Mars Rover Driver Proud Father Announces Album "The View Of Mars From Earth"

Today, Proud Father is announcing the forthcoming release of their debut album, The View Of Mars From Earth, and sharing the title track as its lead single. This isn’t just any record, though, and Brendan Chamberlain-Simon, the artist behind Proud Father, isn’t your typical songwriter. For the past five years, Chamberlain-Simon has been driving the Curiosity Rover across the Martian surface and is currently part of NASA’s team attempting to fly the first-ever helicopter on Mars. Given his unique and incredibly fascinating day job, it’s no surprise that he’s decided to mix both his professional adventures with his own personal experiences in order “to deliver insight from the unique vantage point of a man on Mars looking back at Earth” on The View Of Mars From Earth.

Chamberlain-Simon conceived of the concept for the record shortly after realizing his lifelong dream of working at NASA. His sense of pride and accomplishment was short-lived: “It felt like the rug got pulled out from under me,” he says. “I graduated from college and moved cities, and I began to spend a majority of my time working on another planet. But really, more than anything, I didn’t have a goal anymore.” After a conversation with his college mentor, astronaut Mike Massimino, Chamberlain-Simon realized that the emotional journey of an astronaut was a useful device for unpacking his own experience. The result is a story about the first man to go Mars that approaches cosmic-looking wonder and inward-looking reflection in equal measure.

In addition to releasing the album’s lead single, Chamberlain-Simon also shared an incredible visualizer for the song that features reprocessed footage from the International Space Station and the Kaguya Lunar Orbiter footage. You can stream it below!

The View of Earth from Mars is scheduled for release on July 16th via Massif Records.