Thank you so much for sharing this! We need to recognize our wins and keep up hope to fuel our actions in the future, so I hope you know how important your contributions to that are. Have a lovely day!!
Here is a win I'd definitely celebrate. But first, some background:
Back in 1999, the band American Football released their eponymous debut record on Polyvinyl Records, and it was the start of a cult indie rock band and my favorite record label! The house depicted on the cover was a house in Champaign, Illinois, and it would become a Kaaba-like landmark in the independent rock landscape.
Meanwhile, in October 2008, I went to see a nerdy hip-hop show, and one of the acts consisted of a singer, a bassist, a guitarist, and some woman (who at the time everybody (including herself) mistakenly thought was a man) *playing the game boy as the instrument*! I asked her how she did it, and she said she put LSDJ (music-producing software for the Nintendo Game Boy) on a flash game boy cartridge! That was my first taste of chiptune! Her name in the chiptune scene was "Zen Albatross".
In December 2008, I then heard of Anamanaguchi playing at the Penny Arcade Expo, heard their track "Helix Nebula", fell in love at first listen, and heard about the 2008 Blip Festival…*the day after it ended!* But that's okay, Anamanaguchi was playing at a pub in Times Square, and that's when we first met. I went to all of their shows in NYC, and in 2009, I bought a game boy cartridge with LSDJ, and started making my own music. I would also make friends with artists in this scene. I released my debut EP in 2010, and had my first show in a bar in the East Village, whither every member of Anamanaguchi came to see me! In December 2011, I released my first LP, The Aftermath. Zen Albatross gave me some tips to make it better. I then expanded to making music for the Sega Genesis, NES, and Super NES, and some non-chiptune electronic music (the latter under the name "Teepo Familiar"). Over time, I would be close friends with Anamanaguchi, as the Drummer Luke Silas had a side project called "Knife City" and they (meaning Luke) made a remix of one of my tracks and I made a remix of one of their tracks! Meanwhile, around 2015 or so, Zen Albatross was transitioning into her true self as a woman and chose the name Janus Rose for herself. Anamanaguchi, meanwhile, soared new heights by making the soundtrack to the Scott Pilgrim Video Game and the Scott Pilgrim Netflix TV show, and releasing their first LP Endless Fantasy in 2013 and [USA] in 2019.
Oh, and you know that Polyvinyl Records to which American Football signed? Anamanaguchi signed to them, too!
Which brings us to yesterday. Yesterday, they announced a new record (and pre-order!) on Polyvinyl Records for August 8, 2025, and they announced a free show in a small club to boot (much smaller than the venues in which they usually play). And you know what? All my friends in the chiptune scene showed up, including Janus Rose! I also got to hear new, unreleased tracks that will be on "Anyway" from the band, so I had a fun time, I looked *hot*, made new friends, reintroduced myself to old friends as "Leah" (though people knew me as my dead-but-legal-name), and saw an awesome band live! I was really happy last night and I'm still high off the thrill of it all!
Thanks, Ben. I really needed this today.
thank you for this article. it has changed my mindset profoundly and I am much happier now. we can do this.
Good insight 😃. Can i translate part of this article into Spanish with links to you and a description of your newsletter?
Thank you so much for sharing this! We need to recognize our wins and keep up hope to fuel our actions in the future, so I hope you know how important your contributions to that are. Have a lovely day!!
Thank you, Ben. Framing it this way is helping me cope.
Here is a win I'd definitely celebrate. But first, some background:
Back in 1999, the band American Football released their eponymous debut record on Polyvinyl Records, and it was the start of a cult indie rock band and my favorite record label! The house depicted on the cover was a house in Champaign, Illinois, and it would become a Kaaba-like landmark in the independent rock landscape.
Meanwhile, in October 2008, I went to see a nerdy hip-hop show, and one of the acts consisted of a singer, a bassist, a guitarist, and some woman (who at the time everybody (including herself) mistakenly thought was a man) *playing the game boy as the instrument*! I asked her how she did it, and she said she put LSDJ (music-producing software for the Nintendo Game Boy) on a flash game boy cartridge! That was my first taste of chiptune! Her name in the chiptune scene was "Zen Albatross".
In December 2008, I then heard of Anamanaguchi playing at the Penny Arcade Expo, heard their track "Helix Nebula", fell in love at first listen, and heard about the 2008 Blip Festival…*the day after it ended!* But that's okay, Anamanaguchi was playing at a pub in Times Square, and that's when we first met. I went to all of their shows in NYC, and in 2009, I bought a game boy cartridge with LSDJ, and started making my own music. I would also make friends with artists in this scene. I released my debut EP in 2010, and had my first show in a bar in the East Village, whither every member of Anamanaguchi came to see me! In December 2011, I released my first LP, The Aftermath. Zen Albatross gave me some tips to make it better. I then expanded to making music for the Sega Genesis, NES, and Super NES, and some non-chiptune electronic music (the latter under the name "Teepo Familiar"). Over time, I would be close friends with Anamanaguchi, as the Drummer Luke Silas had a side project called "Knife City" and they (meaning Luke) made a remix of one of my tracks and I made a remix of one of their tracks! Meanwhile, around 2015 or so, Zen Albatross was transitioning into her true self as a woman and chose the name Janus Rose for herself. Anamanaguchi, meanwhile, soared new heights by making the soundtrack to the Scott Pilgrim Video Game and the Scott Pilgrim Netflix TV show, and releasing their first LP Endless Fantasy in 2013 and [USA] in 2019.
Oh, and you know that Polyvinyl Records to which American Football signed? Anamanaguchi signed to them, too!
Which brings us to yesterday. Yesterday, they announced a new record (and pre-order!) on Polyvinyl Records for August 8, 2025, and they announced a free show in a small club to boot (much smaller than the venues in which they usually play). And you know what? All my friends in the chiptune scene showed up, including Janus Rose! I also got to hear new, unreleased tracks that will be on "Anyway" from the band, so I had a fun time, I looked *hot*, made new friends, reintroduced myself to old friends as "Leah" (though people knew me as my dead-but-legal-name), and saw an awesome band live! I was really happy last night and I'm still high off the thrill of it all!
So that's my good queer news!