WL 364 - Sunday May 20 – 9:45pm
Purveyors of: computer fucking

You gotta know when to hold’em, you gotta know when to rotate’em ninety degrees and drop’em into holes for maximum points. Tetris Hold’em aren’t the only band to make music using Nintendo Gameboys, but they do have the best name. Evan Dickson did his best to kick-start what will surely become a long tradition of poorly considered video game questions for Kas Dunn.

Who are you really, Tetris Hold'em?

Tetris Hold’em is sometimes a monster, sometimes a skeleton, but it’s usually a couple of guys (one named Kas, one named Craig) who like to make psychedelic chiptune music using German Gameboy cartridge software and a crazy Swedish drum machine. The software (called Nanoloop) runs independently on 2 Gameboys and is synchronized to the drum machine using a homemade device that Kas’ brother-in-law built with his bare hands.

Did you in fact take your name from the short story by the same name published in Macalester College's student newspaper, The Mac Weekly? ("But without you I'm like an L-shaped piece with no opening to land in!")

No. Tetris Hold’em got its name from an intoxicated conversation at the corner of Adelaide and Peter St. one pleasant summer’s eve 2 or 3 years ago. It fell out of someone’s mouth and was immediately claimed as the best name for the project.

Which Tetris shape do your most identify with?

Kas has always believed he’s a “T”, the most versatile shape. Craig feels like the "S" or "Z" shapes, because they fit perfectly only once in a while, but when they fit, boy is it satisfying.

What video game would your music fit best as a soundtrack: Rygar (1986), Inindo: Way of the Ninja (1993), Silent Hill 1 (1999), or Katamari Damacy (2004)?

Tetris Hold’em believes 8-bits are all you need. If the question was “Which video game would you most like to play?” or “Have you ever played any of these games?”, then Rygar would win both times. But we don’t sound anything like Rygar.

Is all your music pre-recorded? What do you do on stage?

We use a combination of sequences and live manipulations to evolve the music over time. Kas takes care of the programming, most of the sequences and handles the direction, while Craig adds complementary and often comedic sequences, and occasionally performs interpretive dances. He is also in charge of the visual content (2 Gameboy cameras running on 2 Super Nintendos + digital video segments).

What other gameboy-based musicians should lovers of both Mario and techno check out?

Touchboy and Lutin are some other talented local artists. We recommend www.8bitcollective.com for a good look at what people around the world are doing.