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Categories: Interview
Tags: audio gamer, game people, rebecca mayes
Rebecca Mayes, Audio GamerOne of my favorite finds this year has been Game People’s Audio Gamer. Rebecca Mayes brings a new voice to video game reviews — literally since she reviews them in song. Starting with her inability to master the Wii in “Press A,” Rebecca combines her outsider insight with skillful songwriting resulting in audio reviews which capture the essence of the games she covers.
Game Couch: Your bio makes it sound like you’re new to gaming. How new are you and why did you take the plunge?
Rebecca Mayes: I’m as new to gaming as my first song is. I took the plunge because I wanted to explore something new and gaming seemed like an unobvious choice. Like the opposite of everything I’ve done before.
Game Couch: What inspired you to take a musical approach to game reviews?
Rebecca Mayes: I think and breathe in music. It is my language.
Game Couch: How long does it take to put a song together?
Rebecca Mayes: I try not to take too long over the song – I want it to be impulsive, like the first word that comes into your head. I don’t want to over think it. So I’ll take a couple of hours to write it (instead of weeks, months, years like other songs I’ve written) and then it takes me roughly two full days to record it.
Game Couch: Can you describe the recording process? What kind of equipment are you using?
Rebecca Mayes: I record at home in my very basic little studio. I use Cubase. I start by recording the guitar part and then add instruments as I go. I tend to use live instruments rather than samples and I let it build itself organically. It’s great fun.
Game Couch: Are you surprised at how receptive gamers have been?
Rebecca Mayes: I’ve loved the warm reception I’ve received from gamers. I didn’t think they’d be interested in my musings on their games. When I started it was something I was doing for myself, as an experiment and I wasn’t sure that it would be something anyone else would pay any attention to.
Game Couch: What’s the weirdest place you’ve seen yourself mentioned?
Rebecca Mayes: The weirdest place I’ve seen myself mentioned is on a Japanese site, there were a lot of exclamation marks. I love putting blurbs into Google translate and reading a strange kind of English.
Game Couch: As your audience grows are you feeling more pressure to deliver?
Rebecca Mayes: There is pressure to deliver for sure. I try to pretend it’s not there and just carry on doing my thing, otherwise I’d never be brave enough to pick up the guitar. I want to keep experimenting and seeing what comes out of it. As soon as I bring too much judgment into the process it puts the brakes on. Same goes for life in general.
Game Couch: I see you have a video for your Hotel Dusk song, “The Infuriating and Alluring Case of Mr Kyle Hyde.” Where do you see Audio Gamer going? Any chance you’ll be doing live performances?
Rebecca Mayes: Live performances have been mentioned, so you might catch me on radio podcasts or at a festival. It would be interesting to perform my latest song, for Peggle, it’s totally a cappella.
Game Couch: Are there any games which have been resistant to your musical interpretation?
Rebecca Mayes: Well I’m doing Resident Evil 5 next so if anything’s going to be resistant it’ll be this one. I’m looking forward to the challenge
Game Couch: What’s your relationship like with Game People? How did you join up with them?
Rebecca Mayes: We have a great relationship. It’s like a big family. They approached me and I jumped on board.
Game Couch: It looks like you play a variety of games across a variety of systems. What are your favorite games/genres? And how much do you kick ass at music games?
Rebecca Mayes: I haven’t played many music games. I should. Kicking ass is by no means over-rated. I like the variety of different games and genres. At the moment I’m just drinking in the many flavours. Ask me in a week’s time and I’ll probably be exclusively into zombie head-shots.
Anthony:
The post with the first song isn’t dated, so I’m guessing 3 months(?) based on the comments.
Silvercube:
Cool interview :)
Interesting idea!
bs angel:
I love her reviews/songs. They are quite creative and I really enjoy listening to them. Great interview!
Factimonious:
Great interview. It would be really good if she performed live!