I recently had the chance to conduct an interview with world renowned chip musician Pixelh8. I was really interested in finding out about how he creates his masterpieces, and how he came about the scene.

Kerri: Hi, I’d like to start by asking what is it that you do?
Pixelh8: For the most part it is to take toys and video games that have very functional sounds, take them apart and make them make melodies. The toys and games I take apart aren’t musical toys and the videogame systems aren’t musical either, the beeps and bleeps are functional, very straightforward, this is an alert to say this has happened. So one of the things I do is take those functional sounds and to a degree give them some emotion, I tinker and I make melodies out of them, changing the pitch as some of these computers have a very limited range. I am involved in reverse engineering i.e. making things do things other than what they were intended, retro computer programming using very old technology, programming it and making it to make sounds. To top it off, circuit bending taking an electronic circuit and adding stuff to it until it makes things go funny.

K: How did you become involved in it?
P: Well it comes from me being dumped in front of a television with an Atari 2600 when I was 7, I eventually joined a rock band and wanted to rule the world. It didn’t really take off, and so I got into electronic music on my own, studied how all the retro systems were made and then began programming on them and blammo, here I am.

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K: How do you see the chip music scene in the larger scheme of things?
P: It has it’s place, a lot of people just think it’s just appeared which is nonsense, it has just been nurtured and cared for by computer geeks and programmers for 20 years or so, remember those little tunes you got on the front of hacked Amiga games etc. It is extremely popular especially in Europe, there are websites dedicated solely to hosting chip tune and micro music. There are even net radio stations purely for it in Europe www.kohina.com is amazing.

K: Do you see it getting bigger due to growing interest?
P: Yeah it is. Chip tune-esque music is slowly seeping into popular culture, more and more bands are dabbling with it now, it’s funny to watch. For them it’s in its infancy and the way they are using it is very funny. I think there is even a radio jingle which feature similar sounds on radio 1.

K: You recently did some shows with Imogen Heap, what was it like?
P: Doing the gigs with Imogen was one of the best things ever. I learnt so much from her, even in the short time I took it all in; what she was saying, what she was doing, I watched her set up and rehearse and it all fascinated me. She is extremely proficient. She knows her hardware, her software, her singing and songwriting, I look up to her a great deal, because of just how dedicated she is.

K: Are you planning on working together again in the future?
P: Yes on a few things we discussed, namely a remix that she announced on stage that I would be doing for her and some other top secret project which will be announced once confirmed.

K: That’s really great news! I can’t wait to hear it
Do you think that chip music’s popularity is spurred from the nostalgic value of early video games?
P: Yeah I think undoubtedly most people have positive memories from playing games and chip tunes rely heavily on nostalgia. Many people say to me “oh that reminds me of this and that” and they always seem to be happy memories for them so it’s great, it is a very post modern genre and almost to the point that the music is less important than the memories that are being triggered off by it.

K: It’s great to see that what your doing is having an effect on the music scene and that this form of music is becoming recognized. Have you got any tips for people who are interested in getting involved with chip music?
P: First and foremost, don’t sample, learn how to make the sounds yourself. The belief that just because your not good at maths or science you can’t do it is rubbish. I failed maths twice and had someone else do my science work when I was at school. I just put my head down and learnt C and a bit about electronic circuitry and focused on a specific goal, I honestly work about 18 hours a day on music and music related projects. I spend hours upon hours looking at technical documents just to make something go beep. I suppose what I am saying is focus, nothing comes easy.

K: Thanks a lot for your insight, is there anything you want to finish with?
P: I think it’s gonna be a good year for everyone involved in chiptunes, I am pleased with what I have already achieved and we are just getting out of January, my debut album “Videogames Ruined My Life”, the magazine article “The Music Your Not Listening To” which has been commented on by several of my chiptune heroes as being a sort of “state of the union address for chiptunes” and my blog and documentary on how to make chiptune music has already spread across the net because I wrote it in everyday language, and people are picking it up. And last but not least to thank you for doing what you do.

Pixelh8 is a part of ‘Hidden Youth Records‘ and his debut album ‘Videogames Ruined My Life’ is out now from the myspace page.