Photo by Kevin Jennings

With over 100 live performances, international tours, and a progressively retrospective sound, Joshua Davis, aka Bit Shifter, twists and binds 8bit blips into shamelessly fun sonic experiences. Bit Shifter has been making sounds for years, and has been showcased on numerous occasions, including his recent stint at BlipFest 2007 in NYC. Bit Shifter is part of a new sound, often referred to as ChipTune or simply “8-bit”. Generally, integrated sound chips or whole gaming consoles, such as the classic GameBoy and Nintendo Famicom, are modified and then augmented with homebrew software apps that allow music makers to alter the usually familiar low-fi sounds. The result: an indulgently nostalgic mash-up of old school sounds into something completely new. Currently, the sound is gaining momentum too, as live performances often serve tightly packed crowds and increasingly impressive venues. Moreover, the ChipTune genre has influenced the visual arts, graphic arts, and engineering arts spaces through the re-purposing of the 8bit format in both an aesthetic and cultural ways. Thus illustrating, that this form of artistic expression goes far beyond gimmick and style.

We caught up with Bit Shifter recently, and he was gracious enough to give us some insight on his current projects, the chiptune scene, and more. Interview after the jump.

Photo by Jeremiah Johnson

NYT: For people who aren’t familiar, how would you summarize 8-bit/chiptune music?
Bit Shifter: The definition is a little fuzzy at the edges, but in a nutshell, chipmusic is a form of electronic music that either uses the hardware soundchips found in early-generation video game and home computer consoles, or uses modern technology to emulate those sounds. There are a lot of reasons why this can be appealing to people, listeners and creators alike. The challenge of working within limitations is a big part of it, along with the use of fairly primitive technology as a deliberate aesthetic choice. There’s also a certain subversive appeal to the idea of using something like a Game Boy, which is so culturally commonplace in one context (gaming), and placing it into a different context (musicmaking), and basically turning a consumer device into a creative tool. A lot of people also cite nostalgia — but for me and for I think most of the chipmusic scene, nostalgia is a lot less of a factor than you might think; it has a lot more to do with making something new than it does with revisiting the past.

NYT: If you had to choose one major influence that started you on your 8-bit path, what would it be?
Bit Shifter: To be honest, it was pretty accidental, and not premeditated at all. I’d always had a love for the aesthetics of early gaming — both visually and sonically — but at no point did I have any specific idea of “I MUST find a way to make music with these sounds.” Wish I could say I had. But the truth is I stumbled upon the website for one of the two homebrew Game Boy musicmaking programs I use, called Nanoloop, at one point in late 2001 or early 2002. Nanoloop is a cartridge-based musicmaking program, designed specifically for the Nintendo Game Boy, and developed independently by a programmer, artist & musician in Germany named Oliver Wittchow. As a musician, the concept of the program and the possibilites it presented appealed to me immediately. So I ordered a copy of the program, and was shortly off and running, exploring what it could do with a Game Boy I bought at a used game shop. Shortly after that, I came across the website for Little Sound DJ, a similar homebrew program, developed in Sweden by a musician and programmer named Johan Kotlinski. A few mouse-clicks later I had a copy of that on the way too. So for me, the idea for the project was predicated entirely on the tools, but I like to think it was a match that was meant to be.

NYT: What are your “tools of the trade”, during live sets and in the studio?
Bit Shifter: Whoops — I hit upon this a bit in the response to question 2. But in summary, my gear consists of a standard, off-the-shelf first generation Nintendo Game Boy (model number DMG-01 for the trainspotters), running either Nanoloop or Little Sound DJ on a cartridge. It’s pretty self-contained and portable, no other computers or anything are involved, and all composition, performance, and playback takes place on the Game Boy. In performance I use two to three Game Boys, to allow for alternation (cuts down on gaps between songs) and in some cases to allow performing on two Game Boys at a time, tempo-synced via a standard Game Link cable. Audio output is the unit’s headphone jack, so I just run a cable from there to an on-stage mixer (for easy level control and basic EQ), and from the mixer to a venue’s sound system. Very basic and no-frills.

NYT: Tell us about 8bitpeoples.
Bit Shifter: 8bitpeoples is an artist collective, consisting of a revolving door of artists operating in either music, graphics, or technology, or in combinations of the three. The music label arm of the collective is arguably the most active and most visible — in that respect, 8bitpeoples functions as an mp3 netlabel, releasing almost all of its material for free download — but we also release graphics artpacks, audiovisual productions, demos, hacks, and so forth. Music takes the lion’s share of our attention, but the other aspects are equally important.

I’m currently involved in co-running it, but I’m a bit of a Johnny-come-lately — 8bitpeoples was founded in 1999 by my friend and fellow chipmusician Nullsleep (Jeremiah Johnson) and Detroit musician & artist Mike Hanlon. By a few years after that point, Nullsleep and I were both actively performing in New York, and we ended up working on more and more projects together — audio releases, tours, events, etc. We had similar sensibilities and philosophies, and similar enthusiasm for this aesthetic and the artists working within it, so we’ve been able to pull off some pretty cool stuff in working together — from a world tour in 2006, to an annual NYC chipmusic festival called the Blip Festival, which is now heading into its third year.

NYT: Have there been any new advancements, in software or hardware, within the 8-bit genre that excite you?
Bit Shifter: So much of the chipmusic scene is dependent upon custom, independently-developed software and hardware that it’s hard to pick a single example. Dallas artist / musician Paul Slocum (of the musical project Tree Wave) has created a lot of custom hardware and software that he’s made available to the community, including Atari 2600 music tool Synthcart, and its Commodore 64 cousin Cynthcart. San Francisco chipmusician x|k developed the MIDINES, which is a MIDI interface for the Nintendo Entertainment System that allows the console to be controlled as a standard synthesizer sound module. Johan Kotlinski’s Little Sound DJ, Oliver Wittchow’s Nanoloop, and Aleksi Eeben’s Carillon Tracker, all for the Nintendo Game Boy, are also hugely important.

There are also some really exciting things happening in the sometimes-overlooked realm of live visuals and motion graphics. Philadelphia visualist No Carrier does custom motion graphics using custom-coded NES software; New York visual artist noteNdo uses NES hardware hacking and circuit bending to achieve results that are very different and equally cool. NYC’s Voltage Controlled is developing custom visual software for both the Game Boy Advance and the GamePark handheld. It’s really exciting to see this kind of activity and I am happy to claim bragging rights in saying that I’m fortunate that I get to perform with all three of these guys frequently.

Photo by Marjorie Becker

NYT: Do 8-bit/chiptune stars (like yourself) have groupies?!? Or rather, how healthy is the fan base and do you see it growing?
Bit Shifter: I think the audience for this aesthetic varies from place to place, but here in New York we’ve been pretty lucky in that the audience has established itself pretty early and pretty solidly. A monthly chiptune event series here called Pulsewave has consistently been a packed, outrageous, sweaty affair, growing with every show, and at last year’s Blip Festival, we ended up having to turn people away from an 800-capacity venue. It was pretty nuts. Nullsleep and I have been lucky to witness some other chiptune hotspots firsthand while on tour, particularly Stockholm, Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Barcelona, Portland Oregon, and Montreal — with activity on the upswing in a lot of other places now too. So the audience for this stuff is steadily growing. Still waiting for the groupies though.

NYT: How do you distribute your sounds? How can people get your music?
Bit Shifter: My stuff ends up coming out on a combination of mp3 net-releases and physical releases. So far I’ve only got a couple of solo releases — Life’s A Bit Shifter was a 2003 full-length CD on 555 Recordings, now unfortunately out of print; and a six-song 2006 EP called Information Chase, which was a free mp3 release on 8bitpeoples. And in the time between and since, I’ve contributed a bunch of tracks to compilations, both online and physical. Some of those have been the 8BP050 double-CD compilation on 8bitpeoples, the 8-Bit Operators Kraftwerk tribute compilation on Astralwerks, and a fair amount more. Best place to keep track of it is probably the discography section on my website, http://bit.shifter.net/discography.php .

NYT: What is your favorite 8bit era (or 16 bit) videogame, console, and/or character?
Bit Shifter: This’ll sound strange to say, but I’ve never been extremely attached to gaming. I definitely enjoyed it as a kid, and play occasionally nowadays, but I think I was always more interested in the aesthetic of gaming than in the games themselves. However I will say I poured an obscene amount of hours into Zillion for the Sega Master System as a kid. Other favorites were the Dreadnaught Factor and Microsurgeon for the Intellivision, and Riddle Of The Sphinx and Starmaster for the Atari 2600.

NYT: Are there any current artists that you admire, any artist you’d like to work with or songs you’d like to remix 8-bit style? (someone not in the 8-bit/chiptune genre)
Bit Shifter: In terms of artists I admire — the chipmusic scene is absolutely teeming with talent, innovation, and integrity, so my answer there could be pretty long-winded. x|k, Nullsleep, 8GB, Rugar, Huoratron, Lo-bat., Bubblyfish, Goto80, Saskrotch, Covox — the list goes on and on. In terms of non-chipmusic acts I’d like to work with, that’s a good question. I’d kind of like to try collaborating with vocalists, in a drum-and-bass MC vein, but don’t have anyone specific in mind yet.

Photo by Jonas Lund

NYT: Where do you see yourself in the coming years, in regards to your music?
Bit Shifter: To be honest, I’m in a continual state of surprise and amazement that chipmusic activity and cool opportunities are continuing to grow, so I am perfectly happy taking things as they come without too much projection toward the future. In the short term, I’d like to focus a little bit and hammer out a new album, and if I can’t find some way to get back to tour Japan again, I’ll go crazy. But aside from that I’m not putting too much pressure on the future by speculating — hopefully the current trajectory of things will continue for a while.

NYT: Do you have any current projects or other interests going on now?
Bit Shifter: 8bitpeoples is helping to keep the Pulsewave monthly NYC chipmusic event series going, showcasing artists from near and far. We’re also starting to get things into motion for the 2008 installment of the Blip Festival, which in its first two editions has been a four-day, 40-artist event showcasing chipmusicians and related visualists from the global scene community. Both projects are organized in conjunction with Manhattan art space The Tank, which has been a serious ally for the NYC chipmusic scene for years. More info about all of these things can be found at:
http://www.pulsewavenyc.com/
http://www.blipfestival.org/
http://www.thetanknyc.org/

And on top of that, 8bitpeoples has some plans in the works for the future that I’m really excited about, but for the moment, my lips must remain sealed.

NYT: Finally, do you have any live shows coming up, especially in NYC?
Bit Shifter: I’m playing on June 6th at The Annex, and details are coming together for a couple of other possible shows later in June. Keep an eye on http://bit.shifter.net/ for more specifics.

By Joshua C. Harris