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Lost tracks, found motivation

Hey all!

It’s been a while. Almost two years since my last post actually. I didn’t plan to disappear (again), but every time I wanted to write something, I told myself I’d do it after finishing a track. Two years and 22 unfinished tracks later, here we are.

I just went through almost all of my old project files (some are 5+ years old) and found a bunch I still like. 22 to be exact. So I’ve decided to turn this accidental archive-dig into something bigger: a full album. The plan is to actually finish it this time and release it near the end of the year (orrr maybe Q1 of 2026). That’s the goal anyway.

It’s been really fun rediscovering old stuff and realizing how much my workflow and taste has changed since then. Some tracks are full-on lsdj chaos, others never made it past the 8-bar loop stage in Ableton. But they all have something I want to expand on.

I’ve also been juggling way too many musical rabbit holes. I want to play more guitar and get better at chord progressions but then I end up watching youtube videos about weird tunings for hours. I also want to use lsdj more (also plenty of unfinished business waiting on me there) BUT I got a (VERY COOL) M8 tracker in april this year that I still need to update (and I really want to dive into the sampler). And.. my synths probably have dust on ’em older than some of my unfinished tracks.

Somewhere in all of this chaos, I also want to make videos of me making music (bought a crazy expensive webcam years ago but never used it), but then I accidentally walk into my gameroom and well, priorities. And of course there’s still family, friends, and work to balance in between everything else. WHY aren’t there 300 hours in a day?!

Anyway, I missed writing here. It’s nice to share what’s going on behind the scenes, even if it’s mostly me wondering why I named a file “idea_5_final_FINAL2.2.wav”.

So yeah, I’m back with 22 unfinished tracks, a ton of ideas, and finally ready to see them through. Time to finish what I started, make some music I’m proud of and actually get it out into the world.

~pops

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New Game Boy music: Shift and recover

Hey all!

I hope everyone has had a good first few weeks of the new year.

During the final days of 2022, I released my new EP ‘Shift and recover’. You can listen to it below (it’s on Bandcamp as well).

These past two weeks have been amazing. I decided to up my music theory game and immediately noticed a shift in my skills.
I also bought a Focusrite interface which makes recording guitar a breeze. Being able to grab your guitar and record stuff without a hassle is brilliant.

Well, this was this year’s first update. I have to go watch videos about cool alternate tunings now.

~pops

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Is a Game Boy an instrument?

When I tell people I’m a musician, the first question is always: ‘’what instrument do you play?’’

I could give them the answer they want to hear, I play guitar and know my way around a piano.

However, my main instrument is not the instrument you’d immediately think of. It’s a game console that came out the year I was born, 1989.

It’s pretty heavy because of the batteries, but small enough to store two of them in your gig bag. I even have room for my mixer and an effect processor. No roadies needed!

What are the pros of using a Game Boy as an instrument you ask?

  • Game Boys are relatively cheap (un-modded ones cost about 40 bucks)
  • They do not need tuning.
  • You can’t hit the wrong snare or key.
  • Instant serotonin boost when you hear the startup sound.
  • You can use it on the toilet.

Sometimes I play a set at a retro gaming convention, and I get a lot of confused visitors that think I’m playing Tetris or Mario, so I figured it’s time to explain the HOW. The WHY will follow some other time (I mean, there are easier ways to make music).

So as you can see both my Game Boys are modded. They are backlit so I can see my screen on stage. To make sure the audio is clean and loud enough for recording/playing live, they have a pro-sound mod as well (this also removes background noise). There are tons of mods to be found online, and I’d love to add some new ones to my Game Boys, but that’s something for the future.

The program I use to write music is called LSDj (Little Sound Dj). It’s a music sequencer (tracker) that can be run on an emulator, but my preference is to use it in combination with the actual hardware.

If you like numbers, you’re in for a treat. LSDj uses the Hexadecimal number system to represent all the values. Moving around the program feels like playing an actual game. There is a different button combination for everything and you can even draw your own waveforms to create different ‘instruments’.

Back in the day you had to buy a license online and flash the program onto a cartridge yourself. I own two cartridges with an integrated USB port, which makes updating LSDj and transferring music from my Game Boy to my PC a breeze.

LSDj was made by one person, came out in 2000 and is still being updated. How cool is that?!

It is also possible to incorporate LSDj into an already existing set-up. Midi-sync is fairly easy to set up, so the possibilities are endless.

Eager to try out this fun program for yourself? You can buy a license on the official website, it’s only a dollar!

LSDj has a steep learning curve but once you get used to all the button combinations and find your sound, it is a big help in the creative process of writing fun melodies and coming up with chord progressions.

So, to answer the question I asked at the beginning of this article: YES, all Game Boys are instruments, but not all instruments are Game Boys.

#music #lsdj #chiptune #gameboy #videogamemusic

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New album: Shift and recover

”what year is it?”

I haven’t posted anything since March and I’m terribly sorry (ok, I’m not really sorry, and I’ll tell you why).

These past few months I haven’t been spending all my free time writing new stuff like I used to. Instead, I dove headfirst into a few rabbit holes about gear, studied Japanese, read a few books and played many video games. Now it’s time to get back to business!

My new album is called ”Shift and recover”. It’s about wanting to spend 100% of your time being productive and never slowing down. Practice what you preach, right? Right! It was wonderful to be able to enjoy other hobbies without guilt-tripping myself into starting yet another track I’d never finish at 11 pm.

It’s not like I haven’t done anything at all, hence the new album announcement. There will be five songs in total. I mainly used LSDJ (of course I did) but mixed in some Ableton, and even my voice, as well. As soon as the preview is released, I’ll write a new blog post about the story behind every track.

I’m still working on finishing it as we speak, but I am certain it will be done before the end of the year!

Also, here is my cover of ”Halloween” I did last year. Enjoy and have a great Halloween weekend!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nr31dVe6Oo

~spoopsy

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Fender Duo-Sonic

I have always loved playing guitar. I was gifted my first acoustic at a young age but never got past that amateur level because I kept playing on and off for many years. In 2011 I bought my first electric guitar (a Jordan Les Paul) and was over the moon. However, still stuck on that amateur level. Perhaps because the knock-off guitar was very heavy and didn’t sound right to me either.

Last year I decided to upgrade to a Fender Duo-Sonic because I fell in love with the sound, and it has a short scale which is perfect for my tiny hands! A couple of weeks ago, I was finally able to pick it up (after waiting half a year, which felt like 50 years).

Seafoam green looks so beautiful (even more so in real life) and it sounds so sparkly. It truly is a perfect guitar and because it doesn’t go out of tune all the time, I feel like practicing more. This is the year I will finally learn sweep picking, chords all over the neck and palm muting! (hopefully)

Wish me luck!

~pops

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VGM demo reel



Sooo.. I made a demo reel. I actually wanted to practice writing music for trailers but decided to make a whole demo reel out of it.

Kingdom Hearts was my first PS2 game and still has a very special place in my heart, so it was a no-brainer to include that one in my reel.

This was a lot of fun to make, and I hope you enjoy it!

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Ambient Volca jam

I did it. I finally found a way to record clear audio and video at the same time. Now I have to find the perfect angle and start making videos!

I still have lots to learn when it comes to Volcas, but I’m happy with what I can get out of them as of now. Low tempo and lots of reverb is wonderful.

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Parallels – new Popsicle song!

Last week I released a new track, Parallels. As of two days ago, it is on Spotify as well: https://open.spotify.com/album/7lcjTK9VA2aOHVzs2cuAAO?si=3s6GTaRzR-efKeN0-XCIqA&dl_branch=1

I always compose my songs on 1 copy of LSDJ, but this time I decided to try my hand at 2. It was a lot of fun to do, and it feels like a new world has opened up. Unlimited possibilities! Having 8 channels to work with is amazing, I can now create more complex drums and lots of tiny noises. I love adding tiny noises to my work. It makes it sound exciting and happy.

Anyway, please have a listen and let me know what you think!

~pops

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New gear acquired: Korg Volca Bass

I feel like I am repeating myself by posting yet another one of these, but yesterday I received the Volca Bass I had ordered in the mail. It is tiny, cute & shiny but has a very raw sound, especially when turning the knobs juuuuuust right.

In many ways it is a copy of the Volca Drum, but it has more knobs to fiddle with.

This is what I have done with it so far: https://twitter.com/PopsicleTheory/status/1432705919763292184
It works seamlessly with the Volca Drum. It is SO easy to sync and has three VCOs so you can even create a bass, lead and something sparkly on top of it that plays AT THE SAME TIME!

I keep telling myself this is the last piece of hardware I have purchased because I don’t need anything else, but I am already looking at studio monitors.. right now I’m using so called ‘gaming speakers’ and they’re great, but color the sound a lot.

Now it’s time to dive headfirst into the Volca Bass rabbit hole on YouTube..

~pops

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New gear acquired: Roland Alpha Juno 2

After purchasing my Microkorg back in December, I told myself that was the only piece of hardware I needed. Then I saw the Korg Volca Drum, and two days ago I spotted the Alpha Juno 2 in the wild. The moment I laid eyes on it, I was sold. What a beautiful machine. After buying my Microkorg I immediately replaced the factory patches as they sounded awful, but I really love the JU-2 patches. They are super diverse and you can create nice soundscapes with them (turning the Alpha Dial while playing is amazing).

Now is the perfect time for me to start learning more theory to play different chord combinations, right now I only know a few and always end up playing the same kind of stuff. I am so excited to find out all about this beautiful synth, it’s in very good shape (one key doesn’t always respond – but that’s fixable) and fits perfectly on my desk, next to my Microkorg (which suddenly looks really tiny).

I used to believe software and hardware sounded the same and thought people who could hear the difference were crazy, but man does this thing sound warm and full of life. So different from all of the Juno VSTs out there, I won’t ever go back. It has unlimited possibilities to create patches (and a memory card slot!), midi in-out-thru and can be connected to my mixer, what more does a human want?