Wade Oden of Space Station Alpha was born in Lubbock, Texas, July 5, 1972, to a family of pygmy marmosets. Being oddly large and hairless, he was soon ostracized from his small, furry community. They ruthlessly chased him from the family tree, hurling grubs, sap, and insults. On his long, arduous journey north, he encountered many adventures, the first of which taught him that the ‘hoomans’ he was now living amongst thought it necessary that he wear ‘clothing’. The adoptive family that took him in named him after finding the young future musician ankle-deep in a puddle of his own making. His assimilation into the new world was eventually successful, although buried deep inside was a fuzzy little monkey-man who loved stargazing and drinking sap.

Wade received two music degrees in classical guitar performance from the University of Minnesota (1999 and 2002), and managed to survive the campus food despite a sorry lack of grub worms and tree sap. At the School of Music he was introduced to Ockeghem, Gesualdo, Cage, Ligeti, Zappa, and that guy on East Bank that will give you a poem for five bucks.

Love Songs for Andromeda was written from March 2002 to July 2003. It’s about galactic lust—Milky Way’s crush on Andromeda, and also about an astronaut who travels to Andromeda galaxy in cryogenic stasis, wakes up there 3 million years later, to find he’s gone nuts. Wade performed all the instruments on Andromeda, and also designed the CD. Those who listen to this CD will soon find themselves enshrouded in his devious monkey-power. BEWARE!

Wade has performed in Ted Mann Concert Hall, the Weismann Art Museum, the Stones Throw, and at Ground Zero. In high school, Wade did his best to stay invisible, until he decided to speak out about a neo-nazi group which promptly beat him up. He also graduated with a stunning 1.8 GPA. He was a telemarketer at Auto Trader for thirteen years! where he met many other strange, lost animals such as himself and learned to speak about himself in the third person from the general manager, which is what he is doing now. His beautiful wife Aileen helps the Hennepin sheriff help people get guns and recently co-authored a ‘zine with Wade called the Haiku Hairstyle Handbook.