 Well, we started Blip Festival about six years ago, and before that I was running a nonprofit performing arts space here in New York called The Tank, and at The Tank I was booking in all sorts of different electronic music, and some of the guys who started coming around were people that were involved with chip music, which I had never heard of before I started booking it. When that sort of picked up steam and got bigger and bigger, we hit a point where it made sense to sort of do one big annual thing where we could bring this whole community together, and that was the first Blip Festival back in 2006. The festival has evolved a lot. I mean, just technically every year it's gotten bigger and better. I think every time we do it, we just kick it up a notch. I wanted to make chiptune before I knew what chiptune was. There are a few different ways that people come into the chip scene, I think. There are people who enter in as, you know, I grew up playing video games and I love this nostalgic factor. There are a lot of people that come in from an electronic music perspective. I think chiptune and video games are two separate worlds, and it's interesting to see where they intersect. I think for a lot of people, video games is a very strong entry point to chiptune, but I think that they'll be surprised at where they wind up. Obviously they're using retro hardware, right? This is stuff that a lot of us grew up, you know, I grew up playing on a Game Boy or playing with an Atari, but what's interesting is that a lot of the people that are on the scene right now didn't, right? You hit a point where there are people who are, you know, 18, 19, 20 years old who are doing this stuff that never grew up with this stuff. They grew up in a time when this was like already sort of the ancient past. Nostalgia definitely plays a part in chip music, but to me it's so much more fun when I have a fan who's 16 years old and like loves the Game Boy sound that never played an NES game or has never played a Game Boy game, and nostalgia is no part of that. And to me what that says is this sound palette is robust enough and cool enough and has enough character on its own to really stand by itself, and it's not just nostalgia driving it, there's a legitimacy to it. A very important part of the Bluette Festival is showing that it's not just chiptune music, it's a lot of different things coming from a lot of different people. This stuff that we're doing is informed by chiptune and it's an element of what we're doing but it's not like the entire picture. We're just trying to recontextualize what it is. These sounds are kind of like becoming popular in pop music, like you literally hear on like pop radio samples of these sorts of things. I personally would like it just to stay my own little niche theme forever, but I think it will grow. I think the inclusion of chip music in mainstream music is actually a really good thing. I just went on tour, I played a bunch of shows, I was in an opening act, and most of the people who were watching me had never heard chip music, or maybe they've only heard like a song or two, and there's so many different genres that people are making within the chip music scene that, you know, there's something really for everyone. Six years ago I had no idea what chiptune was, I think most people didn't know, and now I can have a conversation with someone who I met on the street who actually knows what chiptune is. I've seen a lot of other electronic music genres and there's lots of amazing people in all of them, but this scene is particularly embracing and open and supportive, and I think that's what's helped the community grow, because people who show up as an audience member one day are, you know, a year later they're playing and they're like an active part of the scene. This is actually my first year performing at Blip Festival, but last year I attended as a fan, and I actually walked away extremely inspired. They have such a wide variety of artists that they get here, and it shows how diverse and expansive the chip music scene is.
 Well, we started Blip Festival about six years ago, and before that I was running a nonprofit
 performing arts space here in New York called The Tank, and at The Tank I was booking in
 all sorts of different electronic music, and some of the guys who started coming around
 were people that were involved with chip music, which I had never heard of before I started
 booking it.
 When that sort of picked up steam and got bigger and bigger, we hit a point where it
 made sense to sort of do one big annual thing where we could bring this whole community
 together, and that was the first Blip Festival back in 2006.
 The festival has evolved a lot.
 I mean, just technically every year it's gotten bigger and better.
 I think every time we do it, we just kick it up a notch.
 I wanted to make chiptune before I knew what chiptune was.
 There are a few different ways that people come into the chip scene, I think.
 There are people who enter in as, you know, I grew up playing video games and I love this
 nostalgic factor.
 There are a lot of people that come in from an electronic music perspective.
 I think chiptune and video games are two separate worlds, and it's interesting to see where
 they intersect.
 I think for a lot of people, video games is a very strong entry point to chiptune, but
 I think that they'll be surprised at where they wind up.
 Obviously they're using retro hardware, right?
 This is stuff that a lot of us grew up, you know, I grew up playing on a Game Boy or playing
 with an Atari, but what's interesting is that a lot of the people that are on the scene
 right now didn't, right?
 You hit a point where there are people who are, you know, 18, 19, 20 years old who are
 doing this stuff that never grew up with this stuff.
 They grew up in a time when this was like already sort of the ancient past.
 Nostalgia definitely plays a part in chip music, but to me it's so much more fun when I have
 a fan who's 16 years old and like loves the Game Boy sound that never played an NES game
 or has never played a Game Boy game, and nostalgia is no part of that.
 And to me what that says is this sound palette is robust enough and cool enough and has enough
 character on its own to really stand by itself, and it's not just nostalgia driving it, there's
 a legitimacy to it.
 A very important part of the Bluette Festival is showing that it's not just chiptune music,
 it's a lot of different things coming from a lot of different people.
 This stuff that we're doing is informed by chiptune and it's an element of what we're
 doing but it's not like the entire picture.
 We're just trying to recontextualize what it is.
 These sounds are kind of like becoming popular in pop music, like you literally hear on like
 pop radio samples of these sorts of things.
 I personally would like it just to stay my own little niche theme forever, but I think
 it will grow.
 I think the inclusion of chip music in mainstream music is actually a really good thing.
 I just went on tour, I played a bunch of shows, I was in an opening act, and most of the people
 who were watching me had never heard chip music, or maybe they've only heard like a
 song or two, and there's so many different genres that people are making within the chip
 music scene that, you know, there's something really for everyone.
 Six years ago I had no idea what chiptune was, I think most people didn't know, and
 now I can have a conversation with someone who I met on the street who actually knows
 what chiptune is.
 I've seen a lot of other electronic music genres and there's lots of amazing people
 in all of them, but this scene is particularly embracing and open and supportive, and I think
 that's what's helped the community grow, because people who show up as an audience
 member one day are, you know, a year later they're playing and they're like an active
 part of the scene.
 This is actually my first year performing at Blip Festival, but last year I attended
 as a fan, and I actually walked away extremely inspired.
 They have such a wide variety of artists that they get here, and it shows how diverse and
 expansive the chip music scene is.