Nerd Music Meltdown

On November 14th, Marc with a C has a new album coming out, appropriately titled Steamed Hams . Definitely a great time to have Marc on the Nerd Music Meltdown one final time. We not only talk about the new album, but also the importance of Pride Month, the end of The Geek Easy, focusing on family, the homogenization of "nerd media," and Marc's documentary. Even some anime talk! You can preorder S...

A whole lot has changed behind the scenes over the last year at video game music netlabel and community GameGrooves . To get us up to speed on the new era of GameGrooves, Kent has Ro Panuganti, Ian Martyn, and Drew Gibson on to talk all about it. They are cookin! We discuss the leadership changes, community involvement on their Discord , what goes into planning their compilation albums, the Ninten...

Justin Taylor and Adam Payne of Final Fantasy metal band Knight of the Round  are on the Meltdown to talk about their upcoming album  Refractions , dropping on April 25th. Pre-order Refractions:  knightoftheround.bandcamp.com/album/refractions Knight of the Round at Warriors of Light II:  youtu.be/uJXNToRJws4 Kent and KOTR also discuss the evolution of the Final Fantasy games, Ergheiz , Power Ston...

This year, Bonus Stage is turning TEN and we have founder Josh Pendlebury on to talk all about it! We also talk about Bonus Stage's transition from virtual to live events, Bonus Stage Ultimate in Vancouver this November, the upcoming VGMCon , the new generation of VGM acts, and touring with video game composer Danny Baranowsky and working on  Crypt/Rift of the NecroDancer . You can follow Bonus St...

Super MAGFest brought us a lot of great music and games, and created some incredible memories we won't forget. To reflect on the weekend, Mr. Ongaku has brought on Ro Panuganti, Alyssa Kalugdan, and Klinkit from Zeldathon to share their favorite moments of the epic MAG weekend. But that's not all! Ongaku Overdrive and Zeldathon are teaming up with the VGM community on Sunday, February 16th to rais...

It's been a while since the last episode of the Nerd Music Meltdown podcast. A lot has happened in the life of Mr. Ongaku himself, and Kent Ward explains it all. Lots of talk about Kent's return to game development, Super MAGFest this week, and what to expect from both Ongaku Overdrive and the Nerd Music Meltdown in 2025. Follow host Kent Ward at  linktr.ee/greatkentward . You can support also our...

We're all taking off for the Sunshine Resort at VGM Con! Taking place April 19th-22nd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, VGM Con celebrate video games and music with live performance, panels, and more! We have Vaughn Rowles of VGM Con and The Bards Quartet along with Theology to talk about the VGM Con experience, what performers and events to look out for, and more. They will even be streaming the Warp St...

We have video game and animation composer, musician, and audio producer Mason Lieberman on Nerd Music Meltdown! His credits include PUBG Mobile , One Piece , Made in Abyss , Soundfall , Apex Legends Mobile , RWBY , and more. We talk about his start through Rooster Teeth and their shutdown, how VGM musicians can break into the game industry, GDC, how he manages his crazy schedule, and his video gam...

SXSW is coming up in Austin, Texas this March and nerdcore will be repped very hard during the festivities with the official SXSW Nerdcore Showcase on March 16th, as well as the Nerdcore Dayz festival March 13th to 15th. We have Shubzilla , Bill Beats , and DJ R.O.C.K.M.A.N. to break it all down and why these events are significant in our community. Some folks like Billy Mitchell also get dragged...

Super MAGFest Prime was 4+ days straight of video games, music, partying, and friends. Kent actually worked for the event and has MAGFest performers Stemage (Metroid Metal), Katy Scary (Klaymore), and Jimmy Granger (Abandon Quest) on to talk about the weekend, favorite moments, getting dance pads and a Mother Brain robot on stage, and more. We also talk about what we want to see at MAGFest next ye...

Happy 2024! We are kicking off the year strong. Super MAGFest 2024 is NEXT WEEK. There are a lot of new acts performing on main stage for the first time, including 88bit and Dom Palombi. We have both on to talk about their road to MAGFest, what they have planned for the weekend, how they have kept success on Twitch, Dom Palombi's upcoming album, and everyone's plans for 2024. Follow 88bit at linkp...

Last episode of the year! GameGrooves has been cookin' in 2023 and have even more to look forward to in 2024. We have the found of GameGrooves, Allen Brasch, on to talk about how GameGrooves operates these days and the challeneges of running a video game music netlabel. Also, what are we doing at Super MAGFest 2024? Find out all that and more! You can follow Game Grooves at gamegrooves.com and gam...

Mahn and Carrie Wood have formed a new symphonic metal band with Masikus called Premium Vintage . (That's a Hades reference.) They just released their debut album, The Symphony of Hades . And we talk all about that, favorite parts of Hades, the upcoming sequel, possible future projects, Sega Saturn, and the upcoming Super MAGFest. Follow Mahn at https://linktr.ee/mahnplaysmusic . Follow Carrie Woo...

The lads are back on Nerd Music Meltdown to melt your faces off! Lame Genie has been tearing it up at conventions and retro game expos all over the country, dominated YouTube, and dropped a bunch of music and still crank out weekly videos! We talk about what Lame Genie has been up to, their song selection technology for live shows, the  Street Fighter 6 OST, Turtles in Time on vinyl, car accidents...

The Keytar Kween Lacey Johnson just played at TwitchCon and now she is back in Orlando this weekend for the OngakuVania II. We talk about that, favorite spooky games, fighting games, playing all over the place, and managing an intense schedule of releasing music, YouTube videos, performing, and even teaching music! How does she do it? OngakuVania II Halloween Party is October 29th at Conduit in Wi...

Back on the show is VGM prog rocker Big Ro Panuganti! His new album "SitarCraft" drops October 20th and will have a heavy amount of Indian music influence. We discuss the album, Indian culture and music in video games, being married to another video game musician, Legend of Zelda , playing more live shows this year, and more. You can preorder SitarCraft at ropanuganti.bandcamp.com/album/sitarcraft...

Representing DUUUVAL with pride are Florida fusion rock video game band The Limit Breakers. We have Jisun, Dani, and Lukas on to talk about what the band has been cooking this year. This includes a super successful Twitch fundraiser that got them to VGM CON, how they maintain a band their size, and their upcoming shows in Jacksonville and Orlando. We even talk about the Jax nerd scene! Follow The...

There is a Marc with a C documentary coming! Half Serious, Half Kidding: The Digital Footprint of an Obscure Rockstar chronicles 20+ years of Marc with a C's career as well as Orlando music history. Kent talks to director Jo Canterbury about how the documentary came together, how he got to know Marc and his music, and the process of telling Marc's story without filming a single thing. Half Serious...

We're back from another hiatus and settled into a new studio! Kent gets everyone caught up and brings on the newest, funky video game duo of Ian Cowell and Carrie Wood, otherwise known as Bi Score , to chat about making music for people to score to from TWO different coasts. And being bisexual while doing it! Their first album, The Hot Light , just dropped and they got more music and shows coming,...

EyeQ and Substantial are in the final week of their Friends and Fam Tour, which goes through MomoCon this weekend and concludes in Orlando on Memorial Day! We talk about the current state of live shows, fun moments of the tour, free comic book day hauls, fan conventions finally embracing black culture, and both EyeQ and Substantial's upcoming albums! Friends & Fam Tour tickets: https://www.songkic...

Back on the show is Mustin of The OneUps . He and Kent reflect on being at VGM CON in Minneapolis and what a time it was! PLUS, Mustin has a new album that he worked on with his 17-year old son called Mario Mixtape . We break that down, give thoughts on The Super Mario Bros Movie , discuss the new generation of VGM and THE FUTURE! Ongaku Overdrive's 10th Anniversary Show takes place on April 29th...

This weekend is VGM CON in Minneapolis and we have featured performer Theology on to talk about the event, the recent Midwest Gaming Classic, applying his club DJ background to VGM, Secret of Mana, and more! His new album, Theology of Mana drops this Friday on all platforms. You can follow Theology at linktr.ee/theologymusic and  youtube.com/theologyofficial . You can find out more about VGM CON a...

String Player Gamer and Tiggs are back on the show, offcially teaming up as Scarlet & Violet! We talk about how they got together, performing at MAGFest, the current state of performing on Twitch, Pokémon, World of Warcraft, Zelda, and their Orlando debut at Ongaku Overdrive's 10th Anniversary Show on April 29th! (Tickets at ongaku10th.eventbrite.com ) You can follow Scarlet & Violet at twitter.co...

It's a loaded episode with Austin Green, who is the founder of PC-gaming tribute band WASD as well as the site admin for video game remix competion community Dwelling of Duels . Kent and Austin talk about those things, WASD's latest album  Escape , performing at MAGFest last month, Steel Samurai, VGM CON, and more! Find out more about WASD at wasdband.com . Follow host Kent Ward at  linktr.ee/grea...

Bit Brigade speedruns NES games with a full rock band playing the game's soundtrack for incredible live concerts, and we have bassist Luke Fields on to talk about how Bit Brigade came to be and their process of putting their shows together. We also debate future potential games that work in their standards of live video game concerts and breakdown their upcoming tour that starts this week! Find ou...