For band members of Anamanaguchi, playing video games wasn’t enough. So they hacked, remixed and recreated their own musical video game world, said frontman Peter Berkman.
The 23-year-old’s instrument of choice is a hacked 1985 Nintendo system.
“The thing that appeals to me about it is you can get these super childhood-esque, crystal-like tones . . . but at the same time you can re-contextualize it,” Berkman said following the band’s sold-out show at Ottawa’s SAW Gallery Jan. 12.
“I love how a distorted guitar can blend with a distorted electronic pulse wave and they can live in the same space.”
Anamanaguchi’s process is simple: Find a vintage video game system, hack it for its sounds and re-energize it with guitars and drums. The result is synthesized “chiptune” music listeners can dance to while feeling immersed in their favourite video games.
Glow sticks rained down on the dancing crowd that packed SAW Gallery’s dance floor as technicolour pixelated images flashed on stage at seizure-inducing speed.
At live shows, Anamanaguchi take their video game hacks a step further, Berkman said. By deliberately short-circuiting an old Nintendo system with a game cartridge installed, the backdrops are visually remixed images from classic video games.
“We’re trying to destroy and remix a video game,” Berkman chuckled.
Chiptune music is not as simple as button mashing, Berkman said. All four band members met at New York University while studying music technology, Berkman said.
Berkman started learning about chiptune music when he was in high school, he said. He went to shows to find out how exactly artists were controlling the “magic” inside the video game systems, he said.
While video games are an obvious influence, Berkman said the band’s goal isn’t to create music for video games — even if they did the soundtrack for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game.
“I’m not trying to write ‘boss’ music or ‘level up’ music,” Berkman said.
In fact, Berkman said some of his biggest influences are pop and dance music acts like Weezer, Venga Boys, and Britney Spears.
Anamanaguchi’s next album will feature more dance influences and vocal samples, Berkman said.
“I thought it would be fun to combine something that had nothing to do with [the video game] world,” he said.
