SoundBytes

Blip Update

2012-01-29T10:00:00.001+11:00

Ok, we've been super lax updating the sound-bytes blog. The blip webpage has taken priority with constant updates and new info being added.
So, what have we missed putting here?
1) line up additions. Monodeer (NL), Jayson Haebich (Melb), Old Grey Wolf (NZ) and Gentle Hurst (Syd) have now joined the lineup
2) Workshops and panel discussions. This is such a good list. We're doing multiple workshops on the Saturday You can learn to make a midi controller for a Master System with little-scale, learn LSDJ with cTrix, learn LGPTracker with lazerbeat, or be there for a panel discussion about the chipmusic scene, moderated by Nullsleep, featuring guests dot.AY, Bit Shifter, Hally, lazerbeat and Patric Catani
3) Pre and after parties - including an open mic on the Thursday night. Definitley worth checking out as some of Australias best are actually either playing this show OR playing the open mic.
4) Multimedia, we've been doing weekly updtes and adding more and more multimedia to the blip page, including an amazing invite ROM created by Batsly Adams, with music from Animal Style!

Go check out all the details about these bits and piece on the Blip websites at http://blipfestival.org

Blip Australia lineup announced!

2011-12-21T11:45:00.001+11:00

Very pleased to announce (most) of the lineup for Blip Australia

7bitHero (BNE)
10k (SYD)
Abortifacient (SYD)
Batsly Adams (US)
Bit Shifter (US)
Derris-Kharlan (MEL)
Dot.AY (MEL)
_ensnare_ (UK)
Hally (JP)
iLKke (SYD)
Lazerbeat (UK)
little-scale (ADE)
Nullsleep (US)
Patric C (DE)
Saitone (JP)
Trash80 (US)
More info at http://blipfestival.org/
Tickets on sale 09/01
Tweet about it @blipfestival #blipau

See you at the show!

SoundBytes is tomorrow night!

2011-11-24T15:26:00.001+11:00

Hey all,

Just a reminder that SoundBytes is tomorrow night at Wah Wah Lounge!

Set times are as per below. $10 presales are available until 6pm tonight, or $12 on the door tomorrow night.

Hope to see you there!

Doors Open 8pm

8:30 – LOOM launch – collab between dot.AY and little-scale

9:00 – Rubijaq

9:45 – dot.AY

10:30 – little-scale

11:15 –Maddest Kings Alive

12:00 – cTrix

12:45 - Abortifacient

SoundBytes 10 - Last one before Blip!

2011-11-04T09:36:00.001+11:00

We are now in countdown mode to the biggest ever chipmusic event to hit Australian shores, and in our last SoundBytes for 2011 we want to remind you just how good the Australian talent is before we bring you international artists to compare with!

In association with Melbourne Music week, we’ve pulled together a combination of regulars, old favourites and a new discovery to bring you Melbourne’s most high energy, low tech audio experience.

With 4 different states being represented at the show, you’ll get an tasty mouthful of Aussie flavoured chip (and no, not the Vegemite kind, something even better!)

Adelaide’s Doctor Chipmusic himself, little-scale returns to Melbourne for the first time in over a year to show case exactly what he’s been up to in the last twelve months and has some amazing material to share.
From Sydney, Abortifacient gets back to Melbourne after playing amazing shows in Europe and Japan earlier this year to show off a bunch of brand spanking new material for its Melbourne debut.

The core of Brisbane’s chip scene dot.AY finds himself back in Melbourne, along with one of his Brisbane partners in crime Rubijaq, they will be fresh from supporting Daedelus on the Brisbane stop of his Aussie tour.

Of course we haven't forgotten the locals. After two blip festival performances in a year (which, for the uninitiated, is a pretty huge deal!) cTrix is back on the line up for show #10, as is Maddest Kings Alive playing material guaranteed to get you bouncing.

This will be the very last SoundBytes til our MASSIVE Two day Blip Festival shows in conjunction with 8bitpeoples in February, so start the festive season off right by getting your chip on.

PS - Between the recent zombie march, the new season of the Walking Dead and Halloween, Melbourne’s gone a bit zombie mad. We’re cashing in on this craze but it means you get an awesome poster. Enjoy iLKke is a genius.

Tickets on sale at http://brk.to/sbtix

Blip Tokyo After Party

2011-10-05T15:49:00.000+11:00

Super exciting lineup for our Tokyo show at Sabako, Waseda Tokyo on 24/10 (the day after Blip Festival Tokyo)

While most of you won't make it to Tokyo for the show, it's worth knowing who is playing this amazing show!
Abortifacient (AU)
Bankai (AU)
bryface (CA)
Knife City (US)
Maddest Kings Alive (AU)
minikomi (AU)
Master Kohta (JP)
10k (AU)

Our Melbourne Music Week lineup will be announced soon and of course stay tuned for more blip Australia details!

Blip Australia!

2011-09-21T07:08:00.005+10:00

We've been sitting on some exciting information for a while now and are absolutely pleased as punch and proud as peacocks and whatever other cliche you want to throw in to announce that Blip Festival Australia is coming!

Two days of cutting edge music out of some not so cutting edge equipment with satellite events before and after. This event will bring a plethora of some of the planets greatest chipmusic talent to Melbourne, many of them first the first time!

There is a facebook event page here and you should definitley go and confirm your attendance now!

Two more shows this year

2011-09-01T13:04:00.001+10:00

Great news! In addition to our upcoming SoundBytes in Tokyo (featuring a mix of Australian artists and international guests) We will be running Soundbytes 10 in late November! Keep an eye out for more information as the date gets closer

SoundBytes does Japan!

2011-08-04T13:10:00.002+10:00

We are super excited to announce that Soundbytes is goin international! We will be presenting a post- Blip Festival Tokyo showcase on October 24 featuring both Australian and international artists!

More information as it comes to hand. Get yourself along to Blip Tokyo if at all possible. It is one of the highlights of the chip calendar and well worthwhile if you can snag some discount fares!

Freeplay!

2011-08-04T13:08:00.002+10:00

We are involved with Freeplay this year by helping set them up with some local chip artists to play their Friday night pre-party.

Freeplay is Australia’s longest running independent games festival exploring the intersection of indie development, culture, arts and education and we actually did a show case for them a couple of years back.

The artists in question - Derris-Kharlan, cTrix, Maddest Kings Alive and Pselodux will be joining Technodrome to provide entertainment for what should be a super fun night!

More info

SoundBytes 9 wrap up

2011-07-11T08:59:00.002+10:00

This motley crew of Misfits are the ones that brought you the latest installment of SoundBytes with 4 acts from Sydney and 3 from Melbourne, there was a wealth of new material from each of the artists, and we had so many people wander over to say what a great night it was, what an amazing crowd were there and how much fun they were having!

If you're one of those people who came along for the first time, don't forget to tell your friends how much fun you had, and sign up to our mailing list, or follow us on twitter or facebook to make sure you keep on top of our upcoming shows.

We are aiming for an October or November show and should have a date sorted out shortly. More news, as always, when it comes to hand!

Competition winner week one

2011-06-27T10:33:00.001+10:00

So the first week of our competition is closed with the winner being Clinton Gale – one of our facebook fans.
Week two and three you have two ways to win.
On facebook – Like our page at http://www.facebook.com/soundbytesoz Go to the promo tab and tell us who your favourite chiptune artist is to go into our draw.

On twitter - Mention @Soundbytes oz and tell us who your favourite chiptune artist is to go in the draw.
We’ll be giving away another two sets of tickets and a grand prize goody bag that includes a tee, sticker and other gear! Comp closes 07/07 at 6:00pm Melbourne time

SoundBytes 9 - Sydney Showcase

2011-06-20T19:47:00.001+10:00

Aah winter. The days are cold, it's wet and windy and Summer seems like a million years away.
Well, we're bringing a bunch of guys from slightly warmer climates to Melbourne , launching a couple of highly anticipated EP's and warming you up with some of Australia 's hottest and grimiest chip sounds.

SoundBytes 9, on July 8 showcases the best of Sydney 's chipmusic with some of your favourite chip artists.
Fresh from his triumphant US tour - including playing the biggest chipmusic festival in the world, Blip Festival NY, 10K returns to Melbourne with his own particular brand of chip insanity.

Accompanying him to Melbourne we have godinpants - whose killer performance at SB8 rocked our socks off - Vicious Cyclist - who will be heading to Melbourne, with his brand new EP and amigas in tow for his very first show south of the border and Abortifacient who will be collaborating with electro nerdcore master and local legend Bankai with tracks from their brand spanking new release Bankai Vs Abortifacient. (the teaser of which got people talking across the world wide web - you can see it http://brk.to/4lthope )

Of course we haven't forgotten our local talent with pselodux and maddest kings alive - both of whom have a plethora of brand spanking new material ready to get your booty shaking

As always, $10 presales at http://brk.to/sbtix

Want to come to SB9 for FREE?

2011-06-20T19:47:00.000+10:00

Wanna come to SoundBytes for FREE?! Over the next 3 weeks between now and SB9 we're running a little competition!

Week 1 (til 26/06) post on your facebook status "I'm a fan of chipmusic and SoundBytes brings the best of it to Melbourne" with a link to our page or do the same thing on your twitter status mentioning @SoundbytesOz to go in the draw to win a double pass to SoundBytes 9 on 8/7.

We'll be giving away 1 double pass to a randomly chosen winner each week. Plus, at the end of the three weeks all those entries will go in a draw to win a prize pack that includes a Soundbytes tee, stickers and other goodies!

Good luck!

Recap

2011-04-27T17:39:00.002+10:00

Okay its taken us ages to get on here and do a recap of the last show. We were overseas and then with Easter got rather slack!

The show was fantastic, with amazing performances from all the artists, and it was great to see some new faces on the lineup.

There's photos up on facebook and you should go check them out now.

Thanks as always to all the artists involved and to everyone who came along. Next show will be around July so watch this space!

NEW POSTER!

2011-03-05T14:58:00.001+11:00

SoundBytes 8 Featuring Cheapshot (JPN)

2011-02-25T12:14:00.003+11:00

The headliner for SoundBytes 8 is an absolute highlight of the live chipmusic scene in Tokyo.

His music is dark and gritty, just about guaranteed to get you moving and full of bass so heavy, the airlines are going to have issues with luggage restrictions when he makes the trip here from Tokyo.

We are extremely proud and excited to present Cheapshot from Japan (and the UK) and more bass than you can poke a stick at for the latest... instalment of SoundBytes. Cheapshot’s recent 8bitpeoples release, “ZOMG!!” is one of the standout ‘chipstep’ releases of recent times, and you know that if he’s a crowd pleaser in Japan, one of the major chipmusic centres of the universe – he must be good! (Go check out an interview between him and Videogame Addtiktz http://vimeo.com/17610096 )

The lineup, of course doesn’t end there, and we have some of our most crowd pleasing artists filling out the lineup. Interstate favourites, 10K (SYD), godinpants (SYD) and dot.AY (BNE) will be making their way to town, and both godinpants and dot.AY have new EPs, so plenty of new tunes for your listening pleasure. We also have local talent from cTrix, and a newcomer to SoundBytes Pselodux, who you may have seen at one of his many shows around the local traps.

This one is going to be loud, and with a line-up like this, the bass is going to be especially heavy! Get yourself along to ladida on 18/03 for what is going to be a hugely entertaining chip experience.

$12 on the door, $10 presales at http://brk.to/sbtix

PS - (Awesome "real" poster) will probably be available in the next few days :)

New Mailing list

2011-01-17T10:19:00.002+11:00

We have implemented a new mailing list so that you can keep across all the SoundBytes happenings?
Just add your details below.

Name:

Email:

Thank You!

2011-01-17T10:14:00.001+11:00

Many, many thanks to each of you that showed up on Friday night!

It seemed that everyone had a fantastic night, and really got into the music!

We had a bunch of requests for a Maddest Kings Alive release (and will be forcing one out of him for the next SoundBytes he plays) and people already asking about the second EP in the Sounds Legit series!

There are pics on facebook, and we will be adding them here shortly :)
We look forward to seeing you all again in March for Cheapshot!
In the meantime, head here to sign up for our mailing list to keep across all the Soundbytes news!

Set Times

2011-01-13T09:30:00.002+11:00

Very excited to announce an exclusive Listening Session to kick off the night with Adelaide artist Freezedream's "Today" album. Created for, and released on Sega Megadrive (that's right it's actually released on a cartridge!) this will be a one off opportunity to hear this amazing album on a fantastic soundsystem so make sure you get in early to listen.

With that in mind, tomorrow night's set times are as below.
SET TIMES
8:30 - Freezedream listening session

9:15 - Maddest Kings Alive

10:00 - Derris-Kharlan

10:45 - Sievert

11:30 - Abortifacient

12:15 - cTrix
Remember today is your last change to get discount presale tickets at http://www.trybooking.com/KIO

Woo! New Poster and SB8 announcement

2010-12-23T09:33:00.000+11:00

Finally the latest post is ready - which not only means you get a look at yet another amazing artwork by Ilkke but you also get a teaser about SoundBytes 8 coming up in March.
We are fortunate enough to have the amazing Cheapshot from Japan/UK who will be bringing the house down with his massive, bass heavy tracks

SoundBytes Seven is coming!

2010-12-10T09:26:00.001+11:00

2011 promises to be a big year for Melbourne chip music, and we’re kicking off the year with, not one, but two EP launches and yet another international guest!

New Melbourne label “Sounds Legit” in conjunction with Soundbytes releases the first of its 7 inch vinyl splits. Each EP will feature two amazing chipmusic artists, composing songs to a common theme. The first of these is “The Warp Drive EP” with future-core Drum and Bass ...from Texans, IAYD and Sievert. This will be the first time these splits will be on sale anywhere in the world, and with strictly a limited run, could be your only chance to own a copy of this very special release.
To celebrate the occasion, Sievert is coming all the way from Texas for your listening pleasure, playing his Warp Drive EP track Prototronic Accelerator live and loud as well as other tracks from an impressive game boy back catalogue.
Just to keep things interesting, we have another newcomer to Soundbytes – Sydney’s Abortifacient - who will be releasing the highly anticipated follow up to “Baby Fillets”, titled “My name is Abortifacient”. A regular at Sydney’s “Nerdstrobe” and the curator of “Death Rave”, Abortifacient combines 8-bit beats with circuit bent toys to create his own very special brand of glitched out industrial insanity.

Backed up by some of your favourites – cTrix, Maddest Kings Alive and Derris-Kharlan (fresh from playing in the USA!) this is a one night only opportunity to kick off 2011 with some stellar chipmusic talent

Tickets $12 on the door or presale available for $10 at http://www.trybooking.com/KIO

Thank you!

2010-10-11T22:43:00.000+11:00

Wow. What an amazing night.
Soundbytes celebrated its biggest show ever last Friday night, with more people than you can poke a stick at and one of the most amazing chip lineups to ever hit our fair shores.

The Champagne Lounge at La di da was packed with people to see 10K Free Men, little-scale, Derris-Kharlan, cTrix, Nullsleep, Bitshifter and late addition Henry Homesweet take the stage. It was great to see so many new (smiling, happy) faces in the crowd.

We hope that you all enjoyed yourselves as much as we enjoyed putting the show on and that you come back again.

Next show will probably be in January, so stay tuned for more info and an artist lineup in coming weeks

Massive News (and set times for Friday!)

2010-10-05T14:28:00.003+11:00

Henry Homesweet from the UK, will be joining an already amazing line-up, for his first ever Melbourne show. If you didn’t manage to get to Newcastle to catch the blip showcase at ElectroFringe this past weekend, this will be your only other chance to catch him in Australia. If you’re a chipmusic fan, you want to make sure you get to this show as the opportunity to catch these artists live and local will not come around again.

This means we can also announce set times!

8:15pm - Derris-Kharlan
9:00pm - little-scale
9:45pm - 10k
10:30pm - Henry Homesweet
11:15pm - Bit Shifter
12:00pm - nullsleep
12:45pm - cTrix

PLEASE NOTE: You will have access to la did a from 7pm however the Champagne Lounge doors will open at 8pm, hence the slight delay in our previously start time.

Also remember that if you go to http://bit.ly/sbtix you can buy your tickets in advance for just $10 (+booking fee), rather than $12 on the door.

Let us know you're coming! http://bit.ly/sb6ssfb
Can’t wait to see you all on the night!

Very Exciting Soundbytes 6 news!

2010-08-30T12:20:00.002+10:00

It's been a while between shows, but for those of you who have been waiting and wondering about the return of Melbourne's only regular chip night, not only is the wait over but we have an extra special lineup to thank you for your patience.
Soundbytes 6 is subtitled "SuperStars" for a reason, as we have 2 of the biggest names in the international chip scene coming to play just one Melbourne show, and they're playing it for us! If... you've seen "Reformat the Planet", if you have heard of Blipfest, you don't want to miss this show, as our headliners are none other than Bit Shifter and Nullsleep.
Supporting them are the cream of the local crop with

10K Free Men and Their Families,

cTrix,

Derris-Kharlan &

little-scale

playing this huge show.

Tickets are $10 Presale (plus a 30c booking fee) through http://www.trybooking.com/5104 or $12 on the door.

As you can see from the poster above - event will take place at La di da in little Bourke St, Melbourne and doors open at 7pm for an 8pm start! Feel free to say you're coming on our facebook event wall too (search "Soundbytes 6: Superstars")

If you have ever wanted to see some world class chip musicians in your own back yard, this is the time to do it.

10K on TCTD

2010-04-01T13:24:00.000+11:00

This article about 10K is brilliant.

Go read it. Right now.

And oh yeah, we do get it. Totally get it. But then, we're a few hours earlier in Australia.

And we spell "Friends" "Frens"

http://truechiptilldeath.com/2010/03/lazerbeat-vs-ten-thousand-free-men-and-their-families/#more-6175

Looky at our lovely poster!

2010-01-11T10:16:00.000+11:00

Thanks to the ever amazing Ilkke for the fantastic job he did on the poster!

Announcement

2010-01-08T17:27:00.001+11:00

Very excited to announce, for his first Melbourne show God In Pants from Sydney to the line up for Summer Session.

Don't forget if you want to be involved in the open mic, email us at dpadproductions@gmail.com or leave us a comment!

A wild Summer session appears!

2009-12-30T07:55:00.000+11:00

This Summer is shaping up to be a hot one, and while everyone else is trying to get you to fork out money to stand in a packed, sweaty room and see some of the amazing acts coming to Australia, we have an international artist with a killer support lineup, for FREE!

“The Soundbytes Sunday Summer Session” is taking place on the 24th of Jan (The Sunday before Australia day) from 3pm, with an outdoor beer garden gig (with PLENTY of shelter in case it rains!) at The Penny Black (formerly Don’t Tell Tom) on Sydney Road in Brunswick.

We have a killer lineup, with headliner Marc Nostromo who is coming all the way from Belgium to play the show. Marc is something of a legend in chipmusic circles, having not only played around the world, including the biggest Chip festival in the world – Blipfest; but is also the creator of LittleGPTracker (AKA Piggy tracker). Check him out on his myspace at www.myspace.com/discodirt

Backing him up, we have some of Australia’s greatest chip musicians with 10K Free Men & Their Families performing his first Soundbytes show in over 6 months, as well as Maddest Kings Alive and Derris-Kharlan.

Last but not least, with enough interest we’re looking at running an open mic to kickstart the afternoon, so if you’re keen to show what you’ve got, send us an email at dpadproductions@gmail.com or send a message to the organizer to let us know how many tracks you want to play and what you’re using (maximum of two tracks per person for open mic and needs to be minimal set up time)

The Penny Black has some great food and drink prices, and is easily accessible on public transport, so bring your mates and enjoy some of Australia’s greatest chip muso’s for a sunny Summer afternoon with Soundbytes!

Find the gig on facebook so you can chare it with your friends at Soundbytes Sunday Summer Sessions

Blip video

2009-12-28T14:58:00.000+11:00

Check out Chipmusic for the Masses on vimeo to see footage of cTrix, 10K, little-scale and Maddest Kings Alive from Blip open mic, Blipfest and the postshow matinee!

More cTrix

2009-12-09T08:06:00.001+11:00

cTrix @ Soundbytes 5

2009-12-09T08:03:00.002+11:00

Pics WILL come

2009-11-26T17:42:00.000+11:00

Pics will go up in the next few days - I run stupid IE 6 at work, which wont let me upload right now.
Otherwise check out the soundbytes group on facebook to see them now

Soundbytes does RRR

2009-11-26T17:24:00.000+11:00

Did mean to post this up last week. OOPS!
Celsius, cTrix and Maddest Kings Alive headed into RRR on the 15th for a bit of a chat and a live set on To and Fro. It's a great segment and you can listen to it here

Set Times

2009-11-19T14:47:00.002+11:00

Thought you might all be keen to see the set times for tomorrow night!
Upstairs (where we will be) doors open to general public at approx 8:15, downstairs from noon (first of three happy hours from 5!).

Cover charge just $10 for some of the most amazing original live music in Melbourne – tell your mates!
8:15 – Celsius - DJ set (MEL)

9 PM – dot. AY (BNE)

9:45 – little-scale (ADE)

10:30 - cTrix (MEL)

11:30 – Sparkyboy (Sth Africa)

12:15 – Dr Dollar Dollar – DJ Set (SYD)

Kickstart finished - and now the new countdown starts

2009-11-09T13:45:00.001+11:00

Just a bit of an update for those of you not following us elsewhere 

We were massively successful with our kickstart. We aimed low so at least we would get something and cover flights if nothing else, but ended up being so successful that we have almost covered the flights, sound and projector hire.

If you were a backer, thanks!

We are now in the process of getting everyone’s t-shirt sizes so we can get the shirts ordered, and also getting the CD mastered. The plan is to have our supporter packs available on the day of the gig for those of you who will be in attendance. The main problem will be the t-shirts, as they aren’t being printed locally and we have to wait on details from some of our backers to ensure we make the order with the right sizes. We’ll do our best to make this happen in time, but cross your fingers.

Anyone else, we’ll be posting your gear out soon as we can too, so you should hopefully get it early December (if that changes we’ll let you know)

As for the gig, we have a massive night lined up, with upstairs opening to the public at around 8:30 following the Reformat the Planet screening for backers. Please feel free to come earlier and have a drink downstairs as the first of three happy hours starts at 5 o’clock and the Queensberry has a pretty great beer garden! Details regarding set times will be up soon, so stay tuned for more details soon as they’re organized.

One week to kickstart

2009-10-30T15:09:00.001+11:00

Hi All,
Just a quick reminder that the kickstart finishes one week from today.
This means if you want to come and hang out with artists not only from this soundbytes, but from past ones as well, and see the amazing chip documentary "Reformat the Planet" you only have 7 days to pledge. (bly clicking the box to the right)

Remember, tickets available on the door will be $10 and will allow you entry to upstairs (where we are returning for SB5) from 8:30 onwards (after the screening)

Any questions, leave us a comment.

Those of you who have already pledged, thank you so much, we hope you enjoy the goodies!!

More info, including set times coming soon!

Tickets on the door

2009-10-12T12:31:00.002+11:00

Thanks to the generous support of our Kickstarter backers, we are going to be able to drop the covercharge for Soundbytes Five and are now charging just $10 on the door.

Please note however this is only from 8:30 and if you want to get in early for the "Reformat the Planet" screening and opportunity to hang out with the artists, you still need to kickstart!

Follow the link to the left or go to kickstarter to pledge!

Some SB5 News

2009-10-05T16:22:00.004+11:00

If you're not already following us on twitter or facebook, you may not have heard our very exciting news.

Due to the success of our kickstarter project we have been able to take things a step further with soundbytes 5, and not only do we have an amazing Nexo sound system for the gig (the best sound system we've had to date) but we're thrilled to announce the Sparkyboy is going to be headlining.

Sparkyboy is coming all the way from South Africa in his first Australian show and this will be the only show he's playing in Oz. Remember you can grab your presale tickets at kickstarter and get some additional goodies as well as hanging out with the artists at the pre-gig screening of Two Player Productions "Reformat the Planet".

Once the kickstarter campaign wraps up on 06/11 you will not be able to see "Reformat the Planet" so make sure you grab your presales while you can!

PS - new posters up now too, another awesome Ilkke creation!

Like our dancing crushing monster? He is win!

2009-09-24T11:25:00.001+10:00

Seen our awesome new layout for the blog?

Big thanks go to Ilkke for putting it together for us - he's the same guy who created the poster for SB4 for us as well.

Check out his other stuff at

http://ilkke.blogspot.com/

Kickstarter Update

2009-09-20T08:54:00.000+10:00

All I can say is wow. We launched our kickstarter project just over a week ago and have already been pledged $600 out of our $700 target.
We keep trying to remind people that if you think you wont contribute to kickstarter and will just get a ticket on the door, be a bit wary of that are you will a) miss out on Reformat the Planet - only our kickstarter backers will be able to come to this very special viewing and b) if we sell "too many" tickets on kickstarter then we will not release any at the door.
So, if you're wanting to come and don't have a credit card to pledge your payment, you might want to borrow one, or try a prepaid visa (which, we haven't tested so if you have success let us know).
This night is only going to get bigger and better with all your generous support!

SoundBytes 5? Already? Yes - with your help?

2009-09-10T22:33:00.002+10:00

So, we have a vision for Soundbytes 5, our first birthday and that vision is for the biggest and the best gig that we've done yet.
In our vision, we have premium artists (who don't have to spend their own money to come play with us), we have a mega sound system, maybe we'd even get to play a copy of the one, the only "Reformat the Planet" chip doco. We'd make it extra special.

Well, we have a plan to make this vision a reality and we want you to help. Most of you who have been to our gigs know that we don't ask for much for you to get in the door, a gold coin donation maybe, if we catch you on the way in.

This one will be different, this is kind of like a pre-sale - we're asking you to pay to come to the gig, but for pre-buying your tix, you get an exclusive screening of reformat the planet AND some goodies that no one else will have.

Check out the link below, and do a heaps actual kickstarter - remember if we don't make enough money to run the gig, the gig wont happen, but you also wont get charged - Sad for us because we don't get to have a gig and sad for you because you don't get your goodies. Help us make Soundbytes 5 bigger and better than ever before!

Untitled from Kristy Dossor on Vimeo.

D a heaps actual Kickstarter

SoundBytes 4 photos

2009-08-30T10:48:00.004+10:00

Okay so it's been well over a month since SoundBytes 4, but finally we have gotten our hands on some more snaps!
The whole set is on the Soundbytes group on facebook, but here's a select few to whet your appetite

Somehow, we ended up with no pics from Dot.AY's set, so if anyone out there managed to get them, please let us know!

We are going to try to actually have the sets available for download for both SB3 and 4 in coming weeks, while we prepare for our one year birthday with SB5

Freeplay!

2009-08-04T16:19:00.003+10:00

We are very excited to announce that dpad/soundbytes will be taking part in freeplay in Melbourne next weekend. Freeplay is a Melbourne independent games festival that focuses on the creative and artistic side of making games and we are very excited to be playing a part!

Freeplay 2009 is taking place at the State Library of Victoria on August 14 &; 15 and dpad will be presenting some local chiptune talent in the form of Celsius, Derris-Kharlan and Maddest Kings Alive at 2pm on the 15th for an hour long showcase of (as they are billing us) "some of Australia's most talented, avant-garde retro-tech gear heads"
Tickets are onsale for Freeplay through moshtix.com.au for the two days of Indie gaming competitions, discussion panels and workshops.
Check out their website at www.freeplay.net.au

SoundBytes IV featuring on Jump Button

2009-07-26T12:19:00.002+10:00

See more pictures at full resolution here.
Some other photos from little-scale here.

Slight Line Up Changes

2009-07-16T21:43:00.000+10:00

Dr Dollar Dollar (AKA Cool Thomas) until 8:15 and throughout the night
Able Archer 8:15 - 8:45
Talkshow Boy 9:00 - 9:30
Astro Zombies 9:45 - 10:15
little-scale 10:30 - 11:00
Derris-Kharlan 11:15 - 11:45
Maddest Kings Alive 12:00 - 12:30
10K Free Men and Their Families 12:35 - 12:55
doy.AY - 12:55 - 1:25

We can finally confirm

2009-07-16T16:43:00.000+10:00

Due to popular demand, we have an addition to the lineup for tomorrow night!

Crowd favourite, and unofficial Sound Bytes resident, 10K Free Men and Their Families, had intended to sit this one out from a performing perspective and do some DJing, and enjoy his first Sound Bytes not being a performer.

After feedback from people attending and a fair bit of convincing on our part, we have managed to convince him to do a short set of new material, which will include the track "Creating Space" which you can hear on this page.

We are also going to have to tweak the lineup just a little due to some conflicting engagements, so check back later tonight to find out what's going on.

It's Tomorrow!

2009-07-16T10:07:00.002+10:00

Those of you following us on twitter will know we've been promising an extra announcement, but still can't deliver quite yet - Tomorrow night is THE NIGHT! Please support us by reminding your friends that there is going to be an amazingly fun night or music and gaming on in Carlton for only a gold coin donation and cheap drinks all night.

We can't wait to see you all there.

Watch this space/twitter/facebook for our announcement (am I building this up too much? :P)

Great News

2009-07-12T16:41:00.002+10:00

After concerns that we may find it a little hard squeezing people into the upstairs bar at the Queensberry, we're taking over the downstairs bar.
Which means we can fit more people, have a bigger bar and will probably confuse the regulars!

Make sure you tell your friends, because this night is going to be huge!

Set Times Announced!

2009-07-10T15:49:00.002+10:00

We finally have set times finalised for next Friday night, and so, we are very excited to announce, for your (listening? viewing?) pleasure....

Dr Dollar Dollar (AKA Cool Thomas) until 8 and throughout the night

Able Archer 8 - 8:30

Talkshow Boy 8:45 - 9:15

Astro Zombies 9:30 - 10:00

little-scale 10:15 - 10:45

Derris-Kharlan 11 - 11:30

Maddest Kings Alive 11:45 - 12:15

doy.AY - 12:30 - 1

Two weeks to go!

2009-07-03T08:29:00.000+10:00

The countdown is on (well, actually according to the facebook event page, it's been on for a while!) but tonight marks two weeks to go til SoundBytes4. Looks like this is going to be our most massive gig yet, great lineup, big crowd and of course some amazing tunes!

Make sure you tell your friends about it, and tell them to come and check out the brilliant post below so they can hear exactly what they have to look forward to!

The Sounds of SB4!

2009-06-29T17:08:00.008+10:00

Hello!

It's 10k here, with the fabulous task of gathering some samples of the music you can expect to hear at Sound Bytes 4. I have heard and seen all but one of these artists before, and I am very, very excited to say the least. This is in the order on the poster (exceptions: I cannot find an 8bit Talkshow Boy recording and Able Archer is playing but not on the poster). Just click the links, which are the song names, if it wasn't obvious.

little-scale

Music sample: Come Back To Me
Seb is amazing. Pick a console and he has made music with it.

More: Blog / 8bc / Releases

dot.AY

Music sample: Default To Paranoia

(ph)Alex writes Game Boy glitch/grime which is interactive and brutal. He has been known to tear up the mic too.

More: Home Page / 8bc / Myspace

Maddest Kings Alive

Music sample: Sleepy Kisses
Fenris is half of Perth's Chrism & Fenris, go figure. He weaves beautifully rich and dynamic songs on anything from a GBA to a C64. Glitchy and brutal in a way that you would not expect.

More: Home Page / Live at SB3

Derris-Kharlan
Music sample: Luna

Nathan is a real badass. Period. He writes game soundtracks - if the game was "Mars Volta: Rush to the Court of the Crimson King". He plays live with a guitar, check the link for SB3 to check that out!

More: 8bc / Live at SB3

Astro Zombies

Music sample: All New Heights

Darcy is win. Really young dude, with bright, happy and awesomely danceable tunes. He went down like a smooth criminal at the last Sound Bytes.

More: 8bc / Myspace

Able Archer
Music sample: My Heart Will Goon (Titanic Go On!)

A wild fan-boy appears! Aaron has been at every Sound Bytes (right?). He is looking like he will be rocking out with his cock out, oh, and a guitar and the LOLs.

More: 8bc

Talkshow Boy

Adrian has done a Sound Bytes set before - but not like this. He has been a fan of Chipmusic for a long time and now he is performing some of his own! Some of you may know Talkshow for his role in Melbourne's "Keith! Party", or even better his own breakcore/rap/mashup tunes.

More: Myspace (rap)

Able Archer

2009-06-25T08:59:00.000+10:00

We are very excited to add another artist to our line-up.

Able Archer

has gone from being pretty much the biggest fan of Soundbytes, up the front getting into it at every gig to an artist in his own right. His latest track is fun a lot of fun and sounds amazing so we can't wait to have him play for us on the night!

Get excited people!

whit3nois3 vs Soundbytes

2009-06-17T09:21:00.000+10:00

Melbourne institution whit3nois3 is back and ready for battle. Enemy lines have been drawn for a one night Battle Royal, facing off against the insurgents, Soundbytes.

For the creatures of the night who love dark, grinding noisy noise you wont be disappointed.

So bring your lo-tech arsenal and choose your allies wisely, for there can be only one.

Retrotech soldiers such as DOT.Ay, 10k Freemen & Their Families and Celsius will be fronting the assault. $10 will get you unlimited plays.

The new poster is out

2009-06-16T21:45:00.000+10:00

Okay, so it's already been revealed at various places all over the internet, but that's because we were out of town over the weekend and very excited to get our sexy new poster out and so it's hit the interwebs.

So without further adieu...

We're still getting some more artists on board, and some special guests that you'll only hear about on the night. Oh, and for those of you wondering who this Doctor Dollar Dollar guy is? And where 10K is on the bill? Well, all will be revealed on the night.

Don't forget whit3 nois3 on the 18th at Blue Velvet featuring a very special 8-bit edition of their bi-monthly night.

Two more pieces of news.

2009-06-01T14:20:00.000+10:00

We have confirmed that our good friend, Talkshow Boy is going to be debuting some new 8bit tracks at the gig on the 17th which we are extremely excited about and very proud to be the first ones to bring to you. Talkshow Boy, as you may or may not know is behind Melbourne's own Keith!Party who just recently played a residency at the Evelyn. His Keith!Party tunes are packed with impressive rhymes and kickin' beats so we're thrilled to have him on the bill.

Second of all, it looks like we're going to be running a very special SoundBytes gig inconjunction with Melbourne demo party crew Syntax on Halloween night and it should be HUGE. It's still a while away so we don't have many details yet but will definitley have more to share later in the year

We're twittering

2009-05-29T08:35:00.004+10:00

Which means if you follow us, we'll let you know when the site is updated, and when there's news about upcoming gigs, so to keep on top of what we have happening look us up - SoundBytesOz
Cheers

Date? Check. Venue? Check. Arists?... sort of check :)

2009-05-28T09:13:00.003+10:00

July 17th and 18th is going to be one of the biggest weekends in the Melbourne 8-bit scene.
Not only does Sound Bytes return to the Queensberry Hotel on 17/07 with an unsurpassed line up of some of Australia's most amazing chiptune artists, but we will also be co-presenting whit3nois3 at Blue Velvet in Collingwood on the 18th; bringing a whole new soundscape to this Melbourne industrial noise institution.

We are still working out the finer points of the line up, but have confirmed

little-scale (ADE)

dot.AY (BNE)

Maddest Kings Alive (MEL)

Derris-Kharlan (MEL)

Astro Zombies (MEL)

and Slurry Beats DJs (MEL)

feat. Dr. Dollar Dollar (AKA Cool Thomas) (SYD)

With 7 weeks to go,we're still confirming more acts for the line up. Keep watching this space for more details and maybe even some little extras to whet your appetite.

As always, stay tuned!

17th of July

2009-05-09T12:55:00.000+10:00

Mark the date in your calendars boys and girls. Next date is booked, artists are for the most part confirmed and this is going to be the single biggest Chiptune gig in Australia to date. Why, you ask?

How about at least 9 of Australia's most amazing chip artists on one bill?

Venue is still TBA so watch this space!

Photos and stuff

2009-04-17T22:03:00.003+10:00

Okay first off, if you check out this link, you can see the chiptune segment that was on Good Game available for download at the other end of the link Chiptunes on Goo d Game. I tried uploading it here but three hours later... try the link ;)

Second off... photos!
Once the new website is ready to roll out we'll have a lot more, but here's a little taste of what you missed out on if you didn't make it to the night

Astro Zombies made his live debut at the gig. This kid is a child prodigy! His music is great now - but its scary to think just how good he'll be in a few years when he's old enough to drink in the venues he's playing!

Jim Cuomo is a legend of chiptunes, he wrote the music for Defender of the Crown for gods sake! The man was an honest to gone pioneer of 8-bit music (he's not a fan of the term 'chiptunes :) )

Second time at a Sound Bytes gig, Derris-Kharlan cleared the balcony when he started playing his amazing Zelda medley as they headed for the main room to hear the tunes (and performed despite the fact he's meant to be on crutches!)

Another new artist to the SoundBytes line up was Maddest Kings Alive, who was, just amazing. I don't think any of us could speak highly enough of him!

And last, but most definitley not least - 10K Free Men and Their Families, brought the house down with a set that is worth about a million re-listens (the audio will be up with the new site too - lots to look forward to!)

As I said, more pics soon, this is just a small taste of what's to come!

Good Game Sound Bytes

2009-04-03T09:07:00.001+11:00

It may have taken a week to put an update from last weeks gig online, but I promise, we didn't forget - it's just that Telstra couldn't organise their way out of a paperbag - and it has left dpad phoneless and internetless!
Last Friday night was SoundBytes Round 3 at the Queensberry hotel. 'Our' new artists, Jim Cuomo and Maddest Kings Alive, along with Astro Zombies were fantastic and our 'older' ones, 10K Free Men and their Families and Derris Kharlan, improve every single time I see them.

As you probably know, footage from the event, along with interviews with 10K, Jim and other friends of Dpad, little-scale and dot.AY will be appearing on Good Game, this Monday night at 8:30 on ABC2, and we will also link to the vodcast from this site - personally I cannot wait to see it!

We are also planning a revamp of the website - as soon as the internet situation is sorted, and as part of that will be making the audio from the most recent gig available here, as well as photos, and even some video - so keep an eye out for it.

Next Soundbytes is being planned for July - date is almost confirmed, and will be announced once we have more details.

Jim Cuomo

2009-03-26T09:54:00.000+11:00

Hey all,
Just a quick note - we went and saw Jim Cuomo do his thing at 303 last night - a massive set that was almost two hours, with some great little stories about the tracks and he played songs from both 'Ole' and 'Defender of the Crown' which was a special treat.
The man is awesome, and it's a shame that there wasn't a bigger turn out to see his other show! He wants to play earlier in the evening, so make sure you're there earlier rather than later and see one of the pioneers of chip play.

PS - Digihorn = massive win.
PPS - We'll try and get a set list up later today :)

Sound Bytes Round 3 - Fight!

2009-03-15T16:23:00.000+11:00

A lack of internet has prevented earlier announcements of the forthcoming Soundbytes Round 3, but finally(!) we are able to announce the next gig!
March 27th, upstairs at Queensberry Hotel, cnr of Swanston and Queensberry Streets in Carton, we are thrilled to be holding Soundbytes Round 3!
Joining Soundbytes regulars, 10K Free Men and Their Families and Slurry Beats Collective - featuring, for the first time, Astro Zombies and also returning artist Derris Kharlan, are a couple of new (to Soundbytes) acts, Maddest Kings Alive and our very special guest from the USA, Jim Cuomo!

The night will have free entry and will have a film crew from ABC2's 'Good Game' in attendance to record the show for an uncoming Chiptune segment. As always, there will be retro games to play, some awesome retrotech acts to see and many drinks to have.

The night starts at 8 (although the pub will be open downstairs earlier, some come in early for after work drinks). Stay tuned for more news as it comes to hand...

New gig is on it's way

2009-02-22T20:21:00.001+11:00

News just to hand, we have organised a date and venue for our next gig!

Friday, 27th of March, upstairs at the Queensberry hotel (corner of Swanston and Queensberry st.)

We're still organising exactly who is coming to town, but have got a lot of interest and this is looking to be our biggest gig yet.

News will be updated as soon as we've confirmed details - don't want to promise anything that can't be delivered! ;)

See you in six weeks!

2009-01-18T16:23:00.000+11:00

Now that Christmas and New Year is out of the way, we are trying to get down to the serious business of trying to put some details together for our next gig which will probably be sometime in April - exactly where is still up in the air as both venues we've used so far weren't quite the perfect fit for us, so we're open for suggestions.
We're working on increasing our potential artist pool and are lucky enough to have a variety of acts keen on coming and doing their thing for you, and once we have set the final date, venue and line up, we'll be sharing it here, so make sure you keep checking back for more info.

Oh, and if you haven't seen it already, check out the review than inthemix did of the last gig.

Sound Bytes Round Two

2008-11-28T08:28:00.000+11:00

Friday 21/11 saw SoundBytes Round @ hit Softbelly Bar in Little Bourke St, for another night of chiptune mayhem.

The night started early with people wandering in to play Mario Kart and a plethora of old school gaming titles on MAIM boxes while they soaked up Softbellys retro feel in their exceptionally comfy couches.
Once it hit 9 o'clock we were flooded with arrivals to see MC Talkshow Boy take the mic for a set all of his own, getting the party well and truly started with his brilliant lyrics and hiphop beats.

Next up, fresh from his flight from not so sunny Brisnbane (not so sunny at the moment anyway!) we had Dot.AY hit the stage with his Gameboy, guitar hero and DDR dance mat in tow. AYs, breakcore influenced style rocked the crowd with some heavier noise than patrons of the last gig would remember and the crowd loved it, especially being able to interact with the DDR mat!

Last but not least, our stylishly attired hero (see pics), 10K Free Men & their Families returned to Sound Bytes with his own special brand of insanity, table dancing and chiptune beats. Despite playing about half a dozen variations on Happy Birthday for the birthday boy in the house, the crowd still requested an encore which gave us an opportunity to enjoy more of the show.

All in all, despite a couple off issues with the sound (dancing feet and cables do not mix boys and girls) and the bass being 'too loud' for the venue (which is almost a source of pride for all concerned) the night was a big success with a happy crowd and lots of curious onlookers very interested in finding out what was going on from the front room.

Next gig is probably early '09 - stay tuned to dpad.com.au for more details as they come to hand.

Many thanks to Tom, Adrian, Alex, Maddy, the slurry crew and everyone who made the night a success.

The countdown is on

2008-11-15T17:16:00.002+11:00

Only 6 more days to go until Sound Bytes returns for round 2.

We'll be kicking the night off from 6pm with some gaming fun in the back room and the MAME box and nintendo on hand as well as the Slurry Beats Collective spinning tunes to get the night started.

Later on the live noise kicks in and we take over the whole venue with 10K, dot.AY and Talkshow Boy on hand and guaranteed to get you moving.

Flyers have been distributed around town (tip - check out our friends at Dungeon Crawl if you want to lay your hands on one) so to get in for just $7 make sure you grab one while you can.

Have a great week!

Flyer's Out

2008-11-02T23:03:00.003+11:00

Well... almost! By the weekend the flyer for the November 21, Sound Bytes gig @Softbelly bar will be hitting the streets of Melbourne, getting holders $7 entry (instead of $10) to the gig. The flyer looks fantastic (if we do say so ourselves) and is definitely worth grabbing for your wall/desk/viewing pleasure.

If you want to get your hands on one leave a comment so we can let you know which of your fave gaming stores/cafes etc to hit for cheaper entry. Til then, check it out to the left!

Artist Lineup

2008-10-25T09:14:00.004+11:00

Great news!
We have managed to confirm most of our line up for the 21/11 gig.
The night will be a big one (sheerly taking into account the number of people performing!)

10k Free Men & Their Families, as previously mentioned, will be back in Melbourne, rocking out with his gameboy out.
Dot.AY will be making his way to Melbourne from Sunny QLD for some breakcore influenced 8-bit sounds.
Melbourne's own Talkshow Boy will also be performing some of his impressive, hilarious and downright awesome rhymes over some sweet beats.
And, of course Slurry Beats Collective will be back for more DJ interludes, spinning some of the latest and greatest chiptunes.

As always, more details as they come to hand

News Just in!

2008-10-22T21:50:00.002+11:00

We have just finalised the booking at Softbelly for our next gig!
Soundbytes v2.0 will take place at Softbelly on Little Bourke st, Melbourne on November 21st.

We are still finalising the line up, but 10,0000 Free Men and their Families returns to Melbourne for what will hopefully be another sell out gig.

Don't forget to keep a close eye on the page for more details as we have them!

2008-10-18T14:41:00.000+11:00

Wow, what a night! We had a capacity crowd at Bunker Lounge last night for dpad's first live chiptune gig and all I can say is (from our, biased POV) was that it was a massive success with a capacity crown and people were apparently getting turned away at the door which well exceeded our expectations (although next time people, buy more drinks so we get our deposit back!!)

The night consisted of four very different styles of live chip as well as DJ interludes between sets to keep the party going. Featuring Derris-Kharlan, little-scale, 10K freemen and their families and hidden village as well as the slurry beats collective, the night was jam packed with some amazing tunes and few moments of hilarity too.

Despite a couple of early issues with the sound levels during Derris-Kharlans set (and some general issues with the sound at Bunker in general really) the music was great and, additionally the added bonus of Talkshow Boy and MC Frogger in a spur of the moment "battle of the babble" was fantastic.

Highlights of the night?
Non musically -

everyone who came in the door got very excited about the pacman door stamp
the rat that was hanging out near the girls toilets (yeah, sure, blame the restaurant upstairs bunker)
the snes set up that meant that people were having their own little mario kart tournaments

Musically, for me was definitley 10kfm&tf - the amount of energy in that room was amazing and the crowd went absolutely off. The music was a hell of a lot of fun and it is completely obvious that 10k does what he does for him and not to please anyone else (even though it DOES please others) and the obvious enjoyment he got from making music just fed throughout the venue.

Thank you SO much, to Seb, Lauren, Nathan and Tom for performing (and als very much for the pleasure of their company) and to the Slurry boys for all their help in getting everything set up and ready to go.

Next up, we are looking at a gig on the weekend of 22/11... More details as they come to hand!

Here we go again!