LONG VERSION: Nerd Noise Radio - as heard on NPR -, a celebration of video game music (and closely associated non-VGM) spanning all styles, systems, and generations. Based out of Des Moines, with listeners and collaborators the world over, we have two programs for you to enjoy, which are meant to be “the yang to each other’s yin”, deep where the other is shallow, shallow where the other is deep, c
ompletely different feels, vibes, and energies...but both celebrating video game music and the VGM community:
“Nerd Noise Radio - Channel 1: ‘Noise from the Hearts of Nerds’”:
A mixtape-style musical journey through the winding, twisting, sloping waves of Delicious VGM. Brief, semi-standard intro, long, uninterrupted musical journey, standard “housekeeping” outro....and that’s it! If you’re familiar with programs like NPR’s “Hearts of Space”, then you’ve got the basic idea of what to expect from Channel 1. As of this writing in Dec 2020, we will be finishing our fourth year of Ch 1 this month with Episode 55 - part 2 (or “C1E55b” for short). Typically release 10 episodes a year, with reruns when we don’t have a new show. Typically curated, produced, and hosted by St. John (of Des Moines).
“Nerd Noise Radio - Channel 2: [Subtitle TBD]”:
A conversational VGM typically hosted by St. John and Hugues Johnson (out of Chicago), this program is just getting started. Episode 2 (or “C2E2” for short) will release this Christmas Eve. Hugues and I take turns sharing tracks and discussing them. This is much more of a “standard format” within the VGM podcast scene / community at large than the much rarer mixtape-style of Ch 1. The plan for now is to make Ch 2 a “quarterly”, releasing, most likely, every March, June, September, and December. We also have a small group of “relief panelists” who will occasionally sit in for either Hugues or St. John which should only broaden the spectrum of music, personalities, and perspectives we will have on offer. We had spoken earlier about “deep vs shallow”. Ch 2 is “deep” where Ch 1 is “shallow” in that you get to learn more about the music, the composers, and get to know the hosts so much better through all the conversation which happens, whereas Ch 1 is a more standoffish experience of “pretty much just music”. But Ch 2 is “shallow” where Ch 1 is “deep” in terms of how much music you’re exposed to, and just what kind of journey that music can take you on. Ch 2 will usually be 10-20 pieces of music and is frequently interrupted by talking, breaking the “flow”, or the “musical narrative”, where Ch 1 is typically 30-40 pieces, occasionally 50, and once a year....75.....(in fact, the aforementioned C1E55b will be one of these giant-sized monsters) and that music is uninterrupted, and designed to carry you along on a journey of vast scale and breadth and depth. Producer’s note: more time and thought and care goes into figuring out the firing order of the tracks for optimal journey than is spent in figuring out what tracks to include in the first place. The two programs are meant to complement each other, and compensate for each other. It is our hope that you’ll love both. But if one or the other is not your cup of tea, it is the design that the other one might be. In addition to our two “official Channels”, we have an outlet for betas, bonuses, and extras, and that’s called “Nerd Noise Radio - Channel F” (no subtitle). These “F-isodes” don’t follow any release pattern, but can come out just whenever. Maybe several in a short time, or maybe a year will pass without one. You just never know. Even your producer often only vaguely knows. But they are usually interesting and unique experiences. For instance: a Dec 2019 “F-isode“ called “Nerd Noise Game Club”, though not billed as such at the time essentially became the beta, or “episode zero” for Channel 2. All Channels can be found here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nerd-noise-radio/id1191401173
We also have a blog, which occasionally will feature unique blog posts but is primarily just a repeater for the podcast feed.....however, with a blog-specific twist: we often will include additional details in the show notes on the blog with additional production notes and backstories and sometimes even inside information. It can be found here:
http://nerdnoiseradio.blogspot.com/
Lastly, we can be found on Archive.org, where we sometimes release remixes of existing episodes, or additional content such as outtakes only available on Archive that are too extra even for Ch F (“Super Bonuses” in the nomenclature of NNR.) In addition to Super Bonuses, sometimes standard episodes leak a little early here.....such as C1E55b - available NOW! So there is definitely plenty of incentive to keep a close eye on our activities over on Archive. You can find us here:
https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Nerd+Noise+Radio%22
Anyway, I hope that you will give us a listen, and that you will like what you hear! Make sure to drop us a line if you do! Cheers!
-St. John - Nerd Noise Radio
SHORT VERSION: Des Moines-based Video Game Music network with both a mixtape-style journey in sound Good for simple background noise or for a deep dive.
