Q4 2018 Update: Bubsy, Super Strikers, Donut slayin’, Su

The last leg of 2018 was a hefty one. Here be the goods.

1. Announcements
2. Music Releases
3. Contributions and Collaborations
4. Production

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Bubsy: Paws on Fire ost

I am writing the soundtrack for the new game from Choice Provisions (creators of the BIT.TRIP series) and Accolade, Bubsy: Paws on Fire. INSANE! I’m exited to share more about the intricacies of this OST - involving layers and segments that work together in interesting ways. It’s super funky and fun, and it has given me the opportunity to lend my riff-writing experience to different genres and instrumentation. I’m stoked to share more. Also, it’s Bubsy what the heck for real? And the BIT.TRIP guys are doing it? Well then.

You can watch the trailer for some gameplay and a little taste of the music.

Super Strikers

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Last year at MAGFest, a crew of musicians banded together to form the Retro-Active Live Experience. We played the original music of Ninja Gaiden composer, Keiji Yamagishi, as a headlining act on behalf of Brave Wave. It went really well!

After some planning and deliberation, we have now reformed as the official house band of the Brave Wave label. We are called Super Strikers - a five piece live outfit that will support the roster of Brave Wave artists, including the likes of Manami Matsumae (Mega Man), Masashi Kageyama (Gimmick!), and Harumi Fujita (Bionic Commando).

We have recorded two songs so far, and plans are brewing for further into 2019. Outside of the band plans, it is an honor to be playing in a band with Dino and Kev (Chromelodeon, Cheap Dinosaurs) and ap0c. Those guys slay.

More info soon on the future of Super Strikers!

Music Releases:

c-jeff - changes

The talented C-jeff just released a new album called Magenta. I have a remix of the first song “Changes”. It’s a banger.

sam mulligan and the donut slayers

Sam Mulligan has been writing earnestly hilarious rock and pop on his Gameboy for years. Well now he has a full band. I’m in the band. We just played MAGFest. We also have an EP. The band is called “Sam Mulligan and the Donut Slayers”, and you can check out our EP EVERYWHERE:

I am currently working on the mix of our full MAGFest performance, and Sam is cutting together video. More on that soon.

Contributions and Collaborations:

Steven Universe (guitar)

Steven Universe just completed it’s final season! However, there is still a movie slated for next fall. There have been a lot of guitar contributions this round, but here are just a few (SPOILERS for those that haven’t seen the latest episodes):

Google Doodle (guitar)

I contributed to my second Google Doodle - this time a multiplayer video game! The game music was created by Aivi and Surasshu of Steven Universe fame, and I added guitar.

Ikenfell theme (guitar)

Ikenfell is an RPG slated to come out later this year. I have offered guitar to a number of guitar contributions to the soundtrack, and recently, Aivi Tran posted a sample of the themesong. You can hear it on Twitter.

Materia Menu album (guitar)

Materia Collective recently put out an album of menu music arrangements from a variety of games - pretty cool idea! I contributed guitar to Michael Hoffmann’s arrangement from FTL. It’s super snazzy. You can hear it on Bandcamp.

PRODUCTION:

WeaponEx - In The Nick of Time

WeaponEx has released their long-awaited follow-up, In The Nick of Time. I’m a huge fan, so to mix and master their new album was a big joy. I got to make it sound like I wanted. They are one of my favorite indie prog bands, and this guitar playing and hook writing needs to be heard.

Ronin Op F - TWEWY: Signals from Shibuya

Ronin Op F is a Bay Area artist that does video game arrangements and plays violin for a number of artists in and out of the area. His style is decidedly 90’s which pleases the heck out of me. I mixed and mastered his latest EP, which contains arrangements from “The World Ends With You”.

whew!

It feels good to have musical doings to share. However, there is a lack of original music in this post! I have about 70 minutes of unreleased original music that should be coming out in the not too distant future. I guess that’s what happens when you are making music for projects and not just for yourself.

Other stuff is in process as well. I’m exploring live Stemage shows (I don’t mean, Metroid Metal, something new), Yes Mayhem is on the move, and other new game music projects are on the calendar. I also need to get some of these new riffs down. If anyone figures out how to stop time, let me know.

Much ❤️️,

- Grant

P.S. Please check out my Twitter and Facebook for more frequent updates.

'WEEN 2018 - or - It's a Dead Man's BOINGO

BOILS AND GHOULS! GOILS AND BHOULS!

It’s that time again… when the moon is in cancer and the Saturn is in Uranus, when all in the wagon die of dysentery, when the bough doth break and the cradle hence falleth. It’s time to dress like idiots and spend precious extracurricular time to make music for friends, family, fans, and… well, ourselves, obviously.

I hope you all are enjoying the change in weather and pumpkin-spiced insanity.

This year, my lovely wife Claire and I decided to tackle one of our favorite Halloween songs—and one of our favorite songs EVER—the Oingo Boingo masterwork, Dead Man’s Party. The song is absolute perfection. There is no improving upon it. So we just decided to pay tribute and make it our own. This one was actually Claire’s brainchild, and we had to make it happen. YouTube and Soundcloud links are below, and you can download the mp3 for free right here.

In addition to this track, I also lent some guitar wankery to the Yes, Mayhem production of a track from Castlevania X68000. The album, Castellum Sanguis LXVIII, was release just a few weeks ago and celebrates a killer soundtrack from a lesser known Castlevania game. Is this the first time a band in the VGM scene has paid tribute to Glenn Miller? Not sure? At least we know it’s happened now. Big ups to my boys in Yes, Mayhem for this one. And great job Sindra for putting the album together. Be sure to nab the whole thing!

This post from last year highlights some of my older Halloween creations.

Happy Halloween!!

The Q3 Punchlist

Hi all!

A quarter of 2018 has passed since my last update, so here is a quick list of things I’ve contributed to in some way over the last few months. We’re going with a list because being productive is the name of the game this year BOOM. Actually, I can’t tell you the name of the game yet, but that OST has been taking most of my time. Har.

Some stuff from earlier in 2018 that I haven’t posted about yet:

Not as much creative stuff in this update - as there is a ton in process or waiting for release. More updates soon, as Halloween be approaching!

ttfn

Music for Runner3 available NOW (out May 22nd for Switch and PC)

I’ve been a fan of the BIT.TRIP games since Nintendo’s first foray into digital-only releases. Choice Provisions (formerly Gaijin Games) has always made music a priority in their creations, which means the world to people like me. BIT.TRIP RUNNER was a breakthrough in gameplay and design, and the award-winning Runner2 kicked things up many a notch.

I’m proud to announce that I've contributed music to Runner3! I built the soundscape for all the Retro Challenge levels. Nestled inside of Runner3 is a completely new game - a cartoon-inspired platformer where you command sir Commander Video through greenery, caves, and ancient ruins in search of Gildan Coins and hot victory. Runner3 is out on Nintendo Switch and Steam May 22nd.

Runner3 is an even bigger boost over Runner2 in terms of gameplay options, design, polish, music, and scope. It’s amazing, and I’m so very proud to be a part of it. 

In a big twist, we’ve decided to put out the soundtrack ahead of the game for you all to enjoy early! Feel free to spin my wacky creations starting today. This project encouraged me to flex a bit and ride that freeform line of absurdity that Commander Video routinely finds himself on.

Listen to the Runner3 (The Retro Challenge Soundtrack) now on Bandcamp and pretty much any digital channel of your choice.

Want to play the game? You do, trust me. If you preorder before May 22nd, it’s 15% off on either the Nintendo Switch eShop or Steam.

More music in the works! Thank you all for the support. 

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