DJ Cutman

Last updated
DJ Cutman
Birth nameChristopher LaBreacht Davidson
Origin Ithaca, New York
Genres
Years active2010–present
LabelsGameChops
Website music.djcutman.com

Christopher LaBreacht Davidson, [2] better known by his stage name DJ Cutman, is an American chiptune DJ. [3] He is known for his remixes of video game soundtracks through his label GameChops, such as Zelda & Chill, [4] as well as his live performances at video game events and his web series This Week in Chiptune. His stage name and costume during live performances are derived from the Mega Man character Cut Man. [1] [5]

Contents

Career

Origins and This Week in Chiptune (2010-2017)

Davidson co-owned a hip-hop studio in Ithaca, New York in the 2000s. After it was robbed in 2010, he began DJing as a coping mechanism, performing as a "high tech busker" making EDM covers of video game soundtracks. [6] [7] He performed live at smaller gigs and festivals in Ithaca, but struggled to do so after moving to Philadelphia. Davidson began broadcasting online instead, via Mixify and found greater success online than he had in person. He founded a small record label GameChops in 2011 to release video game covers, but struggled initially as the field was then dominated by rock bands, which focused on live performances over recordings. [8]

He started a Patreon supported webseries "This Week in Chiptune", which ran from 2013 to 2017. During this period he would also produce cover albums, such as MeowMeow & BowWow which covered the soundtrack to The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening . [9] When Twitch began allowing music streams in 2015 he switched to the platform and saw his audience triple. [5] [10] He continued performing live at events such as MAGfest, PAX, Otakon and Vidcon, and providing the music for the Mario Kart 8 UK championships in 2014. [11] [1] [12] Davidson was among many musicians featured in the soundtrack to The Metronomicon: Slay the Dance Floor . [13]

GameChops' Chill series (2018- present)

Since 2018 Davidson has released a number of successful softer remixes through his GameChops label, largely collaborative endeavours with Davidson providing direction, supervision or mastering. This began with Zelda & Chill and Mario & Chill, and developed into a longer series of mixes which were released through YouTube. [4] While the series lacks an official name, Dualshockers suggested "The Chillogy" after the release of the third mix, Poké & Chill, in 2019. Davidson supervised the production of the album, with the composers Jun'ichi Masuda, Gō Ichinose, Minako Adachi, and Shota Kageyama also brought onto the project. [14] PC Gamer noted the popularity of the mixes in 2022, with one journalist commenting that she had had Stardew & Chill playing on repeat every morning for a month. The latter mix was released via Bandcamp, as opposed to the others which were released through YouTube. [15] Since 2019 Davidson has also curated chiptune releases on Spotify. [16] By 2024 GameChops' licensed cover albums had received over a billion streams. [8]

Style and influences

When asked about his inspiration by EDM Identity, Davidson replied: "I think video game music, or any music we have heard as a child, holds a special power. As an adult, our lives are filled with all kinds of “real world” obligations like rent, groceries, etc. But through music, I feel we can revisit a time where the whole world was just us and our fantasies. It’s something very special to me." He has cited a number of influences including Dr. Dre, Eminem, Marilyn Manson, DJ Shadow, Deadmau5, Pete Tong and Armin Van Buuren, as well as Japanese rhythm games. [1]

Discography

Studio albums

Live

EPs

Related Research Articles

<i>The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time</i> 1998 video game

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a 1998 action-adventure game by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan and North America in November 1998 and in PAL regions the following month. The game is the first in The Legend of Zelda series with 3D graphics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koji Kondo</span> Japanese composer (born 1961)

Koji Kondo is a Japanese composer and pianist at the video game company Nintendo. He is best known for his contributions for the Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda series, with his Super Mario Bros. theme being the first piece of music from a video game included in the American National Recording Registry. Kondo was hired by Nintendo in 1984 as their first dedicated composer and is currently a senior executive within their Entertainment Planning & Development division.

Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka, also known as Chip Tanaka, is a Japanese musician, composer, sound designer, and executive who pioneered chiptune music. He is best known as one of Nintendo's in-house composers during the 8- and 16-bit era of video games. Tanaka also had a role in designing and programming the Famicom and Game Boy audio hardware, along with the NES Zapper, Game Boy Camera, and Game Boy Printer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Game Boy Camera</span> Accessory for the Game Boy handheld game console

The Game Boy Camera, released as Pocket Camera in Japan, is an accessory for Nintendo's Game Boy game console. It was released on February 21, 1998, in Japan, and manufacturing ceased in late 2002. As a toy for user-generated content, it can be used to shoot grayscale photographs, edit them or create original drawings, and transfer images between GBC units or to the 64DD art game suite Mario Artist. The accessory featured a 180°-swivel front-facing camera that allowed users to capture selfies. Its images can be printed to thermal paper with the Game Boy Printer. The GBC's cartridge contains minigames based on Nintendo's early games such as the arcade video game Space Fever and the Game & Watch handheld game Ball, and a chiptune music sequencer; photographers have embraced its technological limitations as artistic challenges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8 Bit Weapon</span> Chiptune music band

8 Bit Weapon is an American chiptune music band formed in Ventura County, California, by Seth and Michelle Sternberger. It was originally created by Seth Sternberger around 1998. Its instruments consists primarily of old 8-bit and 16-bit computers such as the VIC-20, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, Amiga 500, and the Apple II, as well as game consoles such as the Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Atari 2600, and an Intellivision synthesizer.

The "DK Rap" is the introduction theme to the 1999 Nintendo 64 video game Donkey Kong 64. Originally conceived by Rare designer George Andreas and composed by Grant Kirkhope, Andreas co-wrote and performed the lyrics, with Rare staffers joining in the chorus. Its lyrics describe the five playable characters in the game, with Kirkhope's goal to juxtapose the previous iteration of Donkey Kong from Donkey Kong Country against the new one.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raheem Jarbo</span> American rapper

Raheem Jarbo, also known by his stage names Mega Ran and Random, is an American underground nerdcore rapper, chiptune DJ, author and record producer. In February 2015, he changed his stage name to Mega Ran, removing Random from any releases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anamanaguchi</span> American chiptune-based pop and rock band

Anamanaguchi is an American chiptune-based pop and rock band from New York City. The band has four members: lead songwriters and guitarists Peter Berkman and Ary Warnaar, bassist James DeVito, and drummer Luke Silas.

Noisia was a Dutch electronic music trio consisting of members Nik Roos, Martijn van Sonderen, and Thijs de Vlieger from Groningen, Netherlands. They produced a wide variety of music including drum and bass, dubstep, breakbeat and house. They released music under labels including Skrillex's Owsla, deadmau5's mau5trap and Jay-Z's Roc Nation. Noisia previously combined with the group Foreign Beggars to form the supergroup side project, I Am Legion. They released their collaborative self-titled album on 2 September 2013. Noisia also has production credits under the pseudonym Nightwatch, such as when they worked with Alexis Jordan, Hadouken!, Wiley and Wretch 32. They produced Hadouken!'s album, For the Masses, that charted at number 19 on the UK Albums Chart.

Nintendocore is a broadly defined style of music that most commonly fuses chiptune with various hardcore punk and/or heavy metal subgenres, most often metalcore and post-hardcore. The genre is sometimes considered a direct subgenre of post-hardcore and a fusion genre between metalcore and chiptune. The genre originated in the early 2000s and peaked around the late 2000s with bands like Horse the Band, Karate High School and Sky Eats Airplane pioneering the genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doctor Octoroc</span>

Levi "Doctor Octoroc" Buffum is an American chiptune musician and pixel artist based in Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inverse Phase</span> Musical artist

Brendan Becker, known by his stage name Inverse Phase, is an American video game composer and chiptune musician, using Atari, Commodore, and Nintendo hardware. He also speaks and hosts workshops on video game music, chiptunes, and composing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chipzel</span> Northern Irish musician (born 1991)

Niamh Houston, better known by her stage name Chipzel, is a musician from Northern Ireland. She is best known for making chiptune music, particularly with a Game Boy. She is also a video game music composer, and is known for the soundtracks of games such as Super Hexagon, Interstellaria, and Dicey Dungeons. Her music is also featured in other games such as Just Shapes and Beats and Spectra.

<i>Stardew Valley</i> 2016 video game

Stardew Valley is a 2016 farm life simulation role-playing video game developed by Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone. Players take the role of a character who inherits their deceased grandfather's dilapidated farm in a place known as Stardew Valley. The game was originally released for Windows in February 2016 before being ported to other platforms. Stardew Valley is an open-ended game, allowing players to grow crops, raise livestock, fish, cook, mine, forage, and socialize with the townspeople, including the ability to marry and have children. It allows up to eight players to play online together.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ephixa</span> Musical artist

James Leusink, better known by his alias Ephixa, is a Canadian electronic music producer who lives in Ontario, Canada. He is best known for his viral "Charlie Sheen Bi-Winning" dubstep remix, remixes of music from the Legend of Zelda franchise as well as various other remixes and original electronic music. Leusink peaked at #11 on Billboard's Next Big Sound chart in November 2011. Ephixa is also known for the first ever single released by Canadian record label Monstercat, "Dubstep Killed Rock 'n' Roll".

Grant Henry, better known by his stage name Stemage, is an American guitarist and composer. He is known for his video game and television soundtracks, including Cartoon Network's animated series Steven Universe. He is also known for his involvement in several video game cover projects, including Metroid Metal and Viking Guitar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bad Apple!!</span> 1998 video game soundtrack

"Bad Apple!!" is the sixth track in the soundtrack of the 1998 bullet hell video game Lotus Land Story, the fourth entry in the Touhou Project series created by Team Shanghai Alice. The instrumental theme was originally designed to be played during the third stage of the game, as chiptune on the Japanese NEC PC-9800 computer platform, at 161 beats per minute using a frequency modulation synthesis chip. The Lotus Land Story version that has more than 1.4 million views on YouTube is a remake of the song from an official Touhou album named Akyu's Untouched Score Volume 1 and was released on 21 May 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Barone</span> American video game designer (born 1987)

Eric Barone, known professionally as ConcernedApe, is an American game designer and musician. He is best known for independently creating the video game Stardew Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jukio Kallio</span> Finnish composer

Jukio Kallio is a Finnish video game composer known for creating the soundtracks to Minit, Fall Guys, Nuclear Throne and Luftrausers. He started making music in 2011 and created chiptune music on his own. He then met game developer and co-founder of former Dutch game studio Vlambeer, Jan Willem Nijman. Kallio collaborated with Nijman to develop and create the music to various titles made by Vlambeer. Kallio then collaborated with Daniel Hagström in 2020 to create the soundtrack to Fall Guys.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Oseni, Abisola (March 9, 2017). "GameChops Artist Spotlight - Dj CUTMAN". EDM Identity. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  2. ↑ "A HIKE THROUGH THE HILLS". ASCAP. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
  3. ↑ Smith Cross, Jessica (April 23, 2015). Bradbury, Cathrin (ed.). "Geek out and get your groove on". Metro Toronto. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  4. 1 2 Craddock, Ryan (2019-05-21). "Treat Your Ears To Classic Super Mario And Zelda Songs Reworked Into Soothing Electronica". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
  5. 1 2 Reyes, Juliana (April 16, 2015). "Dj CUTMAN's day job is playing old-school video game music". Technical.ly. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  6. ↑ Runnells, Charles (November 1, 2013). "Downtown festival's got game". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. pp. W3. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  7. ↑ Gallaga, Omar (May 25, 2012). Hiott, Debbie (ed.). "Game on with two events geared towards gamers". Austin American-Statesman. Vol. 141, no. 305. Austin, Texas. pp. D2. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  8. 1 2 ""Zelda & Jazz GameChops Album Now Available" - Games Press". www.gamespress.com.
  9. ↑ McFerran, Damien (September 4, 2013). "Chiptune Artist Dj CUTMAN Releases Zelda: Link's Awakening Tribute Album". Nintendo Life. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  10. ↑ Brenner, Lawrence (September 3, 2013). "Otakon 2013: 20 Years of Otakon".
  11. ↑ McFerran, Damien (October 2, 2014). "Event: Mario Kart 8 UK Championship 2014 At EGX". Nintendo Life.
  12. ↑ Sollosi, Mary (June 15, 2016). "Vidcon 2016: All the stars scheduled to attend". EW.com.
  13. ↑ Dobson, Richard (2017-08-30). "Hit the dance floor in The Metronomicon: Slay the Dance Floor available now on Xbox One". TheXboxHub. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
  14. ↑ "GameChops is Back with Poke & Chill - A LoFi Hip Hop Remix Album of All Your Favorite Pokemon Tunes". 18 August 2019.
  15. ↑ Morton, Lauren (2022-09-12). "I've been playing this lo-fi Stardew Valley soundtrack as obsessively as the game". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
  16. ↑ "About TWIC". This Week In Chiptune. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.