Persona Bands

I'm really intrigued by the whole phenomenon of musical groups aimed at extremely specific audiences, such as the Lovecraftian band, Darkest of the Hillside Thickets. Portland, Oregon apparently has a lot of them. I've just become aware of the Klingon death metal band Stovokor (named after the Klingon afterlife, by the way), though they've actually been around for a while. And of course there's the whole Wizard Rock subgenre, starting with Harry and the Potters. I've even seen ads for computer game conventions that include appearances by bands that play music specific to favorite video games. Pre-internet, some of these groups might not have amounted to more than a one shot laugh at a convention or a local oddity, and now some of them are able to go on short tours or release recordings of their music and actually become profitable (if not full time) enterprises. As I understand it, at least one of the Harry Potter themed groups works as a regular cover band most of the time and just changes clothes and material when they're using the other name, which strikes me as a good way to go.

As a musician and a gamer, it's a tempting path to combine the two, which is how Darkest of the Hillside Thickets started in the first place. You still have all of the usual work involved in piecing together a decent band, with the additional restrictions of making your original material stick to your theme and showing at least some thematically appropriate flare, but then the audience is about as likely to be receptive as you could possibly ask. Getting work in a mainstream setting may be problematic, but there's far less competition for the specialty work (at conventions, etc.). And if you're a gamer (or Star Trek fan, or whatever), you'd probably enjoy going to the conventions anyway. You probably won't become famous or rich this way, but I could see it being Big Fun if you have the right people involved and the right mindset.

As for me personally, I don't think I know enough people with the right combination of skill sets and obsessions, but you never know who you might stumble across at a convention, so I wouldn't rule it out if the opportunity arises or I come up with the right concept myself.