Time travel leads Vivienne Vega and Casey ‘Oddfellow’ Ward to the Luney Awards

Like many people, Vivienne Vega and Casey “Oddfellow” Ward got a little bit stir crazy early in the Covid pandemic. Unlike others, however, the two decided to combat this developing restlessness by experimenting with time travel.

At least that’s what Vega termed the pair’s habit of binging music videos via platforms such as Pluto TV and YouTube, where the two would search out past episodes of the MTV show “120 Minutes,” which aired alternative music videos, live performances and interviews through its cancellation in 2000. 

“I love watching music videos, and we call it time travel around here, because it’s such a lost art form,” said Vega, who joined Oddfellow in livestreaming videos as one means to pass away the pandemic hours. “We would show videos from 2000 and then go back in time and show videos from Abba and things like that. And we definitely got our show taken down, because it was so new to us, and we didn’t know the rules [regarding copyright]. But it was fun. We were just sitting at home creating our own ‘120 Minutes.’”

These freeform experimentations gradually gave way to a more formalized series, “Lunar Transmissions.” the first season of which filmed at Boxland in the spring of 2024 and heavily featured videos created by Ohio musicians who exist in the couple’s extended circle (Vega and Oddfellow perform together in the long-running Columbus band ElectroCult Circus). 

“After we got dinged [with copyright violations] a couple times, we were like, ‘I wonder what would happen if we got videos from our friends?’” said Vega, who serves as a host of the show alongside Oddfellow, the two incorporating costumes, TikTok-friendly comedic bits and artist interviews alongside videos from the likes of Linden Hollow, Damn the Witch Siren, and Watershed, among others. “They were all making these music videos and there was really no platform for them. … And for a while we were secretly hoping somebody else would start a show without us having to do it. But nobody did, so we took over and did it ourselves.”

Midway through filming season one of “Lunar Transmissions,” Vega and Oddfellow began to discuss ways to expand the concept into new arenas, initially batting around the idea of launching a music festival before dismissing the concept owing to an already flooded market. “The festival idea has been done before,” Vega said. So instead, the two pivoted to another relic of that bygone era when MTV actually played music: a video awards show.

“We just really wanted another way to show off our friends,” said Vega, who will join Oddfellow in co-hosting the inaugural Luney Awards at Natalie’s Grandview on Sunday, March 23. “And we’re in a band, so we like attention, but not that much, because we didn’t [nominate] ourselves.”

The event will feature live performances from the Devil Doves, Trachete, and Huge Euge with Ax Stinnett, along with awards given in a dozen categories, including Best Outdoor Video, Best Animated Video, and Videos That Make You Need Church, among others. (Winners were selected via fan vote, with nearly 250 votes submitted.)

Part of what Vega hoped to tap into both with the awards show and the online series, the second season of which is expected to begin production this spring, is the sense of discovery that accompanied her earliest forays into MTV, which took place at a point in time she termed “the Hansen years.”

“I want that feeling again, where it’s like, ‘Oh, man, I need new music in my life. And I want to know how to get it, and I want it to be easily accessible,’” said Vega, who witnessed these types of discoveries beginning to take place within her friend group after new episodes of “Lunar Transmissions” posted. “I had several friends reach out and be like, ‘Dawg Yawp, I’ve never heard of them!’ So, people are discovering things they’ve never seen before, and I love that. It’s exciting that kind of thing can still happen, and that we can be the ones who get to show new bands to people.”