Doctor Sleep
Wonderful to see people making credible Stephen King adaptations, isn’t it? The Dark Tower left a bad taste in my mouth and sadness at another wasted potential of an Idris Elba performance. However, Idris is doing fine and we are getting good King films. IT volume 1 was a monster when it premiered in theaters and the follow-up, I actually liked. Mike Flanagan seems to be the one person who truly understands how to translate the stories to the big screen. He directed Gerald’s Game which was REALLY GOOD. Mike Flanagan followed that with Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House mini-series to critical acclaim. Now soon to be then 2019 also gave us DOCTOR SLEEP also directed by Flanagan. Based on the novel and sequel to King’s THE SHINING. Doctor Sleep follows Daniel Torrance, now a recovering addict living in seclusion in his mid-age before he is develops a long distance friendship with a young girl via The Shining ability they both share; a Shining that is being hunted by members of the True Knot and their deliciously evil leader. The music is subtly and the story is well contained, distinguishing itself from its predecessor with very well fleshed out characters and antagonists with defined motives and conflicts for the first two acts of the movie before delivering on fanservice with its climax. It’s a slow burning horror movie that delivers on mood and pacing. A MUST WATCH.

Alita: Battle Angel
We all thought it was impossible. There is no way in hell a live-action anime would be good. A lot of us thought and still think Cameron is washed up; that Rodriguez had become a hack. Well we were wrong and ALITA was actually a good movie. The ending to me was a lil mehh, but, it was good. The camera work and CGI was crisp and blended together well and in 3D blurred the lines between flesh and pixel. I even learned to love the anime eyes given to the main character. Good cast, although the love interest was more visual than substance. Rosa Salazar is a much better ALITA than who James Cameron originally wanted for the role (rumor is it was Jessica Alba). It was also nice to always Jennifer Connelly in any film. The last reveal at the end was funny because the entire time I was thinking “How’d they get Julian Lennon to play the main villain NOVA” to be surprised at the end like “Oh it’s him”.

Dolemite is my Name
The story of the man who would become DOLEMITE, The ass kicking, jive-talking, women loving, honky smacking man too badass for two names. My Name is Dolemite stars Eddie Murphy, Wesley Snipes, Keegan-Michael Key, Mike Epps, Craig Robinson, Tituss Burgess, T.I., Chris Rock, Luenell and more. Rudy Ray Moore was a man just getting by who had a dream to become a star. Proving that perseverance, drive and imagination can take you anywhere you want to go. Eddie Murphy is back and R rated. Wesley Snipes, my friends, is amazing in this film – Amazing. Streaming on NETFLIX.

Watchmen on HBO
Now let me be objective. At first there was some pushback from viewers over where the series would go. But, by the final episode of the first season it seems everyone is “All in” over HBO’s WATCHMEN series. Series creator and showrunner Damon Lindelof (The Leftovers) and starring the extremely talented Regina King and co-starring Jeremy Irons, Louis Gossett, Jr. Tim Blake Nelson, Jean Smart and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. wITH music by NIN. The series took the motifs and layered storytelling of the graphic novel and attempted to tell its own story following up the events of the Alien Squid Attack.
Some reviewers are online calling this the best series of the past few years which I disagree. I mean, MR. ROBOT is killing everything right now in its final season. Watchmen is great. It’s deep. It’ plays with actual history to develop a rich world in an alternate timeline from our own in a very very well executed way. It’s a good show. Let’s see where they take it with season 2, if there is a second season.

The Mandalorian on Disney +
The Star Wars series that’s saving the franchise. Most people don’t like Last Skywalker and some people liked it meanwhile others think it’s the end of the world. But, everyone loves the Mandalorian and Cub… I mean Lonewolf and yoda…. I mean The Mandalorian. What else can I say? It’s Star Wars. It’s full of fan service and the story does seem like a breath of fresh air in a stagnant universe.

On Becoming God in Central Florida
The oddball of the list. On Becoming God in Central Florida is a weird series to pin down. It’s almost like watching a bizarre blend of Roseanne, Northern Exposure, Raising Arizona and the film SHE-DEVIL. Kirsten Dunst hasn’t been this entertaining since 1999’s Drop Dead Gorgeous. Beth Ditto does a very convincing job as the Florida housewife to a man who is trying to become a self-made man. The series set during the 1980s is stacked with classic hits and b-sides on the soundtrack. The fashion is tragic but it is Florida and it was the 80’s.

The resurgence of Classic Jim Henson properties
Jim Henson is classic and always will be. The previous year gave us some great material to chew with a comic book series adapted from the scraped screenplay for a sequel to The Dark Crystal (1982) by Boom Studios titled The Power of the Dark Crystal. There was also that lovely Labyrinth comic book published by Achaia Entertainment. But in 2019 The Jim Henson Company and Netflix joined forces to premiere The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance on August 30, 2019 to critical and audience acclaim. With an all-star cast of too many people to name; including Taron Egerton (Kingsmen), Anya Taylor-Joy (Split), Nathalie Emmanuel (Game of Thrones), Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter), Simon Pegg (Spaced), Mark Hamill (Star Wars), Lena Headey (300) AND more and more and more. Depicting the battle between the Gelflings and the Skeksis on the planet Thra and using state of the art techniques in puppetry and special f/x this was a wet dream for anyone who remembers watching the original film as a child.

Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol was the X-MEN before the X-men. A group of individuals afflicted with extraordinary abilities and handicaps coming together and saving the world, if not themselves. The classic comic book superteam created by Arnold Drake and Bob Haney with Bruno Premiani in 1963 stepped into the live action medium in 2019 on DC Universe. Starring Brendan Fraser, Matt Bomer, Timothy Dalton, Joivan Wade and others. Mixing a healthy dose of humor and plot made this series a binge worthy series to sit my ass down and take in (pause). Brandan Frasier absolutely stands out with his performance as Robotman.

Stranger Things season 3
After a lukewarm reception to Season 2’s drawn out drama with perhaps two many episodes that needed to be shot. Including a throwaway episode that was more X-Men:Runaways than anything that was necessary for that season. Stranger Things came back with a shorter third season with a much more condensed and thought out season that reminded us why we fell in love with these young characters in the first place. Adding more lore and world building into the, retro, suburban lovecraftian story of a group of young teens growing up with the ever-looming threat of apocalypse just around the corner from the UPSIDE DOWN. Characters are better developed and the soundtrack was chosen wisely. Memorable moment: The Neverending Story.

Notable Mention: GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS
Definitely better than the first GODZILLA movie from Legendary films. However, for those that have seen the movie know that at times KING OF THE MONSTERS gets in its own way too much. There was less Human importance in this film but, still I felt that there could‘ve been just a little bit more Monster carnage and a little less of the shaky camera, night time, quick cut-aways that happen way to often. I mean come on, you wait the whole film for the big showdown at the end and just as they are about to get to the monster mash, they filmmakers decided to park the ass end of a big fat fuck military plane right in the middle of the screen. It was the only complaint I had with the film but enough keep the movie from my top ten.

10. Fallen World (Valiant Comics)

It doesn’t take long into one’s journey through the criminally underappreciated Valiant universe to notice the parallels between Rai, the mainstay of Valiant’s future timeline, and Bloodshot, the popular character with an upcoming feature length-film. Fallen World could have been a simple conflict story between the two characters, but the way that it weaves in characters like the Geomancer and War Mother, and the delicate attention that writer Dan Abnett gives to the world of the story elevates it significantly.

9. Usagi Yojimbo (IDW Comics)

If you listen to the NewRetroWave comic book podcast, you know that the IDW relaunch of Stan Sakai’s longrunning series is a monthly favorite. It knows exactly what it wants to be and executes its stories well along those lines. It may not always have the loftiest ambitions in terms of art or storytelling, but at the end of the day being able to tell a compelling story with a compelling lead for over two decades is a greater ambition than most books and creators can hope for. The relaunch has been one of the most consistent and entertaining books of the year.

8. Sonata (Image Comics)

When I read Monstress for the first time I was overwhelmed by the world within its pages in a way that I hadn’t by other comics before. The first comic to captivate me with its world since has been Image Comics’ Sonata. While this comic could have sat comfortably on the creativity of its world and the strength in the art depicting that world, it ramped up significantly by making a level of intrigue between its characters that each issue has been hard to put down.

7. Ruby Falls (Dark Horse Comics)

Another title that shouldn’t be a surprise to NRW Comic Podcast listeners. Series writer Ann Nocenti shows her considerable skill at both characterization and strong thematic storytelling in equal measure with this mini-series. All of the characters in this story are memorable and likable, but Lana is one of the most relatable protagonists of 2019. She manages to have obvious and apparant flaws that the readers are usually able to find in some measure within themselves, and to see her attempt to solve the mystery of a decades-old murder in a town that seems stuck in the past makes for some great reading.

6. Blossoms 666 (Archie Comics)

If there was ever a time to strike while the iron is hot for Archie Comics, and for the Archie Horror imprint in particular, its 2019. With outstanding art and a killer story from Cullen Bunn, Blossoms 666 delivered up devilish fun in 2019 with its story of Jason and Cheryl (and even a mystery third Blossom heir) and their quests to become Riverdale’s own Anti-Christ. The Archie Horror imprint has some of the best comics of the past decade at their helm, and Blossoms 666 is right at home.

5. The Plot (Vault Comics)

Oh look, another book raved about on NRW’s Comic Book Podcast. (Please listen to it) The Plot managed to be not just the best book from a publisher who drastically has delivered quality titles for the past two years, but one of the five best books of the year. Its gothic sensibilities married to its 70;s horror aesthetic makes this easily the most atmospheric book of the year. It might be wrapping up it’s initial run now, but this is going to be the kind of trade paperback that people who don’t typically like comics are going to love.

4. Ascender (Image Comics)

The Jeff Lemire-written and Dustin Nguyen-drawn series Descender was consistently one of the best books on shelves during its 32 issue run starting in 2015. How could the team follow such a beloved, original, and stylish sci-fi series? By bringing several of the series’ beloved characters into an equally original and stylish sequel, but one which shifts genres toward fantasy. The results are compelling in a way that few books are, and the unique identity between the original and sequel manage to be significant while not feeling wholly disjointed.

3. Going to the Chapel (Action Lab Comics)

Another favorite here at NRW. As you could tell from our review of the debut issue, this comic started with a bang. If you listened to the recent NRW Comic Podcast interview with Going to the Chapel writer David Pepose, then you know that the series has maintained that level of energy and has spent four issues endearing readers to its robust cast of characters. Balancing something as intense as a hostage situation with jokes and levity is no easy task, but Pepose and the art team of artist Gavin Guidry and colorist Elizabeth Kramer deliver.

2. Excellence (Image Comics)

Has there ever been a book so perfectly titled? Writer Brandon Thomas and artist Khary Randolph deliver a world that is as fascinating as it is thematically rich. Main character Spencer Dale navigates a world where he experiences pressures from his society and his family, and his conflicts in this world get heightened with artist Khary Randolph’s incredibly fluid and stylish panels. Colorist Emilio Lopez rounds out the team and makes this book one of the most can’t-miss titles of 2019, and of all the titles on this list, this is the one that feels most likely to jump to other mediums.

1. House of X / Powers of X (Marvel Comics)

For a publisher that’s pretty egregious with their use of large-scale events, House of X and Powers of X is the first time in my life as a reader that a comic story has lived up to the name ‘event’. There really is no writer better suited to injecting the X line up with new energy and new ideas than Jonathan Hickman, and this two-as-one series showed exactly why. These books were electric with an energy rarely found, and following each book was the mountain of discourse from the rabid X-fan community who seemed to finally all agree that something huge was here for their favorite heroes. Whether Hickman’s relaunch lives up to this hype remains to be seen, but HoXPoX is some of the best that this medium can produce.

#10

D1896

(Arkhouse Telegraph, released 11/15/19)

This is, at its most basic level of comparison, a high-quality Castlevania clone. It has only recently come out, and has yet to receive a flood of attention on Steam, but I felt it bore mention due to the buzz it has created on YouTube among fans of this type of platformer. D1896 isn’t just a game. It’s art, it’s inspired by art, and it’s gorgeous. D1896 claims to be directly inspired by Georges Méliès’s early silent film Le Manoir du diable (House of the Devil), considered by many to be the first horror film despite its comedic overtones. (It’s 3 minutes long, get some culture, here.) The game is a rich yet minimalistic platformer with most of the bells and whistles of the expected matroidvania stripped away; D1896 is simple, challenging (fucking HARD, actually), and eerily engrossing. Everything is represented in ephemeral black and white, yet there is no lack of detail or texture to the game elements. Couple this with a masterfully claustrophobic piano (and piano only) soundtrack, and you’ve got a game so enchanting and macabre that it will hold you spellbound. It is, as I said, incredibly difficult, however. You’ll die a lot and the bosses are exercises in the developers’ sadism.

#9

Demon’s Tilt

(FLARB LLC, released 12/13/19)

There’s a true spiritual successor to Naxat’s classic series of virtual pinball games. It’s every bit as gnarly, gruesome, and action-packed as its forebears, and features a driving bit-crushed musical soundtrack along with some killer sound and sleek visuals. Still in early release, This game looks more than capable of living up to its legacy. It maintains the occult vibes of Devil’s Crush, but has its own dash of flash in the form of its neon-and-darkness motif and old-meets-new aesthetic. Plus it’s a ball to play. Yes, I made a terrible pun on purpose. Flay me alive, please.

#8

River City Girls

(WayForward/Arc System Works, released 9/5/19)

This is exactly what it fucking sounds like, and it’s awesome. This beat em up is a spin off of the Kunio-kun franchise, which gave us River City Ransom, one of classic gaming’s most memorable and engaging punch-and-kick titles. This time, it’s the ladies stepping up to the plate to save their hapless boyfriends from mysterious kidnappers. The story plays out alongside the action in an elegant waltz punctuated by the impacts of fists on faces, as Misako and Kyoko beat the shit out of whoever crosses them while exploring River City for their beaus and the kidnappers who unknowingly signed their own death warrants. The art style and soundtrack are a new take on the original theme, and they both play a role in making this game a knockout. River City Girls is every bit the solid beat em up River City Ransom was, with a dash of the modern for flavor. And girl power!

#7

Katana Zero

(Askiisoft, released 4/18/19)

Katana Zero is dripping with neon-noir style, an action-adventure game that immerses and amazes. You play as a sword-wielding assassin whose psychiatrist gives him drugs that allow him to do bullet-time and see the future. The game has a rich story worth paying attention to, a narrative that gradually unravels a mystery within the absurd yet dire game world. Work began on it in 2016, but it has officially been released this year to very favorable criticism. This game is beautiful, uncompromising, and fun just to watch, let alone play.

#6

Amid Evil

(Indefatigable, released 6/20/19)

A dark fantasy FPS built using the Unreal engine, Amid Evil is another game that took the baton and ran with it in 2019. An homage to classic FPS like Heretic and Hexen, gameplay is nonlinear and requires you to both explore and kick ass. You play as an anonymous “Champion” called upon to cleanse the lands by defeating a mysterious “Evil Force.” What the game lacks in storytelling depth it more than makes up for in terms of gameplay. In both the regular game and Survival Mode, you must face off against a variety of terrible otherworldly creatures and wield an array of strange weapons. Level design is high-caliber and the nonlinear gameplay adds layered challenges to your quest. Amid Evil is worth taking a harder look at if you haven’t already.

#5

Cadence of Hyrule

(Nintendo, released 6/13/19)

If you ever wanted to play one of the iconic early Zelda games like Link to the Past, but wanted to put a whole bucket of spit and polish on it, this Switch title is for you. Cadence of Hyrule gracefully blends old and new ideas, making it a 2D action RPG that will entertain modern and classic fans alike. Devious puzzles, A delightful soundtrack true to the series’ spirit, and an eclectic mix of old and new elements all mean that Switch gamers are missing out if they’re missing this title.

#4

Gato Roboto

(Doinksoft, released 5/30/19)

Another monochrome pixel game whose true colors are its design and its fun factor, Gato Roboto is essentially a super-polished Metroid-style game in which you play a cat. Your owner’s starship crashes, and he sends you, a cat, to investigate the distress signal that initiated the original journey. Thankfully, you get a robo-suit with a gun arm. You can (and need to) enter and exit the suit at various times, find other “vehicles” in certain parts of the game, and unlock power ups while exploring the strange world you’ve landed on. While this is very strictly a Metroid clone, it’s a really fucking good one, and it’s both cute and challenging. Fans of Metroid and similar titles must check this one out.

#3 Hypnospace Outlaw

(Tendershoot, released 3/12/19)

This game is a very self-aware and irreverent parody of the 90s’era incarnation of the World Wide Web. You play as an enforcer of rules and propriety for the users of an online service called Hypnospace, solving puzzles and mysteries as you traverse this giggling love note to the early Internet. The focus is more on story, theme, and adventure than action; Hypnospace Outlaw is another title that is as much an artistic statement as it is a game. The visuals and atmosphere are painfully authentic, rendering the 1999 of another reality in vibrant colors. Hypnospace Outlaw is very strange, but it’s the kind of strange you need in your life.

#2

Nova Drift

(Pixeljam, released 3/27/19)

Nova Drift is an arcade-style shoot em up and an action RPG combined into a future classic. Your ship is eternally customizable, and the open world is so extensive that hours at a time can be lost just exploring. There is an amazing depth of variety in every element of Nova Drift, and you will not get bored. Ever. Vividly colored game objects are stylishly rendered, accompanied by sharp audio elements in a truly gorgeous end product that will provide a universe of adventure.

#1

Reventure

(Pixelatto, released 6/4/19)

Its tagline tells you the most impressive thing about it: 100 different endings. The simple plot has you as an adventurer on a quest to find a magic sword and rescue a princess from a dark lord. Reventure offers players 100 different ways to finish the game and its story, ranging from the simple and comical to the complex and theatrical. Lots of nods to previous action/RPG games can be easily seen, and the blend of action and puzzle is extremely well-balanced. One interesting twist is that, to reach certain endings, the character must be careful what items he picks up, since each item makes his jumping height lower due to encumbrance. Therefore, which item sets reach which endings is a puzzle in and of itself. Action is present in adequate amounts, but Reventure is all about problem solving. It’s lovingly pixelated and incredibly detailed, with a sense of humor to boot. It has caught fire on Steam, and it’s worth getting if you like video games at all. Just play it.

Well, that’s good enough for government work, folks. Happy Holidays, Auld Lang Syne, and Stay Retro!

Here is the story, according to John himself:

“After killing the Spiderdemon at the end of E4M8 (Unto the Cruel), your next stop is Earth — you must save it from hellspawn that is causing unimaginable carnage. But Baphomet glitched the final teleporter with his hidden sigil whose eldritch power brings you to even darker shores of Hell. You fight through this stygian pocket of evil to confront the ultimate harbingers of Satan, then finally return to become Earth’s savior.”

Sigil’s opening screen. KVLT ANTI-HVMAN BLACK METAL

I am a pretty well-seasoned DOOM player, and can usually handle the original 3 episodes on Nightmare or at least UV. This shit is turning my guts inside out on Hurt Me Plenty. You will not see health much at all. You will need to be extremely careful. Yes, there are horrible monster traps everywhere. Inescapable pits too. You will die. You will know death again, Marine. You can never truly rest. But Space Marines are made for this shit. Let’s hit it.

E5M1 is a true gauntlet-run involving the elevation of platforms in order to find your way through a winding path of hitscanners and imps. The maps are very dimly lit, and instead of switches, Romero has us shooting the demonic eye symbols to activate/open things. I’ll save you the five or so seconds it’d take to puzzle it out. Sheol (E5M2) continues to incline the difficulty in a steady fashion. Breaking a sweat yet? You often find yourself with little room to move one way or another, measuring moments and shots, clinging to cover while whittling away at potentially deadly ambushes. I hope you like seeing barons and cacodemons up close, because you fucking will be. E5M3 is called Cages of the Damned, and it looks slightly more “conventional” as a map when you first start blasting through. Vaguely castle-like, with great run-and-gun action and a few open spaces (finally!) to use in combat. I’d even call E5M3 “classical” because of how true parts of it are to the original feel of the trilogy. You’re still, however, finding very little health. And yes, you’re still in horrible peril on a constant basis. Paths of Wretchedness (E5M4) is another hectic rim-grabber over pools of magma as you battle your way through a shooting gallery with you as the turkey. Movement is again limited, and you find yourself getting pummeled in bottlenecks – sometimes caught with your fucking pants down – and perishing if you’re not on your LeBron “Leatherface on Mars” James A-game. This level has a splash of that old alien-mechanical feel to it reminiscent of Knee-Deep in the Dead. Probably another of my overall favorites of the episode. While health is scarce throughout this episode, you will find enough ammunition if you are thorough, frugal, and keep your eyes open.

Pictured: One scrub (yours truly), pre-tenderized.

Abbadon’s Void (E5M5) hits us with the sound of a cyberdemon right out of the starting gate, and we don’t clearly see it, but we know it’s aware of us and it’s pissed off. Great. More indoorsy, wood-paneled infernal décor, peppered with monster closet ambushes and tense high-wire acts. I particularly enjoy the MIDI OST track for this map (more on the music below); it’s atmospheric and rich and it reminds me a little of Blood’s great theatrical-style music. E5M6, Unspeakable Persecution, has the exit to the secret level E5M9 (Realm of Iblis). I’m not going to spoil where the door is or what the secret level is like; if you want that shit you can find it easily online. (I admit that I had to look it up. My skills have gotten mad rusty.) I will say that E5M9 is as hot and nasty as you’d expect Sigil’s secret map to be. Buckle up, buttercup. E5M7 is the Nightmare Underworld, and it was originally meant to be the fifth map, but it belongs here in spot #7. It is an expansive and adventurous map, and it pounds me into hamburger at an embarrassing rate. John’s work in Sigil is the work of a man who intimately understands the tools he is using to engage the player. It is the work of a methodical, gifted, calculating psychopath. E5M8, Halls of Perdition, presents the final obstacle in Sigil. Like E4M8, it is not just a straight boss fight; you must find your way through one last intense firefight against the full host of DOOM’s baddies intent on beating you down. The finale has a marathon-like feel and is almost joyful (I only beat it once using equipment cheats on Hurt Me Plenty).

decino’s entertaining and thorough playthrough of Sigil. He is a much better player than me. Props.

Hi. <3

Let’s talk about the absolute fucking banger soundtrack. If you don’t know who Buckethead is, you should, and he wrote the CD soundtrack for Sigil. Apparently, he’s a long-time DOOM fan. Who’d have thought a dude like the immortal Buckethead would have good taste. It is busy, atmospheric, haunting, and it fits Sigil’s gloomy theme of desperation perfectly. The episode also features a fantastic MIDI soundtrack written by James Paddock. It’s a little more action-themed but fits the game every bit as well as the Buckethead score. E5M1 and E5M7 stand out to me as highlights, and you should have a listen.

Ol’ Johnny R. goes hard in the paint with Sigil, reminding us longtime Space Marines that while our blood may smear every hallway and elevator from Phobos to Mt. Erebus, we can never die. Besides, who the hell else is going to keep the demons down? You know they’ll just be back . They always come back.

Sigil gets a 9 out of 10 from me. It’s difficult, but that’s not a complaint at all. It’s a brutally refreshing shot in the arm for a game that’s been loved for over twenty-six years. Devastatingly crisp, well-executed, and effective. John Romero has given us more to love about DOOM… and a new way to get our asses kicked and GET GOOD.

See you later for more articles in October. Stay spooky as hell… and Stay Retro.

BONUS: Of course there’s a Zero Master speed run of 9:32 for it already. Hallelujah.

First off: how’re things on your end and what’ve you been listening to lately?

Things have been going well. Lately, I’ve been listening to a pretty decent amount of vaporwave music including telepath, nmesh, and luxury elite. Oddly enough I’ve also been listening to Herb Alpert and some other old funky tunes.

Your upcoming set at Retrofuture Fest will mark your UK debut. What can fans expect from a live Betamaxx show? What’s your thought process when it comes to putting a live set together?

Fans can expect mostly classic material as well as 2 or 3 fresh new tunes. I’ve worked with a new visual artist for a new backing display while I play. My thought process is the same for pretty much all shows. Pick a good setlist and get it down as tightly as possible.

Any sets you’re looking forward to catching? Any artists you look forward to meeting while you’re there?

Looking forward to meeting everyone, but especially excited for Duett and MAVS.

Having played in a number of other projects across numerous genres (Wicked Chief, Young Fuck, Headdie Rock Steady…), does anything stand out in particular with regards to a ‘Synthwave’ crowd? Anything you particularly appreciate about the scene/community?

I tell this story a lot, I am frankly more comfortable writing music independently. I got sick of relying on others and vice-versa to make music in bands. I do enjoy the synthwave crowd. They’re generally friendly and open-minded people.

You took a short break from Betamaxx with the desire to branch out towards more experimental musical endeavours. Having returned to the project with a third album full of fresh new sounds, what would you say is your approach to keeping things fresh and standing out in the scene as Betamaxx?

Recently I finished building a new recording studio and did a much-needed refresh on hardware and software. The new environment has inspired me to write and experiment more than I normally would.

What’s next for Betamaxx? Any projects on the way?

I am just about finished with a full-length record which I am hoping to release in September or October. I’m also working on scoring a short horror film here in the coming months.

Finishing off : Can you name one of your favourite albums, movies and books?

Albums: Alvvays: Antisocialites, Tame Impala: Currents, Software: Digital Dance, Boards of Canada: The Campfire Headphase, Surfing: Deep Fantasy.

Movies: Repo Man, Escape from New York, Christine, Nothing but Trouble, Blue Velvet, Return of the Living Dead.

Books: Mostly synthesizer manuals, 1984, American Psycho, Women, and I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell.

Special thanks to James and Betamaxx

London, be sure to catch Betamaxx on his European debut show at RFF.

Tickets and info available here

Be sure to catch Betamaxx on social media
Bandcamp
Facebook
Twitter

More than a hefty lineup of talent, this latest edition of Retro Future Fest returns with a full convention-like experience. “There will also be gaming arcades, a food vendor, plenty of craft beer on tap, cosplay competitions and much more! For VIPs too there is a private bar and more live music. From 5 pm to 5 am, it’s pure synth heaven. We can’t wait for you to experience it.” Explains Secker.

Born from what was originally meant to be a small, one-off event, Retro Future Fest has come to expand into a household yearly event for Synthwave fans, rounding up some of the finest acts that the scene has to offer. Secker elaborates: “The scene has expanded massively with various styles. With hints of funk, metal, EDM, it’s an ever-changing scene. My goal is to create a line-up which everyone can enjoy with different variations in the scene. You are going to have a blast seeing what these acts bring to the table.”

More than a strictly Synthwave event, the festival is offering is reaching to represent a full spectrum of Retro culture in all of its shapes and forms, pushing the festival experience further beyond established bounds with each subsequent edition. “I want to give the people something that really blows minds. Every act will be completely different and unique. These artists all truly shine in their respected fields and on July 27th they will be unleashed upon London…”.

We can hardly wait. And we hope to see you there!

Retro Future Festival will be happening on July 27^th at 26 Leake Street, underneath Waterloo station.

Doors will open at 5pm.

Come say hi and party with us! We want to meet you!

Tickets are available here

Further Info :
Official Website
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter

Strangers on Film by Yota

First off, how did you start playing music?

I used to take some piano lessons as a child but I wasn’t motivated to learn all those music notes so I made my own notes by typing like A1, A2 etc on small pieces of paper and scotched them on each piano key and tried to write some songs after that. One could say I was a bit rebellious by doing that my way, but I was probably just being lazy and tried to find a shortcut. That didn’t lead very far, so it wasn’t until many years later that I actually started to even consider music as something that I should do. My father was a Greek singer and he used to perform in parties, weddings and such. He was incredibly talented, so hearing him sing might have affected me on a subconscious level.

I understood that I should consider taking singing to the next level in my early or mid 20’s, when I was going to art school in Stockholm and one of my good friends heard me going all in, singing along to Al Green in the car. I overdid the falsetto I believe, but she told me right there that this is what I have to do. My friend had been working as a manager for American soul artists and for Brazilian samba artists. She was about 30 years older than me but we were very good friends. I listened to her and trusted her opinion. I had plenty of friends in the music business during that time and I started a band called Metamorphosis with a friend of mine. I was recording the vocals in a program called Sawplus.

One night I met a guy, Peter Sahlin, in Stockholm who had a band called Plastico and he said that I should send my demo to Håkan Lidbo. I did which led to Håkan calling me. I went to meet him and signed with Container Publishing and Misty Music. Signing with them was a real turning point for me and I started to focus on songwriting on another level. After that, I thought that art will be something that I’d pursue later on in life instead, which I still think I will do.

What were your first ideas you had for this project before you started writing any music?

Usually, the ideas grow and come alive after I receive some music from the producers I’m working with. If I don’t have a track in stock that inspires me, so to say, then I usually work on vocal melody ideas in Logic and send them over to one of them (producers). This project for NRW is a quite dreamy creation. Emotions are my inspiration and sometimes I loop a favourite part of a song (any song that I like) and sing over it just to get the ideas flowing. My topics are formed after the emotion so the feeling is the ruler or the boss, and the idea will kindly have to follow after that 🙂 The ideas for this album were quite a lot about contrasts like tough and soft, warm and cold, serious and playful.

As someone originally from Sweden who now lives in Paris, how would you compare France’s approach to music to Sweden’s approach to music?

Wow! This question is huge and depends on genres etc and could be discussed for hours but I’ll keep it short.

My impression is that in France the respect for the past is huge and music is no exception. The knowledge about artists that were known a long time ago is still kept alive by those who dig deep and take music quite seriously. Of course, this does not go for all and is also accurate in Sweden (respect for the skilled and serious musicians in Sweden) but somehow, I feel that the nostalgia is more apparent here in France – at least this is my impression, build on the people I meet over here. On the other hand, I’ve lived here since 2007 so I might be too disconnected from the Swedish music scene by now. In Sweden, I feel that the business keeps an eye on what’s going on outside in the world inspiration-wise, while in France it sometimes feels like the inspiration stays within the borders, but now I’m generalising so I better stop here to not upset anyone 😉

Your latest album is called Strangers On Film. Who does the title refer to? Who are these Strangers? Why this title?

When I received the instrumental from Douze (Arnault Esteve) I opened it in Logic and started to go with the flow and the mood. I pictured an outdoor club in front of me. There was a big screen playing a movie and there were a lot of people. The view was of someone watching the scene. Imagine a decadent place with music that gets hold of you in a way that it becomes what you feel. Then, further along, I had the idea of that electric connection between two people in the middle of this crowd, the kind that burns your stomach or something. The mood is tense and a bit exaggerated with the lyrics but that’s the mood I was aiming for in a way. I recorded the title track in 20 mins because it just felt right. The strangers are random people with good taste in music and some kind of wild side.

What can you say about the concepts behind this record?

I feel that there’s a lot of gathered emotions in a small place in this record. Gathered in a sense of things that I’m going through at this time in my life.

How did you meet your collaborators for this album?

I know Douze (Arnault Esteve) for many years now as he used to work with Kris Menace and came over with him to my place in Paris. Ever since we really connected and did plenty of tracks. He gave me the idea to do my first album “Knight in Shining Armour” where he wrote about 70 percent of the tracks. So, once I started working on new material, which later led to this release on NRW, it was natural to ask Douze if he had some nice tunes to send over. As always, I received plenty of nice tracks that I could work on. I’m very lucky to have him as a producer, he’s a real talent.

I know Stephane Lozac’h through my publishers in Stockholm and Paris. They connected us as I asked them if they had someone skilled in Paris I could work with when I had moved over here. They introduced me to Stephane and it turned out that he was kind of my neighbour, only living 2 blocks from me. We became good friends and it was only after years of friendship that we actively started to work on tracks together. I am very happy we did so because he’s very professional and skilled. He can tune into what I like and create a track after that.

Johan Emmoth and I go way back. I met him when I was still living in Sweden and I wrote tracks with him and John Andersson from Zoo Brazil and Laid. It was during the time when I was working with Håkan Lidbo, John Dahlbäck, Stonebridge etc. Me and Johan stayed in touch and started the project Mauvais Cliché together and our first release as MC was on Strictly Rhythm, a track called “Stop Watching Me”. Johan is a very close friend of mine. He is always ahead of his time. I think he has one foot in the future and I have yet not figured out why 🙂 He is one of a kind and very talented.

I know Laurent (Lifelike) for more than 12 years now. We have released some tracks together where I believe “Sunset” on the label Vulture is the best-known one, along with “Silicon Love” on Computer Science. As many people might agree, Laurent is basically brilliant but then again I’m quite biased here 😉

What is the main message you want people to take from your music?

What I want is that there are some people who can get something out of listening to my music, and preferably something positive of course, but this is not rocket science, so a good mood will do just fine. There are so many people liking different things out there but for the ones who get affected by similar tunes to me, then I’m happy if I can contribute something like a little natural high or a little dreamy break from reality or such.

Finishing off: can you name one of your favourite albums, movies and books?

I really like the Tears For Fears album called The Hurting. Overall it’s an album that has a lot of richness in the sense of content. With that said I’m not a fan of all tunes on the album but most of them are great, like the track “Start Of The Breakdown”. That is just amazing.

Some of my all time favourite tracks are “Heroes“ by Bowie, for me, this song is beyond brilliant. Prince’s “Purple Rain“ is pure bliss. I love some fabulous tunes by Earth, Wind and Fire. My favourite tune by Depeche Mode is a song called “In Your Room” which reminds me of my art school time in Sweden.

The track called “Isolated” by Trevor Something is amazing and the funny part is that only a month ago I discovered he was signed to NRW, just like me, whereas I’ve been listening to his songs since a while now.

“Love On A Real Train” by Tangerine Dream is everything one can ask for in a song if you ask me. If the song makes you feel and it makes you associate to things and your mind starts to spin, then it’s usually a good song. This tune just does it all time and time again.

The band Cigarettes After Sex are really amazing. They can be on repeat on a rainy day, and it rains a lot in Paris lately.

When it comes to movies I really like Rear Window by Hitchcock. The colours have that kind of shine, just like when the sun shines in your eyes and you need to put your sunglasses on. Then the silence when the camera kind of slides over the courtyard and the apartments, slowly like they never do these days. There is something with the light in this movie, really. There’s an awkward silence that can be heard in this movie. I can’t really put my finger on what it is but it intrigues me.

I like One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest a lot but at the same time, it kind of depresses me to watch it. I really like Jack Nicholson and his acting style.

The Eternal Sunshine Of A Spotless Mind is a beautiful story that got a hold of me.

Regarding books, I’m not really a novel person. I mostly read about psychological theories or human behaviour. Right now I’m reading and listening to podcasts and interviews about the polyvagal theories in neuroscience and psychology and it is really fascinating. There is not only a fight or flight response in our primitive part of our brain once we detect or think we’re in danger, but there’s also a third one that is all about immobilization as a defence mechanism. Anyway, this is what I read about at the moment. 🙂

I also like to read about true stories of people who have gone through a lot, but at the same time, I would not be able to call any of these my favourite books as they tell stories that are very dark. Calling someone’s darkness my favourite just doesn’t feel right.

Our  review of ‘Strangers of Film’ (By Andrew Zistler)

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Can you tell us a bit about your musical background? I read that you started out playing the French Horn.

Yes! I actually started with piano, at a very young age. 5 or 6. I remember being more interested in writing my own stuff than working through my assignments…

I started playing the horn when I was 11 or so. I took to it instantly and had this bizarre drive to become a world-class player, but the competitive energy ultimately burned me out. These days, I consider the instrument more of a magic wand, a place to draw inspiration from. I think you can hear that influence in my music.

Open Door by Sky Civilian

What initially steered you in the direction of electronic/synth music?

Hm! I just really loved the way electronic music made me feel. It’s energetic, playful, powerful but still very refined. I also just love being on a dance floor. The community surrounding electronic music was like a breath of fresh air coming from a classical background.

From what I understand, your initial demos landed you a show, which eventually got you a job creating a multi-media exhibition called the House of Eternal Return. How do you relate your work as the Director of Strategic Initiatives for Meow Wolf to Sky Civilian (Space and sound), if at all?

Meow Wolf has trained me to think about my audience. I want to make music that people actually like, and sometimes that means giving them something predictable, like a simple lyric or melody. But it can’t end there. People crave new experiences, but they can’t be hurled face-first into total abstract chaos. I try to keep this in mind with my music — give people some entry point that they recognize, get them comfortable in some way, and then show them something revelatory.

In the House of Eternal Return our participants enter into a regular ole Victorian house. Everything looks pretty normal until they open the refrigerator and realize its interior is actually a space-time travel agency where they have this hologram-alien-hostess greeting them, asking them where they want to go next. We call it Portals Bermuda. People totally lose it — for some, its life-altering.

This phenomenon is sort of what’s going on in my track If I Had, but you have to listen to the whole thing.

Where and how did you come up with the name Sky Civilian?

This question really gets into the overall concept for Open Door. I named the project Sky Civilian while on a road trip with a dear friend, someone who was more like my big sister. A beautiful but dark time. She was unspeakably ill with stage IV colon cancer. We had been on a healing expedition of sorts, to Denver, Colorado, to see if the legal marijuana there gave her any relief. We were on our way back to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I live.

My friend was chilling in the passenger seat, her sister was driving. I was all fucked up emotionally. Nobody was really verbalizing anything. Feeling out of options, out of time, I kind of laid down in the backseat, and for the entirety of the six-hourdrive home I furiously typed a list of words on my iPhone — ‘Broom. Sweep. Swept. Bunnies. Dust Bunnies! Clouds. Twilight. Dawn. Civil dawn. Sky. Civil Sky. Sky Civilian.’ Tectonic plates were shifting in me. I think I was really coming to terms with my friend’s illness. There was a lot of staring up and out of the window, hence Sky Civilian.

What can you tell us about this debut EP, conceptually?

It’s about friendship, death, and wanderlust. It’s not a work of fiction, it’s entirely autobiographical. I produced and wrote much of it directly in the midst of everything I was experiencing — I didn’t wait to get back in my studio with proper equipment and solitude. Sometimes that meant recording in an airport, a hotel, my car, my bed. Two of the seven tracks I made on the same day as my friend’s funeral.

A lot of it was recorded on my phone or with my laptop microphone. I traded production quality for sincerity, every time. Again, it’s not a work of fiction.

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First, off, what’ve you been jamming lately?

Honestly, I’m a pretty obsessive person. I don’t keep up with new releases, I just listen to the same Spotify Playlists over and over. I can’t even name some of the stuff that I listen to.  Right now I’m into Owlvision, old stuff like Aglory, Swarm, Social Kid, the new Gesaffelstein album… I’ve been listening to the same playlists for a month straight, I need to mix it up. I don’t keep up to date, music-wise. It’s actually pretty time-consuming.  I also have a hard time finding stuff that I really enjoy and connect with.

So who is Sierra, to you? Does it refer to you? the artist? A specific character in your music?

I identify Sierra as a part of me. To me, Sierra is my angry side, my moody side, that part of me that wants to express the stronger parts of my personality, my violent side. When I’m Sierra, I’m in “warrior-mode”. It’s a part of me but I’m not always like that. With this project, I’ve got some pretty violent, heavy sounds but also some calmer passages, so there’s that side to it as well.

How was this project born? This isn’t your first musical project, is it?

I’ve had loads of different projects before this one. At first, I used to play folk music with a guitar, harmonica and a ukulele. I played acoustic music for a couple of years and I played a few live shows with some Loopstations in Barcelona and Paris. I started Sierra a couple of years ago. There was this music contest held by Seat and curated by The Avener where you had to submit a three-minute track. I was selected along with another French artist and I got sent to the finals in Berlin. The event was really awesome and so I basically made the decision to scrap everything, take a few lessons in electronic music production and go all in, down this new path.

Photo by Athys de Galzain

You hadn’t taken any lessons before?

Only a couple, but I was mostly self-taught. I mostly played acoustic music, but I was still using some sequencers to record my stuff and add some synth parts. It was really after this event in Berlin that I decided to go all in. It’s been three years now. I took some lessons for eight months and I’ve been working on Sierra for two solid years.

Where does the name come from?

It comes from a couple of things. The word refers to mountain ranges since I’ve lived in Barcelona for two years and six months in Mexico. Secondly, there’s also the fact that I’ve spent a huge part of my childhood playing video games, like, for instance, Maniac Mansion. Sierra also comes from the game developer of the same name. I used to play TIM (The Incredible Machine) a lot. I used to play a lot of Sierra On-Line games, so the name reminds me of my childhood years.

You’ll be playing the Retro Synth Fury event in a few days. Where do you place yourself, regarding the local “Synth-music” scene?

I’m into it. I’ve attended practically every Retro Synth Fury event. I attended the first edition at the Batofar, a couple of years ago. That’s how I met Absolute Valentine and how I eventually signed to Lazerdiscs Records. After the first RSF, I must’ve made an Instagram post tagging Absolute Valentine, Sung and all the other artists. Absolute Valentine hit me up and asked me for a demo. He must’ve snooped around my Facebook or Soundcloud page. I sent him the demos for Strange Valley and that’s basically how I got signed.

Is that how you got booked for this latest Retro Synth Fury event?

I was actually already in touch with Anthony [The booker for RSF]. We met up a few months ago at a Lazerdiscs event with Shredder 1984 and Introspect and I hit him up, later on, to tell him I had a new EP on the way and to ask him if he’d like to book me for a show.

Speaking of which, let’s talk about this new EP, Gone. I understand both of your current releases revolve around a specific concept. Are both EPs related, concept-wise?

To me, Gone and Strange Valley are totally separate, concept-wise and musically. I’ve had the concept for Strange Valley brewing in my mind for five or six years. I was picturing this Mad Max-like journey through this desert, with weird things happening. I had the title Strange Valley on my mind for years, way before I had any music in mind. So when I started writing my first electronic music tracks, I figured I should use this concept I had. I visualised the concept as a fantasy film. At the time, I was very much influenced by the whole Synthwave scene, the  Blade Runner aesthetic and those sorts of moods. Gone isn’t so much inspired by Synthwave or the retro aesthetic. Gone is actually more about a state of mind than a clear storyline. It’s about anger, revenge. ‘Gone’ deals with being broken, whilst ‘Unbroken’ is about refusing to be broken. ’A Matter of Time’ deals with building yourself back up with time and ‘Leftover’ is about the aftermath, what’s left of what happened, though what exactly happened is not specified. There’s a progression but no clear narrative.

Was there a difference in your writing approach compared to Strange Valley?

I wrote Strange Valley in six months because I was also learning the ropes at the same time. My sounds kept changing and I was learning about EQs, compressors and whatnot. I was learning and so it took me a while to also find what I wanted to do, too. For Gone, I actually hadn’t written any music for several months. I honestly didn’t really know what to write at first and I didn’t know in which direction I wanted to go, until one day I woke up and basically wrote most of the EP in a couple of days. I guess I had something to say, something needed to come out.

What is the starting point for your music? Does it always stem from a conceptual idea?

It’s more about the feeling. I wanted to create something violent. I really like being at a party and hearing that one track that hits you, that makes you want to fight someone *laughs*. I want to bring out these deep emotions. That was my starting point, my inspiration. For ‘Gone’ and ‘Unbroken’, I started with the beat. When you start on the beat before melody, it brings out a punchier side in the music.

Were there any keywords or concepts you wanted to implement, shifting from Strange Valley to Gone?

I wanted the songs to be less ‘busy’. Strange Valley was very track-heavy. I work on Ableton, and I have a tendency to add way too many tracks, which isn’t great when it comes to mixing or playing live. I didn’t consider the live aspect Strange Valley at all: the EP has loads of intros and breaks. On the other hand, I wrote Gone with the live show in mind. I also wanted to add more vocals on the second EP.

Sierra @Stunfest 2019 (Photo by Douglas Alves)

What is your approach to live shows, as opposed to composing?

I try to mix it all up. It’s not always easy, because some people want the music to keep going all throughout. The thing about my music is that it sometimes goes in hard and settles down with a big break before starting back up again. Some people might be into it and others not so much. Some people might want it to hit hard all throughout. I like to tell a story through my music, and so I like to go through different phases in my live show.

When I got to a techno rave, I get pretty tired of only hearing kicks, snares and whatnot. I like having breaks. That’s what I try to implement at my shows.

More of a “concert” gig than a “club” thing.

Yeah, somewhere in between the two, really. It’s not always easy but that’s what I’m trying to do. Then again, these are my first shows, so I might end up changing my mind down the line *laughs*. I don’t know.

What is the best context to listen to Gone?

First off, I’d say it’s more of a nighttime listen. It doesn’t work as well during the day. Having a good sound system always helps *laughs*. When the music has some big snares and kicks, it’s always good to have some decent speakers to listen to it properly. I’d say the best way to listen to it is live. Or at night, on your way back home from a party, around 4 or 5 a.m., when you’ve had a drink and you’re on your way to the Subway. I think it might work well for these moments.

Last question: can you name one of your favourite albums, movies and books?

One of each? It’s hard to pick only one.

Jurassic Park. I’m a huge fan of Jurassic Park. Or 12 Monkeys. That film really left an impression on me when I was little. I’ll go with Jurassic Park though because I have a poster in my room right over my synthesiser.

What did you think of the last few films?

I was actually really happy to see the first one. I don’t mind the fact that they decided to add more sequels. I could’ve been an angry fan and said “What?? They’re making more? Are you mad? Leave it be!” But I’m actually really glad they made more because even if they’re not amazing, I’m really happy to go to the movies to see dinosaurs *laughs*. But yeah, the first Jurassic World wasn’t great, but it was already. I enjoyed the second one though. It wasn’t bad at all. The fact that the first Jurassic World was in an amusement park on an island again was redundant. We get it! Amusement parks don’t work! Stop it! *Laughs*. On the other hand, they went down a new route, and I enjoyed it.

In terms of albums, I’m going to go with the first Gesaffelstein album Aleph. That album left a mark on me. There are a few artists that made me want to make electronic music. There’s also Vitalic with OK Cowboy and The Toxic Avenger with his first album. These are my three go-to albums. I listen to them all the time. When I say I’m an obsessive person I mean that I can keep listening to these albums over and over.

You said earlier that you’ve been listening to the new Gesaffelstein record a lot lately. What’s your perspective on it? It hasn’t been very well received, I must say.

It took some time to digest because when you think of Gesaffelstein your first thought goes to the music from his first album, which was amazing. It was heavy, but it also shifted from heavy to soft, and that’s what I like. I love these versatile artists that manage to keep a consistent feel between softer and heavier sounds. We were expecting him to come back with the super dark sound he’s become known for, so to have him come back with a more “commercial” approach is obviously bound to let people’s expectations down. It took some time to digest. At first, I was also pretty bummed, but I gave it another few listens and found it to be really well done. I don’t enjoy it nearly as much as the first album but there are a couple of tracks that I do really enjoy.

Book-wise, I read very little. I studied literature in High School and I used to read a lot but after that, I just stopped. I got sick of it. With that said, there was a time when I used to read a lot of crime novels, like those by Jean-Christophe Grangé, like Blood Red Rivers… I also read through the first three Millenium books in a couple of days. Those books really left an impression on me.

Special Thanks to Remy and to Sierra.

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Last time we met, you had just launched the first Kickstarter campaign back in 2016. How’ve things been going since then?

Raphaël : We’ve been holding up, but it’s been complicated at each step of the way. We estimated our first Kickstarter campaign goal according to our reach and it was a great success. The film isn’t only being financed by Kickstarter. We’re currently working on a budget that’s around half a million euros. We’ve had to find other sources of financing through our producer at Logical Pictures. It was tricky for them, too, considering that this music-heavy project doesn’t quite fit any standard format and that we didn’t want to compromise on that end. To top it all off, it’s also a costly project to pitch. Before shooting, we had to make sure everything fits within reasonable boundaries to get things started.
We had the resources for about fifteen days of shooting, which was pretty tight for us. We went through a few 1st AC’s (First Assistant Director), because a lot of them didn’t think it was possible. We had to find someone crazy enough to understand what we were after and bear with us. The shooting went well, actually. We found the right people who were on the same page, but it was pretty tough. We had a very tough schedule and we had to constantly come up with solutions and workarounds to fit everything in. We had to cut a few things we managed to shoot what we needed to shoot.
Savitri : We prepared a lot beforehand since it’s a special effects film and we had to know precisely which shots we were going to shoot. Changing an angle or technique adds up a ton of effects in post-production. You can’t really improvise on the set.
R : We used film sets, we filmed outdoors, we shot at night… we went through all of the tricky situations but we got through it with some luck. We dodged a storm!
S : We shot outdoors for three days and it was bad weather on the third day, but it’s true that it could’ve been worse.
R : Coppola used to say that no matter if it rains or snows, you should still shoot. You’ll justify it later. [Laughs]

Last time you explained that this project was characterised by hybridisation of your « garage-film » work such as Kaydara and a more professional workflow. How did you perceive this newfound work organisation?
S : It was indeed a fifty-fifty mix between both worlds. We had a full team on set and everything, it was great. We were able to focus on work as directors and we didn’t have to handle everything as we did on Kaydara. The « garage » aspect came from the fact that we built the sets three months beforehand ourselves. We handle the special effects too, although we do have people helping. We still handle a lot of aspects. There’s an artisanal side t

o our work that makes sure that our film will end up being made, only we sometimes need to do things ourselves. The shooting was great, but there was inertia that we weren’t always able to control. We used to work at our own pace on our garage projects, so we’re not as comfortable working this way. There’s a whole team behind us that cannot work more than nine hours per day.
R : We had a lot of different crew members come into work for a few days before passing things over to the next team. We weren’t able to keep the same crew for the whole duration with the budget we had, let alone pay for overtime. We had to respect their personal lives.
S : We had to make the most out of what we had, which made things intense. Being a director basically consists in explaining what you’re after. The same goes for special effects. Our inertia is different. It takes more time to get what we’re after. It’s great to have people lend a hand but it’s also complicated, you struggle to get what you’re after. When we were in our garage and no one cared, we were free to do whatever we wanted. We had the space to go through with everything, there were no limits.
R : Working on such an ambitious p

roject forces us to compromise on quite a few things we would have never done in our garage. With that being said, making a film that didn’t look like one of ours was completely out of the question. It’s a struggle to keep the balance. We’re very attached to our artistic integrity and we’re not making this film for money so that that’s all we have. This film isn’t going to make us rich [Laughs].
S : Our job as directors is to focus on explaining our vision so as to translate our world into images. This is a hugely ambitious project that would have taken us an extra two or three years to finish, had we done it in our garage.
R : Roughly the same time it took for Kaydara, basically [Laughs].

Would you call this ‘Do-it-yourself’ approach a passion or rather a necessity? Would you still keep this same approach for a multi-million dollar film project?

R : Not like this. We’ve suffered too much on this project, quite frankly. It’s about finding the right balance, which we didn’t have on this one. I don’t know what we were smoking when we wrote the story! [Laughs]
S : It’s mostly due to the fact that we come from the « garage » world, where everything is possible. There’s no money but all you need is time. Everything is possible to us, really, but when it comes to creating an economically viable product that needs to fit within a certain budget, it’s a whole other story. Our production company still backed us, nonetheless. When you see how much such a project costs, it simply doesn’t make sense to make a film like this, considering that it’s not going to make any money.
R : It’s our gift to humanity! [Laughs] I’d hate to sign for a 200 million dollar movie where I don’t have my creative liberty. Actually, maybe not, I’d probably think about it if I were offered the opportunity … [Laughs]. Nevertheless, the genre films from the Seventies and Eighties that I loved had an artistic identity to them. It’s all about balance. Making a film with such a tight budget compared to its level of ambition is extremely hard to pull off. You basically destroy your social life. You can easily do some things better with a bit more money. There’s no use in having a disproportionate amount of funs, only enough to get things done properly. We’re a lot more lucid now when it comes to what we need to make our films.
S : There are no miracles. A bigger budget means less freedom, as producers want to take fewer risks. Even big directors have to face this. We’ve got some freedom, but a tighter budget also comes with a certain number of other constraints. Making a movie necessarily means making compromises. It’s impossible to make the exact movie you had in mind, and you have to accept it.
R : Bear in mind that we’re making a fifty-minute movie with roughly half a million euros, which is nothing compared to what we’re doing from a technical standpoint. Our first estimates from special effects companies had us looking at half a million euros for half the film, with all technical specs stripped to a bare minimum. We’d have needed twice the budget and we wouldn’t have had the results we were after either. I don’t even think it would have even worked out.
S : People who’re great at what they do don’t work for cheap.

The movie has gone from a thirty-minute format to fifty minutes. Which aspects did you choose to develop with this extra runtime?

R : The movie hasn’t necessarily been developed, plot-wise. It’s just that the movie is very visual and the cinematography is very stylised, so everything took an entirely different aspect than initially planned when it came to actually piece things together.
S : We storyboarded the whole film with a thirty-minute 3D animatic, but it was impossible to tell exactly how long everything was going to last. Once you’re on set, everything finds its own dynamic and its own pace.
R: Our style is a little more old-fashioned, with a more contemplative pace, so things lasted quite a lot longer. Each small addition ended up accumulating, which led us to this fifty-minute edit. We didn’t shoot anything more, it just naturally evolved that way.

How’s the collaboration going with Carpenter Brut? Is the Soundtrack finished yet?

R: Almost! It was a new experience for both of us. He had already done stuff for other directors but never a proper score. He’s said himself that he’s more of a song composer. It was a special learning experience and we had to find our marks as well. I think he found himself a little bit constrained on certain aspects. It wasn’t easy, but I think we’ve reached a cool balance. I don’t think he would’ve written this score on his own, it’s something different. We pushed each other outside of our comfort zones, and the result is a fairly hybrid piece that you don’t really come across in movies nowadays anymore.

So the film was scored with the images in mind?

R: Yes, which made things pretty tricky. You can’t really understand much from simply watching the first edit.
S: The actors are interacting without anything around or in front of green screens. It can be tough to understand what’s going on. It’s easy for us because we know animatic by heart. It was also tough to write the music while the film is being made, as changes required adjustments on both ends.
R: He would sometimes send us a first demo and we’d explain what the scene would look like to help him make edits and adjust the tracks. It shaped up bit by bit in that way.

Did you adapt the edit to the rhythm of the music?

R: It’s really a language. It’s really complicated to make any changes because of the special effects. You need to be precise, which is a constraint. On his end, changing something in the music can also come with a certain number of constraints. That’s the tricky part when it comes to creating both the film and the score simultaneously. Sometimes he’s changed things, sometimes we’ve adapted.

How did this DIY approach of yours come about? Was there any particular work that inspired you?

R: We never really purposely drew inspiration from anyone when it comes to our way of making films. We simply wanted to tell stories and do what we wanted, so we learned everything and progressed for that purpose. Savitri made a lot of models, which came in handy for our Sci-Fi films. He then developed his skills in 3D animation because we needed it. We make things because that’s what we want to do, really. If we were given the means to not have to handle certain aspects of production, we’d simply keep an eye as art directors. We want to keep and respect our artistic vision. There are too many constraints in doing everything ourselves. It’s a waste of time.
S: We just don’t have a choice. We want to make films with the means that we have.
R: It’s fun to make models and the artisanal side is always interesting, nonetheless. Films suffer when there aren’t enough practical effects and too much green screen. We chose to shoot with an old Panavision lens with heavy optical aberrations because that’s the image we like in Eighties films. It’s awesome but it causes a lot of problems. The image isn’t all smooth but that’s what gives it character, though does make things complicated in terms of special effects.
S: The artisanal aspect is awesome. It’s great to be able to do everything from start to finish, but I’d gladly take the opportunity to simply focus on the artistic side of things while others work on rendering the visual effects and building sets and props. We’ve done enough. It would also harness better results. We handle everything because we don’t have a choice, and this approach has its limits. It’s great, but I can’t wait to simply work on the artistic side. We gained another level in order to go further, as we have with each film. What we want is to focus on our vision, not necessarily craft it with our own hands.
R:  Having done all of this will also help us in leading our teams.
S: … and understand the process better. Bad special effects aren’t necessarily the fault of the designer. It’s also part of the director’s vision. If a visual effect doesn’t work, it’s also his fault.
R: There are films with huge budgets with botched special effects. Money isn’t the issue. The issue is with artistic vision and choices.
S: Having the means to your ambitions is also a talent, it’s part of the game, too.

Was it hard to share your workload with a team?

S: It was complicated.
R: We don’t trust people! [Laughs].
S: People can’t read your mind, so they sometimes do the opposite of what you want [Laughs]. Redirecting people requires time and the skills to lead people in the right direction. Other times you just don’t have the resources to keep someone long enough to finish the work they started.
R: That’s what our weekends are for. We enhance and adjust certain things.
S: There’s also a certain balance between what we do and the teamwork. Everything blends together into something coherent nonetheless.
R: Savitri goes over everything during the colour grading process, for instance.
S: We’re working day and night for free because we want to and because it’s our film.
R: We also have obligations towards our backers. We need to deliver something and we can’t simply spend six years in our garage.
S: We also want something substantial, too. We don’t want to lower our standards. We’re working hard on maintaining them, even though it’s completely absurd to spend so much time on a film that’s not going to earn us anything. It’s already great that we’re able to do this, though. It’s impossible to make films like these in France. We didn’t get a single French grant as of yet.

When do you think the film will be finished?

R: We’re sure that we’ll finish it this year. Our Kickstarter campaign will help pay for a few more VFX artists to help us optimize certain things.
S: The film will be done this autumn but we don’t know yet when exactly it will be released.

Any closing words?

S: Thank you to everyone who supported us on this adventure and to all of those that have yet to support us! [Laugh]

Interview conducted and translated by Robin Ono
A huge thank you goes out to Alexis and Seth Ickerman for making this interview possible.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity and join the adventure. Visit Blood Machines’ Kickstarter page to learn more!

Seth Ickerman

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First off, can you tell us a little bit about your musical background?
I went to a music school when I was a kid. I played the violin and piano but I hated it [Laughs]. I was avoiding the lessons and I didn’t listen to my teachers. When I finished with the music school, I was in seventh grade and I felt so free and turned the page on it. I was done playing and thinking about music. It was towards the end of school that I eventually started thinking about music again. When I was studying political science at university I felt the urge to sing, so I started writing songs. I also had some requirements for myself: I wanted to create songs that could sound like ancient Lithuanian songs, so I started learning how to do this. I made a lot of … shit things [Laughs], but they were my first steps. Later on, I met up with my old friends and we started a rock band which lasted seven years. We had a great time and we played a lot of gigs, and the experience of playing in a band gave me the basic background on how to feel the stage, how to prepare myself, how to perform live and how to create songs that “flow”.

Did you have any formal training as a singer?
No, I’ve always been self-taught. I was so eager to sing by the end of High School, yet everyone at my University would tell me that I was a terrible singer. I was too loud and off-pitch. The band allowed me to find myself and develop my own sound. That was the start of my musical journey.

Your vocals sound more “classical” that “rock” oriented. Did you have any particular role models or references whilst learning how to sing?
I think my biggest influence as a singer was Amy Lee from Evanescence. She was my idol. I’ve also always been in love with Broadway Musical songs. There’s also Lisa Gerrard. I discovered her through the Gladiator movie soundtrack and then through her Dead Can Dance project. She definitely helped a lot in shaping my vocals.

Photo by Eimantas Žeimys

You also mentioned that you wanted your music to draw influence from ancient Lithuanian music. Did you grow up listening to Lithuanian folk songs or is this a more recent interest of yours?
We have a very strong ethnic background in Lithuania. I’m not even sure we even realize how strong those roots are. We have a very colourful music background ranging across many different styles. Everyone, whether young or old, is very much aware of these different pieces of music. We’ve preserved this traditional background. My idea was to mix these musical traditions with modern technology and more modern sounds to create something different, something new. You can’t just disregard your roots. You can travel, you can move somewhere else and learn another language, but your roots will always be with you. You can’t change your core, but today you’re able to change your appearance. You can become anybody. You can change your face. If you lose a hand or a leg, you can get a biomechanical replacement limb. The biggest meaning always lies in your consciousness. I don’t think you change that. That is why it was important for me to acknowledge this background. In my performances, I sometimes sing some old traditional songs in their original form, other times I reinterpret them in my own way.

How did you eventually get into Synthesizers?
That happened three years ago. Everything related to composition, mixing and mastering with a DAW is totally new for me. Three years ago, my son was born and it changed me a lot. We stopped playing as a band because everyone was starting a family and we just couldn’t find the time to rehearse and play. I couldn’t just take a break, though, so I thought about starting my own project. So I started composing from scratch. I had a free Cubase trial with only a couple of tools, and a pair of headphones that was only working on one side of the Stereo. I was basically listening and composing with one ear. [Laughs] Eventually, I started talking with a friend of mine who owns a professional studio and I told him that I wanted to make music inspired by Eighties movies. My friend told me that I didn’t need to buy all of the synthesizers, I just needed to get the Arturia Analog Lab. So I gave it a try and I’m still working with it to this day.

Can you give us English listeners a few insights as to what your lyrics are about?
The album is about the meeting of two worlds. On one hand, there is the “Ancient”, the “Soul” world and the “technological” world. One day, I was reading some posts on Instagram about the Cyberpunk world and the robotic world and I thought to myself “If I were to come into this dystopian world where there’s no foreseeable bright future and no way to distinguish technology from human consciousness, what would I be thinking? What would I know? Would I remember the name of my land or the name of its ancient melodies?”. This album my way to reflect on these questions. I had this vision of this Cyberpunk woman lying on the ground with a light shining from her neck, as you see on the cover. You can’t say if she’s sleeping or if she’s dead. I was able to find this great British Artist Noel Guard to paint the scene and he made this amazing cover art that perfectly encapsulates what the album is about.

Do you see harmony or conflict between Nature and Technology?
I think that conflict is everywhere. Wherever two opposites meet, there will always be conflict, but I’m always positive about finding a way through these conflicts. I’ve always been met with closed doors in life. It’s never been as simple as “Yes, we can do this! Go ahead! We’ll support you!”. I only get no’s, but I’ve realized that just because these people aren’t with me doesn’t mean that they are against me. They’re just not with me. It’s the same in this case. It may seem as though these two opposite elements are in conflict, but it doesn’t mean that they cannot coexist alongside one another.

The Cyberpunk aesthetic usually portrays technology through a dystopian lens. The outlook is usually pretty bleak and pessimistic.
You’re right, and I agree with that. We can see all around us that this is the case. We develop new technology and we’re moving forward without even reflecting on their impact. It’s true that people are selfish and mostly think on the short-term, but I think that if you’re true to yourself you can find the way. We mustn’t give up. I think that some cyberpunk fans want to give up though! [Laugh] It’s such a beautiful aesthetic; the neon lights, the flying cars… They want it to turn out that way. I think this wave of Eighties fashion came because we’re standing on the edge of human knowledge. Twenty or thirty years ago, people didn’t know as much as we do now. We know a lot, and that’s why we like to turn back and remember a more “innocent” time. Everyone says that the girls looked better back then, and it’s because they looked more natural. I also think that everyone tends to look back and say that things were better before. [Laughs]

So what is the meaning of the Number 8? The album is titled 8 Vol.1. Does that mean there is a second volume awaiting release?
Yes, I was actually working on Vol. 2 this morning. I have a lot of songs, but I’m doing everything by myself, from start to finish, so it’s not easy. I live in a small city and there aren’t too many venues for artists or much of a “scene”. If you want to create art, you need to rely on yourself as much as you can, so it takes a lot of time for me to release new music. We’ll see what will happen. Regarding the title 8, I’m not sure why I picked the title [Laugh]. I’m a visionary person, and the eight symbol just appeared to me. I think 8 is a symbol for immortality. You can say that the positive scenario we were discussing earlier lies in the immortality of the spirit. I believe that death is not the end. Your body dies, but your energy lives on and finds new life to inhabit, whether it be in the universe or in a new body. A body is basically a vessel for this energy that is life. It’s a cycle. The energy comes and goes. The immortality of the energy can be the key to this positive scenario. The 8 symbolizes this undying energy. Machines can be turned off, but the soul can never be turned off.

Do you think there will come a point where this energy will be able to be hosted by technology, like in Ghost in the Shell?
With nature’s creations, the whole body starts out with a single cell. Nature is creating the body and hosting this energy. The body is alive but without conscience. It takes conscience from the universe.  All cells in the body have a memory and fulfil their functions. It means that all of this memory is in the energy. The machine taking this energy will also take this consciousness. It will allow it to think and memorize.

It seems like dance and movement plays an important role in your performances. Do you have a background in contemporary dancing?
Again, I was self-taught. I don’t like coming on stage and standing still in front of a microphone stand. I like to express my ideas in a lot of different ways. I started performing last year and for my first show, I asked a contemporary dancer to come onstage with me. I wanted to see how he would interpret my music through dance and he did great. It gave me a totally different outlook on things. I understood that I can’t just stand and sing. There needs to be some dancing, there needs to be movement. People were surprised by the show, and I wonder at which point we lost the physical movement that goes into performing. Somebody wrote to me on Instagram saying “Thank you for bringing back motion onstage!”.
Nowadays, I’m trying to interpret different aspects of the performance. From the very first note down to the last second of the show, everything links together into one whole performance. I interact with the crowd if the audience is small, but if the crowd is too big I try and stitch the songs together as one piece, as one single performance. Movement plays a big part in that.

Do you follow some examples or references?
I do watch videos of other dancers. One of my idols is Sevdaliza. She’s really great. She creates electronic music and has an incredible voice and dances all throughout her shows. It’s incredible to see this kind of thing live. The motion really adds to the experience. I need to learn a lot and I know that every time I step onstage, I do something different and I’m constantly learning.

Most of us know very little about the music of Lithuania. Is there a “scene” for Synthwave or / Synth music?
The Eighties trend is everywhere, really, and Lithuania is no exception. Some rock artists are switching over to Electro-pop, and even in my small city, we have some Electro-pop and Synthpop composers. Lithuania is too small though and our music scene isn’t so good. We have venues in Vilnius for any genre but you have to live there to take advantage of them. If you live in a smaller town, those venues will not invite you because they won’t have the money nor the interest to bring you over. It’s always a struggle. That’s how it is.

Photo by Eimantas Žeimys

Do you plan on doing some tours abroad?
I was in Switzerland a month ago, actually. I hope I’ll be able to play in more countries in Europe. I want to come to France. I have a lot of supporters there that ask me to come. I also want to go back to Switzerland. I definitely want to play in London. Before being able to play these places I needed to release this album and I need to show my performance in video format so that people can see how I perform. We’ll see how it goes, but I hope I’ll be able to tour Europe soon.

Closing off: can you name one of your favourite albums, movies and books?
There are a lot of movies that I love, like Inception, Interstellar, Alien, The Andromeda Strain, the original Star Trek TV series… But I’ll have to go with the first Terminator film. Everything is in the concept. It was a pioneering film with its concept revolving around cyborgs and time-travel. The film also proved that the hero can be a totally simple person. In the second film, she becomes a much more complicated character. It shows the nature of the human being. It doesn’t show the perfect story that we like to see these days.
I have two favourite albums. The first one is Def Leppard’s Hysteria and the second one is Slor by Eivor. She’s a great singer that mixes ethnic tribal sounds with electrical sounds.
The book I’ll name is Women Who Run with Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés. It’s a book about Women and Human psychology. It talks about Archetypes that I use in my songs, but that’s a whole different story. We’ll be here another hour if I get into it [Laugh].
The second book is Vytaute Zilinskaite’s  The Robot and the butterfly. It’s about a robot who is visited every day by a butterfly, who tells him about this thing called “feelings”. The robot doesn’t understand what it means to “feel” until, one day, the butterfly disappears. The robot then understands what it means to feel because he misses the butterfly. This book is my childhood and I still have it in my studio.

Be sure to check out Synthgirl I-rena on social media for her latest updates:
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Maethelvin

As promised, Valerie’s Maethelvin delivered an entirely reworked sound, pushing past his all-too-mimicked compositions and delivering an Italo-laced dance mix that took the room by storm. Grimlin’s following set provided a pretty sharp turn towards darksynth’s heaviest sounds, whereas Reno kept the sonic aggression going with slick, dark techno tracks with thumping industrial beats and a good dose of bestial energy. We’ll be keeping an eye on these young talents, and so should you.

Grimlin

Reno

Night number two got off to a great start, as Parisian fans flocked to the Petit Bain, queueing at the doors to catch NINA’s French live debut, who proved to be a tough act to follow. The mood was set and the energy soared to the sounds of smooth, catchy Synthwave pop ballads, each one catchier than the next. Opening shows are notoriously challenging, but Nina and her partner Laura got the ball running at high speed from the get-go. Fortunately, it appeared that every subsequent act on the bill was well prepared, each one awaiting their cue to keep the pace up in this crazy marathon.

NINA

Laura (NINA)

Morgan Willis followed things up with a brand new set unveiling his brand new record The Jenkins House, mixing his fresh dancefloor bangers with some old classics from Supernova and even a cut from Miami Calling.

Morgan Willis

The masked, vocoder-powered space-jockey Starcadian took over the dancefloor, starting with the whimsical, awe-inspiring ‘Interspace’, leading into an increasingly heavy hitting set full unexpected of twists and turns. It takes a bold, wicked mind to mix Ronnie James Dio’s ‘Holy Diver’ vocal tracks, but it takes a genius to turn the heavy metal classic into a James Brown funk banger. It’s only blasphemy until you realize it actually works.

Starcadian

Sung took over the night with some solid retrowave tracks that got the venue floors trembling from the ecstatic fans, followed by an equally hard-hitting set of syncopated low-end bassline attacks by Christine.

Sung

Yx

Finally, Yx from Paris laid down the last fix of nocturnal vibes of the night with his first ever live show. Nervous but focused, the young artist had a lot to live up to but proved his case to a slightly tired but no less supportive audience.
Last but not least, it would be a crime to omit the tireless efforts of Anthony, whose DJ sets kept the energy going between each and every set throughout both days.

Anthony

With just over 13 hours of live shows and DJ Sets, this Retro Synth Fury Festival left little room for disappointment and a whole lot of expectations in the minds of every attendee who embarked on this journey alongside us.
We certainly can’t wait to see what the next edition will have in store for us.

Special Thanks to Anthony, the staff at Supersonic, Le Petit Bain and all of the artists.
All photos by Robin Ono.