THIS IS NOT ART - Thursday 30th September

THIS IS NOT ART: Thursday / 8bitpeoples Chiptune Showcase:-

This Is Not Art is an annual Newcastle arts festival umbrella, encapsulating five separate festivals in National Young Writers Festival, Sound Summit, Electrofringe, Crack Theatre Festival and Critical Animals. This year, I’ve been lucky enough to be able to attend and for the next half-week, N&W&T&S is transforming into a cult(ural) journal surmising each day and night. (Disclaimer: One of the co-directors of NYWF paid for me to come up out of her own pocket, after losing my zine in Launceston/wanting more Tasmanians to attend the festival.)

After a plane to Sydney and a train to Newcastle, I found my way to Staple Manor for the National Young Writers Festival Artist Meet and Greet, which involved (attempting) to meet and greet some creative folk. Surprise surprise! Staple Manor, a central hideout for NYWF activities, was both spacious and welcoming with literary quips claiming the wall space. Greeted and meeted, I then found my way to Tent City (taking a short/longcut through a more suburban area), setting up camp and setting off again to the Gentlemen’s Leagues Club for the Electrofringe-aligned 8bitpeoples Showcase.

8bitpeoples is a chiptune netlabel which organises an annual chip-extravaganza in the Blip Festival, with the first festival having been filmed for the documentary Reformat the Planet. For the uninitiated, chiptune is a style of electronic music created from modified [early] video game consoles, like Nintendo Game Boys and other systems; or otherwise attempts to emulate the sounds and tones of these video gaming antiques. This showcase event pitched some of Australia's finest chiptune artists alongside two founders of the 8bitpeoples label, plus a UK duo who have been released under the 8bitpeoples label.

Kicking off with Brisbane artist Dot.AY (Alex Yabsley), the night was an energetic affair but lacked in crowd numbers. Dot.AY played with a Game Boy and mixers/laptops, swinging between ‘classic’ techno chip music and darker vocal numbers - and while I enjoyed these latter songs, I’m not sure if Yabsley’s vocals/lyrics are quite fitting. He broke out a Guitar Hero Wiitar for some physical activity in the lsat few numbers, manipulating his songs in a similar fashion to Zeal. Melbourne’s Derris-Kharlan took it up a notch with a real electric guitar, playing along to his laptop backing. Chiprock, really. It felt like playing the arcade shooter Lords of Thunder all over again, with its amazing 90’s-butt-rock sound tracking blasting away.

10,000 Freemen and Their Families was easily a highlight of the night. Over the top of his short/sharp/loud Game Boy songs, Tom Gilmore shouted into his microphone. It was the most intense and exciting chiptune performance I have ever experienced, but not just because of the pure volume. Gilmore is more than just a musician, he’s a damn good performer, handling the stage far better than most artists ever could hope to. Equally though, he’s unexpectedly funny, extending from his natural charisma and on-stage antics, which for this show included performing at the top of a PA stack, dousing himself in beer, and inviting a crowd member to rap over his music. Yep, all was good in the world.

Victorian C-trix made himself known with more excellent Game Boy tunes, excelling in creating a diverse setlist of both optimistic and edgier electronic music. Popular New York artist Bit.Shifter followed up with his immaculately planned techno-pop, mixing between two Game Boys to create a perfectly flowing, non-stop dance party. The technicality of his compositions felt more clinical and perhaps almost mechanical (‘that’s the joke‘) in song writing - it was almost as if you could predict the movement of each track. Fellow 8bitperson Nullsleep flipped the switch on the poptimism, and wound out his signature dark chiptune instead. Hard hitting, fast, and just slightly evil GB beats, it made for a great example as to the breadth of instrumental (and traditional) chip music. Saying that, I thought he overused the start/stop/start breaks technique to edge on the small audience to dance.

Finishing off the night was Henry Homesweet, a British duo who subverted the low-bit Game Boy norm and instead wielded two Game Boy Advance consoles. The choice of instrument was almost indicative of the desired style, which in this case was upbeat, light and high-pitched pop music. It could have almost sat next to any other club music in a DJ set and not have particularly stood out as ‘chiptune’ track - rather, minimal electronic dance songs. I purchased a few CDs and a DVD from the event, which outside of a slightly disappointing turnout, was an enthusiastic and enjoyable commemoration of chiptune in Australia.

Finding my way back to Tent City, that was the end of the night/early morning. All the chiptune performers were extremely friendly and welcoming, dispelling the notion that elitism and clique could be part of this scene; elitism and clique being two elements that can constrict niche music scenes from ever growing or expanding.


&c

(Images added.)