Klaxons fool the web with 3D printed tour publicity stunt

It seems the upcoming release of their new album Love Frequency was not headline-grabbing enough for the Klaxons, who recently announced that their October tour would be entirely created using 3D printing technology.

The band are well-known for their rebellious antics and playful use of technology in their music. So the announcement that 3D technology will produce everything on their tour, from the instruments to the lighting, right down to the microphone cables, was not out of character.

Sound too ambitious to be possible? Well, that’s probably because it is. The first thing that casts doubt over this story is the total lack of any kind of internet presence of SJA 3D – the company the Klaxons claim to be using – prior to the band’s video announcement. Delving a little bit further, the company logo on all the printing equipment in the video indicates that it actually comes from Hobs Studio and not SJA 3D. Clearly, the Klaxons are pulling a publicity stunt.

In light of this, Jamie Righton’s fantastically strange statement that “traditional instruments have been around for ages now and it’s time to use new technology” suddenly makes more sense. It doesn’t take much effort to imagine the fun the band must have had concocting this press release, handling prototype instruments in the video and stating “it’s just like a normal guitar…but not”.

The band managed to successfully dupe the media into believing this elaborate stunt. So, although the world’s first 3D printed tour is nothing more than a media hoax, the band still scores top marks for effort and execution!

Joanna Byrne

Watch the hoax video announcement here: