The Personas Concept
So, Derrick Is Not Actually Real......
The Personas Concept was conceived as a way for Airman Alone to connect with a larger audience by presenting the music in a more accessible, relatable way. The ‘actual self/creator guy’ acts primarily as ‘the man behind the curtain’, so that the visual focus remains on the various 'front guy' personas (initially Derrick the Red, with more currently planned). He is sometimes represented by his 'OBaWhiSuG' persona (see below).
Key to this approach is being up-front about the artificiality of the various persona images so the viewers can appreciate them as a kind of fantasy imagery, hopefully underscored with a bit of absurdist humor.
So, while the music itself is typically somewhat serious, this approach towards presentation will allow for much greater ‘latitude in attitude’, as it were. In that way, somewhat ironically, it should actually be far more honest to the real personality of the ‘actual self/creator guy’, whom most people who know him generally regard as being somewhat less than serious.
Who's The OBaWhiSuG?
The OBaWhiSuG is 'self-aware' persona - he knows he is really the actual self/creator guy, and is just there to provide some humorous contrast between nerds like himself and 'cool' personas like Derrick (who has no idea that he is not actually real). OBaWhiSuG, by the way, is an acronym for: 'Old Bald White Suburban Guy' so, yeah...........
Derrick's Backstory
All Good Fictional Characters Start With One......
Derrick’s full name is Derrick Derrickson, an aging alternative rocker from Iceland. Raised near the small village of Kirkjubæjarklaustur, he spent his youth wandering around spectacular landforms like Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon, dreaming of making a name for himself in the newly burgeoning Reykjavik club scene.
Moving there in 1984, he put together a backing band and started to do just that. He has since maintained a small but devoted club following, mostly as a result of his minor 1986 synth-rock hit “Who’s Your Friend?” - but has recently started to enjoy wider success.
His work is very inspired by late 70’s and 80’s new wave, art rock and synth-rock - all forms that sit firmly within the alternative rock universe, but he is also more than willing to sometimes draw on other influences like progressive or even fusion. He clearly doesn’t care at all about the ‘conventional rock music critic wisdom’ of these styles, and I feel that we are all the more lucky because of it – The OBaWhiSuG.