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Mar 11, 2016 By Tessa Murray Still Corners

My Inner Geek is our recurring guest blog series where the artist writes about something geeky, such as their favorite sci-fi/fantasy TV show, film, book, or comic book; or favorite technology or other geeky thing. For this installment, Tessa Murray, singer for Still Corners, writes about Star Trek: The Next Generation, which ran from 1987 to 1991 and was the well-received follow-up to the original Star Trek series from the 1960s. Star Trek: The Next Generation also spawned four feature films.

Still Corners also features Greg Hughes. Murray is from the U.K., but Hughes is American. The band released a criminally under-appreciated dream-pop album in 2013 via Sub Pop, Strange Pleasures, their sophomore album. The band recently shared a new song, “Horses At Night” (listen below), and say a new album is due out later this year.

Still Corners are performing at Under the Radar‘s official nighttime SXSW showcase next Wednesday night from 7:30 PM to 1:40 AM at Central Presbyterian Church (200 E. 8th Street, Austin, TX 78701, which is at the corner of 8th and Brazos). SXSW badges and wristbands get priority admission to this event. Walk-ups on the night hoping to buy single tickets to the event might be let in, capacity permitting. The event is all-ages. You cannot RSVP for this event. Still Corners go on at 1:00 AM. The rest of the lineup features Julien Baker, Eleanor Friedberger, Car Seat Headrest, TEEN, England’s Younghusband, and Mass Gothic (former Hooray for Earth frontman Noel Heroux).

The full set-times are below and all the info on our SXSW events can be found here.

Read on Murray writes about becoming a late convert to Star Trek:

I’ve never been a fan of Star Trek. When I was a kid I would get really annoyed if Star Trek was on TV. What was the deal with those costumes and why did everything have to happen so slowly? It would generally result in the TV being switched off (we didn’t have many channels in the U.K. back then) and I would do something wholesome like practice the piano or play in the garden, which was probably for the best.

So it was a strange development last year when I was seeking a refuge from violence on TV and decided to start watching Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix. Instead of starting from Season 1, I went straight to Season 5. I’m not quite sure why but apart from a few references going over my head—who was Tasha Yar? why does Jean Luc Picard hate the Borg so much?—it has worked out well.

What a program: it has drama, science, philosophy, relationships, international relations—the list goes on and on. The writers were amazing, there are so many crazy episodes, just last week I watched the one with the Kriosian metamorph who “can sense what males around her desire and react appropriately.” The woman generates pheromones that make her pretty much irresistible to any male yet Jean Luc still manages to (pretty much) maintain his composure when she pursues him. In another, Ensign Ro and La Forge get covered in some kind of cloaking particles and everyone thinks they’re dead. They have to work out what’s happened and find a way back.

I’m coming to the end of Season 5 and am thinking about going back to Season 1. Whenever I watch, the big questions on my mind are:

• Will Data continue to save the day pretty much every episode?
• Will Number 1 and Deanna Troi ever get together?
• How did Jean Luc Picard become such a dude?
• What would it be like to wear a visor?
• Who is Wesley Crusher’s Dad?

At a time when a lot of TV programs and films have prolonged scenes of violence, it’s refreshing to see that you can still tell a good story without any of that stuff. Start Trek helps to support proper critical thinking, how to deal with different people and situations without immediately taking extreme or violent action. Fear seems to be a constant in today’s society but I think it’s fearlessness that will help to solve some of the problems that we face. Address issues head on, not with violence but by trying to find a shared understanding of what is causing the conflict or problems at hand.

If you haven’t given Star Trek a proper shot, think again. You might thank me for it.

Under the Radar’s Official SXSW Nighttime Showcase at Central Presbyterian Church, Wednesday, March 16:

1:00 AM: Still Corners
12:00 AM: Julien Baker
11:00 PM: Eleanor Friedberger
10:00 PM: Car Seat Headrest
9:10 PM: TEEN
8:20 PM: Younghusband
7:30 PM: Mass Gothic

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