Tokyo Chipped Manchester - Auracle & Virus Empire!

I haven't been able to write this post, as I was mega busy with moving all my stuff from one place to another. So because of that, I was without internets for a little while. But now its back and I'm starting to settle into my new house, I thought I'd get busy and write this out.

Now, where to begin...

I'll start by saying, Tokyo Chipped in manchester was epic. There wasn't as many people (which if you said were going to go on facebook and didn't...SHAME ON YOU!), but that didn't matter as there many fantastic people to talk to and have a have laugh.

The night began with the showing of the classic anime film, Ghost in the Shell. From there people sat, watched and relaxed with a pint, until it finished, and eagerly awaited for Tokyo Chipped's first act, Auracle to come onto the stage.

Auracle began his set, showing off his fantastically made tunes, made entirely in LSDJ on a single Gameboy. The majority of chiptuners I have seen have generally used more equipment to make their music, so this was an interesting change of pace.

Auracle playing chiptune music

After Auracle's set, I caught up with him, to ask a few questions:

Me: So how'd you get into chiptune?

Auracle: I'm an huge anamanaguchi fan, however I guess it started when from making ringtone music for friends. I remember making the halo theme music for a friend.

Me: Awesome! What is your favourite artist?

Auracle: That's hard question to answer. I would have to say Dead Maus, due to the fact I played a cover before. 

Me: True, plus you have him on your t-shirt. What do you plan to do in the future?

Auracle: I plan on getting an album out in the summer. At the moment I have 5 songs,

Me: What set up do you use to make music?

Auracle: The just the one gameboy you saw there.

Me: Cool, and finally, what is your favourite pokemon?

Auracle: Another hard question... I would say Zapdos.

Me: Cool, thanks for your time! 

You can listen to Auracle's liveset below:



Follow Auracle via facebook

Follow Auracle via Twitter

Listen to Auracle via Soundcloud


We then had a short interval, and after that the fantastic Virus Empire came on to deliver an amazing set. I'd seen Virus Empire before, back at Superbyte 2014, however seeing him up close was more enjoyable. The energy he gave in his set was eclectic and brilliant. His music set up also interested me. Where as Auracle relied upon a gameboy to do his work, Virus Empire used a sound card as well as a Novation Launchpad, linked up to ableton. It had been the first time I'd seen one of them in action, and could tell they were great for live shows.

Virus Empire playing chiptune music

Virus even gave out free links to his EP on bandcamp, which I took with glee. I'll be putting out my thoughts on his EP later on in the coming weeks. Below is one of his songs that he played. If you're a 80s lover you may know it!





Overall it was a great night for Tokyo Chipped, though I really wish they'd have it on a friday night instead of a thursday, as I would've stuck around for the DJing afterwards! :(


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