Star Tribune journalist Richard Chin wrote an excellent article about indie board games in Minnesota, and he included my game Four Humours. He also interviewed some other creative Twin Cities game designers/publishers, including Adam Rehberg of Adam's Apple Games (who's publishing Four Humours), Seppy Yoon of Fight in a Box, and Patrick Leder of Leder Games.
For the Season 2 finale episode of Composer Quest, I interviewed Chris Koza, who had the crazy idea to create four concept albums in one year, following the change in seasons. These Rogue Valley albums turned out to be a huge artistic success. One song even ended up in Ben Stiller's personal collection, and subsequently The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Chris shares some songwriting tips and tricks, and we dig into the concepts behind his concept albums, like how he wrote a song for each of the 12 full moons.
Matt Schubbe, the graphic designer behind our 8-bit Composer Quest art, is also a songwriter himself! In this episode, we talk about how he writes songs for (and with) his wife, Donna. Matt tends to choose strange lyrical topics, like a kid getting his head stuck in the banister, or the 1739 invention of a pooping duck automaton.
Luke Friedrich was too young to carry a musket when he joined his Civil War reenacting unit, so he picked up the fife and drum instead. Now, he plays in more bands than would seem possible, including Crimes, Strange, Rupert Angeleyes, Flowerstalks, Secrets, ThoughtTalk, and his primary songwriting endeavor, Squares. We talk about performing, the music business, and his fascination with horrific lyrical topics.
In this episode, Kazyak's Peter Frey debuts his new, more personal album See the Forest, See the Trees. He also shares his philosophy on soloing, the pros and cons of touring, and his advice on promoting your music.