Subway Sonicbeat wrote:On Rebellion
I say it's not. It's more about reviving and modifying past memories than rebellion. It's like molding and reframing what you used to listen as a kid. I don't know about everyone, but I grew listening to VGM more than what was on television or radio or wtv. That's not rebellious at all. That's actually my status quo. And here I link with "sad nerds", which I don't think we are at all. It's just different and "new".
Ok, I would like to communicate that I cannot possible presuppose all of your motivations for making chipmusic. I don't know your story, except when I do.
I'm trying to examine chipmusic as maybe an anthropologist or something. I think the behavior around it, and the aesthetics of it, are interesting.
You seem to think that chipmusic is about nostalgic reclamation. Taking things from the past and making them different. Why? Why would someone do that? Why not live in the NOW? HELLO! It's 2017. Not 1986. Your living in the past man. Why don't you make some Dubstep?
My point, to try and be brief, is that chipmusic -- whatever your specific motivations -- is counter to mainstream values. The acquisition of equipment. The composition, done in bare bones minimal UI. The diy approach to everything. Making art and small-scale commerce with the e-waste of a bygone capitalist boom. The simplicity of the music. (It's not simple you fool! It's endlessly complex! Yes it is simple; it's a friggin SID Chip!)
same guy wrote:I wasn't from the punk scene here, but I did studied the beginnings of punk at my town (as in academically, see how 1337 i am). And as I say that, I just think how many here are from poor families and from a worker background, cause, cmon, who had money to buy videogames? I got poorer as I got off from my parents house and I got lucky to even have a graduation from a university. And then if you see who started to make punk after the Ramones, specially here, was the poorer kids from the peripheries of cities.
It's interesting to think about the class issues around chiptune. Obviously, in the 80s only rich kids could make it, but now, this is the music of the people. It's dirt cheep. But we don't have a history of political speech. Punk is empowering to poor kids. That doesn't mean chiptune can't be made to appeal to this group, but certainly the natural vibe of chiptune is like, armchair, easy listening, leisure music. Right? So yeah you're kind of right.
But the thing is, it's quite natural to subvert conservative media for radical purposes. Many of us make music that is quite shocking because it comes from old video game systems.
Another example of this is Techno, which evolved in part from euro-armchair music, like Kraftwerk. which is weird.
Anyway, in conclusion, I think chiptune is quite subversive as a movement, even if we don't mean to be. Thank you. In high.
I...love you too...
