How Taylor Davis’ Violin Is Capturing The Gaming World

“The true mission of the violin is to imitate the accents of the human voice, a noble mission that has earned for the violin the glory of being called the king of instruments”  -  Charles-Auguste de Beriot

There are some who believe that the violin is the most difficult instrument to play; move your finger a centimeter off the mark and you’re playing an entirely different note. Bend your elbow too much (or not enough) and the bow will slide off the strings and give nails on a chalkboard a run for its money.

But it’s more than the degree of difficulty that draws people to the violin: the violin continues to be a literal bridge between music and so many art forms that inspire our decisions and provide us an escape.

In the video game community, the violin has added longevity and helped us to re-imagine our favorite gaming moments. Taylor Davis (YouTube: ViolinTay) has channeled her passion and love for video games into the violin, to the tune of 23 million views and 160,000 subscribers.

I found out in our my INTERVIEW with Taylor that she started playing the violin in elementary school and assumed it would just be something to keep in her life as an escape or hobby as she pursued a possible business career. But the ability to connect video games with the violin has allowed her to become a full-time musician, a person who doesn’t always need a controller to enjoy gaming.

Naturally I had a number of questions to ask her — here’s our EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Taylor Davis: Continue reading “How Taylor Davis’ Violin Is Capturing The Gaming World” »

“Pac Man Fever” Creators Have Created a Video Game Bonus: You Get To Start a Food Fight

The last time we featured Buckner and Garcia was in the Jace Hall Show’s rendition of “Pac Man Fever” Pac Man redux. For those of you who aren’t privy, the song “Pac Man Fever” set a precedent for video game inspired music, becoming the first song inspired by a video game to crack the Billboard top 10, in 1982. The Buckner & Garcia band was also the group behind the title song for Disney’s “Wreck-it-Ralph.”

Fast forward to today, where Jerry Buckner and the team over at Caffeinated Games have created “Cafeteria Food Riot”, a fun game you can take anywhere that puts you right in the middle of a food fight. Jerry Buckner told us: Continue reading ““Pac Man Fever” Creators Have Created a Video Game Bonus: You Get To Start a Food Fight” »

How Classic Video Games Helped One of the World’s Biggest Metal Bands, POWERGLOVE, Make It To The Top

Follow @jeffnau
Boston’s Powerglove is an exception to the rule that “instrumental bands can’t be successful”– with albums like Total Pwnage, Metal Kombat, and Saturday Morning Apocalypse, the boys have managed to take instrumentals and make them relevant again. How? By  making tracks like “Dr. Wily’s Theme” from Mega Man 2 into full-fledged sonic assaults, or turning music from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 into a swell little metal ditty  called “So Sexy Robotnik.”

For Powerglove, sexy and video game music go hand in hand. We sat down with bass guitarist Nick Avila to talk about video game music and the band’s plans for the future.

Nick Avila (Powerglove): The four of us had been been in a melodic death metal band together in 2002 and in 2004 Powerglove was started as a side project. We just ended up having more fun with Powerglove than we were having with our old band. Continue reading “How Classic Video Games Helped One of the World’s Biggest Metal Bands, POWERGLOVE, Make It To The Top” »

Exclusive: Tomb Raider, Dead Space Composer Jason Graves Explains The Secrets To a Great Gaming Soundtrack

Follow @jeffnau
In the world of video game composing, fewer are more revered and beloved than Jason Graves, he of both Blazing Angels 2 and Star Trek: Legacy soundtrack fame. The guy paid his dues studying under such legends as Elmer Bernstein and Jerry Goldsmith before hitting the big time with his score for the Dead Space franchise.

Most recently, it’s Graves’ Tomb Raider score that’s earning him accolades both amongst professionals fans alike, particularly for his complete re-imagining of the theme (as well as his diverse musical talents in composing it). Continue reading “Exclusive: Tomb Raider, Dead Space Composer Jason Graves Explains The Secrets To a Great Gaming Soundtrack” »

EXCLUSIVE: Talking Call of Duty, Violence, and Video Games With SIX FEET UNDER / CANNIBAL CORPSE Frontman Chris Barnes

Follow @jeffnau
There’s no one out there we’d rather talk to about the carnage of Call of Duty (and guns, and video games in general) than Chris Barnes — lead vocalist for Six Feet Under, and former singer for one of the most revered/infamous American metal bands of all time, Cannibal Corpse.

It’s his music that’s consistently made the hit lists of everyone from Bob Dole to the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Council), much in the same fashion games like Call of Duty are still a favorite target for so many politicians and news outlets in this post-Columbine/post-Newtown world. Barnes goes back a long way with gaming, and this past week we got a chance to talk with him about a few things — particularly the media attack on music and games that’s still in fashion after so many years.

JHS: You’re a huge Call of Duty guy…any other first person shooters you’re feeling as of late?

Just Black Ops. I’m not really into Modern Warfare or anything —  Black Ops is pretty much all I play. It’s been consuming my life for the past year or so, pretty much (laughs). Continue reading “EXCLUSIVE: Talking Call of Duty, Violence, and Video Games With SIX FEET UNDER / CANNIBAL CORPSE Frontman Chris Barnes” »

Making The Label: Exclusive Interview with ALLEGAEON, Metal’s Nerdiest (and Hardest-Working) New Band

Follow @jeffnau
One might think being signed to the world’s biggest metal label is pretty much a straight ticket to greatness. Yet ask Denver, Colorado quintet Allegaeon (pronounced ‘ahleejun’) and you’ll find a band that’s had to work their asses off to get where they are. Combine the faithful tour stereotypes  –  a rigorous, back-breaking tour schedule, complete with broken-down tour van and the occasional bitter crowd –  with an incessant attempt to push technical/genre limits (8-string guitars, songs about science, mechs, and anthropology, crazy time signatures), and you’re only getting half of the equation.

We sat down with one the guitarists, Greg Burgess, to shed light on what it’s like being on one of the genre’s rising stars.

JHS: First off: I know a few of you guys are fairly active gamers. What have you  been playing lately?

Greg Burgess: The whole Gears of War franchise still blows me away, I’m still playing those quite often. Assassin’s Creed series is pretty awesome, starting on that now. I know Ez (Ezra, singer) has been playing FarCry 3. Continue reading “Making The Label: Exclusive Interview with ALLEGAEON, Metal’s Nerdiest (and Hardest-Working) New Band” »

Atlanta’s ‘Party Friendly Rap Group’, Mighty High Coup, Tells Us How To Mix Booty With Bass

Follow @jeffnau
Atlanta’s self-proclaimed ‘party-friendly rap group’, Mighty High Coup has been experiencing something of a boon this past year. In 2010, their breakthrough song ’808 Track’, done with famed electronic musician Bassnectar, garnered over a million views on YouTube, — and most recently, their duet with Caspa broke through the Top 50 on the Dubstep charts.

And a lot like Bassnectar, MHC has made it their mission to make their live shows more than just a purely musical event. Featuring lots of great asses Boom Girls, ‘circus-esque’ shows and live interactive art performances by celebrated artists like King Gorilla, the MHC has worked to make their shows a fully interactive event. We recently sat down with the group at the Jace Hall offices to discuss collaborations, choosing booty, and plans for the future. Continue reading “Atlanta’s ‘Party Friendly Rap Group’, Mighty High Coup, Tells Us How To Mix Booty With Bass” »

Broken Pixels Drops ‘HALO 4′ Music Video (John 1:17)

Follow @jeffnau

The nerdcore hip-hop act Broken Pixels made a name for themselves much the same way a lot of other nerdcore acts did: lots of hard work, countless hours slaving editing video, and perhaps most importantly, some seriously witty repartee.

Their newest video, “Halo 4 (John 1:17)”, is a tribute to Master Chief’s ongoing battle against the Covenant, with a special focus on the franchise’s storied mythology.

The song is actually the full history of Master Chief from the first game (Halo: Combat Evolved) through the books and up to the events before Halo 4 when Master Chief tries to escape in the ship “Forward Unto Dawn.”