Blip On: Chipzel
Chipzel is the alias of 18 year old Niamh Houston, an independent Northern Irish chip-musician who indulges in the use of Gameboys to create energetic, melodic dance tracks. Through taking the original 8bit sound and manipulating it into something frantically hard-hitting, Chipzel has seen crowds of all ages turn to “raving loons”, taken right back to their days of retro gaming with a thunderous twist.
Blip: How did you first become aware of the possibility of creating art using vintage hardware or using vintage equipment?
The first chiptune artist I ever heard was sabrepulse, who quickly became one of my favourite artists. I found out a few months later that an artist called frau sandy was a local chiptuner who helped me get started with the basics of LSDJ and using gameboys to create music.
Blip: Who are your favorite musicians?
I love the likes of fighter x, sabrepulse, jjdje3j and unicorn kid as well as various types of artists in the chiptune community. The talent of 8bc and especially the work of the earliest chiptuners has pushed me to expand my creativity in 8bit.
Blip: Do you have anything special planned for your set?
There’s gonna be a few new ones that haven’t been released or heard of thrown in there which I’m excited to finally play live. And and always, a five foot nothing irish female jumping around like a loon, that’s always a treat for the American folk.
Blip: Who amongst your Peers are you most excited to see?
I’m excited to see talktoanimals and Ultrasyd. Having already seen Bit Shifter, Nullsleep, (Henry) Homesweet and Anamanaguchi and loved it, it’ll be a great to watch them again!
Blip: What do you think of the scene as a whole? Do you feel your music is representative of it, or exists in opposition to the community?
Everyone will have their own tastes to be frank, and id like to think people enjoy my music. Aside from that, the community is excellent. Everyone I’ve had the pleasure of meeting from the scene have been lovely people and hugely talented and it’s nice to meet up with such like minded people where everyone can enjoy the music.
Blip: What are your hopes for the future of the chipscene?
World domination and many bitches.
Chipzel kicks off the Blip Festival on Thursday 5/19 at 8pm SHARP, with visuals by M7Kenji
