Peppermint Pony and Us. You've heard his crazy 8bit songs; at least you should have by this point in time. If you haven't, stop reading this right now and get your optical nerve endings over to his profile and let the auditory glory fill you with joy. Not joking, go look at his profile and listen, if you haven't, cause you're really missing out. So now that we know his music, let's meet the musical man with a vision, a vision that takes the games of yesterday and turns them into the music of tomorrow (or at least today.)
8bit: So, Peppermint Pony, why did you choose music as a profession?
PMP: I don't really consider music to be my profession. Do you? I think it would be amazing to have the opportunity to consider it a profession, but as of right now, I just feel like a 17 year old kid trying to make noises. Profession or not, after all is said and done, it's still art.
8bit: So let's talk about which musicians have influenced you the most throughout your life?
PMP: Over the years, I've had so many musicians influence me including [but not limited to] Otto Von Schirach, Bit Shifter, Aphex Twin, The Misfits, Melt Banana, Venetian Snares, Neon Hunk, 8 Bit Weapon, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Masonna, Kid606, Matmos, Dead Kennedys, The Locust, Merzbow, Temp Sound Solutions, and tons and tons of other bizarre artists. I'm only influenced by other musicians to an extent, because the majority of what I creative comes from my own imagination. But it's undeniable that all of those artists [and more] have done something to help or inspire me at one point or another.
8bit: So how long have you been making your own music?
PMP: I've been doing solo stuff for about 4 or 5 years, which I see as a pretty long time considering my age.
8bit: Why use platforms as instruments when there are gads of other types out there?
PMP: To me, there's a whole philosophy behind it. I could use all kinds of top-notch state of the art bullshit to make music, but that's not what I'm trying to do. It's a personal challenge for me to take these lo-fi sounds that I get from Gameboys, Commodore 64s, and Atari 2600s, disfigure them as much as I can, and associate them with genres that no one in the micromusic scene is really doing at this time. It gives me a good chance to push the limits not only with sound, but also with genre. Besides, working with video game consoles gives me the opportunity to be a part of the chiptune scene and meet some of the amazing people in it. Basically, I'd rather take a "blip" from a Gameboy, mutate the hell out of it until it sounds like a decent kick drum, than go on my PC and download a program that makes the same sound with the push of a button. ...Did I mention that I was poor?
8bit: What other interests and or hobbies do you have outside of music and video games?
PMP: Homicide
8bit: Yes; all right good answer. Let's move along, then: what games have influenced you the most?
PMP: I've played video games since I was a little kid and they've always been a part of my music, but I've never actually been influenced by any specific games. The entire concept of using those blips and bleeps to compose a song was influence enough if you ask me.
8bit: What games are you currently playing and can we expect to hear samples of them in the future?
PMP: I'm not going to lie to you guys; I'm not really into playing video games. I've had to sell a lot of my games and consoles to get new music equipment [even though most of that equipment was just other game systems that I didn't have any games for]. Some of my favorite games are: Zombies Ate My Neighbors [SNES], Resident Evil 2 [Playstation], House of the Dead 2 [Arcade], Doom [PC], and of course Castlevania [NES]. As far as sampling goes, you won't hear much out of Peppermint Pony. In the past, I've sampled one video game [Bible Adventures for the NES], a few horror movies [Night of the Living Dead, and House on Haunted Hill (not the remake)], but as of now, I'm not as eager to deal with them.
8bit: Well, at least you've got good taste in what you have played. So what kind of sounds are we expecting from your upcoming work and can you give us an inkling as to when we might get our hands on them?
PMP: he new material has a very glitchy, drum heavy, mildly danceable sound. It's hard to pin point what it sounds like, but it's defiantly a step-up from my earlier work. I've gained a new love for the sound of glitching, so I'm using it much more lately. I've got song names that (like usual) rip-off horror movies and things of that nature. I'm close to finishing a new EP that will have 6 songs on it that I'm hoping to get released by a new record label. The songs I'm working on are a lot more personal to me. I'm putting a lot more effort into each one and getting very detailed about everything. This EP will sound a lot more collective than other releases I've done, and less like a mixtape of random songs. I even jokingly made up a genre for the new EP called "Horror Breakbit". It should be finished within the next 2 months. After a good vacation of sitting back since Christmas [with a severe case of writer's block] I'm finally getting back in the game and will be getting a lot more active in my music and hopefully a lot more popular. The forthcoming EP is actually more of a Promotional release, because I plan on taking the songs from this EP and making a Full Length album with hopefully up to 50 tracks. There is one song from the new EP on my myspace.
8bit: A song that we love, however, on a more personal note besides the recent change in things, why is it you haven't kept a blog for your fans to read as a tool to keep up on you?
PMP: Well, my biggest problem is the lack of an actual website because of expenses, but I see where you're coming from with a blog. I've never really thought about it... Actually, with most of my fans, I try to keep in touch with on a regular basis [to an extent]. I have a lot of fans that talk to me on AIM or e-mail me, and I do my best to talk to them and let them know what's going on, but when something important happens, I do my best to let everyone know. After hearing that question, I'm thinking maybe I should start some kind of blog.
Thank you for the interview and Thank you to 8BitRevenge for the support of Peppermony Pony
So that about wraps us up, go check out the new EP on his profile and add him to your group of friends as he's one worth having.
-Interview by 8-bit Brian.