8 Bit Power Hour

I'm a long time VG music fan, short time chipmusic artist. Growing up in the 90's, NES and SNES music was pretty much the soundtrack to my childhood. Like many kids, I knew the music to Mega Man 2 and Earthbound better than I knew what was on the radio. I always found that game music was half the joy of the game (sometimes more than half). I would often rig my NES to a tape deck or VCR just to capture the music. As I got older, and more involved in rock music, I started to rehearse game tunes in my bands and record instrumental demos of tunes from Castlevania and Megaman. At the time it was simply for my own amusement, I had no idea there were others with the same interest. 

Getting back into game music as an adult was kind of about recapturing a part of my childhood. Discovering the chip scene was both exciting and humbling; I realized there are a plenty of great artists with the same passion for the classic game sound. After hearing a couple releases from Ubiktune and Pause I was hooked and began to learn about the technology and develop my own material.

When I started to make my own chipmusic the formula seemed obvious: combine the classic game sound with prog rock, its clear analogue in rock music. I started to think of ways to hit on the melodic yet technical sound from classic games but expand it -- use modern production to exaggerate it's core features and adapt it for longer song forms. The deeper I got into the chip scene the more I realized that this sound was relatively rare. There didn't even seem to be a name for it, so I started to use the term progchip. There was a dedicated core of like-minded artists for sure, but the popular chip forums and communities were all about dance music. I had long been looking for a niche topic to start a blog, and I decided that this was a perfect opportunity to support the music I love and help to build a community around it.

Megabeep Compilation One will be the first in a series of progchip samplers that celebrate the style. The record will feature top shelf compositions from pros like Disasterpeace, Prizmatic Spray, Temp Sound Solutions and ilkae, as well as newcomers like Mook Senior and myself.The record is slated for late Febuary and will be available through megabeep.wordpress.com -- There is an open call for material and track slots are still open, so submit MP3s tomegabeep@hotmail.com for a chance to appear on the record!

The idea to start a label grew out of the same motivation that inspired the blog: to support and give voice to the progchip community. I've enlisted a strong core of artists that share a common musical vision. The label will have two functions: to release top notch progchip records and to connect our artists with game designers to facilitate soundtrack opportunities. Part of the impetus for the compilation is to discover new chip artists to sign to the label. Megabeep Records is just getting started and needs artists, so submit your demos to megabeep@hotmail.com today!