The Protomen

Game Music

Rock Band 4 New Announced Tracks Include The Protomen

August 25, 2015 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Rock Band 4 New Announced Tracks Include The Protomen Share this

A few new tracks were dropped yesterday to be added to the current 60-some tracks currently bundled into the upcoming Rock Band 4 game. Among the likes of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Cake was an surprising inclusion of a band we’ve seen floating around the VGM scene for a while; The Protomen.

Best known to many within the game music cover scene as a band that is loosely based around the Mega Man franchise, they also sport a hefty amount of original concept albums, which seems to be what helped land them in Rock Band 4. The song featured, “Light Up The Night” is on their 2009 album Act II: The Father of Death. The album itself, while composed of original music, is meant to be a rock opera that tells the story of the relationship between Mega Man’s creator Doctor Light and his eventual nemesis Dr. Wily and how their relationship developed prior to Wily becoming a madman.

While not game music as we know it, it’s an interesting inclusion to something like Rock Band’s coveted lineup and perhaps could be a gateway for other game-inspired band inclusions in the future, outside of the modding scene.

Rock Band 4 is set to release for the PS4 and Xbox One on October 6th. If you want to learn more about The Protomen, check out our in-depth look at the band.
Chip Music, Events, Game Music

MAGFest 13: Recap

March 25, 2015 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on MAGFest 13: Recap Share this MAGFest 13: Recap

It’s time, once again, for the MAGFest recap. Every year we try to present a small sample of what we experienced at the Music and Gaming Festival. This year’s MAGFest was a little different from previous years. The event not only took place later in the month of January, it also conflicted with the new PAX South event down in Texas. This unintended scheduling dilemma left potential attendees and guests torn between the two events. While it would have been fun to check out the latest addition to the PAX convention circuit, MAGFest has always been the traditional destination for members of the Original Sound Version team. This brings us to today’s recap of the events of MAGFest 13. While it’s impossible for us to experience and cover every panel and concert that the festival has to offer, we always like to provide a glimpse of the madness and excitement that is MAGFest. With that said, here is my brief recap of MAGFest 13. (more…)
Indie Music

Just Who Are The Protomen? Let’s Find Out!

February 1, 2011 | Patrick Gann | 4 Comments Share this

The most surprising act of MAGFest 9 came in the form of “The Protomen.” They actually played two shows, doing Act I and Act II (released as separate albums) back-to-back. But before they got started, I had no idea who they were.

All I knew was that there was a lot of buzz around the convention floor about how amazing they are, especially live. I figured they were just going to do a bunch of Mega Man cover tunes. Boy, was I wrong.

This 10-person rock band developed their own multi-act rock opera based very loosely around the major characters of the Mega Man franchise. The music is entirely original, and entirely crazy. This was some of the most insane performance art I think I will ever see at a convention. Stage props, speaking roles, and a die-hard fanbase that could sing along to every last word. To say that I was intrigued after first seeing them perform is a gross understatement.

But am I really the only one to have not known about them? As it turns out, I wasn’t alone at all. Though The Protomen do have a relatively large cult following, I’d estimate that about half of the MAGFest attendees, the “regulars,” were in the same boat as me. Some where disgruntled over the fact that they weren’t the same “kind” of band as the others. Other Protomen newbies became instant acolytes, diving into their strange, dark, exotic and fun brand of rock and roll.

You can count me with the latter.

It’s primarily because so many in the game music fan-scene haven’t yet heard of The Protomen that I’ve decided to put together a short biographical featurette, which you can find after the jump. Trust me, you don’t want to miss this. (more…)