If It's Too Loud...

Sunday was the fourth and final day of this year's Boston Bitdown. It was originally scheduled to take place at Moon Base One, but was moved fairly last minute to Bit Bar after Moon Base One's licensing issues. As much as I love the original venue, a video game music festival taking place in an arcade just makes sense. Also, it gave everyone something to do between bands, as much of the stage area cleared out so attendees could play arcade games and pinball. Here's what I saw Sunday afternoon! Opening the day was +LET'S DISINFECT+. Out of Philadelphia, this is a one man band horror punk meets chiptune artist. It was a set of kick ass punk songs about Predator , Night of the Living Dead , and the Saw series... just with video game sounds within the songs. Horror and video games have always gone hand in hand, and this was a perfect pairing that helped set the tone for the day. Plus, songs about horror movies are always going to be a hit in Salem, especially considering we...

Last year's Boston Bitdown was one of my unexpected musical highlights of 2025. I was only able to make it one night last year, but I was blown away by how diverse a festival of chiptune bands could be, and how much fun I had. I wanted to make it to more dates in 2026, but life and family obligations prevented me from taking in as much of the festival as I wanted. I made it on Saturday to bounce between Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theater and The Rockwell. I wasn't able to take everything in, but what I saw was fun and great. The first artist I saw wasn't chiptune at all, but still fit in with the vibe of the festival. Boston Typewriter Orchestra are one of those artists I've been meaning to check out, and Saturday night was my chance. They're a band that consists of all members playing typewriters. Yes, virtually every sound coming from the stage is coming from an old fashioned, non-electric typewriter. It's the sound from the keys, drumming on the back, bel...

One of my musical highlights of 2025 was attending one of the nights of Boston Bitdown. I wasn't sure what to expect from a chiptune festival, but I was pleasantly surprised by how diverse based on Gameboy samples could be, and just how much fun it was. This year sees Boston Bitdown expand to four nights (March 5-8) and taking over eight venues throughout Somerville, Medford, Arlington, and Salem. We had some questions about what to expect this year, so we reached out to David "Biff" Jabinsky of Boston Bitdown (and Battlemode) to fnd out some more! If you're looking for tickets, who is playing this year, and some more info, check out the festival's website . First question we have to ask: What is chiptune? David “Biff” Jubinsky: It’s video game music! There are deeper, convoluted, conversations out there about the definition of chiptune, but to keep it simple: It’s music made with Game Boys. What is it about the Game Boy that makes it so popular to create music? I...

Sometimes it's good to step outside of your musical comfort zone, and I don't know how much more I can step outside of mine than by going to a chiptune festival. According to Wikipedia, chiptune is "... a style of electronic music made using the programmable sound generator sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers, and video game consoles." I know some people that would insist that's exactly the type of thing I should be into, but the only chiptune band I'm familiar with is Battlemode, who was putting on the entire festival. Thursday night was the opening night, which took place between The Jungle Community Music Club and Warehouse XI. I got to the venues late due to real life, and I walked into Warehouse XI just as Saoirse Dream started. When you're exploring a new genre, sometimes it takes a little while to adjust to what exactly was happening. The first thing that surprised me was how many traditional instruments were being used...