A Conversation with 8 Bit Weapon
When the curtain rises on "The Art of Video Games" this weekend, attendees will hear the music of 8 Bit Weapon as they enter the exhibit, including a theme song specifically composed for it. Subsequent visitors to the Smithsonian (and when the exhibition goes on tour) will be treated to their sounds as well, but those in attendance of the opening will get to enjoy a live performance from Seth and Michelle Sternberger, the duo collectively known as 8 Bit Weapon.
@LinerNotes: Let's start by talking about how you became involved with "The Art of Video Games".
Seth: The curator, Chris Melissinos, has been a fan and a friend for probably a decade now. And he called me up and asked me if I wanted to be on the advisory board for the exhibit. How could I say no!? This is probably one of the most significant historical occurrences for video games in our human history.
Michelle: And that was about two years ago, when that all started.
Seth: I was shaking in my boots at how amazing this was and Chris said, OK, I’m going to put you on the advisory board and maybe we can have you guys out to perform at the opening. And I was like WHOA! (At this point Seth really does make an excited "Whoa" sound for emphasis) My god that’s amazing, we’d love to, if it happens. I mean, we get a lot of projects that don’t…
Michelle: Pan out?
Seth: Pan all the way out. So about a year ago now, I sent Chris Melissinos an email saying what if we did some sort of anthem for this exhibit? And he said that’s a great idea, why don’t you work on it and see what you come up with. So time passed, and at E3 last year, the Smithsonian people, came to see us play.
Video of one of 8 Bit Weapon's E3 2011 performances.
Georgina Goodlander (of the Smithsonian American Art Museum) and her team came out and they were really impressed with us and they sent us an email, independently of Chris, saying hey, we saw your show, we’d love some music for our exhibit if you could provide some. She cc’d Chris and he says, "hey, we were just talking about this. Take it away, Seth!" So I sent them the music and they all loved it. They got a demo of the anthem. They didn’t get the finished product. In fact, the anthem that plays at the Smithsonian will be slightly different than the one on our new album (Bits With Byte) because it’s still yet an earlier version than the release.
@LinerNotes: Was "The Art of Video Games Anthem" a co-production?
Seth: I think I wrote most of it. It was a thing where I had started some things and I’d run things by Michelle and see if she wanted to add to it or anything. But that started out on Game Boy and we added some Commodore 64 to the bass.
Michelle: A lot of times Seth goes on work trips and he’ll bring his Game Boy and come back with a new song and that was one of them. And so when he comes back with a new song, he’ll show me what he wrote and a lot of times I will say, “oh, it would sound good if you did that noise here” you know. So we collaborate but that song was definitely written by Seth.
Seth: You have a lot of time at airports and hotels for my day job, so I just noodle around with the Game Boy, but now that I have Ableton Live, I can take my whole studio on the laptop and import sound directly off the Game Boy or whatever I’ve got with me.
@LinerNotes: On that note, when you go on the road to perform, how difficult is it to travel with your unique instruments?
Michelle: That’s something we always have to think about, even going on our trip to the Smithsonian.
Seth: Something we dread every time especially with this trip because we’re going to be taking an SX-64, the quote "portable Commodore 64" unquote.
Michelle: But that’s going on board with us. We’re definitely going to be stopped.
Seth: The thing is, they’re going to put that through the scanner and they are going to be like we want to open it and that’s bolted. It’s one unit.
Michelle: We always get stopped (by the TSA) they’re always wiping everything down and checking it. Which is fine. We have to just know that that’s going to happen.
Seth: When we went on tour in 2010 we packed things a certain way to make things fit and they unpack it all and it’s a nightmare to put it back in and then catch your flight.
Michelle: There’s video of us in Georgia on YouTube of this happening.
Seth: Yeah and it’s an edited short version of what happened.
Michelle: We’ve tried checking things in but that’s a big mistake because they just get crunched.
Seth: We were in Sweden once, going back to Germany and we could only carry on one bag.
Michelle: It was a very small flight.
Seth: We had to check one bag in and it had our Commodore 128 in it. And we said can you put Fragile on it and they said sure. They put a Fragile sticker on it and then they put it on the conveyor belt, and you watch the conveyor belt and it gets to a thing and it goes DOOT! WHOOSH! It drops! The next show we were at, we turn on the Commodore and there’s a (Seth imitates the unwelcome noise).
Michelle: That’s why we have to really think it through, what we’re going to bring on board. Because we want to control how it’s going to get thrown about!
@LinerNotes: Can you give us a preview of what songs your performances at the Smithsonian will include?
Seth: We are definitely going to be playing "The Art of Video Games Anthem". We’re going to play "Bits With Byte".
Michelle: We’re playing what’s going to be in the exhibit itself, so definitely those three songs from 8 Bit Weapon and two songs from ComputeHer. (ComputeHer is Michelle's nom de guerre when playing her solo material) It’s the entrance music that they are playing on loop.
@LinerNotes: When the exhibition goes on tour will your music be going on tour with it?
Seth: Yes, it’s a permanent resident and they’re going to be touring for five years across the country and, I think maybe parts of Canada. Who knows after that.
Michelle: We even have some news that we haven’t even announced yet. We’re going to have a CD of hits from both ComputeHer and 8 Bit Weapon in the Smithsonian gift shop with new album art.
Seth: It’s called Chiptopia and it’s the best of 8 Bit Weapon and ComputeHer. There’s 16 tracks.
Michelle: Drew Wise who did our promo video for "Bits With Byte".
Seth: He and I actually did the artwork together.
If you are in the Washington, DC area this weekend, by all means you should be checking out the opening of "The Art of Video Games" and the live performances of 8 Bit Weapon at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Check out details about the exhibition and its upcoming tour, right here!
This is Part 1 of an extended conversation with 8 Bit Weapon. Follow this blog and watch for Part 2!
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