Following our previous conversation with Drew Spence, the producer known as Dynamics Plus, Slash Music sat down with him again to dig deeper into one of his most ambitious projects yet: Age of Forgotten Heroes. From the sword-and-sandal epics that shaped his imagination to the philosophy guiding his AI-assisted visuals, Spence opens up about where craft ends and technology begins.
Also read: Exclusive Interview: Drew Spence Pulls Back the Curtain on The Dynamic Universe
Could you tell us about the Age of Forgotten Heroes project?
Age of Forgotten Heroes started as just a music video for the instrumental group Fallout Shelter‘s track « Day of the Aegis ». But once I started adding more and more scenes, it grew into something else.
Where did the inspiration for this series come from and what does the title mean?
All the old classic movies like Jason and the Argonauts (1963), the Sinbad series of movies like The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958). Also, movies like The Thief of Bagdad (1940) and Clash of the Titans (1981). I love the adventure aspect, the sweeping stories. This is my throwback to that time, hence the name Age of Forgotten Heroes.
What does your creative process look like when composing your music?
For AOFH, I’m using some of my oldest work. When I first started making music, in an organized way, I named the beats using letters of the alphabet. I had no idea how much music I’d eventually be making. After I reached the end of the alphabet, the next track began with AA, BB, CC, etc. So now, maybe 20+ years later, I’m using track names that are B, F, I and N. The ideas were always there; it was just the execution was rough. Now I can smooth out the sounds, fix a few elements, add a few finishing touches, and the soundtrack version is ready.
For those who want to see where sound turns into story, the full « Age of Forgotten Heroes » playlist unfolds the saga scene by scene, straight from Spence’s own channel.
And what about creating the visuals? How do you approach that?
Forgotten Heroes is AI-powered. There are some Daz Studio assets and the rest is rendered and generated. AI has that tendency to wander off track and do its own thing. You get the usual artifacts and some broken details, but it’s up to me as the creator to decide what can stay and what is unacceptable. It has to be cohesive enough to not break the viewer’s immersion, but some things you let go for the sake of entertainment. Likewise, I wanted to keep Lauryn Grace very grounded in modern reality, but the tug of science fiction was way too strong.
In other words, you can break the rules when you need to.
Yes, as long as I stick to the three Cs of being an artist. It’s Care, Control and Consistency. Care enough about the small details to do the fine work. Show Control over the tools and lastly have Consistency in both output and quality. The three Cs are interlinked. Too much time caring and fussing over your own personal rules and methodology, like trying to achieve some sort of imaginary perfection, leads to a lot of sharp opinions, but very little work to show. Too little care, and there is a huge amount of average work. Quantity over quality. For most things, keeping a healthy balance is the answer.
Do you have any film or cinematic influences that inspired the creation of your sci-fi leaning music videos?
Those kinds of inspirations are reserved for graphic novels and comics. Blade Runner is my favorite movie, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Alien, The Terminator, Gladiator, and 300, etc. The music inspires the songs; the songs inspire the videos. I listen to the record, I close my eyes and I see things… then I do my best to turn those visions into the music videos.
When you first get into something, you’re trying to copy someone or something else. That’s what Quincy Jones called the Imitation Stage. Then you add your spin, which is the Emulation Stage. Then the Innovation Stage is reached when you find your own voice and become an original experience. And finally, I would add the Elevation Stage, where you lift the pursuit and push it further along.
What does that mean for your creativity, and more so, what is The Dynamic Universe?
It asks the question, “What am I doing here?” Why add my voice? Why share my vision? I think I’m at the point where I’m exploring strange new worlds. The Dynamic Universe was just the umbrella brand name for all my music and art. At this point, it’s grown to include all the different characters and properties included in my works. For an example, Carmen Espinoza starts out as a fictional 2D stand-in for a sax player in the Domino Grey Donna S music video « Better to Start ». I was so inspired by that image that I changed her into the guest player in Lauryn Grace‘s « Memories Decay », and then she appears on Fallout Shelter‘s « Winter Rerun ». And now she is also in Age of Forgotten Heroes’ « The Bounty of the Cretan Bull ». The Dynamic Universe is where all these characters live and help bring my stories to life. There’s a lot of wonderful connections to be made if you really dig into the universe.
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Age of Forgotten Heroes YouTube Playlist
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXS7W3T6z0Ew&si=aI5p5bMOoIUjFOJx
Fallout Shelter “Day of the Aegis”
https://youtu.be/qaZLtn3S7Is?si=TETxnFruizQz29R-
Lauryn Grace YouTube Playlist
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtM27rt7hEfMA9oJO9BqDO3Junf8RTYNB&si=9Zl19H1Tsj3ZiS66
Domino Grey Donna S “Better to Start”
https://youtu.be/5faoPU14fPA?si=zpAFgMtgTI1dBt9b
Lauryn Grace “Memories Decay”
https://youtu.be/b2n_RnY_BGE?si=k_d5UaiR7qmq_hbo
Fallout Shelter “Winter Rerun”
https://youtu.be/1j7VDsNYTII?si=jNvB3I_r_YSYLSDy
Bounty of the Cretan Bull
https://youtu.be/mIv12okPcKI?si=8uDDmp5M4GFQKOl5
