Take a Nostalgic Look Back
2015 8static Festival


 

This was the official website for the 2015 8static Festival.
Content is from the site's 2015 archived pages as well as from other outside sources.
Enjoy the nostalgic look back!

Learn more about 8static at: www.8static.com/about.php

8static 47 - 8static Festival 2015
Celebrating our 7th year anniversary!
This event is ALL AGES!
Thursday, October 15th - Saturday, October 17th, 2015
6:00pm at the First Unitarian Church - All Ages!

Tickets: http://8staticfest.com
$20 per day
$50 for advance 3-day pass



Marshall Art feat. Bucky - Triangular (Live at 8static Festival 2015)

 

8static is back with its third annual three-day music and video festival! Featuring an exciting and diverse selection of local, national and international performers, the 2015 8static Festival promises more of the finest sounds and sights the chiptune scene has to offer. Get your tickets now and get ready to party with us as we celebrate our seventh anniversary!

 



 

Nick Collins says: I'm a huge fan of hacked music, made from instruments created from legacy technology and discarded parts. I even wrote a book about it. It thrives in a world that is not well understood - if you do a Google search for it, you're likely to be misdirected to something completely off-base or non-musical. Google's search results do not tend to be friendly to this topic and while I'm not about to pay a search results removal expert to remove the ridiculous content that appears on page one, I do think that something needs to be done about the misinformation perpetrated by the world's biggest search engine. See this. But that's a topic for a different conversation. For now, enjoy the show and try to guess how the music you're hearing was conceived and executed. On second thought, just enjoy it!

 

8static Festival 2015: Night 1

◆ Date: October 15th, 2015

 



 

8static Festival 2015: Night 2

◆ Date: October 16th, 2015

 



8static Festival 2015: Night 3

◆ Date: October 17th, 2015
◆ Location: First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia

 

 

 



 

Performers

Chipocrite [PHL]
Trey Frey [PHL]
With a knack for crafting sounds with a surprising fidelity that defies their Game Boy source, Trey Frey has been blowing up in the chip music scene with his explosive dance music since his beginnings on 8bitcollective in 2010. In the years since, Trey has continuously made LSDJ users question their tracking skills with each album release, the latest being Très Frais, released via the Data Airlines label. Given his talent for getting the crowd moving at each of his live performances, Trey Frey is welcomed back for his third 8static Festival appearance.

Mega Ran [AZ]

Mega Ran, aka Raheem Jarbo of Philadelphia is probably best known for releasing "Mega Ran," a video game tribute album that caught the attention of international game developer CAPCOM, who offered young Ran an unprecedented licensing agreement. He's gone on to land viral fame with "Jeremy Lin Rap," a track that reached ESPN, ABC and more, and has landed tracks on shows like Tosh.0, 20/20 and more. Arguably the world's most well known video-game influenced performance artist, the former teacher's high-energy shows and fun, nerdy persona have led to world tours, festival and video game tournament performances, and a legion of smart art fans he calls Team Mega. Ran's new album "RNDM" is out now.

Das Mörtal [MON]

Montreal’s prince of gothwave and the occult disco.

Bit Shifter[NYC]

Few can claim to be as influential to the chip music community as New York's Joshua Davis, better known as Bit Shifter. Since 2001, Bit Shifter has been opening eyes and expanding minds, exposing people to the larger-than-life sounds that can be coaxed out of the limited hardware of the Nintendo Game Boy. He is the co-administrator of chip netlabel 8bitpeoples, co-founder of the pioneering Blip Festival event series, and his 2006 EP release "Information Chase" is widely regarded as genre-defining. Having been a part of the lineup for the inaugural 8static and the 5th anniversary festival in 2013, Bit Shifter is a returning 8static Festival performer.

Random [SWE]

Random started started doing chipmusic in 2002 with the joke-band randomshitmotherburger, but quickly discovered that his interest in chip-style sounds was no joke. Branching off as Random, he started making music using LSDJ in 2004, quickly getting global recognition for his melodical and emotional compositions. Since then, Random has performed live in fifteen countries across three continents and co-organized one of Europe's finest chipmusic clubs, Microdisko in Stockholm, Sweden. Random's fourth and final EP, Arpeggio Springs, will be released later this year

Ap0c [PHL]
Brave Wave artist, chiptune/game music composer mixing classical music with gaming nostalgia, Ap0c uses Famicom and MegaDrive audio to explore social encounters, interpret haunting memories, and expose visceral emotions.

Ovenrake [PHL]
Equipped with handhelds and a crossfader, ovenrake lives in Philly and is destined to drown in pretzels. His latest release, 'Dreadful Dub', is on the prophetic zolo net-label Datafruits. Live sets will make you trudge between the quicksand that is ovenrake's brand of dub and jostle yourself out with his "drippy af" hip hop. Please direct all complaints to @ovenrake.

SHRIMPS [ROC]
 

Shrimps is an electronic music duo from Geneva, NY. A collaboration between Joe Calabrese and B.Leo, the band's primary focus is placed on performance, accenting an organic element often absent in the presence of synthesizers. Their debut release, 2011's the SLOP EP, showcases their love of pop, funk and the palette of sounds provided by vintage video game consoles. They have performed in Rochester, Philadelphia and New York City and have contributed music to numerous compilations. "Shrimps rips the bleeding electronica heart from new age and restores it to its edgy glory." -Doug Reilly, Bicycle Astronomy/Geneva13

Glomag [NYC]
Glomag began writing music on Game Boys and performing local shows in 2002. It is his contention that his interest in music and art grew out of an early obsession with Astroboy. He once pulled a small pile of aluminum cones from a garbage dumpster and attempted to sell them to the Museum of Modern Art. Truth. 2009 saw two releases, DaMaGe and Roland and The Lamprey, on the 8bitpeoples label. His "Pocket Calculator" megamix of nine chip artists on the Astralwerks 8 Bit Operators 12" made it to #17 on Billboard magazine's Hot Dance singles chart. His music is a major part of the award winning internet series This Spartan Life which he also writes and directs.

L-Tron [NYC]


Konnekted

L-tron completed his first symphony at the age of 2 using only a touch tone phone and a Yak Bak. For decades he has steeped his dance music in a bouquet of filth. Today, he has no choice but to lick his cartridges clean before each set. Smear a bucket of melted Tamagotchis to create progressive house music, and you're listening to L-Tron. His melodies will awaken lush visions, blowing the dust off your forgotten daydream. Possessing you with dirty drops, Megaman's dick, and lowest intentions... you'll lose your shit and never get it back.
 

Cheap Dinosaurs [PHL]
In the years since its inception, Cheap Dinosaurs has grown from its solo project roots into a psychedelic rock powerhouse; a true supergroup of some of Philadelphia’s finest chip musicians. With leader Dino Lionetti providing the Game Boy and keyboard skeleton, the sound is fully fleshed out with the additional live instrumentation of Joey Mariano (Animal Style), Dan Tarng (of Store Cats), Paul Weinstein (Chipocrite), and Kevin Ragone (of Close to Good). This collective's latest release is the soundtrack to the hybrid 8/16-bit game High Strangeness. A performer at the original 8static event in 2008, Cheap Dinosaurs is back for its third appearance at the 8static Festival.

NML STYL [PHL]
Marshall Art [CAN-RUS]
Transcending both international and genre boundaries, Marshall Art combines the seething hot energy of Mikhail Ivanov’s guitars with the cool structural beauty of Jeff Roberts’ NES chiptune to create an ambitious hybrid chip progressive rock sound unlike anything else in the chip music scene. With a well received full-length debut album and a main stage performance at MAGFest 13 under their belt, this Canadian/Russian duo will be making their 8static debut at this year's festival.

Storm Blooper [PHL]
Based out of South Jersey, Storm Blooper (aka Chris De Pew) harnesses nothing more than a few Gameboys to slap down hard grooves and addicting melodies. Get ready to shake what your Momma gave ya (づ◕ ▽◕)づ*:・゚✧

ZEN ALBATROSS [NYC]

Ultrasyd [FR]

Oxygenstar [CT]

Hailing from Planet Zaxxon, OxygenStar is here to bring the smiles. Performing live since 2005, he has played in numerous basements, art spaces, venues, weddings, conventions and even pizza restaurants! OxygenStar's goal is to entertain his listeners via old laptops running Adlib Tracker II and big boomy drums. He concentrates on synthesized sounds with a "rock" feel, but who knows what he will think of next!!!

Inverse Phase [BAL]
Mail Order Monsters [DET]
Fuckjazzforaminute [NYC]
Four years ago, after producing several Datapop events at SXSW and spearheading such musical projects as 8BK-ok and #F, Fuckjazzforaminute mysteriously disappeared off the chip scene without a trace. On July 25th, he reemerged out of the darkness with a whole new round of dark, bass driven turns that rocked Pulsewave. Finally prepping for his long overdue first record release, Fuckjazzforaminute returns for his first ever solo show in the city in which he was born.

Bud Melvin [NM]
Little Paw [ROC]
Alex Mauer [PHL]
It is no stretch to call Alex Mauer one of chip music’s trailblazers. With the distinction of having created the first album released as a functioning NES cartridge as well as scoring the first all-chiptune full length film score, Mauer has shown time and time again he is not afraid of pushing boundaries. As the co-founder and lead composer of Imagos Softworks Alex is currently working on the score for the upcoming genre-melding video game Starr Mazer. Joined once again by drummer extraordinaire Shawn Phase of the band Temp Sound Solutions, this will be Alex Mauer’s second 8static Festival performance.

 

Visualists

NO CARRIER [NYC]
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 psychedelic low resolution video art. Part of the 8bitpeoples artist collective, he performs, exhibits, and lectures worldwide. Much of the software used in the NO CARRIER project has been released for free and is open source. Check out his various projects on his website below

Ohhinaifu [DET]
PixelSeed [BAL]
SBTHREE [ROC]
Melesul3 [MON]
Kevin Gondek [CHI]

Artist Bios, 3-Day Schedule and Artist + Visualist pairings coming soon!

8static Festival will be held at the First Unitarian Church in between 21st and 22nd on Chestnut Street. 30th Street Station, which is the largest transportation hub in Philadelphia, is Just a few Blocks away at 30th and JFK Boulevard. The Bolt Bus and the Mega Bus both have drop off locations a block away from the station.

Apple Hostels is extremely affordable and is located on Bank Street in downtown Philadelphia. Otherwise, the Hotels Tonight app can help you find a number of more upscale hotels in the area.

Note: There are NO glass bottles allowed in the venue. Safety First!

 



 

 

8Static Festival 2015
Have an 8-Bit Weekend at First Unitarian Church Oct. 15-17, 2015

By Justin Harlan on October 16, 2015 / http://rockonphilly.com/

Last night, the 2015 installment of 8Static Festival kicked off at First Unitarian Church, an awesome opening night of a great local festival at one of Philly’s best D.I.Y. show venues. One of last night’s big events was Philly native son and everyone’s favorite TeacherRapperHero, Mega Ran, rocking the stage fresh off the release of his incredible new album RNDM.

For those not familiar with 8static, curator Emily Feder explains the festival:
8static Festival is a three-day musical and visual event that showcases the talent and diversity within the a live scene that is comprised of what is described as chip music/chiptune/low-bit/lo-fi/synthwave and any other forms of art that share a similar aesthetic. The common denominator being that all these forms of music share factors that impose limitations on the compositions. Some examples are using hacked or modded video game consoles like Game Boys, vintage electronic gear or old forms of computer music composition software. Some people find that imposing these limits can improve creativity. [I]t also means that the gear people are using to make art is cheaper than traditional instruments which opens the door for more people to become involved and welcomes diversity. A lot of us like to say it’s like the punk rock form of electronic music. But it isn’t its own genre, just a platform; any genre of music can be a part of this scene. There is also a symbiotic visual element that is crucial to these performances. These visuals are performed live, just like the music and a similar aesthetic applies. Someone may have glitched visuals coming from an NES or recursive feedback via an old analog video mixer. Without these visualists, the shows would not be the same. Much of this music is distributed digitally, but many of these artists put on impressive live shows that can’t really be experienced any other way.

Before the festival began, 8static had been doing smaller events, which eventually morphed into this festival. Emily explains:

Back in 2012, we had been doing a monthly show for nearly four years…For our fourth anniversary we wanted to put together something special. We asked many of our past guests to come out and play a song as part of this celebration to complement the main event. This led to thirty performers playing all in one night–an amazing experience! The next logical step was to have thirty full sets for our fifth anniversary the following year. There had been other music festivals around the world in a similar vein at the time, but we felt the scene we were building in Philadelphia was special enough to share on a larger scale. That is how the first 8static festival was born.
Another highlight of last night’s opening night festivities was ovenrake. Emily describes ovenrake as one of the lesser-known acts that stood out to her in this year’s lineup:He is local to Philadelphia now and will be performing a dance heavy set. Expect hip-hop, funk, heavy grooves, and electronica. He is just one guy, but he will have the audience fully engaged.

Chances are that many of you reading this missed the first night. Lucky for us all, ovenrake plays the fest again on Saturday, October 17th. There’s also a ton more in store for tonight and Saturday. One big name standout is Sweden’s Random, a well-known DJ in the scene.

Another one of the lesser-known acts that Emily endorses is Marshall Art:
Marshall Art are new the fest this year. They are a duo comprised of two men, one from Newfoundland and the other from Moscow, Russia. They’ve been working on music together from across the world and usually only meet once per year. Their sound is rich and textured, with layered instrumentation that builds to heavy climaxes, much like post rock. The electronic element is complemented well by guitar accompaniment. The interesting thing is that these guys were heavily inspired by Chromelodeon, a local progressive-rock, psychedelic band that help pioneer music that is played at events like 8static. They played their final show in 2006, on the same stage at the First Unitarian Church here in Philly that Marshall Art will be playing Friday night.

Any artist who draws inspiration from Chromelodeon gets my seal of approval. Every set I ever saw those guys perform was great, whether as themselves or as their alter egos Sprite Slowdown. Interestingly, Emily’s enthusiasm in what makes the festival great is explained through Marshall Art and the aforementioned ovenrake.These two performers couldn’t be farther apart, both culturally and stylistically and that’s what makes the artists at our show so amazing: the lack of overlap and ability to be exciting and interesting in so many different ways.

Festival goers can hit up the remaining two nights or just head over for whichever works for them, both have a lot to offer. If the discussion above isn’t enough to show you what to expect, Emily expands:

Expect a great time! A place that welcomes diversity and offers a safe environment to enjoy yourself and experience unique and interesting forms of creativity. They will experience many surprises but also feel some nostalgia for the sounds many of these vintage tools produce as something new is created from something that is considered outdated by traditional music standards. Ultimately, we hope they will be inspired and be playing one of our future shows.

Get tickets for the remaining days of 8static 

 



8static Festival 2015 was a huge success! A BIG thank you to all who attended the festival, for supporting 8static and the chip music scene in Philadelphia. Also a thanks to performers, visualists, organizers, photographers, volunteers, and everyone else involved with making this 3+ night event a blast for three years & counting! 

 

8StaticFestival.com