brentalfloss Releases Bioshock Song

brentalfloss is normally known for his "with lyrics" videos to retro games such as Mega Man. Well, here's more modern one for you.

Give his great Bioshock song a listen below!

An Interview with brentalfloss (Part 2)

Back in January 2012 I interviewed Brent Black of brentalfloss fame about his "with lyrics..." series, his trip to the London Comic Con, his comic and general gaming ventures. With his latest CD, "Bits of Me" due for a release very shortly, I thought it was time to get a bit of an update on this gaming maestro. 

Q. Hey brentalfloss! The last time I interviewed you was back in January! How have things been for you since then?

BF: Pretty good. 2012 is a strange year for me, because I'm working on a lot of long-term projects that make it seem like I'm not releasing a lot of video content, when actually I'm spending time every day on videos that will raise the standard of my production values. So it's a lot of seed-planting, but not a lot of harvesting :)

Q. Your new CD, "Bits of Me" has just finished it's pre-order period and will be out soon! How was the response from fans to your pre-orders, and how do you expect the CD will do when released?

BF: Once it's released, I expect it'll do very well. You can never really predict these things, but once it finally is released in all formats, I think the quality of the music alone will lead to good numbers business-wise.

Q. "Bits of Me" contains 18 songs, including some remastered tracks. What song on the album are you most impressed with?

BF; Probably "Baby Mario and Papa Yoshi." It has a cool jazzy arrangement, it tells a story, and it's just a very well-put-together piece of sound engineering.

Q. How was the studio experience?

BF: Fun, as always, but a lot of work. My sound engineer also acts as the director for the project, so he gets great performances out of me, but we have to switch between many hats during the process.

Q. You're quite busy in the touring/show front lately! What's the best part of doing shows?

BF: The best part of doing shows is when I surprise myself onstage. My shows tend to be very interactive, with audience members turning the between-song banter into a conversation, and occasionally things come out of my mouth that actually crack me up more than the audience. Those are my favorite moments of live shows.

Q. You must have met plenty of bizarre people during your travels. What's been your weirdest experience at a con/show?

BF: I have so many... recently, though, a 67-year-old woman told me she was my biggest fan, and my jaw dropped. I had no idea that anyone over 40 even knew who I was! :)

Q. So most of your songs are based on some excellent retro titles, such as Super Mario Bros. 2. Do you have any plans to combine the retro with some modern games in the near future? 

BF: Well, it really comes down to which games I play and which games have good tunes. I'm currently playing through "Cave Story," which has a very retro feel although it was released in 2004. As I keep moving forward, I hope to cover a good mix of old-school and current-gen games.

Q. As well as your music, I've been enjoying reading your brentalfloss comic series since it started. How did this come about, and how have you found writing a regular comic?

BF: My co-writer Dan Roth approached me about a brentalfloss webcomic at the 2010 New York Comic Con, and after I read some of his ideas for strips, I was hooked. As for the task of writing, it's pretty easy since Dan and I generally write one strip per person per week. It's not always easy coming up with new ideas for a strip, but once you get us in a room, our collaborative energy produces a lot of [good and bad] ideas.

Q. And finally, of course you have the CD on it's way shortly, but what else are you planning in the near future?

BF: A lot of amazing videos. Collabs with other internet musicians, and a few really exciting animated projects. These projects generally have a production time of 3-10 months though, so the challenge is keeping them a secret (more or less) while continuing to work on them.


"Bits of Me" can be ordered now via Level Up Studios. 

An Interview with brentalfloss

brentalfloss, real name Brent Black became a YouTube hit when he first put lyrics to the music in Mega Man 2. Since then, he's expanded his "...with lyrics" series, gained himself a huge fanbase and branched out from the YouTube side of things. Like myself, brentalfloss is an avid Nintendo fan, so I just had to get an interview with him! Here it is folks. Enjoy.

Q. Hey brentalfloss! You've made quite a name for yourself putting lyrics to video game songs in your "With Lyrics" series, as well as a whole host of other excellent projects and videos. How did it all start?

A: The moment I decided to try adding lyrics to video game music was pretty anticlimactic (and is actually detailed in this episode of my webcomic: http://brentalfloss.com/comic26.cfm

But the real answer to "How did it all start?"is this: When I was 4, my parents bought us an NES. Until the age of 11, I went to school at least a half hour drive from my house, so I didn't have a lot of friends in my neighbourhood to play with. I sometimes joke that my best friends were my piano and my Nintendo. Add to that years of training in performance, songwriting, and comedy and it sort of makes sense that all these elements would come together in this way :)

Q. brentalfloss: The Comic is great! What made you decide to branch off into comic strip writing/drawing, and how has the response to these been?

A: Honestly, I would probably never have thought to create a comic series if Dan Roth hadn't approached me about the idea at 2010's New York Comic Con. He showed me some concepts and sold me on the idea of creating an "alt universe" for the brand. The response has been positive, but we're still figuring out how to write a series that rewards longtime fans of the brentalfloss brand without alienating new fans.

Q. What's been your proudest gaming-related moment in your career so far?

A: That would have to be the first time I got to play with Video Games Live. Sitting at the piano in the middle of about 80 professional musicians playing a tune I wrote about Mario in front of over 1,000 people... it doesn't get much cooler than that.

Q. I got to see you perform live at last month's London Gaming Con, but you've done plenty of live performances now. What's been your most memorable live experience, and why?

A: Well, while my last answer was my "proudest" live experience, I think my most memorable might be from this past summer's Gen Con in Indianapolis, Indiana. I played a concert in a mall arcade! I just kept thinking "If only ten year old Brent had been able to convince his mother that this would happen one day..."

Q. Your "...with lyrics" series has been hugely popular on YouTube for a while now. What's been your favourite in this collection, and what game do you plan on adding lyrics to next (or is a secret)? 

A: The answer to this question changes all the time... I think right now my favorite is Castlevania II with lyrics because I got to punch Dracula's severed head. As for future plans, I do keep these under wraps but I will say that I'll be bringing more material from the Final Fantasy franchise to life later this year.

Q. You're obviously a Nintendo fan at heart. What Nintendo game would you absolutely recommend playing?

A: Off the top of my head? Super Mario 64, Legend of Zelda: LTP, and Mega Man 2. Also all the rest of them that were ever made.

Q. What game are you currently addicted to?

A: Well, I had a quick love affair with Arkham City during Christmastime. Fun stuff, but I found myself wishing I could have performed some of the voice acting :)

Q. And finally, what's next for yourself? 

A: My mail goal for the next few years is to continue creating content for the brentalfloss brand while also returning to my first love which is musical comedy. I saw The Muppets a few weeks ago and when I realized that Flight of the Conchords' Bret MacKenzie wrote most of the music and lyrics to the score, I thought "WHY AM I NOT DOING THAT?"  So basically, while I plan to continue celebrating the fun and nostalgia of video games and their timeless music, I also want to branch out and show the world (and myself) that I can write original stuff and entertain in more ways than one :)