Whoa! Whooooa!! (That was a Crash Bandicoot meme)
Look at all this EPIC gaming referencing! MY BODY IS READY! (That's a Nintendo meme)
I wish I could live in Osiris with Parchibald and Girl even though 99% of society is decaying in slums!
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CONSUME!
Yeah, I'm doing that cynical thing where I harp on something popular to get clicks my way. And yes, it's passe at this point to hit Ready Player One for all the references and stuff.
"But don't you do the same thing Mr. Makes Songs About Magic The Gathering and Overwatch and Shit?"
Sort of? In the back of my mind, I have a philosophy of "Themes, Not Memes". Basically, I try to find a "hook" to the song. Why does this song exist? What am I doing besides "making a song about a thing"? Mostly what I try to do with my music about a subject is put context and meaning where there wouldn't be. Most of my Magic the Gathering songs are about putting you in a place with a particular mind frame: "We're pirates!" "Let's work together and fight the big scary monster!" "I'm Nicol Bolas and you're going to die but love it anyway!". There's a pitch you can follow along with. Even Axe Cop is written so that you can follow it, even if you don't know what Axe Cop is.
With Status Quo Radio, it was a challenge to make 9 different songs that feel as different as how the Team Fortress 2 classes play. As life changed, and my politics became what they are today, so did the overall theme of the album into something different.
YouTube Video Producer Peter Coffin has a term he uses a lot in his videos: "Cultivated Identity"- identity, who you are and how you see yourself, that has been derived from what is consumed. And when an identity is driven by what you consume, it can be "cultivated", or be reaped for profit by a retailer like ThinkGeek (quirky nerdiness) or Hot Topic (rebellion!) or a production company like Disney (your childhood!) or- well, given the news Disney's all we're gonna get.
It's kind of how I feel about geek culture in general these days. It's not "Let's make this thing good", it's "Oh, ANOTHER thing to add on to the pile". Like, it's impossible to be into nerdy shit UNLESS you catch Game of Thrones, and 7 DC TV series, and are all caught up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, etc. Because of course you have to buy all this shit. It's "Geek Culture".
Net Neutrality was repealed today and Disney, the foremost manipulator of copyright law (seriously, it extends the length of public domain anytime Mickey Mouse is due) bought Fox, and now owns like 50% of popular culture BUT HEY GUYS THE XENOMORPHS ARE DISNEY PRINCESSES NOW!
So between that and being in between jobs, the world is feeling pretty barren right now.
NEW SONG ON PATREON- "Be The Solution"!
I decided to whip up a song for the new Unstable set because I wanted to sound like Devo.
That AND "High Noon" are coming out AFTER Holiday Matsuri as a 2-for-1 deal because
A. I want some encouragement to come out to my show this week at Holiday Matsuri and B.I'm running out of space on my Soundcloud. All my album tracks will be available, alongside my MtG songs, but some of the older, rougher stuff will be taken down to make room.
Hardcore Nerdcore Punk (3:45 PM, Panel Room A)
Crank your Holiday Matsuri up to 11 when Rhythm Bastard brings his mix of punk rock and fandom to the stage! You like video games? Comics? Card games? Come on down and open the pit up!
Holmat Slam (5:00 PM, Panel Room A)
Get ready to rumble in the hypest fake wrestling event Holiday Matsuri has ever seen! From the people who brought you AFO Rumble, Mizu-Mania, and Iwai-vor Series, comes Holmat Slam!
Play some old N64 Wrestling games, and compete for the chance to win a championship belt!
JAM OF THE WEEK: "Welcome To The Church Of Rock And Roll"
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This is from the last album by Foxy Shazam you can consider good, and man that opening is a real attention getter.
It's the musical number to a Rebellious Character that the Young Protagonist in a fantasy movie meets in the second act that draws him away from The Path, but our Young Protagnotist is Too Pure and Not Sure About This to stay in this Probably A Tavern for the rest of his days while The Bad Guy continues His Scheme Elsewhere. But when Young Protagonist tries to leave, he's stopped by Rebellious Charachter's Gang of Thugs but then the Young Protagonist gives a heartfelt speech about doing the right thing and-
Wait, where was I going with this?
Oh yeah, "Welcome To The Church Of Rock and Roll" is awesome.
