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Celebrating its 10th anniversary, MAGFest proudly presents a cross-country showdown of veteran and emerging chiptune talent during its upcoming 4-day music and gaming festival in National Harbor, Maryland.
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//// SCHEDULE \\\\
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Both segments of the event will take place at STAGE 1 (main concert hall) from 12 PM - 2:30 PM on Friday, January 6th & Saturday, January 7th inside MAGFest's new home at the Gaylord National Hotel in National Harbor, MD. (map)
FRIDAY, 1/6
Danimal Cannon - 1:40
Revengineers - 12:50
Disasterpeace - 12:00
SATURDAY, 1/7
Virt - 1:40
Knife City - 12:50
Chipocrite - 12:00
**BONUS*1* SHOWDOWN: Help us playtest Die Gute Fabrik's musical dueling game, JOHANN SEBASTIAN JOUST in between sets! • More info at http://gutefabrik.com/joust.html
**BONUS*2* REMATCH: Come to STAGE 2 at midnight after the main concerts on Saturday, Jan. 7th for a special late-night bonus show with INVERSE PHASE, ANIMAL STYLE & more surprise performances, TBA
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//// ARTIST BIOS \\\\
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Los Angeles, CA
Jake "Virt" Kaufman is a large, clumsy, soft-spoken man who makes chiptune music which causes fellow musicians of all genders to tear off their clothing and throw themselves at him. One of the few people in today's chip scene who actually wrote music for commercially released Game Boy games (and who has worked on just about every system since), Jake invites you to join in his fantastical rainbow-filled orgy of NES sounds, FM and modern synthesis, orchestra, dance beats, and keyboard shredding. There is a not-insignificant chance that he might collapse and die on stage, so don't miss your chance to see what could be his final performance.
Buffalo, NY
For years Danimal Cannon has painstakingly dissected videogame music in order to serve it justice with live instrumentation with acts like Armcannon and Metroid Metal. After being captivated by the magic of the original chiptune scene, Danimal regressed into making music specifically for these videogame chips. With his Gameboy in hand, and the years of experience deconstructing NSF files, Danimal Cannon has become one of the fastest rising chiptune artists in the scene.
New York City
Luke Silas has had the same Game Boy since he was five. Now he uses it to make the most slammin'est, jammin'est club bangers you're likely to ever hear coming from a game console. When he's not doing that, he plays drums for NYC chiptune boy band Anamanaguchi.
Rochester, NY
REVENGINEERS is a Nintendo rock band from Rochester, NY. Comprised of indie rock veterans from a budding chip music scene in upstate New York, they use modified Nintendo gear in addition to guitars and drums to make their music. Some of the people they've played with include Anamanaguchi, Starscream, Fang Island, Peelander Z, Paul Baribeau, and Club Sandwhich. They are currently working on their first record.
San Francisco, CA
Disasterpeace is musical narrative rife with themes, sudden harmonic shifts and mathy little figures. Sometimes it happens in a game. This time it's accompanied by Rekcahdam on skins.
Philadelphia, PA
Chipocrite, a.k.a. Paul Weinstein, uses simple Nintendo Game Boy technology and electric bass guitar to create complex audio masterpieces. His multifaceted but catchy compositions combine the nostalgic game sounds of his childhood with modern music influences. You might have seen his name credited to the cover of New Order’s "Bizarre Love Triangle" featured in "The Legend of Zelda (1987)
Trailer,” which now has more than 659,000 hits on Youtube. When he's not accompanying his own tunes, you can often find him playing bass for Philly-based chip supergroup Cheap Dinosaurs and/or the band’s VGM-cover side project, Autoscroll.
New York City
Don Miller is an artist and educator based in Brooklyn, NY. He performs live visuals in real time under the alias NO CARRIER. Miller works with nearly obsolete repurposed electronics to create high energy low resolution abstract video art. Part of the 8bitpeoples artist collective, he performs, exhibits, and lectures worldwide. In his hometown of Philadelphia Miller organizes and curates 8static, a monthly showcase of low-bit music and video. He also serves as a Director of Playpower, a non-profit organization that works to bring low-cost educational games to developing countries.
Long Island, NY
Andrew Reitano [Batsly Adams] is an electrical engineer / programmer / visualist based in NY. He creates visuals using a combination of two Sega Genesis consoles and a hand-built video synth circuit. His style involves pushing the limits of the Sega video processor (VDP), utilizing hardware tricks to produce images beyond the expected capability of the system.
Baltimore, MD
Pixelseed is the creation of Sean Smith. As a Visual Artist, he performs with musicians and creates a kinetic wall of light that expands beyond a low bit abstract using new and recycled gear. He is one the founders/promoters of Byte Nyte, a chip music event for the Mid-Atlantic region.
Philadelphia, PA
Joey Mariano [Animal Style] has been most know for his guitar and gameboy musical integration since 2005. He is also a key member of Cheap Dinosaurs / Autoscroll, but now he's switched to the visual side for the MAGfest X chip music showcase to create low bit graphics alongside of some of the great masters of the art form ...think Sega Genesis vrs. animated GIFs in a mutating organic cellular pixel bath.
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//// About MAGFest \\\\
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http://magfest.org/
MAGFest, The Music And Gaming Festival, is an annual event in the Washington D.C. area dedicated to the celebration of videogames and videogame music. MAGFest offers 24-hour console, arcade and PC game rooms, over ten live videogame cover bands, a vendors area and guest speakers from the videogame industry and fan scene.
MAGFest X (10) is scheduled for January 5th--8th, 2012 and will proudly host legendary game composer Nobuo Uematsu and his band, The Earthbound Papas, as well as numerous other panels and activities scheduled for each day. As usual, it will also feature its famous "JamSpace," a ready-made concert space available to all attendees for impromptu music performances throughout the weekend.
If you or your organization still has not registered for MAGFest, please visit http://magfest.org/prereg to reserve your space -- The pre-registration deadline is currently scheduled for this Friday, December 16th at 11:59 PM. More badges will be available at the door. Stay updated by following @MAGFest on Twitter.
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