Kirby Krackle is a Seattle based "nerd rock" band. With songs like Up, Up, Down, Down, Tony Stark and Comic Shop the group is headed by Kyle Stevens who co-writes with Jim Demonakos about comic culture. Kirby Krackle opens for "Weird" Al Yankovic at the Corral April 26th as part of the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo.

"Being a fan of Weird Al growing up, the Fat record and a Motley Crue album were the first 2 cassettes I got as a birthday present. It is full circle. What we do with nerd rock and comics combined with what he does with parody will be a really fun night," Stevens said. "Being big fans of him since we were little guys it is special because we get to open for Weird Al. We don’t do exactly what he does, it is a modified newer version. But you have to pay tribute to those that came before and he is a force of nature in the rock business. He is unique and we have tried to carve our own way of doing things using the road map he created."

Formed in 2009, Kirby Krackle came out of a mutual respect between Stevens as a musician and Demonakos, who owns the Comic Stop chain of comic stores and founded Seattle’s Emerald City Comic con.

"I have been a customer at Jim’s store for years. We had talked about what he had done with the Emerald City Comic con and my music career. We were always interested in each other’s industry and to play in that sandbox. I had done mainstream music for 15 years before that, but had been a comic fan my whole life. When I started music I took a break from comics and then I got back into it. Eventually I thought why hasn’t anyone done a rock band where the songs are about the culture that we love? Video games, pop culture, zombies. The things we are passionate about are the things songwriters are encouraged to write about. We both talked about it the same day, it was something we had both been thinking so we knew we had to try it out. That was the inspiration for Kirby Krackle."

Fans of pop culture are very knowledgeable and passionate, but also quick to criticize if there is an inaccuracy. Jim and Kyle double check online before finishing off a song as well as focusing on their interests.

"We joke about that all time. It is just Wikipedia, we are working on songs and we will look stuff up. I said, I think the Watcher is from the blue side of the moon and Jim said, I don’t know I think he is from the dark side of the moon and I said, that’s a Pink Floyd song. So it was off to Wikipedia and it solves our problems. We have no issue doing that. We have a standard for ourselves that if we were a Kirby Krackle fan what would we want to hear? You have to write what you are into but also think of fans. If we phoned it in or went everyone is into Dr. Who right now, let’s write a Dr. Who song, that would be great but we don’t watch enough Dr. Who to do it right. Would we interpret that as pandering? Yes. So that is how we judge our subject matter. If we have something different to look at like how Wolverine is probably really tired, he is on 8 different superteams and if you count continuity as a real thing that guy never sleeps, he probably needs a break. That made us laugh and was interesting to us so that is how we came up with that song."

The band is independent, and has built a following through hard work.

"It has worked for us. We did something that hasn’t been done before that people thought was awesome. We are going to keep doing that. We aren’t on a record label we are our own masters. We have done this 100% indy since 2009. On a mass level you can see that with Mackelmore and Thrift Shop. He’s sold 4 million copies of that song and he started in the same place we were and right time right place. He is his own master. It shows in the entertainment world with hard work you can get to a place that you didn’t think was possible."

That same passion from fans lead to a push to have their song Ring Capacity included in the soundtrack to the 2011 Green Lantern film. It didn’t get included, which some might consider a good thing as the film was panned, but it meant a lot to have it considered.

"It is something that as a songwriter and someone who starts playing guitar, you think wouldn’t it be cool if I had a record someday or a concert and people actually showed up. It is an enhanced version of that. We were humbled, how lucky are we to have a fanbase that would go out of their way without asking to try and make that happen. It didn’t happen but that doesn’t matter it is cool that people even tried. That meant a lot to us and showed there is a loyalty here and a stronger feeling of being loyal to them. There are people who say we dodged a bullet. You don’t know how you will feel. It got to the top of the movie’s music supervisor. It was in their hand and once it gets to them that is as far as you can go. We feel in a way that we were successful in getting it that far, I know they heard it. It would have been cool to have been over the end credits but maybe when they reboot it we will have a chance then."

In a lot of ways Stevens is living a dream, touring to comic cons and being part of the experience as well as seeing the world.

"It has been a way for me to see the country in a way I wouldn’t have been able to in such a compacted period of time. I had never been to the East Coast or Calgary or Toronto. It showed me that our Canadian fans are some of the coolest ever. Toronto treats us so good and Calgary has a killer convention. In New York people have come up and showed me home made Kirby Krackle shoes. That is a trip. Stuff has been happening so fast, where does 5 years go? It has been filled with a lot of great fan interactions and seeing nerd scenes we didn’t know existed and been welcomed into them. I am a huge fan of the Austin Powers series and last year we got to tour Australia and were hanging out with Vern Troyer, mini me, the whole time. That was crazy. We were hanging out with Alfie Allen who is Theon Greyjoy in Game of Thrones. It just shows what everyone who spends time in the entertainment industry whether movie, music or TV they are just people and everyone has their own struggles. I am a huge Walking Dead and Game of Thrones fan. I don’t know if I will get the opportunity to meet any of the cast at the expo but I am going to try. I still have a dream of Weird Al coming on stage and doing a song with him. You never know what will happen. But there are folks that I get a little starstruck about which keeps it fun and exciting."

Stevens appeared at the expo last year opening for James Marsters with an acoustic set. Calgary has already shown a lot of love.

"People love us there and treat us really good. We can never take enough CD’s or T-shirts. Every year the fans surprise us. They tell us their favourite songs. It is amazing that we can go there once a year and are received with such love that we can’t wait to go back every year. Last year I did a solo acoustic opening for James Marsters. He had opened for us in Seattle that same year but I didn’t get to meet him. So in Calgary we got to chat backstage and kind of compare stories of how we got where we have. He is an actor first, musician second and I am a musician first and pop culture nerd second. I find it inspiring to meet people and compare notes on how we get to this fame road. That show was the first time I got a standing ovation which was random and awesome. I didn’t know what had happened I thought someone had pulled a fire drill or something."

With a full band, a catalogue of catchy nerdy hits, and a lot of enthusiasm, Kirby Krackle promises to kick off the Weird Al concert in style.

"We are really so excited to be playing an arena show. ...It is amazing to play to that many people, the most we have played to is about 2000 in a large club. This is a 5000 seat arena so we have 45 minutes and we are going to do our best to make arena rock dreams come true. I am super excited this is the first time the full band has been in Calgary. If the enthusiasm we got last year on the acoustic front is any sign of how it is going to go, it will be nuts. I am super psyched."