WIRED Staff

Logan Whitehurst: The John Keats of Nerdcore

Ever since I started watching all the fan remakes and bizarre street dancing versions of "Charlie the Unicorn" on YouTube, I’ve become curious about where vidmaker Jason Steele got his inspiration. Turns out he blames it all on Logan Whitehurst, an early nerdcore pioneer who started making zany songs about fusion and electrostatic engines back […]

Whitehurst
Ever since I started watching all the fan remakes and bizarre street dancing versions of "Charlie the Unicorn" on YouTube, I've become curious about where vidmaker Jason Steele got his inspiration. Turns out he blames it all on Logan Whitehurst, an early nerdcore pioneer who started making zany songs about fusion and electrostatic engines back in 1997. Sadly, the twenty-something Whitehurst died of brain cancer in December, leaving behind several albums full of boppy weirdness. He's like the nineteenth century poet John Keats, who died tragically in his early twenties having already produced an amazing body of work. In an obituary for his idol, Steele writes:

When I was 15 years old I had to have major corrective spinalsurgury to fix my degenerative scoliosis. My spine needed to be cutapart and re-arranged, and then metal bars had to be attached to thesides to keep it in place. This was a terrifying thing, especially fora 15 year old. The night before I went into surgery I listened to theLogan Whitehurst album ‘How Does An Electrostatic Motor Work?’ on loop.
It calmed me.

The surgury was completely successful and my spine today is asnormal as anyones, but the recovery process was the most painful thingI’ve ever experienced and for a whole year I was unable to bend, twist,
or in general move like a normal person.

I listened to a lot of Logan Whitehurst while in the hospital. Hismusic was upbeat, bizarre, and had a genuine joy to it. Logan quicklybecame my favorite musical artist, and for the year I was recoveringhis stuff inspired me immensely. I finally knew the kind of spirit I
wanted to put into my creative works.

Later, the two began e-mailing and Whitehurst did the music for one of Steele's early movies, "Secret Agent Bob." Now that I've found Whitehurst, I can't stop listening to his stuff. Thanks to Steele, there's a complete archive of all his songs (except for his final album, which you can still buy) online.

Logan Whitehurst Archive [via Spatula Madness Production Blog]