Cube 3: Cubanate

As part of my ongoing quest for industrial music tangentially connected to Wing Commander Prophecy, I happened across an interesting description of a CD from a group called Cubanate: "The group has also tried their hand at writing music for video games, the album track "Airport Bar" will appear on the home vid Wing Commander 5 -- Prophecy." Further research indicated that this was part of the album's 'iMuze' description, which has over the years fed it to thousands of eBay auctions, electronic storefronts and other databases.

But what was Cubanate and how was it connected to Wing Commander Prophecy? The story came out with a little digging. Next, I learned that the lead singer of Cubanate, Marc Heal, had toured with Cobalt 60 back in 1997 (as part of a group called Cyber-Tec Project)... exactly when they were working on Wing Commander! Searching for Mr. Heal, I found an interview where he talked about working on Wing Commander. Did Marc Heal work alongside Cobalt 60 on the Prophecy simulator music? Was one of their tracks used in a cutscene, such as when the pilots are celebrating at the bar? The answer was hidden in plain site, in the Wing Commander Prophecy music credits:

“Prophecy,” “Galactic Hives,” “Tones from the Spheres,” “Alien Space Junk,” “Quarm,” “Ashes to Life,” “Colony 328,” “Darwin was Right,” “Cult of Sivar,” All songs composed by Jean-Luc De Meyer, Dominique Lallement and Robert Wicocks, except for “Cult of Sivar,” composed by Jean-Luc De Meyer, Dominique Lallement, Robert Wicocks and Marc Heal. All songs © 1997 Les Edition confidentielle (SABAM) and Electronic Arts Music Publishing Inc. (ASCAP) except for “Cult of Sivar,” © 1997 Les Editions Confidentielle (SABAM), Polygram International Publishing, Inc. (ASCAP) and Electronic Arts Music Publishing Inc. (ASCAP).

Ah hah! Marc Heal of Cubanate fame had co-written "Cult of Sivar," one of the ten Wing Commander Prophecy industrial tracks from Cobalt 60, and his involvement was important enough that it needed special credits. But what about 'An Airport Bar'? Were they connected? The same song renamed, or resampled? For that answer, I tweeted at Mr. Heal... and he was kind enough to reply immediately! The real story? "Close, but not exactly. I wrote the lyrics while I was in Austin, working on music for WCP." So in the end, An Airport Bar was never intended for Wing Commander Prophecy, but it was written while he was in Texas working on the soundtrack! And with that, here's An Airport Bar from Cubanate... a song ever-so-slightly connected to Wing Commander Prophecy! The song appears on the 1998 Cubanate album, Interference.