Earlier this year, I challenged the VGM community to create a 5-track cover album in a year. As you might expect, plenty of people rose to the challenge and have been hard at work creating arrangements, recording instruments, and researching marketing strategies. While these albums aren’t going to be ready for a few more months, I thought now would be the perfect time to introduce the GameGrooves Album Challengers!

Audio Mocha

Short Bio: I'm a Colombian surf rock and surf-adjacent electric guitarist that loves to play music, play video games, skate and ride my bikes.

Theme Choice: I chose to do a Xenoblade Chronicles surf-inspired album as my theme because I absolutely love the series, but I haven't had the chance to cover much from it. I’ve covered and released one song from the first game, but there is so much more to work with that when the album challenge was announced, I knew it was time to finally make the album I've been wanting to make for years.

Is This Your First Album: This is not my first album; it will be my third after my first two efforts, Super Surf Bros and The Radventure of Link.

Chernabogue

Short Bio: I’m a jurist by day and video game music composer by night! Under the “Chernabogue” moniker, I like to explore different genres and bring originality to my arrangements. Whether it’s metal, orchestra, or electronic music, I don’t like to stay in one place, and I always try to discover new musical possibilities. You may have heard my work on games such as Super Smash Flash 2, Wallachia: Reign of Dracula, Castlevania: Seal of the Eclipse, and on albums from OverClocked ReMix, Pixel Mixers, and, of course, GameGrooves!

Theme Choice: Pokémon is shown as a very friendly world. However, I’m pretty sure that a 10-year-old entering a cave or an abandoned factory wouldn't be as fun as one can imagine. I’m always looking for original ideas and an overall theme when working on an album, and this is the dark side of the world of Pokémon I want to show.

Is This Your First Album: Far from it :)

GeanoFee

Short Bio: GeanoFee is a singer, songwriter, and producer with wide-ranging vocal versatility and a knack for nostalgia and role-play. GeanoFee first got into music at the age of 10 by playing the piano in middle school, but it wasn’t until high school that he discovered his singing voice and received fundamental vocal training while attending a jazz choir as countertenor. His personal influences and role-models are vocalists like Jørn Lande, Adriana Figueroa, and Jack Black, but also Robin Williams because of his unparalleled ability to fit a variety of roles. GeanoFee’s dream job would be a voice actor and/or vocalist for video games, anime, or Disney productions.

Theme Choice: The Kingdom Hearts soundtrack never ceases to amaze, touch or motivate me. The game franchise is so well-crafted, and the OST plays a major role in why these games have such fan support from all over the world. As an artist, I would love to add something to this legacy, and as a fan, I honestly can’t think of a VGM album that touched me more or that I listened to more often than Hearts Intertwined, the Kingdom Hearts Album made by Lizz Robinett and Lowlander.

Is This Your First Album: No, it’s not. I did release 2(ish) albums before.

The first was Kanto at Campfire, where I took each and every track of the original Gen 1 Pokémon games and made an acoustic-campfire-style thing out of it. When I tried to release all of those tracks under the banner of one album, I found out that there is actually a limit to how many titles can be on a single album, so I had to divide it into “Vol. 1” and “Vol. 2”.

My second album (Pokémon LoFi: Turn the Leaf) actually built up on a few of the arrangements I did for Kanto at Campfire and just felt like a very natural extension to my artist profile, back then.

Right now, I am working on a 5 track EP for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 themed covers, to make some use of what I have learned through the Game Grooves Album Challenge, already. Nevertheless, this particular project is very special to me, since the opportunities for personal growth, qualified feedback, and reliable strategies for all sorts of things during the entire process of album creation and publishing have never been that accessible for me, and I am very grateful for the chance to participate.

Ian Martyn

Short Bio: I’m a California-based VGM singer and multi-instrumentalist who has been involved in the VGM community since 2015. I enjoy exploring and mixing different genres through my VGM arrangements. I’ve been involved with various VGM groups and projects over the years such as Na Daoine Laghairt, Darby & Ian, The Travelers VGM, Virtual Video Game Ensemble (VVGO), Washington Metropolitan Gamer Symphony Orchestra (WMGSO), Gamer Tag, Life Stream, Free the Green Beans, and the Bwak Choir, as well as submitting regular entries to Dwelling of Duels. I've also played in non-VGM bands and groups like BONEHENGE, Gygax, Gamelan Sinar Surya, the Folk Orchestra of Santa Barbara, Garnets of Kurgan, AstroTuna, Mono Twins, and Glitter Fish. I received my B.A. from UCLA and my M.A. in Ethnomusicology from UC Davis.

Theme Choice: The VGM community is full of amazing singers, and I absolutely love hearing vocals in VGM, but there are not enough VGM duets where the vocals are the focus. I also want to highlight the collaborative aspect of the VGM community. For me, collaboration is one of the most important and fun aspects of making video game music, and I’m glad that I'll be able to showcase different singers on this album.

Is This Your First Album: This isn’t my first album. I released my first solo VGM album at the end of 2016, but I’ve come a long way since then. In 2020, I released an album of English folksongs on the Irish bouzouki, and in 2021, I released an album of Zelda music on the low whistle. I recently released two collections of original music that I wrote for game jams. I also co-produced several albums with The Travelers VGM. In terms of solo releases, I have mostly released singles recently, so I am excited to explore making a more cohesive album.

Joshua Iyer

Short Bio: Joshua Iyer is a violin/piano teacher and freelance composer who has only recently started exploring the wide world of producing VGM. He studied classical composition, violin, and piano throughout college. His first VGM arrangements were simple videos of him playing the violin back in 2012, but recently he has done several longer covers and collaborations on other YouTube channels.

Theme Choice: I have a vague memory of watching TV in 2007 as a kid: a segment about how the new Mario game for Nintendo Wii would feature a live orchestra playing the soundtrack. This was the year I started learning the violin and playing in my school’s string orchestras, and the two Mario Galaxy games became my favorites mainly due to the stellar cinematic scores. It’s been almost 15 years since then (wait, whaat??), and I knew I had to honor one of my favorite gaming OSTs with a full album to play on my violin.

Is This Your First Album: Yes it is! I am working with a friend on a separate album with an original piece, but this is my first album I’ll be working on myself for its release. Honored to have the support of GameGrooves as I learn the ropes in this endeavor.

Lucas Guimaraes

Short Bio: Web developer by day, game developer by night. I’m currently focused on producing assets as quickly as possible to the highest quality. So, I contribute to a lot of album projects, and I’m trying to level up my art and music skills with this challenge!

Theme Choice: I love Super Mario Bros–the whole franchise. Especially the RPG's. I went with a genre I knew I could knock out of the park. Some of the arrangements had been stirring in my head for quite a while, but seeing all of them come to life is a whole new feeling.

Is This Your First Album: This is my first album! By the time it comes out, it might not be. We'll see.

Meg Markwith

Short Bio: Meg is a Connecticut-based musician holding a Bachelor of Music in Oboe Performance and a Master of Education in Kodály Music Education. She teaches private voice, piano, and oboe lessons to students of all ages as well as music directing for community theaters, acting as a worship leader for her church, and accepting gigs as a freelance musician. Meg joined the VGM community relatively recently, starting off with a broad music-based YouTube channel that has slowly focused on the genre. When not making music, she can be found with her husband playing with their two dogs, reading, or getting started on a craft she may or may not finish.

Theme Choice: I've always had such bittersweet emotions at the end of games. Most people skip over the end credits if possible, but the tracks have always given me somewhere to place those emotions and a really great way to remember the whole experience of that game. I hope this album can be that for some others while exploring the love and loss that so many of them express.

Is This Your First Album: Yes!

VGMJeese

Short Bio: Hi! My name is VGMJeese, but you can call me Jeese if you’re cool with that! I've been a musician for about 13 years now, but I’ve only just entered the world of Video Game Music two years ago. I love nearly all types of music, but I specialize in writing metal music, which drew me in at a young age and has kept me enthralled all these years later. When I wanted to get serious and make a career with music, I decided that I wanted to mix two of my favorite things: metal music and video games. That has led me down the path I am now, and I couldn’t be any happier with where I’m headed! I hope you can join me for the ride!

Theme Choice: I chose to make covers of the music from Zelda dungeons. Zelda has always been close to my heart, so I wanted to lean into that, but I also wanted to test my skills in rearranging music that is naturally very atmospheric.

Is This Your First Album: This is not my first album. At the time of writing this email, my debut album, Metal Mana, is undergoing the final stages of its production and will be releasing in early September of this year (2022). Dungeon Crawler, the album born from this challenge, will be my second.

Meet the GameGrooves Album Challengers!