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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Melvins, Napalm Death, Weedeater, and Dark Sky Burial play the Masquerade on Sunday, April 27

MELVINS (left to right): Steven McDonald, Buzz Osborne, Dale Crover, and Coady Willis. Photo by Toshi Kasai

The Savage Imperial Death March thunders into Georgia when Melvins and Napalm Death co-headline a double dose of doom, noise, and grinding intensity.

On Sunday, April 27, Melvins and Napalm Death come together for a massive display of sound and fury on the Masquerade’s Heaven stage. On Tuesday, April 29, the same bill rolls into Athens’ 40 Watt Club, bringing chaos to the Classic City.

The tour falls on the heels of the February 2025 release of Savage Imperial Death March, a six-song collaborative LP released via Amphetimine Reptile Records. The six-song release is a crushing, howling monster of an album that finds both bands playing together, seamlessly merging Melvins’ sludge-soaked throb and Napalm Death’s relentless grind.

Melvins are also touring behind their latest release, titled Thunderball (Ipecac Recordings). It’s also the group’s most recent full-length released under the Melvins 1983 moniker, featuring Buzz Osborne, Mike Dillard, Ni Maitres, and Atlanta-based abstract electronic project Void Manes.

For this tour, King Buzzo’s riffs steer the ship, backed by the dual-drum assault of Dale Crover and Coady Willis and Steven McDonald’s fuzzed-out basslines. This incarnation of the band reignites the early Melvins aesthetic with renewed purpose and fire.

Meanwhile, Napalm Death continues its decades-long campaign of sonic obliteration, riding high on the aftershocks of 2022’s Resentment is Always Seismic–A Final Throw of Throes. Vocalist Barney Greenway remains a force of nature, while the band’s grindcore assault remains both savage and surgical.

North Carolina sludge lords Dark Sky Burial—a bleak, ambient-industrial project helmed by Napalm Death’s bass player Shane Embury—and Weedeater set the tone for each night’s proceedings.

$32.50 (advance). 6:30 p.m. (doors) at the Masquerade. This is an all-ages show.

$35. 6 p.m. (doors) at 40 Watt. Under 18 with parent or legal guardian.

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Nirvana at the Masquerade 1990 postcard set unveiled at Ella Guru Records Sat., Dec. 21

Photo courtesy The Chunklet Music Preservation Project.


Since forming the The Chunklet Music Preservation Project in 2022, Henry Owings has gathered a massive arsenal of rich and oftentimes overlooked Georgia and Southern musical history from Reconstruction times to the chitlin circuit, college rock, punk, hardcore, hip-hop, and beyond. More than 26,000 postcards, photographs, flyers, newspaper ads, and more have been scanned and added to the Chunklet archive.

This Saturday, December 21, Ella Guru Records will host an unveiling of a limited-edition postcard set documenting Nirvana’s first Atlanta show on May 6, 1990 in Heaven at the Masquerade. The 12-postcard set offers a snapshot of Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Chad Channing’s fiery ascent. This was Nirvana pre-Dave Grohl, performing on one of Atlanta’s most storied stages.

“I’ve been fortunate to scan over 26,000 pieces of primarily Southern ephemera, and when special things come across the scan bed, I tend to take note,” Owings says.

“So I have any one of a number of collections that I’ve been given permission to use: R.E.M. at Piedmont Park ‘82, the B-52’s at Memorial Hall ‘78, Talking Heads at the Agora. But I just thought to myself if I can do this concept with any band it’s Nirvana—or the Beatles, but that’s impossibly rare—and let’s just see how it either comes together or falls apart. I’m curious to see how it does.”

Victoria Nicholson, a Wax ‘n’ Facts alum and music superfan, was at the show with her point-and-shoot camera, capturing eleven ethereal photos of Nirvana from the side of the stage. 

Photo courtesy The Chunklet Music Preservation Project.

Heaven in the Masquerade’s original location was around a 1,000-1,300 capacity venue. It is estimated that 150-200 people were in attendance for this show. It was a from the sold-out arenas the band would soon command on the heels of releasing Nevermind

Kelly Stringer, another attendee that night, had the foresight to snag a flyer off the wall and a small calendar advertising upcoming shows at the Masquerade. Together, these artifacts tell the story of a band on the brink of stardom, performing for a crowd that barely filled the room at the Masquerade’s former North Avenue location.

Owings has restored these relics, compiling them into a machine-numbered edition of 50 postcards with a restored version of the flyer.

Stop by Ella Guru from noon to 3 p.m. and grab a set—along with a margarita or two. All proceeds benefit the Chunklet Music Preservation Project. 

Ella Guru Records is located at 2747 Lavista Rd, Decatur. 404-883-2413.

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A GoFundMe to support The Masquerade staff

Heaven at The Masquerade. Photo by Elena de Soto.

On March 16, The Masquerade announced that it was suspending operations to aid in the effort to slow the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. Since then, the Downtown Atlanta music venue has canceled and postponed more than 100 shows in all three of its live music rooms — Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. Many shows are being rescheduled for the fall and winter months, but the doors remain closed indefinitely.

The Masquerade is the city’s largest independently-owned music venue. Each night, the club brings more music to Atlanta than anywhere else, ranging from hip-hop, trap music, punk, hardcore, heavy metal, and jazz to DJ nights such as Torch DNB and the LA-based Emo Nite.

This means an awful lot of bartenders, sound engineers, loaders, caterers, box office staff, security, and administrative personnel are without work for the time being.

To help its employees pay the bills, a GoFundMe page is set up with all proceeds being distributed to the club’s employees, and there are donation perks.

Contributions of $50 or more will receive a pair of tickets to an upcoming concert.
Contributions of $100 or more will receive an invitation for you and a guest to attend a welcome back party with complimentary drinks, along with a pair of tickets to an upcoming concert.

The list of available shows will be posted on The Masquerade’s website as soon as it looks like the world will start moving again.