Getting to Know… SON OF A PIXEL | Interview 🎤

On the 138^th interview on The Musical Hype, Peter Buju gives us the colorful scoop on his ‘Nintendo prog metal band,’ SON OF A PIXEL. 

“SON OF A PIXEL gimmick is a video-game themed sound with 8-bit chiptune, synthwave and all kinds of wacky electronix with a ‘one dude in a bedroom’ modern prog metal sound but without the noodling, cause that would require me to actually learn how to play.” Wow – leaves us speechless here at The Musical Hype to say the least!  As you can tell by the response of 🎙 Peter Buju, the brainchild of this self-described ‘Nintendo prog metal band,’ Interview #138 is definitely a colorful one – NO CAP!  We could preface it with more excerpts and summarization of what Buju relayed to us, but that would be utterly silly and unnecessary.  So, we’re letting Peter speak for himself through his intriguing responses on 🎤 Getting to Know… SON OF A PIXEL: Interview #138!

Started things off right, for those who may not be familiar with you, what would you say makes SON OF A PIXEL distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

🎤 Peter Buju (PB): Hey, glad you asked! The SON OF A PIXEL gimmick is a video-game themed sound with 8-bit chiptune, synthwave and all kinds of wacky electronix with a “one dude in a bedroom” modern prog metal sound but without the noodling, ‘cause that would require me to actually learn how to play. I know it’s a mouthful, but hey – you asked!

Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did your “one-man band” come about and what were some of the goals or the visions you had early on?

🎤 PB: Well, I sure wish my backstory was juicier, cause this thing is a fresh “one-man band.” Hi! I’m Peter and this is my brainchild project, spawned from my passion for music, production and video games as well as my software engineering full-time endeavors! The project evolved from songs that I’d write over the years, slowly adding new layers to it.

It started with a set of nu-metal/ crossover kinds of tracks, heavily inspired by bands such as Maximum the Hormone and System of a Down. Later, this whole odd-time signature gimmick started to tickle my fancy, inspired by acts such as Gojira, Devin Townsend, Jinjer and Lamb of God. Then I started fiddling with this idea of 8-bit sounds in metal music, as it made it sound so much more aggressive. For that, I’ve been inspired by acts such as Igorr and The Algorithm.

Let’s talk more about goals. Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

🎤 PB: As most one-man bands might tell you, the main goal is to make SON OF A PIXEL a live band with a stable line-up. I was fortunate enough to find an amazing bassist with a nerd-energy that even surpasses mine and the search for a drummer in Copenhagen is on! IT’S ON!!

Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Who would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

🎤 PB: Here’s a list of acts and what I like to take from them:

Devin Townsend’s humor and approach to progressive music

The Algoritm’s electronic soundscape

Ze Gran Zeft’s crunk-core energy

Horse The Band’s 8-bit melodies

Periphery’s modern precise sound

Zeal & Ardor’s way of blending unrelated genres in a cohesive mash

You should totally check out this playlist on ‘What inspires Son of a Pixel’.

Ah, the fun stuff. What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance? Feel free to be creative.

🎤 PB: Can I skip this one? The only stories I’m able to tell are fictional. Go search the Youtube description for the song 🎵 “Dubstep Witch” for that story!

Fair enough! Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?

🎤 PB: 🎵 “Through Ozone” must be my current favorite song, mostly because of the space exploration theme combined with an amazing video edited by Mel Torres. I think it’s one of the coolest combination of vibe, heaviness and pop-like catchiness.

Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

🎤 PB: I’m writing this on my bar-shift at a local venue called BETA 2300. It’s a 200-ish capacity venue run by volunteer sand it’s the coolest place to meet rock/ metal lovers all around the city!

Closing things out, what is SON OF A PIXEL currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure.

🎤 PB: New songs are totally on their way, with a wacky record simply entitled 🎵 “455” (that spells ‘ass,’ if you read this far you totally deserve to have this information. And hopefully, SON OF A PIXEL will be able to perform in a live show setting!

Thank you so much for sharing taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward.

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[📷: SON OF A PIXEL, Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype; Icons made by https://www.flaticon.com/authors/freepik (Freepik)]