“Blip Festival 2011 Micro-Report: Night 1” by Matthew Hawkins

Yet it was perhaps Minusbaby who might be remembered the most, perhaps of the entire festival, when all is said and done. When he first got on stage, alongside were various other musicians, with mandolins, clarinets, tubas, and all other manners of instruments. The scene created a buzz in the audience that is simply indescribable, and the same could be said of the amazing mixture of electronic and traditional sounds that followed. Near the end, Richard Caraballo stepped aside and let the clarinetist and others take the spotlight. The crowd was completely transfixed, though in the final stretch, it was funny seeing people give each other looks that read like, "Umm... what's going on here?" It's definitely a performance that people will be talking about for a good while, so dare I say history was made?

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“Mod MTV | 03 | Tecnologias Obsoletas” by Mod MTV

“Nullbits no Scrap MTV (Nullbits on MTV Scrap)” by MTV Scrap

“Uma Pessoa de 8bit (An 8bit Person)” by João Araújo & Nelson Oliveira

• Could you define the 8-bit aesthetic to Fraude’s public? It has become a blanket term to describe images that are, emulate or have been inspired by video game console,arcade and home computer raster images. In other words, old school video game graphics.

• Why and since when minusbaby? I was known as “SYS 64738” — my favorite Commodore 64 command — in 1998 and then realized that that was too comprehensively nerdy so I went with an incidental phrase that ended up holding water. I worked as a tattoo designer in the late 1990s. I would spend time at the tattoo parlor to get an understanding of the way body curves and ink relate. I don’t know why exactly, but customers would ask if I was married and had children. I grew tired of the long answer, so I shortened it to, “I am minus baby.” That was usually enough to momentarily confuse them and halt further personal questions.

There’s a second meaning to the alias that I’ve slowly begun letting out. Maybe next time, though.

• Let’s start with your work… music and visual arts. Which came first?

The visual arts side, well, I’ve been doing that since I was a little kid. One drawing I especially remember is of funny-looking pigeons standing next to a can of Goya® gandules (“pigeon peas” in English). I was four years old.

As far as my music, I began my current phase in 1997 or so with a 4-track tape deck, a cheap sampler, hundreds of records and kids’ toys. In 1999, I’d noticed that those musical experiments were beginning to sound like too many people uploading tunes to scene.org, so I decided to try something different. I downloaded a copy of GoatTracker via stolen internet access in 1999 and incorporated Commodore 64 triangles and squares into what I’d already been writing. Some of the better tunes ended up on Micromusic.net’s “Micro_Superstarz_2000” CD compilation, my first release for 8bitpeoples, “Monkey Patch”, and “Strong Arctic Winds Take Terns”, released by Rappers I Know Records, curiously enough. I don’t even rap.

• How would you define your work?

A few months ago in an 8bit Today interview I managed to describe my work succinctly, so I’ll use it again: “a practice in primitivism, but mostly a stab at trying to continue several traditions at once.” It’s easy to fall into the trappings of pixel art: video game references, very bright colors and esoteric imagery only understood by gamers, so I try for something a bit different. Lately, my work has been either type-heavy or illustration-heavy.

• When, why and how did you start “doing it yourself”?

The tradition of learning a skill solely for the sake of a letter grade or paycheck is quite depressing, so I adopted a do-it-yourself ethic while in high school. I dropped out twice and spent time at museums, libraries, zoos, record shops and on the street instead. I eventually re-enrolled, graduated, got accepted to a fancy arts college and dropped out a year and a half later.

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“Blip Talk with minusbaby” by True Chip Till Death

• Blip: Before you got into making chip music, what type of music or art where you into?

My taste in music and art hasn’t changed drastically since I began making chip music in 1999, but I’ve dug deeper into Brazilian, French and German prog over the past decade. Wonky time signatures haven’t made it into my music, yet, but I’ve adopted a more dissonant, unstable and semi-psychadelic slant to my music that I’ll happily acknowledge as being a direct link to classic, Clube da Esquina-era music coming out of Minas Gerais, Brazil during the early- to mid-1970s; Lô Borges, Milton Nascimento, Beto Guedes and Nelson Ângelo, especially. Also, string arrangements during that same era by Wagner Tiso and Toninho Horta. All of this, of course, may be traced back to Cartola, Dorival Caymmi and Antônio Carlos Jobim whom, with Vinicius de Moraes and João Gilberto, managed to make sour notes extend into several levels of sophistication, headiness and just a bit of raunchiness.

• Blip: How did you first become aware of the possibility of chip music?

Aside from a passive influence via exposure to Sega, Nintendo and Commodore 64 soundtracks as a kid, I think it all goes back to Ron Hubbard and Matt Simmonds a.k.a. 4mat for many chip musicians, and I’m no exception. Because I was never a super hardcore gaming nerd (bless your souls), I found out about them via the almighty micromusic.net; in their links section. This was in 1999.

• Blip: How does your background influence your current work?

I grew up with a mom who loved salsa, doo-wop and the Beatles, a father who dug boogaloo, a grandfather who played Puerto Rican jíbaro (folk) music and a grandmother with a large Santería record collection. The concert scene from the movie “Wild Style” was filmed up my street; I heard it from my window while it was being recorded. I was six years old. My older brother was a teenage b-boy and DJ who played hip-hop, electro and freestyle and gigged for Irene Cara’s mom once and we’d go to the East Village to pick up used British shoegaze and post-punk records on weekends instead of eating. I’d go to sleep listening dub on a pirate radio station broadcast from somewhere out of Brooklyn during my hair metal period from 1987 to 1988.

I watched Run-D.M.C. film the video for “The Avenue” in 1990, A Tribe Called Quest film the video for “Can I Kick It?” in 1991 (both on my block), fell for jazz in 1992, met C.L. Smooth, Grand Puba and Redman in 1993, dove into electronic music hardcore in 1994, Brazilian music in 1995 and in the same year Henry Threadgill’s record, “Carry the Day”, changed my life sonically and was an introduction to Bill Laswell’s work.

In 1996, I learned to dig old school ska and rocksteady, listened to a lot of exotica and space age pop in 1997, became obsessed with Ninja Tune and Thrill Jockey in 1998, figured out chip music and some of the other stuff I’ve mentioned a couple of questions ago in 1999 and yeah, all of this has definitely influenced me greatly and I’m lucky to have had so much exposure to such a wide range of style from childhood on. It’s all like Lego in my head.

• Blip: Who are you most excited to see at Blip? Why?

I’m really looking forward to the Hunters. I’m a big Coova fan. I’m also curious about Alex Bond a.k.a. Enso, and Jean Y. Kim as first-time Blip Festival visualists this year. Whatever they do, I’m sure it’ll be high-powered.

• Blip: Where do you see your progression as an artist heading? Deeper into chip music, or perhaps something different?

I’ve always been moving in and out of chip music, so I’m going to keep on doing that.

“minusbaby and His Tiny World” by True Chip Till Death

I want to thank WFMU for getting me involved as a curator for the FMA. I'm currently the editor of a Chip Music and Art related blog, True Chip Till Death, and it is my pleasure to show you some of the best tracks coming out of the Chip Music scene.

Knowing the types of readers the FMA has, some of you may have heard of Chip Music before. Documentaries like Reformat the Planet and 8BIT, compilations like 8-BIT OPERATORS, and crews like Micromusic and 8bitpeoples have shown off some of the best and brightest the scene has to offer.The bestest part, however is that the great majority of these tunes are free to download and enjoy (but not for stealing! Bad Timbaland!).

My goal for the FMA is to highlight some of these new releases and classic tracks from the most innovative and exciting artists in the scene. The styles vary almost as much as the use of platforms, from dubstep to indie rock, from the Sega Genesis to the Atari 2600, so there is a lot of ground to cover. Hopefully you'll find some new favorite bands, so lets get started!

Our first featured artist, minusbaby, is a globe trotting citizen of the world, one who's interests are as unique as his takes on the classic video game music sound. Using software that mimics the limitations of various classic consoles like the NES, and Sega Master system, he is seemlessly able to blend various styles of music from hip-hop to samba to afro-funk, and live he expands that sound using an eclectic mix of musicans of all backgrounds and skill levels.

His 2008 release, Saudade for Beginners, released on 8bitpeoples, was a milestone for minusbaby. Alongside his talent at using iconic video game sounds in a way that enhances his composition instead of turning it into a gimmick, he also shows off his visual chops with stunning album artwork and the rare ability to turn electronic based music into something heartfelt and honest.

The five tracks on the release might seem a bit of a tease, so you can check out his live videos which include guest appearance from some of his many collaborators including "Def Jux Records' turntablist, DJ Big Wiz [Aesop Rock, El-P, Mr. Lif], Trackmasters producer, The ARE [Lil' Kim, De La Soul, K-Otix] and the assembly of a samba school".

Upcoming releases in the series (Advanced Saudade?) should see minusbaby further incorporate these explosive live performances into the resulting recordings. Until then also check out the rarities comp "O Que Não Tem Juízo [2003—2006]" on his website.

“minusbaby - Left” by Ian Cofré

It takes a certain point in an artist’s career – after having already developed a rich, personal vocabulary and a command of his tools – to take an inward look and render a self-portrait that is sincere, accurate, and profoundly complex. Richard Alexander Caraballo (minusbaby) has done that with his new album, Left, which reads like a traveler’s journal for his firing synapses.

Left could be the uncovered études of a late 20^th century analog synth experimenter, but intermixed with hip-hop and samba grooves, it is an artifact of the unique outlook of this self-aware, NYC native, deftly moving back and forth between his local and global influences. Monkey Patch [2003] was a playful concept album built around simian references, and Saudade for Beginners [2008], a melancholic stroll steeped in Brazilian rhythms and funk, showed a huge, compositional leap forward. In contrast to his earlier 8bitpeoples (“8BP”) releases, rather than look outward for inspiration, Richard has turned his inner world (or his alter ego as minusbaby, though there’s no indication that he keeps them separate) into the central theme for Left.

The titles insinuate a timeline of milestones, but to think these are mapped-out steps would betray the abstract topography of the author’s extended rumination, an album with a 21-minute span constructed in movements, not so much as songs. Caraballo has distilled his experiences and identifying markers into six iterations that sound like a textured, electric field. Listeners will find themselves enmeshed in his studied grasp of 8-bit orchestration, knowing hints of his earlier, recognizable tracks, and styled, external influences, most apparent in the shifting rhythms woven into constant and insistent bass lines. There is a density in composition that is a mature extension of a technique Richard has been using since Monkey Patch (listen to “Hazardous Salamander” with its oscillating drone and accompanying melody). That same density, however, risks drowning out the subtleties in the interlaced melodies at times, leaving behind only the major musical arcs: ascendant, descendant, and transcendent. The committed explorer will find it more rewarding to find some good speakers or headphones and listen to it all the way through in one sitting.

This album is only limited by its brevity, a consequence of 8BP’s signature 3”-CD release format, allowing for fewer standout and standalone moments. Still, Caraballo, ever the opportunist, uses Left as a departure point to initiate a remix project that will debut in installments. The first, based on the second cut, “A Large Part of Your Mind Sliced,” has already been released, paving the way for subsequent, reflexive portraits. Intent on disregarding boundaries, Richard laid out only one direction: it was a simple statement about the evolutionary success of the half-breed over the purebred. By enlisting mutually respected musicians, minusbaby will get to see how well his musical DNA can live on beyond the album’s limits, subject to these same forces of fragmentation and reconstruction that help define our contemporary identities. Richard’s, of course, is tinted an unmistakable ‘minusbaby blue.’

Ian Cofré is an independent curator based in NYC working in contemporary art, occasionally straying into his overlapping passion for music.

“The Artwork of minusbaby” by Sander van der Borne

[8bit today] How did you grow into working with 8bit? Could you tell us more about the process of involvement?

[Minusbaby] "In 1987, my older brother bought a fancy Commodore 64 workstation; the computer, a monitor, floppy drive, printer plotter, software pack, controllers and a table to put it on. It was a really big deal because that sort of thing was rare in the projects. I grew up in Lillian Wald Houses - public housing on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City.

I paid attention. He showed me some games. Rambo, Montezuma's Revenge and Dino Eggs became my favorites. But there was one piece of software that I really enjoyed - I forget its name now. Cracked by the Chinese Cracking Service, it was for creating animations. I remember that my first ever piece of pixel art was made in that program. It was of a dog pissing on a fire hydrant. It's true. I've always been classy. From there I went on to make talking bears, hands crippled and shaken by arthritis and bouncing breasts. I think the animations were limited to three frames. I was twelve years old. I ended up temporarily forgetting all of that stuff because I was running around my neighborhood drawing all over the bridges, elevators, stairwells and sidewalks with fat markers and paint between trying for high scores in "Frantic Freddy".

In 1995, after dropping out of high school twice out of boredom and eventually graduating from an alternative program and then decidedly not attending the diploma ceremony, I ended up a student at the Cooper Union in New York City. I applied because it was free as was the application process because the guidance counselor at my high school liked me so I was given three fee waivers allowing me to apply to three colleges instead of two. I concentrated in drawing and sculpture for the first three months of the second year until I dropped out.

In 1999, I got my hands on a laptop. I found a cracked copy of Photoshop 5. Because I didn't have a camera nor scanner then, I ended up using the program in the same way I used the C64 animator - I limited myself to using the pencil, line, paint bucket and eraser tools. I did this on the hush hush because I figured people might consider my style an exercise in futility; especially because during that era of web design most things were all exploded and extracted, three-dimensional angles and wireframes beneath miles of large and tiny type and high-tech in a mitochondrial sort of way. I did that stuff, too.

In 2001, Jeremiah Johnson (Nullsleep) and I met and from there I concentrated more on my pixel stuff because all of a sudden there was a need for it. I'm not going to say, "and the rest was history," because that would be pretentious. I still make my own coffee."

[8bit today] Instead of being restricted by limitations, you give the 8bit touch to it by mind. Could you tell more about your process of working?

[Minusbaby] "Because I come from a sort of mixed media background on a several fronts (dependent on what was around and what I could afford) - computer, spray paint, lead, carbon, oil pastels, fake gold leaf, smoke, fire, ink and anything else - I felt that there was no reason for me to stick to traditional pixel art techniques. While I do follow a set of rules based on grids, aspect ratios and aliasing, everything else is fair game. For example, a Commodore 64's palette is limited to sixteen colors. A few months ago, I made a Pulsewave flier using its palette along with darker versions of the original sixteen colors. While some purists have a tough time giving me respect, my color choices and disregard of the screen resolutions of the original consoles and computers set a personal precedent allowing me to do whatever I want, therefore avoiding boredom and inspiring growth. I am done being bothered by conservative crews who can't cope. Besides, it's fun to be naughty and break rules.

YY-CHR, a little program for creating NES sprites, has become a recent favorite. Timanthes by Focus is another handy tool similar to YY-CHR instead with file output for the Commodore 64. But I usually use Photoshop to make my pixel art because it's efficient when I have a ton of illustration gigs to complete. I'm the same way while making music. When I have a bit of downtime and a specific process in mind, I use a tracker. When I have 12,000 miles of ideas to realize and produce, I use software. I've a new interest in using x|k's MIDNES triggered by software and a Roland TR-505 for basslines and percussion. That would be a funky sweet spot between hardware and software. Above all, efficiency and sincerity in practice rather than transparent conservatism is what motivates my work. Oh, and making it nice. That's the passion behind it all.

I've just mentioned this, but I think it's important for me to point out that I approach my music and design in similar ways. I do not translate my subjects and concepts into pixelated, 8-bit versions of the initial idea. Instead, I aim to communicate directly and with squares - square pixels and square waves (although triangular waves are my favorite). I guess it's a practice in primitivism, but mostly a stab at trying to continue several traditions at once. If I must choose, I'd say Mark Rothko, tiles in Portugal, Ndebele homes, airports, the Bauhaus, semiotics, Charles and Ray Eames' output, caipirinhas, dominoes, silhouettes (especially those of women), language inflections, birds and their calls, Charlie Ahearn's Wild Style, fetishism (particularly that of Santería and Candomblé), Saul Bass' movie posters, American Bison, the Sun, Paul Rand's logos, zoos, Herb Lubalin's typography, the romanticization of Latin traditions and routines, László Moholy–Nagy's paintings and alphabets are some of the most dominant signifiers in my work. There are many other reasons for my æsthetic choices, but I'll have to save those explanations for another time or else these paragraphs will end up too much for one book."

[8bit today] Coming from a broader creative background, what role would you see for 8bit in your artistic career for the future? Are there any big plans?

[Minusbaby] "Besides working to improve my skills as a pixel artist, I want to take on commissions that allow me to move my pixel art from flat screens and paper into the round. I've always has a passion for sculpture. I worked as an art restorator's assistant for several years; repairing stone and metal sculptures, fireplaces and objets d'art. I want to cover the usual areas of solid things: toys, clothing, site-specific installations, furniture, video and print installations using entire rooms and expand my materials to include fabric, wood, metal, light and more of the planet without leaving a mess. I've an interest in easing into video performance, too. It would be nice to be able to have control over the visual portion of my live gigs because I don't dance around like a maniac; not yet, anyway. I'd rather have people look at pretty pictures instead of me.

I have a project underway that will, I guess, set me up for my video aspirations. I am curating the first Pulsewave of 2009. Jean Y. Kim, Paris Treantafeles - two friends talented and brilliant on several levels - are collaborating with me on the video portion of that show. It's going to be a combination of epic poem, screenplay, low-bit, digital projection and shadow puppets. Guided by the general direction of each act's style, timbre, texture and instrumentation, we will provide visuals that tell the story of a boy's adventure from morning into the night.

On the purely musical side of things, I'm two-thirds into writing the follow-up to my recent EP, Saudade for Beginners. It will be the second part of a four-release series. For live shows, I've been arranging older tunes and preparing new ones for an on-going series of performances that will feature fancy musicians on fancy instruments. My next big gig will be in April for 8static, a monthly chip music series in Philadelphia. I'm certain Angélica Negrón and José Olivares of Balún will join me on accordion and melodica, Carl Peczynski aka Oxygen Star will be on drums and the rest is still being planned. I'm thinking a full-blown, Brazilian percussion section and if I'm lucky, DJ Big Wiz will be available.

I read Ray Charles' autobiography last year. A few lines resonated strongly. I don't remember the exact words, but he said that he preferred to make a crowd dance as a result of the music making them happy rather than nervous. I like that a lot. I want to do that with my music, design and photography. I want people to feel good and dance.

The rest… I'll be playing that by eye and ear. "