Randall Frazier & Erik Drost get Orbit Service off the ground while finding their way within the expansive universe of the Legendary Pink Dots

ORBIT SERVICE: Erik Drost (left) and Randall Frazier. Photo by Joep Hendrikx.


The Legendary Pink Dots and Orbit Service are two bands bound by a shared sense of mystery, atmosphere, and musical exploration. Over the years, both projects have cultivated an aura that’s equal parts cosmic and deeply personal—music that drifts between dream states, where melody and texture blur into something transcendent. Now, the connection between the two acts runs deeper than ever. Guitarist Erik Drost and keyboard and electronics player Randall Frazier—both longtime fixtures in the Pink Dots’ ever-evolving lineup—are on the road performing sets steeped in the ethereal tones of both Orbit Service’s Spirit Guide and the LPD’s latest album, So Lonely in Heaven, and the more abstract, experimental energy of Chemical Playschool 23–24.

When the tour stops at Purgatory at the Masquerade on Friday, October 17, expect a performance that stretches perception as much as sound—a collision of meholy, beauty, and otherworldly tension.

In conversation, Drost and Frazier reflect on their creative chemistry and how their paths crossed during the making of 2004’s The Whispering Wall. They trace the evolution of Orbit Service from its early recordings to its current incarnation, and share what it means to inhabit the ever-expanding universe of Edward Ka-Spel’s songwriting. Together, they reveal that for all the mystery and gravity that surrounds their music, the heart of it all remains simple: connection, experimentation, and the pursuit of transcendence through sound.

Before playing a show in Purgatory at the Masquerade, on Friday, October 17, Drost and Frazier took an hour out of their day to talk about collaborating with each other, collaborating with Ka-Spel, and their go-to Waffle House meals while traveling across the United States.

Press play below to listen in on our conversation.



The Legendary Pink Dots and Orbit Service play The Masquerade (Purgatory stage) on Fri., Oct. 17. $23 (+fees). 7 p.m. This is an all ages show.

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The Legendary Pink Dots and Orbit Service play The Masquerade on Friday, November 4

The Legendary Pink Dots

Has it really been three long years since the Legendary Pink Dots last commanded an evening of shadowy and psychedelic revelry in Purgatory at the Masquerade?

Indeed it has. That performance supporting 2019’s Angel In the Detail can still be felt reverberating throughout the club’s rafters. Since then, there’s been, you know, a global pandemic working in tandem with socio-political absurdity and techno-angst gripping the world. As it all unfolds, LPD vocalist and principal songwriter Edward Ka-Spel has remained steadfast in his rich, kaleidoscopic vision, navigating heaps of new music—namely two solo records dubbed Prints of Darkness and The Great Outdoors, as well as the UK-based outfit’s latest album, The Museum of Human Happiness (Metropolis Records).


This latest offering is cut from a fast-paced blend of Krautrock and industrial-grade psychedelic ambiance bearing song titles such as “There Be Monsters,” “Cruel Britannia,” and “Hands Face Space.” As such, The Museum of Human Happiness is also a pandemic record, a quintessential document that’s tailor-made for coping with the black cloud of the COVID menace which is still lurking out there, somewhere, just beyond the horizon.

Randall Frazier of Orbit Service. Photo by Matthew Condon


For this round of North American shows, Ka-Spel’s long-time cohort, keyboardist Phil “The Silverman” Knight, has bowed out of touring. In his stead, Randall Frazier of Bailey, Colorado’s Orbit Service is pulling a double shift, opening the show and taking on keyboard and electronic duties alongside Ka-Spel, guitar player Erik Drost, and live sound engineer Joep Hendrickx.

$22.50. (advance). 7 p.m. Friday, November 4. The Masquerade (Purgatory).

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