Sometimes, the appreciation for Apple tools
becomes part of the music itself. One of the most
unusual salutes to Apple came in 2005 from Wu-Tang
Clan. The seminal hip-hop group released a compilation
album called
Think Differently Music: Wu-Tang Meets
Indie Culture
. Not only did the title borrow from Apple’s
advertising slogan “Think Different,” but the album cover
art also showed the merging of Wu-Tang’s distinctive
W
symbol and the rainbow-colored Apple logo.
The musicians in this chapter show how Apple and its
products enable creative expression in unexpected ways.
Airplane Mode, a New York City–based indie band com-
prised of Dave Wiskus, Joe Cieplinski, Agnes Chan, and
Patrick Spencer, gets its name from the iPhone feature
that shuts off wireless transmission. One might assume that
these musicians—all of them well-established iOS designers—
would make cute music parodying Apple culture.
In fact, you won’t find any odes to iPhones, iMacs, or
Steve Jobs in the lyrics of Airplane Mode’s hard-charging,
synth-driven music. However, the band’s connection to
Apple culture permeates everything else, from its embrace
of technology and social engagement to its start-up energy.
And there is another parallel between Apple and Airplane
Mode: the band is making money by leveraging lessons
learned from building software at start-ups.
Its music is influenced by keyboard-centric groups
like The Cars and The Killers, but the band’s operating
mode is inspired by Steve Jobs, according to Wiskus.
“Our live performances are inspired by the way
Apple presents [a keynote],” Wiskus explained. “I think
the Steve Jobs influence is on this band, from a business
110
111
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.