singer and song writer, describes herself as a powerhouse at the mic, and a person who can cut through a crowd of sound with a caress. With eight solo albums under her belt her songs span more than 25 years of writing every genre from rock to geek to faerie and demonstrate not only her versatility as a musician but her refusal to be contained. In this episode of Melodic Treks, host Brandon-Shea Mutala ..read more

La La Land Record's 50th Anniversary Collection. After fifty years, there have been many releases of Star Trek music from all across the franchise. La La Land Records had to create something very special in order to celebrate the monumental milestone for Star Trek, and they delivered it with their four disc set last December. Each disc is filled with rare music from all of the series including synth demo mock ups for main titles, bumpers, and new transfers of music from newly found first generation masters. Also inclusded on the set is an amazing disc of music from the animated series that m ..read more

Family Guy and "The Offspring" with John Takis. *I would like to apologize as there are some audio issues in this episode. During the first four seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Ron Jones and Dennis McCarthy alternated scoring duties on the show, and Ron ended up composing 42 episodes including "Datalore," "Q Who," "The Drumhead," and "The Best of Both Worlds" Parts One and Two. After working on The Next Generation, an avid fan of Jones names Seth MacFarlane hired him to compose for a new project called Family Guy. In this episode of Melodic Treks, host Brandon-Shea Mutala and Joh ..read more

The Melodic Treks Christmas Special. Once again, the most wonderful time of the year is upon us: Trekmas! Trekmas time is a time for sharing and in this episode of Melodic Treks, Brandon-Shea Mutala reached out to the listeners of Trek FM to roast some marsh melons around the camp fire, sit next to the tree and pick a track or two that they enjoy and share it with you. The tracks are as varied as a present selection under a tree. Some of these tracks you may have guessed ahead of time, and some, like all good presents, are a surprise. So take a glass of egg nog or some nice mulled wine, and s ..read more