Trying to keep track of all the bizarre plot twists, surprise endings and head-spinning character development on the hit TV series "Lost" can cause an otherwise sane person to completely crack. 

Not for the casual watcher, "Lost" is so dense with labyrinthian turns and intrigue that it practically dares followers to stay committed. And in doing so, the obsessed among us who accept that challenge should be given the TV equivalent of a Medal of Honor.

The first recipients of such an award would have to be Adam Schatz and Jeff Curtin, who make up the duo Previously On Lost (check out http://www.myspace.com/previouslyonlostmusic to learn more about them and hear some of their music). Together, the two review each episode from Season 4 of the show in song. In a 24-hour period the day after an episode of "Lost" airs, the two piece together everything that happened on the show in one, concise musical construct — think of it as the musical equivalent of the show "24." And they have a name for what they do: It's called "recap-rock," and it could just be the next big thing in music. Or, it could be a novelty that flames out faster than trip-hop.

But, really, such concerns don't matter. Not when Previously On Lost has to meet its self-imposed deadline. Amazingly, what Previously On Lost accomplished musically — and they have an album out called The Tale of Season 4 and the Oceanic 6 that collects Previously On Lost's obsessive output — in such a short time-frame is pretty remarkable. Its buoyant, frenzied electro-pop is not only incredibly infectious and laced with smart humor, but there are almost as many tempo changes and crazy dynamics within a given single song as there are plot twists in "Lost."

Schatz took the time to answer a few e-mailed questions about the Previously On Lost project and what it has in store for the future. Sadly, it won't involve recapitulating what goes on in the final two seasons of "Lost."

This seems to be one of those ideas that crop up when friends are drinking or what have you, and it strikes you as genius when you're inebriated, and then you wake up the next day, and it doesn't seem quite as great. And yet you guys went ahead and did it. How did you get to this point where this became a project you just had to do?
Adam Schatz: Well, we woke up, and it still seemed just as great as the night before! We had planned to make some music related to "Lost" for a few months prior to the start of Season 4; initially we were going to record a concept album bridging the seasons together. When we realized the season premiere was right around the corner, Jeff and I decided that the best way to keep ourselves on the game as far as great quality and consistent output was to embark on an ambitious weekly release program, one song per episode, [that] premiered online mid-week between each episode.

Squeezing the serpentine plots of an episode of "Lost" into a single song would seem to be a pretty monumental task. To come up with the lyrics, do you take notes while watching the show and then put them in some cohesive order? And, noting that you do this all the day after a show, is it easier than it sounds?
AS: It was certainly a daunting task each week. The first weeks were more experiments, and by Episode 6, we really knew what worked and had a sort of compositional procedure worked out. Jeff and I each watch the episode separately, sometimes multiple times. We never tell each other the full span of our viewing process, so I can't expose his techniques, but I can tell you that for me, I usually watch the episode once and take notes, and then we watch it again piece by piece together on the Sunday after when we write the song. My notes consist of chicken scratch across multiple pages, highlighting and circling the ideas I think are the funniest or the most promising as a basis for the whole song. I also usually write down any line from the show that strikes me as being powerful or ridiculous in any way.

As you see it, is it your job to somehow make sense of what happened on the show and to try to make it easy to understand for listeners, or would that kill the spontaneity and fun of what you're trying to do?
AS: We recaps what we sees. You won't know everything about the show after listening to our songs, but you WILL know everything that we think you need to know. And that's what matters. We can only make sense of what the show's creators provide us; we don't claim to know the truth or the inside. We're on the side of the rest of the viewers; we just happen to put our recaps in musical form.


What has been the response of fans of the show? And have any people associated with the show contacted you to tell you what they think of it?
AS: Fans embraced us immediately. We maintain a strong belief that if you love "Lost," you'll love our band. MySpace plays were through the roof from the get-go, and once the season concluded and our debut album was subsequently completed, we received orders from all across the U.S., Ireland, and New Zealand requesting copies of the record. We recently played in L.A. and a few of the show's producers came out and had a blast. They bought a bunch of shirts, and a few of them made their way back to head producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindeloff. We're honored that they know about us and enjoy our music; we can only dream of working with them one day.

There's kind of a frenzied, sugar-rush quality to parts of the songs, especially "The Island Won't Let You Die," and it's all really catchy, and then you'll shift into another gear almost on a dime. The music really twists and turns. In that way, do you think it mirrors the show?
AS: The show is most certainly all over the place, with ideas and characters coming at you from all angles. It wasn't a conscious compositional decision; we just were fueled by the excitable Disney Casio future pop that this show inspired in us. The music was never a challenge; it was really tying all of the lyrics together in a cohesive manner that made sense. Subconsciously though, we must have been doing something right, because listening back to the album, as well as playing the season live in its entirety, we recognized how well the songs flowed in the sequence we wrote them in, keeping in mind the sounds of the the parts, tempos, and dynamics.

Hearing about this, some might think of this as only a curiosity or a novelty record. And I suppose that's not such a bad thing. But, these songs do have a cohesion and really good arrangements, too. Are you afraid people won't get that from these songs and be dismissive of the project?
AS: It's a given that folks will write us off as a gimmick, but I think if they give the record a listen, they'll realize that there's a pretty special, new sound buried in what we're doing. Even if people consider us a gimmick, they'll enjoy it, but we do hope that people will give the album a chance and listen to it musically as well as humorously. The result is an overall feeling of ecstasy similar to winning the lottery, or saving a cat out of a tree.

The songs have been described as "gently mocking," and there's undoubtedly a lot of humor in this. But, is that really what you're trying to do?
AS: The show "Lost" is quite dark, but within the depth of the fear and death in the show lies much humor. We've just unmasked the humor. We're definitely being funny, but not in a negative way. Sometimes we take an absurdist approach, picking out [a] tiny piece of an episode and blowing them up until they're the centerpiece of our song — such as Episode 2 when Jack winks at Kate; it inspired the entirety of "Just Wink." We also have a great jab at how all the extras on the show get promptly killed off without allowing the viewer to get to know them, which we sing about in a later song, but we do have faith that the producers include everything for a reason, and that we aren't insulting the show in any way by being funny in regards to even the smallest details.

Where do you record this music? It seems you have quite a variety of instrumentation, from bongos to vibes to electric keyboards and guitars.
AS: All in Jeff's house in Brooklyn. When we tracked live drums, we do it to a great tape machine he has; otherwise, we employ all the instruments we can get our hands on and record them in different, creative ways to build up the instrumentation for each song. Most parts were improvised and recorded on the first take.

How fast do these songs come together?
AS: Each song was conceived, written and recorded in 13 hours every Sunday after the episode aired.

Are there any plans to do this for any other shows?
AS: The future of "Recap Rock" is a bright one, and we don't want to be confined to the world of television. Some future recaps we have planned are a musical "choose your own adventure" recap of the Oregon Trail computer game, an educational recap of a few major historical wars, the process of photosynthesis, the New York City marathon, and the 2010 World Cup Olympics. Surely, some spontaneous current event will inspire other recaps.

We'll be performing on Nov. 10 at the Mark Twain Comedy Awards in Washington D.C. honoring George Carlin. In the spirit of the evening, we'll be writing and performing a George Carlin-themed recap.

We also recap Bar Mitzvahs and birthday parties.

Following the initial demise of Deep Purple in 1976, Glenn Hughes, then the band's bassist/vocalist, not only set about establishing himself as a solo artist, but he also developed a nasty drug addiction.

Throughout the '80s, Hughes' health was cause for concern as his habit grew out of control. Through sheer force of will, he got that monkey off his back and threw it in a headlock.

"Let me just say that you either get clean or sober or you go to institutions, jail or you die," says Hughes. "I chose the first one. I chose to get clean and sober because... I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. So tired of waking up not knowing where I was, or waking up looking at myself and saying, 'What the hell is this today?' And I think having prayed — and I'm not going to get religious on you — but having prayed to God for a couple of years, let's say in the late '80s, that I just was praying to rid myself of this bloody temptation, and I was desperate enough to turn my life around."

Getting rid of the drugs was just part of his rehabilitation. He had to change almost everything about his life to get sober.

"I had to completely change my phone numbers, people who I'd spoken to, people like my friends... I even had to change my girlfriend," says Hughes. "Everybody had to go. When one wants to become centered, one has to do everything 100 percent. You cannot do things in half measures. Was I desperate? Yes. Did I want to change my life? Absolutely... It wasn't a career move for me. It was a humanity move. I wanted to change everything, from the floor up. Greatest thing I ever did.

For the artist who'd emerged with the funk-rock outfit Trapeze in the early '70s and then gained fame with Deep Purple, Hughes surprised everybody by teaming with The KLF in the '90s.

"They were looking for a rock singer to sing... they had Tammy Wynette on the country song in '91, No. 1 song in Europe," says Hughes. 'And they were doing, the same month, they were doing another song, when they wanted... I think they were talking to Robert Plant and [Roger] Daltrey. And they came to me first. I was in London. They said, 'We've got this song called "What Time is Love?" And we'd like you to come down and sing on this song.' Now, I'd already known about The KLF — if any Brits are listening to this or European, they were the biggest acid-house, garage-rock, funk dance band of that era, selling millions and millions of copies. For me to be acknowledged by these guys was like a real good thing for me. I knew, once I got this track, it was going to go to the Top 10. And, of course, when you get a song in the Top 10, it has a video clip. The video clip was shot on the James Bond set in Shepperdton — great video clip. So, I knew at this point working with these guys... and at this point, by the way, I'd become known as the voice of rock. So, since that period of '91, hence the title of 'Voice of Rock' worldwide, which is kind of a cool thing to be called I guess. And I went and did the video clip and I knew I had to go into treatment and get sorted out with myself."

To read more about Glenn Hughes' latest record, First Underground Nuclear Kitchen, read the Nov. 21 issue of Goldmine, or visit www.glennhughes.com