Brendan Becker, known by his stage name Inverse Phase,[3] is an American video game composer[1] and chiptune musician, using Atari, Commodore, and Nintendo hardware. He also speaks and hosts workshops on video game music, chiptunes, and composing.[4]
Inverse Phase | |
|---|---|
.png) Inverse Phase performing. | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Brendan Becker |
| Born | October 1979 (age 45) United States[1] |
| Origin | Baltimore, Maryland[2] |
| Genres | Chiptune |
| Occupations |
|
| Website | inversephase |
Biography
editBecker, born in America in 1979, claims to have had a typical childhood where he was obsessed with video games and Saturday-morning cartoons. While he was enrolled in a piano class at an early age, he did not keep interest due to attention span issues. However, his interest in computers, programming, and music led him to the demoscene. He soon began composing music with a music tracker for games written by his grade school friends, as well as various remixes and covers.[5]
In 2010, Becker received extensive media coverage for his NES parody of CeeLo Green's single, "Fuck You".[6] A month later, the soundtrack to the video game Super Meat Boy featured his song "Boss Burger N' Chips", a remix of the first and second level boss themes.[7]
In mid-2011, Becker announced that he had gone full-time with his music and was working on multiple game soundtracks.[8] Later that year, he released soundtracks to Super Smash Land and Shuttle Scuttle, handing out copies of the latter to MAGFest X attendees at a secret show shortly thereafter.[9]
In June 2012, he released Pretty Eight Machine, a tribute album of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails' 1989 debut album Pretty Hate Machine.[10][11] Inverse Phase had been able to raise $3,654 for making and promoting the album through the crowdfunding website Kickstarter.[12] Rob Sheridan, who is associated with Nine Inch Nails, tweeted about the album shortly after its release.[13]
While fulfilling kickstarter rewards for Pretty Eight Machine, Becker released Treachery in Beatdown City: Episode 1 EP,[14] the soundtrack to a game seeking funding on Kickstarter in 2014.[15] The kickstarter names Inverse Phase as the composer for the rest of the game, which was released in 2020. He also plans to tribute U2 as well as more Nine Inch Nails, which he claims to be one of his favorite acts.[16]
Discography
edit- Video game soundtracks
- Super Smash Land (2011, self-released)
- Shuttle Scuttle (2011, self-released)
- Treachery in Beatdown City: Episode 1 EP (2014, self-released)
- Tribute albums
- Pretty Eight Machine (2012, self-released)
- Chiplust (2014, self-released)
- The Chipping of Isaac (2014, self-released)
- Save Chiptune (2015, self-released)
- Original albums ("Biteration" series)
- Biteration I: Genesis of Consequence (2016, self-released)[17]
References
edit- ^ a b Inverse Phase – VGMdb
- ^ "Music | Inverse Phase". Bandcamp. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
- ^ Stinson, Elizabeth (September 28, 2010). "Cee Lo's 'Fuck You' Gets Reimagined, Nerd-Style". Wired. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
- ^ Florida, Robert (n.d.). "NJIT: Brendan Becker, CEO of MAGFest, the Video Game Music Festival, Will Visit NJIT On Feb. 12". Archived from the original on November 9, 2014. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
- ^ McMurtrey, Jason (June 6, 2014). "Interview with Brendan Becker aka Inverse Phase, former head of MAGFest : The Pad Games". Retrieved November 9, 2014.
- ^ Golijan, Rosa (September 29, 2010). "Cee Lo's "Fuck You" As Performed By An Angry Nintendo NES". Gizmodo. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
- ^ Inverse Phase. "Boss Burger N' Chips (Remix) – From Exclusives for Others by Inverse Phase". Inverse Phase (via Bandcamp). Retrieved March 9, 2013.
- ^ Ek, Robin (June 24, 2011). "intervju med Brendan Becker aka Inverse phase". Retrieved November 9, 2014.
- ^ Inverse Phase – Shuttle Scuttle OST released
- ^ Inverse Phase. "Pretty Eight Machine". Inverse Phase (via (Bandcamp). Retrieved December 18, 2012.
- ^ Griffiths, Daniel Nye (June 19, 2012). "NIN-tendo: Nine Inch Nails' Definitive Album Goes Chiptune". Forbes. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
- ^ Inverse Phase. "Nine Inch Nintendos? 8-Bit Nails? Something like that!". Inverse Phase (via Kickstarter). Retrieved March 9, 2013.
- ^ Sheridan, Rob (June 15, 2012). "untitled". Sheridan, Rob (via Twitter). Retrieved December 18, 2012.
Pretty Hate Machine by @nineinchnails recreated, in its entirety, in 8-bit chiptune (by @inversephase): http://inversephase.bandcamp.com/album/pretty-eight-machine …
{{cite web}}: External link in|quote= - ^ UP-BEATS IN A BEATDOWN – TREACHERY IN BEATDOWN CITY EP.1 OST (REVIEW)
- ^ Treachery in Beatdown City: A new way to beat-em-up! by Shawn Alexander Allen – Kickstarter
- ^ Scoczynski, Fernando (March 24, 2014). "Inverse Phase Discusses 'Pretty Eight Machine' and the State of 8-bit Music". Retrieved November 9, 2014.
- ^ "Chipwin-Tern Spotlight: The Yamaha YM2612 & You!". March 17, 2016. Archived from the original on September 8, 2017. Retrieved September 7, 2017.