Power Player #26: PANDAstar

How did you first start getting into chiptune?

Funny story! I actually just fell upon it. I’ve always loved chipmusic ever since I laid paws onto a Gameboy. I just wasn’t aware of what it was really called. In ’08, I was really into finding electronic bands through Myspace. I stumbled upon “nintendocore” and with some more searching of Top Friends and such, I found Shirobon. Shirobon led me to Henry Homesweet, Sabrepulse, The Swashbuckling Swantoon, and Peppermint Pony. After being a heavy listener for a few months, I wanted to know how they made their music. That led me to the forums of 8bit Collective.

Do you write other music or been in bands?

Before chiptune, I was an on and off composer of Orchestral music. The violin has been a huge passion of mine for 12 years now, and every now and then, I write some material on my violin. I have been starting another music project under the name “SP33D” or “SPthreethreeD”. Only demos are up at the moment. That music project will be more chillwave/dark ambient (Silent Hill-ish) music.

Who do you admire in the chipmusic scene and why?

This is a tie for me. I really admire Shirobon for his eccentric attitude, and just making music that makes him happy. Also him being my “coming out” to the chiptune scene. But I also really admire Kloudygirl. She’s been a good buddy of mine for about a year now. I admire her strength and desire to create based on whatever she feels, and not based on what others want. And she tends to have such a positive attitude even in the worst of times. She’s done everything she can in order to help local chip musicians get their chance to shine. No matter what’s going on in her life, she puts those people before herself. That’s the kind of role model I’d like to be for people just starting into this genre. She really is like the bigger sister in my eyes that I never had!

Give us one of your favourite LSDJ tips.

Man, do I love commands! Favorites being V, P, L, and C. I’m not very complex with what I do. If you’ve ever seen my LSDJ Tutorial on Youtube, I’m very simple. The most basic tip is don’t be afraid to combine commands even if it sounds ugly. Just a slight tweaking, and you can create something amazing! I have no idea what I’m doing half the time when I make music! Haha! I just mess around with notes till it sounds awesome.

Ever had a Wisconsin Death Trip?

HAHA! OH GAWD! Not as intense as that! Yeah I’ve had my fair share of unexplained ghost-like events, but never mass suicides or murders

I hear you’re into Pokemon. If you were Ditto what would you turn into?

YES! And hands down, I’d be an Espeon! Make that a shiny one! Because green is my favorite color! haha!

What do you want to see more of in the chipmusic scene?

I’m slowly starting to see what I want to see in the chipmusic scene. As a community, I want all musicians to come together and share ideas. I love the idea of all of us being family. I come from a broken family, and some of the people in my life I consider brothers and sisters are all chiptune musicians! I noticed on 8BC that there was a lot of hate, and I find it ridiculous that we all must compare when chipmusic itself is the most basic sounds of electronic music. Everything will sound like everything eventually. That’s a fact of every genre of music. So why not come together and learn styles, techniques, and just have a great time doing what you love? That’s why I’m glad to be part of Noichan. We are all a family, and the fun we have together makes getting into this genre all worth while.

You released a split with Kloudygirl. How did that come about?

Ahh! Kloudygirl is my main partner in crime! Haha! We found each other through the Facebook group, Digital Underdogs. We noticed how much we had in common, and became sisters instantly! We always have a knack for inspiring each other to do our best. And we always had this idea from the moment we started talking to do a split album together. Back and forth, we shared our demos. Gave each other helpful criticism, got all the tracks together, and released it for our fans. I really enjoy working with her, and we are always planning new things together for the sake of our music.

As you’re playing brkfest, what are you planning to play? Or is it a secret? Can you keep a secret?

See I get WAY too excited! I can’t keep secrets for long! And I’m especially excited for this setlist because I’m doing things I’ve never done before when it comes to live performance. Since its the week of, I’ll share my secret setlist:

SPDRCRWL
PEROGIE
Relish
Thanastine (a mash-up of both Thana and Celestine)
Mass Hysteria (Debuting a new crazy tune which is the fastest BPM’s I’ve worked with thus far)
NYX
POPrawkZ
And the last track is something I’m CRAZY nervous to do, but something that has been requested of me to do for years now. I will be performing/singing my Lady Gaga/Pokemon parody, “Poke’Dex”.

Must be about time you released something. Anything in The Works?

It has been a long time hasn’t it? I got swept away in drama, almost called it quits. But I found happiness, and new inspiration!
And YES! I do have some songs in the works! Kloudygirl and I are getting together a 3 way split album with female chip musician, Rrayen. It’s gonna be amazing! We don’t have a set release date yet, but we are getting the tracks together!

I do have plans for later this year of a new album release! PANDAstar isn’t dead. It’s only the beginning! :3

PANDAstar’s Facebook page