Hey everyone,
I was wondering for a long time now and I just can't seem to figure it all out.
What do you think makes the whole Chipmusic-Scene have that Punk-Appeal?
I know about 8-Bit Punk and that the community wasn't very pleased with McLaren wanting to push things he didn't quite get (didn't get at all acutally). But in his open letter gwEm did not take issue with McLaren over Chipmusic as some kind of new Punk.
So, again, besides from the DIY-aspect, rebellion or anti- consumerism:
What do you think, if at all, makes the scene punk today?
Thank you in advance!
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IL, US
i think there's very little rebellion or anti-consumerism in the scene now, if there ever really was (individual artists in some cases, but never wide-spread from what i saw).. most of the scene has nothing at all to do with punk, at least from my perspective (that of someone who was in the punk scene for maybe 6-8 years starting in the mid-90s)
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e.s.c. wrote:
i think there's very little rebellion or anti-consumerism in the scene now, if there ever really was (individual artists in some cases, but never wide-spread from what i saw).. most of the scene has nothing at all to do with punk, at least from my perspective (that of someone who was in the punk scene for maybe 6-8 years starting in the mid-90s)
mh, sure, you can not generalize this because everyone has a different motivation starting with chipmusic.
But listen to these guys:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRCbt3f … e&t=51
...and what about this ?
Last edited by clubcult (Nov 22, 2016 3:20 pm)
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Chip music like punk offers the chance to express musical ideas without very much time invested in ability.
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Finland
herr_prof wrote:
Chip music like punk offers the chance to express musical ideas without very much time invested in ability.
Yeah true, because the expression isn't locked away behind fancy polish and skill. You just get in there and you start expressing yourself with your bare hands straight away without delay. Wooo!
But yeah I think that's pretty much where punk and chiptune sorta coalesce... Rough edge, hard to consume, loud and you know... all that cool stuff.
That's how I think at least. Then I get into punk a lot as well so maybe that's also bias.
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Tennessee
e.s.c. wrote:
i think there's very little rebellion or anti-consumerism in the scene now, if there ever really was (individual artists in some cases, but never wide-spread from what i saw).. most of the scene has nothing at all to do with punk, at least from my perspective (that of someone who was in the punk scene for maybe 6-8 years starting in the mid-90s)
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Glasgow, Scotland.
e.s.c. wrote:
i think there's very little rebellion or anti-consumerism in the scene now, if there ever really was (individual artists in some cases, but never wide-spread from what i saw).. most of the scene has nothing at all to do with punk, at least from my perspective (that of someone who was in the punk scene for maybe 6-8 years starting in the mid-90s)
+1
I'm not really convinced there's anything 'punk' in chiptune. I don't even really understand what that's supposed to mean.
There may well be elements that were like the punk 'movement' in that there are scrappy musicians who pull together cheap electronics and subvert traditional electronic music, but there are also those who spend a shitload on gear and incorporate a C64 synth into their EDM. There's no single version of what chiptune is, and that's a good thing imho.
TBH, I think it boils down to the fact that people are always looking to ascribe labels to things to try and rationalise it in a way that they can relate to, rather than just accepting that it's a different phenomenon. It's no surprise that McLaren tried to posit chiptune as the 'new punk', because that's so integral to his own identity, but I think it does it a disservice.
I might be totally wrong on this of course, but personally I would never describe anything I do relating to chipmusic as punk.
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Earth
I think I can point out a few commonalities between chip music and punk.
They are both DIY. Both genres encourage listeners to become makers, because they are both pretty simple forms of music. Pixel art has the same vibe. Every little kid loves doing pixel art. Punk rock started as rebellion against fancy pretentious music. Chiptune has often been a rebellion against polished over-produced laptop music. They are both very participatory genres. Chiptunes artists will often distribute the actual SOURCE files as a musical release. This encourages others to learn and get involved.
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Glasgow, Scotland.
breakphase wrote:
I think I can point out a few commonalities between chip music and punk.
Agree with all these commonalities, but worth noting that common traits doesn't mean that chipmusic is punk, or some kind of 'new punk' which is what a lot of people seem to claim.
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Austin, TX
herr_prof wrote:
Chip music like punk offers the chance to express musical ideas without very much time invested in ability.
I think this hits the nail on the head. You have a lot of cases where people go to a chip show and are inspired enough to get into it themselves, and the barrier is pretty low. You get a lot of scrappy expression that way, which may contribute to the punkiness you're referring to.
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Geneva, NY
"Read it in Wired Magazine, there's a whole new kind of scene.
I know it must be true - they interviewed someone famous." -Bud Melvin
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Brooklyn NY US
Personally I think chipmusic is very punk, but if you're going to do a serious analysis of the parallels I'd hope you'd dig deeper than a silly Black Flag t-shirt spoof I did as a laugh. Chipmusic is raw, DIY, it thumbs its nose at more conservative notions of who controls a product once it's in the users' hands (i.e. unlicensed DIY software or development for proprietary platforms), it thumbs its nose at the notion of obsolescence, planned or otherwise; the barrier to entry is low, the community involvement is high, it's conceptually subversive, and it may not necessarily be militantly anticommercial, but at worst it's a from-the-heart cottage industry that's created its own internal economy. And personally I think that's pretty cool, independent, and rebellious in its own way.
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oklahoma
Sometimes I get super drunk and pee in places no one wants pee. How punk is that?
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Earth
It's not descended from punk musically, but has a historical resonance with it possibly. It's a good place for punk ethic.
I was about to write about a difference between punk and chip; That punk rock is musically reactionary. It's anti progress really, at least in terms of technology. That's probably changed a bit over the years, but synth punk is not really common, or iconic.
But at the same time, chipmusic is pretty reactionary too. It's just reactionary from a later date. So I guess that's another similarity. But still, the music is quite different.
I'm pretty high,
Last edited by breakphase (Nov 22, 2016 10:04 pm)