Teslapunk Music: Solder & Skiffle

I am doing this a little out of order here. This was planned to be my sixth post concerning my thoughts about making Teslapunk something that can be mainstream. @autobodhi expressed interest in what the sound of Teslapunk might be and the whole point of these posts is to raise interest and awareness.

If you haven't yet please read my first Teslapunk post. These are my thoughts and I am trying to open source this concept so Teslapunk can be as mainstream as steampunk and cyberpunk. Music is not one of my talents so any insights from others more knowledgeable about music and music theory would be welcome.

What I propose Teslapunk music to be based on is the style of skiffle.

This is how the Wikipedia entry for skiffle describes the music:

The origins of skiffle are obscure but are generally thought to lie in African-American musical culture in the early 20th century. Skiffle is often said to have developed from New Orleans jazz, but this claim has been disputed. Improvised jug bands playing blues and jazz were common across the American South in the early decades of the 20th century. They used instruments such as the washboard, jugs, washtub bass, cigar-box fiddle, musical saw and comb-and-paper kazoos, as well as more conventional instruments, such as acoustic guitar and banjo.

There are two main reasons behind my choice:

  1. Skiffle involves mostly improvised musical instruments as described by Wikipedia. This is in the spirit of creative invention that Teslapunk embraces. The limitation to three or fewer chords also means being resourceful and maximizing more with less (ephemeralization). There is also a historic link between skiffle and modern punk music.

  2. The precise origins of skiffle is unknown but it is known to have arisen during early 20th century America. This makes it perfect based on my last post in this community to have a fictional lore origin for skiffle in Teslapunk.

Since Teslapunk is based on the inventor Nikola Tesla it would only be right to have singing Tesla coils as a staple for Teslapunk music.


Virtually any DIY music instrument in principle could be used to play Teslapunk music such as a theremin or similar instrument.

Rather than the "conventional instruments" listed by Wikipedia above a more suitable instrument for Teslapunk music would be something using light for strings such as a laser harp.