ARTIST SPOTLIGHT:
RIGELWAVE

Hi Rigelwave! We absolutely love your style and are so excited to feature you on our Darknet blog. Tell us a little about yourself and how long you’ve been creating art.

Thank you so much for this opportunity!

Well, I’m a digital artist from Chile! I live in a city called Viña del Mar and I studied digital animation.

I started creating art and publishing it on social media in the beginning of 2018, three years ago. I’ve been attracted to the art world since I was a kid, but I never thought I could work on it until I started studying.

How would you describe the style of your work and where do you draw your inspiration from?

I try to not think that I have a “style” because I would feel stuck in it, but people often describe it as a “retro futurist” since I like mixing old technology with current and futurist items, such as outfits or backgrounds.

My inspiration comes from different places, some of them come from my childhood. My dad is an electronic engineer and programmer so I always had a computer in my house. Playing retro games on my computer or putting the information for my classes at school on diskettes, listening to music on radios with cassettes and all that stuff brings me back to the old days in the beginning of the 21st century.

Cyberpunk aesthetic is also part of my inspirations. Harajuku style and Kawaii girls, too.

When did you discover your passion for the Kawaii aesthetic reflected in your work?

I think it was when I was in the second year of my college, because I started watching kawaii anime like Sakura Card Captor and Marmalade Boy. I got inspired by their aesthetic and I used it in my works.

Tell us more about your artistic process. How did you go from rough idea to finished piece? What kind of materials do you use?

Well, since I’m a digital artist I just need a computer, the program, and my digital tablet. I try to get inspiration from Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram, saving pictures of old devices such as Tamagotchi's or old cell phones and cute outfits that I can use on the girls that I make. I do a rough sketch, then I do the line art, and then I paint it with shining colors and glitches.

Does music inspire your artwork or creative process? Are there any specific artists you like to listen to while you create your art?

Yes! Snail House’s music is a huge inspiration for me when I have to draw something cute! When I wanna draw more retro stuff, The Midnight, Ollie Wride, and Jessie Frye’s songs help me a lot to get in the mood.

Can you tell us a little about any pieces or projects that you’re working on at the moment?

At this moment, I’m just working on upgrading my Ko-fi shop and doing commissions! Two weeks ago, I released an animated music video on my YouTube channel. I haven't animated since I got out of college so I wanted to try doing it for my portfolio. It's a very cute song so I tried to use a very kawaii aesthetic on it.

If you weren’t an artist, what would be your ultimate dream job?

To be honest, I always wanted to be an artist since I showed interest in it at a very young age. But what I also love to do is to attend public! I love going to conventions and selling my merch there, so working in a store selling stuff will be amazing and super fun.

What advice would you give to aspiring artists looking to pursue art at a professional level? What’s something you wish you could tell your younger self?

I think one of the most important things to do is not to devalue our work. Art is a luxury, not a necessity. Some people often think that art should be cheaper since “it's fun” or “a hobby”, and a lot of younger artists fall in that and feel that their work isn’t good enough to charge for it. Art is a profession like many others and it takes a lot of time, work, and practice to get to a good level. Nobody is born with the talent; you only get talented by working hard and studying well.

And to my younger self...I wish I could hug that kid and tell her that she shouldn't listen to mean comments and kids that bully me. And to never give up on creating art! ♥

✨ RIGELWAVE ✨
INSTAGRAM
WEBSITE
KO-FI
SHOP COLLECTION

✨ FOLLOW DARKNET ✨
SOUNDCLOUD
INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK
BANDCAMP

A Trip Back in Time:
How to Build a '90s Retro Gaming Rig

Nostalgia trends have been growing and growing recently. The value of Pokémon cards, for example, skyrocketed recently as recent influencers like Logan Paul and Randalph of the Sidemen have gotten involved into collecting. Tamagotchi has been making a comeback and Bandai has even released modern versions of them. Old school anime like Cowboy Bebop seem to revive themselves every year and even old school Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures keep popping up in my timeline. Maybe it’s all a side effect of the Mandela effect (which may or may not have something to do with that big ole’ particle collider).

Naturally, when you follow the nostalgia train all the way back to things like Samurai X, Beetle Borgs, and Power Rangers, you can’t help but think back to old school gaming and the classics that defined modern gaming that would follow. Sure, classics like Duke Nukem, Street Fighter, Sonic the Hedgehog, Unreal Tournament don’t have the incredible graphics and immersive, hyper-stimulating graphics of modern classics like Halo and God of War. But what they lack in graphics, they make up for in powerful story, era-defining combat systems, and all-round fun.

All this being said, if you’re looking for a kick of nostalgia and have some time and extra cash to spend, then this guide is for you. We’ll take a look at how you can put together an old school rig and get back to enjoying the classics that made gaming what it is today.

1. So Why not just Emulate?

If you’ve played a classic Pokémon game on a PC before, then you’re quite familiar with the concept of emulation. In a nutshell, emulators are computer programs that are designed to mimic the experience of classic games or games that aren’t intended for the PC, like Pokémon Yellow.

Unfortunately, however, due to the advancements in operating system and hardware capabilities, a lot of the original gaming experience is lost, especially the audio experience. There’s just something special about hearing game sound played through a square wave generator on an old mother
board.

Now, let’s start diving into the nitty-gritty of putting one of these bad boys together.

2. Let the Game Choose the CPU

As with all ventures in life, the best way to start is with a concrete idea of where you are going. It would be a shame to put together a massive '90s rig just to find out that your game of choice does not run well on it. Get started by coming up with a list of games that you are likely to play on your rig and use that as
a roadmap for building your parts.

In my case, I’d love to jump back into Diablo, Doom, Warcraft II, and Duke Nukem. So, we’ll be taking a look at MS-DOS era parts to get started.

As a computer nerd like myself, it's natural to want all of your parts to be the absolute best and fastest parts available for the time. There’s a counterintuitive twist with regards to retro games though. Due to the way the AI in many games were programmed, faster processors sometimes can mean unbeatable AI. You see, the faster your processor speed, the faster the AI can make a “decision” about how to punish your mistakes. Many games can simply be unbeatable.

Think about playing Metal Slug on the hardest difficulty, except now the AI can act faster than human reaction time. Yeah, not exactly a laid-back way to spend your Friday evenings. You’d probably end up rage breaking your monitor (and if it’s a CRT, you won’t likely get another one)! So, let’s avoid monitor-shattering rage with a wise processor choice.

In my case, the retro PC build begins with a Pentium Pro, which clocks up to 200MHz. Since I’ll be blasting heads in Doom and I don’t feel like fighting AI plugged directly into Skynet, the 200MHz processor is ideal.

If you’re looking for games that are dated around 1998, then try to get your hands on a Pentium III or Athlon, clocked at 1GHz. You’ll have plenty of processing power without the annoying ultra-powerful AI.

3. The Graphics Processing Unit

GPUs are an easier choice to make in a retro gaming rig and actually have a lot of room for shortcuts. Of course, there are a lot of old school 2D and 3D graphics adapters, but luckily for us, there’s a shortcut! By 1998, Nvidia and the other major GPU producers like 3dfx and ATI had produced adapters capable of both 2D and 3D resolution.

Of course, this is overpowering the rig a bit for a game like Doom, but it won’t come with the same annoying AI drawbacks as an overpowered processor.

For this build, I’ll be rolling with the Voodoo3 by 3dfx. This was the most popular adapter on the market at the time but there’s a catch. No 24-bit color. If you want a full spectrum of glorious '90s gaming performance, then look into the Riva TNT2 by Nvidia. You’ll get 24-bit color and a slight performance upgrade from the Voodoo3.

4. Choosing a Mother Board

Motherboards are kind of an easy choice to make once you’ve landed on a GPU and CPU. If you’re going with Intel, then your best bet is to avoid the Intel 820 and 840 like the plague. These motherboards used a “new” type of RAM called Rambus Ram. Rambus Ram was initially heralded to have higher
performance than SDRAM, but performance issues were common, and Rambus RAM would often flop under pressure.

If you’re still committed to Intel, then an 810 or 815 should be ideal.

Dell motherboards are a no-go as well, unfortunately. I know, I know. Those TV ads are popping into your head too. As awesome as it would be to pay homage to the things that once interrupted Dexter’s Laboratory, Dell motherboards from this era used a 6-pin CPU power connector, which has a unique pin configuration. Meaning, that the chances are extra slim that you find the appropriate power supply in 2021. We’re talking struck-by-lightning slim.

For this build, I’ll be rocking with an AMD K6-2 motherboard. You’ll want to ensure that whichever motherboard you choose, it's an ATX board. Otherwise, getting a case for it will be difficult or impossible.

5. Choosing the Rest of Your Parts

Now that we’ve gotten most of the core components selected, it's time to dive into power supply choice, storage space, optical drives and sound cards.

Power Supply Unit

The K6-2 motherboard is an ATX 1x board, which uses a 20-pin power connector. Lucky for us, nowadays there are still low-end Chinese power suppliers that you can find in this format. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a specific example to link to, so this is one of those parts of the blog you’ll have to search through eBay for (and there’s gonna be a whole lot of that happening anyway, trust me).

RAM

Since we’re running a K6-2 motherboard, we’ll need PC100 memory to work with it. K6-2 motherboards use Super Socket 7, and PC100 is the most compatible for it. Try to go for dual-sided modules when picking your RAM. These sticks have low-density memory and usually work better with the older chipsets.

Hard Drive

To minimize load times (probably a good idea considering our social media-debilitated attention spans), you’ll want to burn a copy of your game onto your hard drive. With this in mind, 40GB of space should be more than enough to store the few classics you’ll be playing, with room for plenty more.

Optical Drive and Sound Card

Last on the list we have something which may as well be considered extinct to modern gamers: a CD drive and sound card. Most modern mother boards come with limited CD drive compatibility (if any) and default sound cards at best. This wouldn’t fly in the '90s.

Sound cards and CD drives were mandatory for gaming, at least until you burned the game onto your hard drive. No particular advice on the type of CD drive, just make sure you get one. Technically, you could still download an old ROM and play without the need for a likely impossible-to-find disc.

6. Finding Your Parts

Unfortunately, there’s not a ton of guidance that I can give with regards to finding specific parts. The processor, power supply unit, motherboard and RAM can usually be found on eBay. The processors will be the easiest to find, but you may have to do some digging for the remaining parts.

Searching your local thrift stores, antique stores or pawn shops might yield something. Also, as GaryVee would say, garage sales are huge. There are a surprising amount of retro machines out there just waiting to be sold off for $20. Don’t be afraid to go on a nostalgic adventure, pop in to random garage sales, and start your next retro gaming rig.

BEGOTTEN: A DISTURBING ONLINE MUSIC MYSTERY PART III

Before we go forward today, make sure you’ve already checked out Part 1 and Part 2 of this story so you’re all caught up. With that being said, let’s begin the end, a conclusion to all the madness.

In 2017, a series of limited conversations between an unknown music producer and a record label owner would lead to the upload of six disturbing albums, each including their own unique set of tragic poems, blocks of confusing Chinese texts, mysterious music videos and paragraphs that recite the label owners experience with this unknown music producer, a producer with a worrisome story that seemed to get all the more real as time went by.

This notorious producer is known as b e g o t t e n 自杀, and as we’ve learned in Part 1 and Part 2, the first four releases from b e g o t t e n 自杀, and the mysterious events between them and the label owner who gave their releases a home, Dennis of Geometric Lullaby, are...pretty interesting…to put it lightly.

In a span of seven months, Dennis released the first four albums b e g o t t e n 自杀 sent to him on Geometric Lullaby. With each upload onto Bandcamp, Dennis would go into detail about his experiences and communications between himself and the unidentifiable producer at that time. I expect you’ve already checked out the first two parts of this series, so I don’t find it necessary to go over everything again, plus I know you want to get right to the big question: who is b e g o t t e n 自杀?

I’ve been along this journey with you as well as I’ve made sure to keep myself from reading the full story until I fully finished creating Parts 1 through 3. I thought doing so would be more of a genuine way to go about documenting the story of b e g o t t e n 自杀 over time, plus it would be more fun for me as well. It’s been giving me something to look forward to with each installment, so trust me...I am so beyond excited to finally crack this case and hopefully get to the bottom of it all as well.

The b e g o t t e n 自杀 Halloween Mixtape [October 14th, 2019 / GEO - SP10]

So before we get into the 5th and 6th albums, the two final releases from the b e g o t t e n 自杀 series and what ended up happening in the saga of events between b e g o t t e n 自杀 and Dennis, I think it would be really fun to talk about this thing: the b e g o t t e n 自杀 - (Halloween Mixtape)

Not only would it be fun to talk about, but it’s also pretty important. b e g o t t e n 自杀 , and the story of b e g o t t e n 自杀 , has become sort of legend in the Vaporwave scene...there is no doubt about that. With all of the mysterious uploads Bandcamp has for us waiting to discover, the b e g o t t e n 自杀 releases are easily some of the most interesting and darkest material to dive into and the b e g o t t e n 自杀 - (Halloween Mixtape) showcases the fascination not only from the fans, but from fellow artists and producers as well.

This thing is massive...20 tracks from some serious heavy hitters: Hantasi, 猫 シ Corp., MindSpring Memories, desert sand feels warm at night, just to name a small handful. And some of these tracks are hella long, MindSpring Memories remix of (invisible) - 无形 clocking in at over 10 minutes and 異星人’s remix of (love) - 真愛 hits the 12 minute mark.

What also makes this mixtape so much fun and such an incredible service to b e g o t t e n 自杀 is that each artist brings their own flair and signature sound to the table, but at the same time they still pay respects to that b e g o t t e n 自杀 mood. Signalwave legend S p o r t 3 0 0 0 and his jolting take on (longing) - 渴望 brings in an element of experimental and space-exploration-esque synth work, all while still laying it on top of that classic, ominous b e g o t t e n 自杀 drone. We even have the thunder from down under, A Future Funk titan: TUPPERWAVE is even on this thing, giving (aquamarine) - 蓝晶 a sort  lo-fi hip hop treatment. He keeps the entire track feeling like it’s submerged in this sink full of ice cold water, a well done little tune and gives a great take on the  b e g o t t e n 自杀 sound in just over a minutes worth of your time. And w i n t e r q u i l t 愛が止ま’s remix of (ghost) - 鬼白 ?! I ain’t even gonna say anything…I’ll just let you listen to that one for yourself.

Dennis also got in on the fun as well, providing mastering for a handful of the tracks on here. The mixtape dropped seven months after the final release in the b e g o t t e n 自杀 series (new aura) - 新时代 (which we will obviously get to in just a bit, get ya seatbelts on!) and this mixtape was the perfect treat for the Halloween season in October of 2019. The album dropped alongside that mouthwatering Ghoul and Ghost box set, a limited collector's edition release dropped by Geometric Lullaby that contains every b e g o t t e n 自杀 album, including the Halloween mixtape, and was such a delightful way to pay homage to the entirety of the b e g o t t e n 自杀 story.

But now, it’s finally time to return back to where we left off. Let’s rewind it back a year earlier: October of 2018. b e g o t t e n 自杀’s 4th album, (happy anniversary) - 周年快乐, had just made its way onto the Geometric Lullaby catalogue, and around this time, the relationship between b e g o t t e n 自杀 and Dennis almost seemed sort of finalized… but was it really though?

Before that 4th release, just to quickly recap, Dennis had finally received an email from b e g o t t e n 自杀 after such a long time of hearing nothing back from them at all. Dennis wondered if they were seeing the albums on Geometric Lullaby, the reception and how the albums quickly formed a cult following. Dennis had no feedback from b e g o t t e n 自杀, which was unfortunate to him because all he wanted to know was what they thought of the releases.

The email Dennis received at the time of the 4th upload was short and simple:

"Thank you. I am still alive. I am okay for now."

Short, simple, sweet, and just enough to crack a smile on Dennis’ face. Despite its seemingly conclusive nature, Dennis wanted to take a couple of weeks to figure out how he wanted to respond and how he wanted to say it. He promised those who visited the Bandcamp page for (happy anniversary) - 周年快乐 that he would keep them updated on the situation.

b e g o t t e n 自杀’s 5th album: (forgive and forget) - 原谅和忘记 [December 24th, 2018 / GEO - 025]

Forgive and forget stands out to me for many reasons. I would say that this is the most melodic and romantic sounding of the begotten series. It uses mostly a different language so the words themselves are impossible for me to understand, but the sound of the music does all of the work with this one. Somehow, Begotten still manages that eerie feeling, a pit in your stomach, just a seed of something...off as you listen to this record. 

Dennis of Geometric Lullaby

After b e g o t t e n 自杀 had thanked Dennis in his quick email, Dennis was very grateful to at least hear anything at all. After a couple of weeks, Dennis emailed b e g o t t e n 自杀 back and thanked them for the submission and their music. He explained that people were enjoying the releases and that they, b e g o t t e n 自杀, should be proud.

The email back would spring up a conversation. While Dennis was not given any details about this person's whereabouts or who they actually were, they began describing to him the intense mental illness that they lived with. Dennis notes on his Bandcamp that he actually holds a degree in psychology, so he understood plenty of what they explained.

But something (like most things involving this artist) seemed odd. As Dennis would receive more emails, he was starting to get a feeling that he was not actually speaking with b e g o t t e n 自杀 directly. It seemed as if he was messaging someone who spoke for them. A caretaker perhaps? They spoke as though they'd studied the human psyche in depth and really knew the deepest feelings of b e g o t t e n 自杀…but it just wasn't them.

All of this was happening after the 4th release obviously and before the 5th release was put out on Geometric Lullaby. Dennis was in Europe at the time with his band on tour through Germany, admitting he was a bit distracted at the time due to the shows. A bit of time would pass without Dennis answering b e g o t t e n 自杀 (due to lack of WIFI and general busy-ness) and when he figured out how he would ask if it was someone speaking on b e g o t t e n 自杀’s behalf... 

He received one of the most disturbing emails yet.

For the sake of discretion, I am leaving it up to you if you would like to see the text of that email. On the Bandcamp page for (forgive and forget) - 原谅和忘记, that email is there, just be advised it is pretty morbid.

Along with this email, however, there was also an attachment labeled "me"

It was a video.

Dennis has yet to figure out what the video means, who it is, or what is going on in it. He uploaded the video to YouTube as an unlisted link through his Bandcamp page. If you click the link there, you will be able to check it out.

Dennis wasn’t sure if what was attached was some staged, fake video. Was it taken from a movie or tv show or even another YouTube video? He asks that if anyone recognizes it, let him know. The sound is unrecognizable, as is the individual in the video.

With this latest, intense email from b e g o t t e n 自杀, Dennis was once again going to take some time to figure out his next move. As time had past since (happy anniversary) - 周年快乐, Dennis thought now would be a good time to release the next album in the lineup given to him from the original b e g o t t e n 自杀 email as he once again found himself in a situation of email chess.

Released on Christmas Eve, (forgive and forget) - 原谅和忘记 would be Geometric Lullaby’s last gift for 2018. The release would contain nine tracks that all begin with “un” (except the bonus track).

1. (unprepared) - 措手不及

2. (unraveling) - 解开

3. (understanding) - 理解

4. (unfortunate) - 不幸的 

5. (unending) - 无止境

6. (unconditional) - 无条件的

7. (undeserving) - 不值得

8. (unless...) - 除非…

9. (bonus track) - 同情

This is one of my favorite b e g o t t e n 自杀 releases, an extremely emotional blend of wonderful vocal sample selections melted with a heavy pouring of warm production on top. That smoky b e g o t t e n 自杀 texture is at an all time high on here, the reverb and fogginess that lays over track 3, (understanding) - 理解, is like hot fudge melting through sweet vanilla ice cream. Track number seven, (undeserving) - 不值得, features the pendulum of a beautifully tragic crying vocal loop on one side with a lonely and distant horn sample on the other. And in the middle? An ice cold blast of trap percussion, that heavy hitting hi hat frenzy is a brilliant surprise and provides some stellar contrast to the lost mood in the majority of the track.

I think “lost” is a good word to describe this album, it feels as if you’re in a virtual world of wireframe-filled hallways. Everything is black besides the thin purple lines that make up all of the wireframes. Track number five is a great example of this, (unending) - 无止境, that constant echo effect used on the claps and other instrumentals really feel as if this thing is large and, like the name of the track, never ending. 

Unlike most releases that b e g o t t e n 自杀 sent over in that original email, (forgive and forget) - 原谅和忘记 would only feature one music video instead of the usual two. This music video came with track six, (unconditional) - 无条件的. And, who would’ve guessed it, more skeletons. This time though, maybe the cruddiest quality footage yet, the barely visible and barely working video is more like a collection of photos instead of a smooth flowing video. We’re simply given a skeleton dancing around, breaking down and building itself back up, all before breaking down one last time before the video ends.

Here was the poem given with this release:

Can I recognize feelings?

Can I sense that they're there?

Has all gone to numbness?

In place of despair?

 

I can ask for forgiveness

But I know it will never come

I can wait until you forget

But there's no ridding of what's been done

A quote was also given along with the poem that read:

Tell me why...

As with all of the other albums, a series of Chinese text was also sent along with (forgive and forget) - 原谅和忘记.

The album’s sound is in pretty heavy contrast compared to the vibes of the track list, poems, Chinese texts, and messages at the time from b e g o t t e n 自杀 (or as Dennis believed, a person talking on their behalf). I kind of see the whole thing as putting on a face, while on the inside you can feel completely different. It’s something we’ve seen come up time and time again with cases of severe mental illness, a person seeming happy and friendly on the outside while something is eating away at them on the inside.

The album hides away it’s thoughts and feelings through sound. The music given to us from b e g o t t e n 自杀 is a mask.

b e g o t t e n 自杀’s final album: (new aura) - 新时代 [March 25th, 2019 / GEO - 030]

A void is all that's left

No sanity to be found

I've lost my mind in the process

I can't distinguish any sounds

 

When there's nothing to live for

And you truly are at your last

You hate yourself thoroughly

Solely dwell on the past

 

A new you starts emerging

Something different, something clean

Something desperate for anything

Other than a dream

 

But dreams are what I have

They beckon me with demand

Let's hope my dreams never come true

For if they do, you'll know exactly who I am."

This was the last and final poem sent to Dennis from b e g o t t e n 自杀, this of course coming along with the 6th album: (new aura) - 新时代.

I knew this time would come. I had been waiting for it ever since releasing the very first begotten cassette, and I must say, it is bittersweet. I am honored be have been chosen by this artist to present their work to the world. I am glad that so many have listened and enjoyed what they've created. While I know it is not for everyone, I personally find each album as something special. But you probably already know that by now.

Dennis of Geometric Lullaby

(new aura) - 新时代 may be the most experimental release of the saga, and it seems fitting as this chaotic journey only seemed to get more and more bizarre along the way. It’s as if the mask from the fifth album was ripped off and b e g o t t e n 自杀’s thoughts, feelings and emotions scattered into a thousand different directions, with no destination in sight.

The album pushes far the abstract and spacious sounds of darkness. (new aura) - 新时代 plays with texture even more than the others, tracks like (distill) - 蒸馏 are straight up broken. Take the echo effects of the track we mentioned in the previous album, (unending) - 无止境, and turn it up to a hundred. Everything is crumbling...instrumentals stepping on top of one another...a stampede of muddy sounds. However, towards the end, the only thing we are left with that is tangible is that eerie, unsettling howling that’s laid over the congested mess of sounds. We see the same thing with track number ten, (connectivity) - 连接, which all feels like a Missingno. Version of a Mallsoft track, but once again that horrifying vocal comes back in to remind us of b e g o t t e n 自杀’s world.

It’s kind of like the same thing that happened in The Caretaker’s Everywhere at the End of Time, the final album in that series being the most broken and decayed release yet. Also, both projects have six releases in them…Kind of interesting to note.

To Dennis, (new aura) - 新时代 gives him feelings of other-worldliness, caverns, alien-like vibes, and pure insanity. The album feels like an emotion we can’t fathom, only something that the set, specific person it’s coming from, would understand.

The album is one of the longer releases in the b e g o t t e n 自杀 catalogue, 14 tracks which clock in at just under a half an hour.

Here was the Chinese text that was provided by b e g o t t e n 自杀 for this release:

“如果没有不死技术，我将在未来35年内死亡，”他感叹。死亡是不可避免的 - 目前至少是因为随着年龄的增长，构成我们身体的细胞失去了自我修复的能力，使我们容易受到心血管疾病和其他与年龄相关的大约三分之二的病症的伤害。

“我的计划的最终目标是将某人的个性转变成一个全新的机构，”

“那么那么你可以说这样的人是有远见的，但不是生气，因为这意味着你想到的东西是不可能的，事实并非如此."

When translated, we find a detailed discussion on death, which leads into human transformation. It is also a bit confusing towards the end, which I’m sure is just Google Translate being Google Translate.

This time however, no music videos were given at all. When I saw that there was none for the first time, I was a bit surprised. With a handful of videos in previous album releases, I was pretty sure there would be at least one that may answer some questions or give some closure to everything we’ve been through with b e g o t t e n 自杀. But nope, just 14 tracks.

I think this was a good move though and kind of wraps up with the ending of the whole Dennis / b e g o t t e n 自杀 saga quite well…

Upon the release of (new aura) - 新时代, Dennis was saddened that this would be the final piece. He knew not whether the world would ever see another album from begotten, but he did not want to dwell on it being over. Dennis would’ve rather dwelled on the emotion and satisfaction that this music would provide.

If you remember when Dennis released the 4th album, he stated that he had actually received another email from b e g o t t e n 自杀 thanking him for doing their releases. At the time, he couldn't think of what he wanted to say in return, and Dennis admits on the Bandcamp page for (new aura) - 新时代 that he kind of just rushed a reply in the end asking who they were and some other personal questions. It wasn't until several weeks later after all of the emails that he received an answer to his questions. It read:

"Do you really want to know who I am?"

At first, Dennis was a little mad at this response:

Why would I ask if I wasn't sure that I wanted to know who they were? But when I opened a reply email and began to type, I stopped myself. Did I really want to know? Would I be able to appreciate the music all the same if I knew the name of the person behind it all? Would it change anything?

Dennis of Geometric Lullaby

Dennis would take a few days to consider this, he knew he did not want to rush it. Whoever b e g o t t e n 自杀 was, they had trusted him with their expression. They had trusted him with their art. Dennis recalls saying:

Would it be disrespectful to say that, yes, in fact, I really wanted to know who they were? These things weighed heavily on my mind and I started to feel anxious about the entire situation. I stopped eating. I started sleeping longer each day and I began to have vivid dreams. It was impossible to tell how connected (or not) that all of this was to b e g o t t e n 自杀.

Dennis of Geometric Lullaby

In the end, after countless hours of balancing options in his head like placing coins on the plates of a scale, Dennis had finally come to a decision. He opened up an email with confidence and hit reply. In the body of the email, he simply wrote:

"You are begotten and that is all that matters to me. Thank you for trusting me."

He hit send and smiled. He then played the entire discography from beginning to end, closing his eyes and allowing it all to take him away.

Dennis no longer checked his email, constantly refreshing in hopes of a message. He had finally found the closure he had been looking for. It was never about the person behind the music, but the feeling, emotion, and atmosphere. It was about the realms to which it brought him, allowing Dennis to escape his own life, if even for a moment. he could finally fully enjoy what he had been given.

Dennis was finally at peace.

The tale of b e g o t t e n 自杀, and Dennis’ experience with the producer, is a tale we all go through in this day and age with music. I know for myself and many others who are heavily involved in the Vaporwave scene and community, there is a lot of music we love and adore from people we simply do not know. As our scene in particular has gotten closer in these past couple of years, with live shows and online shows and what not, there was a time when everything was a bit more unknown. Artists’ and aliases being able to paint even more vivid imaginations in your head of who they were and what they were all about. It’s easy to fall in love with narratives given with albums, artwork that helps you get to that set place and time the album seems like it would be in. But beyond the stories, beyond the settings, the most important thing will always be the music, the sounds, which can always be experienced bare of any context.

Nothing crazy happened in the end between Dennis and b e g o t t e n 自杀, Dennis was given this package of digital albums and just did what he thought was best with them. He never was able to find out if everything was a hoax or if this person was who they seemed to be. And in the end, he had the option to potentially figure it all out, but to Dennis, the music just seemed to be more important. Plain and simple.

Today, b e g o t t e n 自杀 is still listened to by many throughout the internet, some claiming the mysterious producer to be their favorite Vaporwave artist of all time.

But, what about our question: is b e g o t t e n 自杀 real? Fake? Is Dennis b e g o t t e n 自杀?

You know what, I’ll let you do your own digging on that one. Sometimes a mystery is best kept a mystery, but as always, it’s always up to you, my friend.

Although I really do wonder…who was in that car in the graveyard?

If you haven’t listened to the b e g o t t e n 自杀 releases yet, I highly recommend doing so, the music is so rich with or without the pairing of the b e g o t t e n 自杀 story. Thank you for joining me on this wild ride, and until next time…

Much love,

ur boi,

Pad Chennington

Also known as "Youtube's Vaporwave Valedictorian", Pad Chennington is a content creator who has created a substantial following on YouTube for his videos discussing all things Vaporwave. Starting in the Fall of 2017, Pad's videos range from reviews to breakdowns, interviews to unboxings, and much more, always revolving around odd and interesting music genres found throughout the internet. Pad has also recently released an album in February titled "CONTRAST", available as a free download via the My Pet Flamingo label.

BEGOTTEN:
A Disturbing Online Music Mystery

WARNING: This article contains material not suitable for a younger audience. The following content and subject matter may be disturbing to some viewers.

I want to showcase everything that was sent to Dennis that day as best as I possibly could so the story of b e g o t t e n 自杀 can be shared as truthfully as possible.

Discretion is advised.

In 2017, an online music label known as Geometric Lullaby would create a thread on a forum in efforts to find new artists for their label. The label’s motto: A collection of songs about life and death.

They received a solid amount of responses but one response in particular stood out. What would happen next would not only change the label forever, but would introduce an entire online music scene to a series of six album releases shrouded in tragedy. All of this, paired with the chilling events we will learn about today, provides us with the ultimate case to solve… Just who is b e g o t t e n 自杀 ?

The story of b e g o t t e n 自杀 is absolutely massive and I believe it will be better to space the story out into multiple parts instead of having it all as one super long article. I plan on working on part two of this story as soon as I can so make sure you check on back here every once in a while.

So, our story today will focus on two people and the limited exchanges they’ve had: Dennis, the label owner of Geometric Lullaby, and obviously, the artist known as b e g o t t e n 自杀. As mentioned earlier, in 2017 Dennis would create a thread online in search of new artists for his label. A bizarre email from someone claiming to be from Azerbaijan, a small country just north of Iran, caught the eye of Dennis. The amount of material and what this email consisted of, was quite shocking.

Upon opening the email, Dennis noticed that the artist had already set up their own Bandcamp page with all of the covers and album names, each however, without any of the actual music.

The first reason this all caught the eye of Dennis was that he was sent six full albums, all at once, with each release set to go live on Halloween for every year going forward until 2022.

Aside from the music, the email also contained a series of music videos. These videos were eerie, haunting, dreamy, yet intoxicating and beautiful. Dennis says how the artist managed to make these videos so relaxing, all while at the same time putting him on edge, still baffles him to this very day.

And last, the text sent with the emails. What Dennis read from b e g o t t e n 自杀 was so bizarre, he just didn't know what to make of it. Each album had the title listed and track names (all of which included Chinese) and a block of Chinese text.

Dennis is still unable to understand the meaning of this text, or the reason for the Chinese language if they truly are from Azerbaijan. Some of it translates to almost a suicide note, while other parts sound like a story that they can't quite piece together.

Also included was a series of some of the most heart-wrenching poetry you could ever read paired with music. If you go to the artist's Bandcamp, you can read each of them right now, along with the album covers and titles. A lot of them are hard to read. They sound like someone who is in a dark place in their life. Dennis remembers all of this intriguing him without even hearing any of the albums yet.

Being hit with all of this at once, it was finally time for Dennis to download and listen to the music sent through the email. And, aside from the imagery, poetry, mysterious text and music videos, Dennis would soon discover a collection of albums unlike any other.

The music was dreamy and atmospheric, haunting yet relaxing, eerie but beautiful all at the same time. But most of all, it was extremely sad. Dennis found himself listening to every album, all six, from front to back twice as soon as he started them.

The multiple languages found in the samples selected tell a dark and depressive story, set against the backdrop of unbearable loneliness. Each release varies in mood from romantic inspired Vaporwave flips to darker trap beats and everything else in between. You’ll find sample work ranging from crystal clear and sharp as a knife to cloudy and incomprehensible, a smokescreen that suffocates us from the sound alone. Added chords and production techniques all evolve the original samples in such a riveting way with the emotional and worrisome narrative enriched into these songs

Dennis knew he had to be the one to release these albums.

After attempting to contact the artist back for over three months, Dennis would finally get a reply. It simply read: “Please release. Send me address.” Dennis immediately compiled everything he needed and sent the first album off for dubbing. Obviously, there was some doubt in all of this. Just who is this person? Why are they sitting on six albums of material as well as music videos to go along with them? Are they really from Azerbaijan? Dennis wondered if he should be worried about what was being said in the text from these releases, should he try and get this person help? Or, is this all a hoax or a prank? Or, is it simply someone trying to create just another creepy music alias on Bandcamp?

“Are these albums an intricate call for help? I just sincerely hope that this person is okay. They have created something unique and have a perspective on things that I can really connect with. I feel selfish, but I want more albums and expression from this individual. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I.”

Dennis, Owner of Geometric Lullaby

Dennis’ doubts about the location of b e g o t t e n 自杀 would eventually lessen when a mysterious package arrived in his mailbox, addressed from, where else, but Azerbaijan. The box contained only 25 copies of a J-card for cassettes of the first album known as “(life cycle) - 生命週期”, each with the word “Death” scribbled on front (for those who do not know, a J-card is the artwork insert placed in cassette cases).

Shortly after this is when we would see these albums begin to gradually emerge online, with the first one released on the label’s Bandcamp page on March 12th, 2018. I want to explore each release with you, going in order from when they were released on Geometric Lullaby and what was going on at that time in the saga of events between Dennis and b e g o t t e n 自杀.

Let us begin.

b e g o t t e n 自杀’s 1st album: (life cycle) - 生命週期 [March 12, 2018 / GEO - 005]

(life cycle) - 生命週期 would be the first b e g o t t e n 自杀 album that would see the dark of night on the internet. Music videos were also included in the original email from b e g o t t e n 自杀 for the album's title track (longing) - 渴望 and for the album’s 4th track (life) - 生活. These music videos, which contain nothing but low quality shots of skeletons, were the first of many to emerge on Geometric Lullaby from the series of footage sent over from b e g o t t e n 自杀 in the original email.

Every b e g o t t e n 自杀 music video gives off this vibe of decayed VHS, this sort of “Candle Cove” aura for those who remember when that whole thing was a craze on the internet.

(life cycle) - 生命週期 would consist of ten tracks, a very exciting and animated vaportrap release right out the gates for b e g o t t e n 自杀, all while still being hazy and lethargic with it’s wonderful use of textures and uncanny sound effects like the cry of the penguin you race in Super Mario 64 that is missing it’s baby. Manipulating R&B tracks and moody hip hop selections that fizzle out into these weird outer body climaxes are simply stunning and Dennis choosing this as the first b e g o t t e n 自杀 release to put on the label, besides the fact that this was the first release in the chronological timeline provided by b e g o t t e n 自杀, was the perfect move.  (life cycle) - 生命週期 is the ultimate entrance into the labyrinth of b e g o t t e n 自杀’s mind.

As mentioned earlier, each release was accompanied by text and poetry. Here is what was given from that email sent to Dennis for this first album:

"If love is a gift then I am luckier than most

I am showered with more than anyone could hope

Only I cannot accept them with open arms or a smile

I push everyone away from me, neverending denial

It hurts to exist

It is painful to live

My wrists show the struggle of my emptiness

Just once I want to express myself right

To be honest to those who deserve so and cry

To bleed my own blood not for me, not my life

But someone who needs it, just once before I die

No more lies...

And when I'm gone from this life, I'll look down in surpise

The world keeps on turning, not a cloud in the sky

Without me it's better and less filled with hate

Because now I am gone, buried deep in a grave.

Lay me down and close my eyes. Send me off into the night."

b e g o t t e n 自杀

Here was the Chinese text also sent to Dennis with the album. Translate these at your own discretion as some of these texts can get pretty heavy:

我真的很想去杀我自己，因为没有人需要我在这里，没有人要我在这里，没人在乎，我没有在线离线的朋友，我不爱我的家人，没有任何人理解我，我是一个失败，只是浪费钱/食物，更多我可以列出

 

所以我在这个旅行的合唱团，但是是夏天，但有像冬天般的天气。旅游地点有点糟糕，因为我曾经住过（约3000人，充满吸毒者）。我记得走到温迪的一个场所（没有我住过的地方），但这个标志就像“老兵酒吧”那样庆祝老将。我走进去，我没有钱，也没有我的朋友，但是一位老太太说：“哦，我不在乎，你还会在这么美好的一天去冰淇淋。”然后我被我的合唱团中的男中音拉开，我完全迷失在感觉像一个梦幻般的颜色和建筑物的模糊。

 

我所说的是冬季天气的原因是因为在上一部分末尾的幽灵段下雨，我用身体遮挡我的东西在雨中不被弄湿。即使这次旅行持续了几个小时，我想（不记得有关旅行的细节，也没有看到我的老师或任何同学以外的男高音和男中音）。我终于得到了不公平的，在一条我很熟悉的街道上。我头脑里有一个想法：我要去这个城里的朋友家去拜访，这是我去过他们家的唯一的朋友，和他一起睡觉。所以当我到了他的房子（我像火影忍者那样跑了30分钟，而不是坐公共汽车），到了他的房子，他是真的不同。有意义的是，我想：“在3.5年的时间里，我们分开了，我发现了一种幽默幽默感，他有一种脚痛，痴迷于水獭”

 

但等等还有更多

 

我进了他的房子，他没有像上次那样的狗，但他比以前有5个兄弟姐妹。我记得的是，我问他的父母在哪里，他的父亲说“哦，Skyler发现如何把自己变成水獭，所以他在浴室里有一些”私人时间“，这对他来说非常伤心”，而我可以听到非常非常大声的浴室呻吟声。我在汗水中醒来，低声想死

Each of these albums, when sent to Dennis, would be tagged as “hushwave” on Bandcamp, as well as the title of the second album released from b e g o t t e n 自杀. Dennis isn’t sure if this is the genre they came up with for their sound, but to him, it fits perfectly.

(life cycle) - 生命週期 would be released on a limited edition ruby red cassette with the first 25 orders containing that j-card “signed” by the artist. Side note: all of the b e g o t t e n 自杀 releases would eventually be re-released by Geometric Lullaby in a beautiful box-set collection on October 14th 2019. There were two variants of this box set, the Ghoul edition and the Ghost edition. These were released to the public with an unknown amount and, as expected, sold out ridiculously quickly due to b e g o t t e n 自杀’s status in the community and their beloved work.

b e g o t t e n 自杀’s 2nd album: (hushwave) - 治愈它 [June 11, 2018 / GEO - 010]

“This release was a little unsettling to me at first. It takes a different direction than the first album, in that, it achieves being both more haunting and creepy, while at the same time being more beautiful and relaxing. It seems that this release uses all female vocal samples, which adds to the airy and ghost-like soundscapes it creates. The songs conjure a thick fog of atmosphere and uncertainty, vaporous in its release, like the depiction on the cover.

I believe this album is a perfect culmination of what the artist was trying to get across with their tag "hushwave" that I have never heard before.”

Dennis, Owner of Geometric Lullaby

Up until this release, Dennis attempted countless times to contact b e g o t t e n 自杀 by email, even at the cost of spamming the original email address from which the albums were sent. Besides the initial email, the email asking for Dennis’ address, and the package that was sent from Azerbaijan, Dennis had yet to receive any sort of contact or response from b e g o t t e n 自杀. He began to believe all hope was lost in ever contacting this person again. That was, until, Dennis got a letter in the mail just three weeks before the release of b e g o t t e n 自杀’s 2nd album on the label.

The envelope was a beige color with the address, both sending and return, printed from what seemed to be a typewriter. Dennis had no idea who it was from, as the sender's name was typed as "B. D. W." and the address was from somewhere in the middle of Georgia (the state, not the country). The address seemed to have some significance but more on this in a bit.

Woozy and distant, the tones explored in b e g o t t e n 自杀’s second album (hushwave) - 治愈它 are enchanting on a whole 'nother level. Most of the tracks on here are just echoed vocals paired with some stretched out synths or reverb flooded piano keys. (hushwave) - 治愈它 is b e g o t t e n 自杀’s most minimalistic album in the series with the most animated track being all the way at the end of the album. The ending of that track, titled (hidden) - 隐藏,  shifts the mood into this almost silly, Halloween-like jingle that feels a bit uneasy due to the ironically innocent sounding “spookiness” it has.

Here was the poem that came with this album:

"A step too far and I find my way

Falling to my knees because the emptiness remains

The lights are so bright, I must close my eyes

I indulge once more as tears fall and she cries

Life is a burden I cannot bear

The barrel of a gun, a blank-eyed stare

Razor blade on the mantle, a cup full of pills

I tried everything once but nothing fulfills

Scars on my arms, self-mutilation, perhaps

I could get out of bed now, but rather take another nap

Scared to death of death itself and nowhere to turn

I hope I find solace before it's too late to learn."

b e g o t t e n 自杀

The album would also come with two music videos in the original email, one for the song (insomnia) - 失眠 and one for the song (ghost) - 鬼白 

The music videos feature these weird masked figures flailing and dancing around, every couple of seconds staring off and seeming to almost lose control of their bodies.

For fans of relaxing Vaporwave or Slushwave, this release is perfect for you. A big chunk of the b e g o t t e n 自杀 tracks we’ve gotten over the years feel so sensual at times, and this album is one of the best examples. It’s weird, if you didn’t know the backstory of these albums and what went into all of this, some of these releases would probably be super laidback and relaxing. Problem is, once you know, you know and you can’t avoid the horrific energy surrounding the b e g o t t e n 自杀 releases.

Here was the Chinese text provided for this release, when translated, seems to make no sense at all in relation to the album, track titles, artwork or anything:

这是通过应用物理和气象学原理来预测天气。天气预报预测了由大气条件（雪和冰覆盖，暴风雨，洪水等）引起的地球表面的大气现象和变化。科学天气预报依赖于经验和统计技术，如温度，湿度，大气压力，风速和方向以及降水的测量，以及计算机控制的数学模型。

So... back to the envelope.

After Dennis picked up the strange letter he went back into his apartment and opened it, curious, but thinking nothing of it at the time. What ended up being inside sent shivers down his spine; another envelope. This one was badly damaged. The addresses were written in red ink... and the return address?

Baku, Azerbaijan.

Dennis recalls nearly dropping the envelope. He cut it open carefully, his hands were shaking. Inside, there was a single card, thicker than paper. It read "You're Invited," in big cursive letters. Below, there looked to be a fingerprint in red ink, or possibly blood. An address was given, again, in Georgia. At the bottom, scribbled hastily was the word begotten.

And that was it. No date or details on what he was being invited to.

Dennis pulled up Google on his computer and looked up the first address from the outer envelope. That was when he got a little scared. The address was a state mental institution in Georgia. The building looked old and worn down, but according to Google, it was still active. His breathing shortened and he had to pinch himself wondering if he was in some sort of horror movie.

Next, Dennis looked up the address from the "You're Invited" card and nothing came up at all. He searched for a while to no avail and decided to download Google Earth. He pulled up the exact address and zoomed in to find a small graveyard with several mausoleums in central Georgia. He looked back at the card and decided that it was definitely blood leaving the fingerprint, not red ink.

At this point, Dennis took a moment to stop and absorb everything that was happening. He came up with four conclusions on what could possibly be going on with whoever this b e g o t t e n 自杀 person is:

1. Someone was pranking him from the start and this whole thing was just one big hoax.
2. Someone just started pranking him after the first release. They saw the first story and were now trying to feed off of the mystery.
3. b e g o t t e n 自杀 is actually someone living in Georgia, possibly in the mental institution. They used the Azerbaijan address as a decoy.
4. b e g o t t e n 自杀 is actually in Azerbaijan and is, for some reason, using this person in Georgia as a middleman. They sent them the original letter, which was then forwarded to Dennis in another envelope.

Dennis’ mind was flooded with questions: should they have the blood tested for DNA? Should he go to either of the addresses in Georgia? Or possibly try and find someone to go there for him since he lived in a completely different state?

Whatever his next move was, he knew that he needed to continue the release of these albums. Next up would be b e g o t t e n 自杀’s third album, the one many consider to be the darkest of them all.

----------

As mentioned earlier, I believe it will be better to space these articles out instead of having the story all put out as one super long read. That being said, I think this is a good place to stop before we open up a whole new can of worms with the third album.

We’ll talk again soon.

Until we meet again for our next deep dive into fascinating music…

Much love,

Ur boi,

Pad Chennington

Also known as "Youtube's Vaporwave Valedictorian", Pad Chennington is a content creator who has created a substantial following on YouTube for his videos discussing all things Vaporwave. Starting in the Fall of 2017, Pad's videos range from reviews to breakdowns, interviews to unboxings, and much more, always revolving around odd and interesting music genres found throughout the internet. Pad has also recently released an album in February titled "CONTRAST", available as a free download via the My Pet Flamingo label.

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT:
PLAMEN STAMATOV

WHAT'S YOUR ROLE AT VAPOR95?

Hey! My name is Plamen Stamatov, I'm 25 years old and from Sliven, Bulgaria. I've been living in Plovdiv, Bulgaria for the last four years. I am the Lead Graphic & 3D Design Specialist at Vapor95.

WHAT DO YOUR DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS LOOK LIKE AND WHAT'S YOUR SCHEDULE USUALLY THROUGH THE DAY?

I coordinate the design department of Vapor95. A big part of my day-to-day is launching new designs and collection products, creating mockups, and making sure all print files work correctly with the printing machines. I also manage the products and collections on the website and create 3D renders for site graphics like sales banners, special pop-ups, and photo edits. In addition to this, I work on ads for our massive social media ad campaigns.

We recently launched an iOS and Android app, and are working to make it even better. Front and Backend. I'm responsible for the pitch deck presentations and wholesale catalog that we share with our partners. In my spare time, I'm also trying to create new designs, exclusively for Vapor95, but it's not a priority because we are collaborating with the most amazing artists around the world.

WHAT DID YOU DO BEFORE VAPOR95?

Four years ago, I was working as a freelance graphic designer. I didn't have any web, 3D design, or marketing knowledge so I had to find a way to do what I love in the right way. I came up with the idea to create something super cool for Photoshop. You may know about the Photoshop Actions, but for those who don't, Photoshop Actions are like macros that perform predefined functions. You just upload a photo in Photoshop and run the Action, and with zero knowledge you can have a super cool edited photo.

That sounded kind of boring for me. I wanted to do an Animated Parallax Tool Kit Photoshop Action. I successfully created it and sold the Action in a large marketplace called Envato. It became a bestselling Action in its category, was trending, and got featured in a lot of articles in Envato's forum.

How it Works:

So basically, you just upload the photo and with a few clicks and zero knowledge you can have a super cool Animated Parallax photo effect in .gif or .mp4 format, ready to post for Insta or Facebook. The effect is easy to do in After Effects, but it was a hell of a challenge for Photoshop. I figured it out and made it, and then a lot of people copied my idea and created their versions of this effect. I can say this Action is first on the market for Photoshop. It didn't get a lot of sales, of course, because I didn't have any followers and popularity, but it reached number one and all ratings were 5/5. I didn't continue to develop my account to create other sick actions. You will find out why in the next question.

Here is the trailer I made in After Effects about my product for Photoshop:

HOW DID YOU END UP WORKING WITH VAPOR95?

First of all, I want to say that I'm a big fan of sci/fi games and movies. My favorite sci/fi movie based on proven physics is Interstellar. I love Hans Zimmer music and Matthew McConaughey as an actor. I'm also a fan of old school movies like the Back To The Future Trilogy. Every autumn/winter, I do a movie marathon with my lovely girlfriend and we watch Back To The Future (in one day) and Harry Potter (in 3 days).

Furthermore, I found the Vaporwave/Synthwave movement which is not very popular in Bulgaria yet, but it's evolving. So with my modest skills, I created a vaporwave/synthwave artwork featuring my favorite car from BTTF: The DeLorean.

I shared this on my FB profile and it went viral. A lot of big Facebook art pages and groups shared my work, including Vaporwave Sadposting and it got thousands of likes and shares. It was featured on a lot of websites doing Top 10, also Android/iOS apps for inspiring arts and wallpapers.

The CEO of Vapor95 saw that the post was super popular and messaged me that he wanted me on the team for a test period and I got paid per task done. I actually started at Vapor95 maybe a couple of months after Vapor95 launched. Six to ten months later, I got the full-time job and four years later, we are here: the most popular Vaporwave clothing brand in the world with the very first vaporwave physical store in Los Angeles.

COULD YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE CREATING/WORKING ON RIGHT NOW?

Right now, I'm working on expanding the designs throughout the collections, as well as launching new creator collaborations. I have the honor to work with the most talented artists in the world like: Vektroid/Ramona to launch my design called 'Macintosh Plus Limited Edition', as well as Vinne Art, Tokyo Direct, Seerlight, Nemupan, Mizucat, Chronos & Vermillion, Legion Trash Art, Beachghost, KO, Lordess Foudre, Elias Bracho, Virtual Plaza, Caleb Finn, Virtua Apparatus, and Mr. Melville. One of my favorite projects I have done is launching the officially licensed Pink Floyd designs. Insane.

You can expect to see additional collections and design growth from Vapor95 in the near future.

Do you like the new Vapor95 home page desktop banner? Here's how it looked like when I was working on it!

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT WORKING AT VAPOR95?

Since I'm working remotely from Bulgaria, the best part is the communication with the rest of the team. We all work so smoothly and with this new and modern era of technology, it doesn't matter if you manage the servers, printing machines, website or everything in between, we communicate well regardless of where we're located. Without good communication, this wouldn't happen.

WHO OR WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO GET INTO DESIGN?

I have always been interested in web/graphic/3D design, marketing, social media and more.

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF & VAPOR95 IN FIVE YEARS?

We should try to expand to have manufacturers in Europe, for faster delivery outside of the United States but maintain American handmade quality.

More Vapor95 Physical and Virtual Reality stores. 🤫

I also have the ambition to develop a V95 Cryptocurrency Token. 🤫

CAN YOU TELL US THREE THINGS YOU WOULD CONSIDER "INSPIRING ART"? IT CAN BE ANY MEDIUM (PHOTOGRAPHY, 3D DESIGN, FILM, MUSIC, WRITING, ETC.).

Recently I love the work of the following people:

Dizzy Viper, a 3D/Graphic artist

SNTHWVRS, a Music Producer

Andrew Kramer, a VFX Motion Designer

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO WORK IN A CREATIVE FIELD LIKE DESIGN AND ART?

Never count on school and university 100%. They only provide you with the basics of what you need to know. They show you how to be social and teach you to talk in front of an audience and work in little group projects. If you really want to be a successful artist, it doesn't matter in what genre or area of development, just believe in you and make other people believe in you, but not just in your words.

Get things done and do what you love to do. It is a myth that people who work on computers are paid highly. There are a lot of parents forcing their kids to start courses for specific careers because they "have heard they pay well". Please future moms and dads: never force your kids. Please future artists: do what you do the best and do it right with a smile on your face! Things are going to happen for you. I promise.

IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE, WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DESIGN AT VAPOR95, WHY?

I like the Nemesis Hoodie because it's black and has an Alien head on the back side. Maybe we should launch more cyber-alien-vaporwave stuff?

Anguis Mortem is a cool and weird shirt. I love it.

I love Cybervision and all Vinne Art stuff because I love dark and energetic cyberpunk/synthwave/vaporwave designs.

YOU WORK REMOTELY AT VAPOR95, AS DO OTHERS ON THE TEAM, IF YOU HAD TO PLAN AN EMPLOYEE GET TOGETHER, WHAT WOULD WE DO? WHERE WOULD WE GO?

We can do a teambuilding experience on Mars. Just wait for Mr. Elon Musk and his workers to finish the Starship. It's going to be extraordinary and cool.

IF YOU HAD TO LISTEN TO ONE SONG FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

I can't choose between No Time For Caution or Stay by Hans Zimmer. Okay, maybe I like No Time For Caution a little bit more.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR FREE TIME?

In my spare time, I love to hang out with friends. I love to travel, but that's a big problem, especially this year. I love to watch sci-fi, mind-bending movies and play PC games with friends. Still waiting for Diablo 4, but it's not coming anytime soon, not even Blizzard soon. I also like to listen to Dubstep-Riddim music when I'm working. I love to talk about conspiracies, the future, Artificial Intelligence (the positive side of it), Tesla cars, SpaceX, and the upcoming mission to Mars. Love everything related to Aliens. I love to explore new stuff.

How do I have time for all this? Actually, I don't know. Maybe the right work with the right people taught me the best way to schedule and manage my tasks!

WHO IS THE PERSON YOU ADMIRE THE MOST?

Elon Musk, for sure.

IF YOU HAD ONE LAST WISH, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

When it becomes a widespread and accessible practice, I would like to have the opportunity and the necessary funds to take my girl to Earth's orbit. I'm sure it will be a normal thing in the next ten to twenty years.

Here are some of Plamen's favorite artworks he's created:

The Internet's Darkest Music Genre

Hidden deep within the virtual backrooms of the Internet exists a sound so forgotten, barren and bizarre...it’s a sound you can’t turn away from once you click the play button...a music scene left abandoned to time and the ever-expanding musical library of the digital realm.

Uncanny artwork, hyper-sensitive textures and a narrative that always ends the same way for every release: the pure decay and death of the music. Today, you and I will be exploring one of the most lonesome, dark, and mysterious music genres on the Internet, known as “Deathdream”, and what makes this extremely small collection of albums so suspiciously sinister. We will be taking a look at a handful of releases, explore some commentary from actual Deathdream producers, and ultimately, you and I will discover what makes this microgenre contain such immense power in its ability to revolutionize the concept of disposability in music, an ability that leaves us, the listener, in a state of pure audio and sensory purgatory.

Deathdream is a Bandcamp tag given to a small collection of albums that explore themes of isolation, depression, desperation, and other similar subject matters. As of the making of this video, only 75 releases pop up when searching for the “Deathdream” tag on Bandcamp. It’s a very niche style that clearly hit its prime between 2015 to 2016, and although you’ll find some more recent releases scattered here and there, the style is now trickling and rotting away to time. Stumbling upon Deathdream feels like you’ve discovered an abandoned city or ghost town, you’ve run out of gas and you pulled off the main highway only to enter a town vacant of all life.

Click on any of these releases and you’re entering a vacant house or storefront in this abandoned town, tracklists resembling the objects and outdated decor within that may paint some sort of picture as to what happened here. Using tools ranging from heavy drone work, repetitive, looping sabotage and just the straight-up eerie bending and twisting of samples and instrumentation, producers, or as i like to call them, practitioners of the Deathdream sound are determined to tell a story more than anything else. These constant barrages of the same sound chopped repetitively (perfect examples of this being Geolocationism and reflection) bring you into an almost trance-like state, hammering in that sort of hopeless, apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic setting the narrative brings to life so well. Instead of Deathdream being music, the releases feel more like expeditions varying in different intensities. Whether it’s dystopian armies roaming the streets to settings even more deserted, like ghost towns where all that is left is the struggling nature trying to find its way in a place void of hope and life.

Deathdream takes traces of Ambient, Dark Vaporwave, Broken Transmission, and Eccojams and distills the sound with a focus on death, anxiety, and decay. The world of Deathdream opens the door for incredible creative expression and rebirth in artists looking to try something new and explore the darker parts of storytelling. There is something inherently refreshing in creating a new alias to create a sound different from your usual work; Deathdream becomes a home for producers looking to become more anecdotal with their work in a disposable, no strings attached way.

"Deathdream is not about the sound, it's about the aesthetics surrounding the music. Not just the album covers, or the track titles or whatever, but the narrative inherent with every Deathdream album. Deathdream albums have stories attached to them. Sometimes the story is obvious and sometimes it’s a complete mystery, but Deathdream needs a narrative of some sort in order for it to work well.

If you’re someone who wants to make Deathdream, make a new anonymous alias. Don’t worry about publicity, there is someone out there that will notice it. And just try to make something you haven’t made before. Most Deathdream that exists is something someone made on the side, it can be a great way to filter creative energy."

- 暗い自然 (Dark Nature)

Deathdream producer & owner of Black Records 

There are two main labels on the Internet that house a heavy amount of these releases: BLCR Laboratories and Black Records. I highly recommend venturing through each of their respective catalogues, the two are truly a goldmine and will definitely provide you with the material you are looking for.

I want to focus our time today on a couple of Deathdream releases specifically, projects that caught my attention immensely and I just find them to be a perfect demonstration of how intense storytelling elements can be through fascinating presentation and production. Use these albums as undedicated, drowned out background noise late at night. On the other hand, you can allow yourself to be completely taken over by them. I recommend taking the time to lay down in bed, close your eyes, relax your muscles, and have the music absorb you into its world with your undivided attention.

I. 아버지 (father) - reflection

First up on our list today, I want to showcase the brilliance of 아버지’s (father) 2016 release titled “reflection”. This eight track gem explores themes of self-reflection, loneliness, rejection, depression, rebirth and it all concludes with the unfortunate fate of the inevitable crash at the end. When you look at how the track list is ordered or when you listen to each song in succession, you feel like you have suddenly transported into the body of someone going through a pretty tough sort of struggle.

The opening ten-and-a-half-minute track reflection is just mesmerizing: crushing, nonstop repetitive loops that just consume your mind, everything bringing to the forefront these memories you can’t stop thinking about, flashing in your head over and over...and over again. Tracks like “waking up the same”, “someone else”, and “loosing everything” all follow up with this rained on and weathered sample work struggling to make it through each measure, these brittle songs begging for your attention as they crawl out of your headphones.

아버지 (father) makes excellent work on taking sounds that feel depressing, beaten, and hopeless and makes you want to listen to them. Like I said, the narratives of these Deathdream releases feel very cinematic and heavy and you want to look in and examine what the music is going through.

There is always an unavoidable curiosity to it all.

Once we pass the halfway point of the album however, “reflection” becomes enticingly hopeful and less gloomy, especially when we get to the longest, and in my opinion, best track on the album: “tomorrow”. This eleven minute epic sticks out tremendously from the rest of the sorrowful sounding work on the album; these beautiful angelic voices breaking through with warm rays of sun behind them crashing into your ears.

Unfortunately, the refreshing joy of this track ends after this. The last track “untitled” seals away the angelic voices and the sun and returns with these jarring repetitive loops, it feels like the previous track crumbling and burning to the ground, proving it to all to be an illusion as we end the album with this hard stop that goes right back into the first track of the album. This move makes the album feel like a looping cycle and further nails in the notion that whatever this person is going through, this subject you create in your head as you listen to the album, it is all just this never ending cycle of sadness, a possibility for light shining through, and then it just divebombs back into despair and hopelessness. Sounds miserable, I know. But trust me, definitely start with this release. “Reflection” is an incredible journey through hypnotic sound design that feels like an artistic film rather than an album.

II. 아버지 (father) - 흰색 죽음 (White Death)

This is a beautiful piece of work.

One year before “reflection” was released, father dropped “흰색 죽음” (White Death). While “reflection” was a bit more jumpy, I would say, with its repetitive chops and, at times, colorful sounds scattered throughout, “흰색 죽음” (White Death) is way more parasitic and sinister. The whole album feels like you’re walking through this pitch-black hallway, a hallway so dark that even though there isn’t any light, the surface of a white object could eventually become visualized after your eyes adjust to the dark. As you're venturing through the hallway, slowly realizing that there may be no end to this, you begin to sense the entity that is hovering behind you.

The album is very quiet. There are these ambient passages moving at a snail’s pace only interrupted by haunting echoes, a ticking clock, static fuzz or confusing piano keys with no rhyme or rhythm, every moment floats in limbo. “흰색 죽음” (White Death) almost feels like the work of The Caretaker, especially toward the last stages of “Everywhere at the End of Time”. Audio on “흰색 죽음” (White Death) barely makes it through and crackles similarly to “Everywhere at the End of Time”. There is a moment where it sounds like someone is hitting the same two keys of a piano but the audio keeps cutting in and out, your headphones will feel like they are broken and this feature common throughout the project all adds to the unsettling aura this release gives off.

The last track of the album, which simply translates to death, is the moment where this entity finally begins to interact with you on a conversational level. All the textures overlaid on top of the tracks that came before you finally dissipates. The piano keys become crystal clear, your mind is as pure and empty as it can possibly be. You speak with death itself as it guides you through your last moments of whatever control you have left, only for it all to abruptly end as you're just beginning to learn the true meaning of the album. I dare you to listen to all of White Death laying down with your eyes closed and noise canceling headphones on. Enjoy the trip.

III. The various releases of 暗い自然 (Dark Nature)

Albums: Bleed | Soul Drainage | The Dark Forest 最も暗い夜 | The Sounds of Life

If you search for Deathdream on Bandcamp, you’re going to notice this name pop up a lot. 暗い自然 (Dark Nature) captures the ominous energy of being lost in nature or abandoned places. Harsh winds and distant remnants of a town that once was in the 29 minute long release of “Soul Drainage”, The hyper heightened sounds of birds and bugs with the “Sounds of Life”, the most brutally cold day of your life with “Bleed”, or the hidden beauty of a dark forest as night turns to morning on a cloudy, cold, and rainy November day…2015’s “The Dark Forest 最も暗い夜”.

暗い自然 (Dark Nature) does a stellar job at recognizing the disposability in music, the idea that anything you do or anything that has been done before can be sampled, recontextualized, and repurposed as something new. Nothing is ever untouchable, unmalleable, off-limits. Nothing can live or last forever. I was able to get in contact with 暗い自然 (Dark Nature), who had some interesting things to say about the concept of music as a whole:

“I think that music is disposable... Vaporwave kind of made me realize this, sampling stuff I would never have heard of otherwise. For an example, I’m pretty sure more people have heard リサフランク420 - 現代のコンピュー rather than the original Diana Ross song.

 

Vaporwave was definitely not the first musical genre that sampled music, that’s literally been done since music was invented. But I feel vaporwave was the first genre that sampled music in a completely decontextualized way. Using samples without caring where they came from, just taking old music and distorting it, until it sounded nostalgic or depressing or whatever the artist was doing with it. Recontextualizing it without even knowing what the original artist wanted to express with their music.

 

That’s only really possible when you think of music as disposable, and I think Deathdream really captures that. Not necessarily because it samples stuff, not all Deathdream does, but because it uses the disposability to decay itself out. Entire Deathdream albums and aliases have all been essentially deleted and forgotten, with very few people even remembering what it was... with each passing year, more and more people forget. I know of this first hand.

 

I think it’s special when there are entire albums that can only be recalled via your memory. When the only thing preventing this art from fading away forever is you staying alive. Having a relationship like that with music is super special. Deathdream should be able to die, is what I guess I am saying.”

- 暗い自然

Deathdream producer & owner of Black Records

Accompanied with the cheap aesthetic of VHS-weathered artwork, 暗い自然 (Dark Nature) captures a wide range of moods, there are releases that feel hazy, longing and tranquil while others are just straight up sporadic. 暗い自然 (Dark Nature), or the person behind the alias, is also the owner of Black Records, a label I highly recommend you check out for more Deathdream material and it was great getting their insight on the integrity of Deathdream, it all goes beyond just the charm of something feeling cheap, brittle and repurposed… the gradual decay of the music brings to life a whole other avenue of narrative to any project. 暗い自然 (Dark Nature) believes this is where the “death” in Deathdream comes from, the fact that the ending is always planned. Deathdream should be built around the idea of the impending end of the art, a story with a beginning, middle, and conclusion.

"Deathdream is not about the sound, it’s about the aesthetics surrounding the music. Not just the album covers, or the track titles or whatever, but the narrative inherent with every Deathdream album. Deathdream albums have stories attached to them. Sometimes the story is obvious and sometimes it’s a complete mystery, but Deathdream needs a narrative of some sort in order for it to work well."

- 暗い自然

Deathdream producer & owner of Black Records

IV. 死亡頻道 (Death Channel) - 超越灵魂 (Beyond Soul)

In March of 2019, a producer by the name of 死亡頻道 (Death Channel) would release a project called “超越灵魂” (Beyond Soul). 超越灵魂 (Beyond Soul), from everything I’ve heard up until making this video, may be my favorite Deathdream project yet.

Compared to his other aliases which both translate to Dream Channel (夢のチャンネル & 夢想的頻道), the birth of the third alias 死亡頻道 (Death Channel) would focus more on the practice of making darker sounds all while telling a story at the same time.

On “超越灵魂” (Beyond Soul), 死亡頻道 (Death Channel) tried to imagine a story in which a sad and lonely man was left adrift in his own home due to an accident and what would happen as the situation goes from bad to worse. As you listen to the album, the sound changes a bit, but the essence of sadness and darkness remains. The first two songs are crisp, crystal clear and sort of peaceful. By the end of that second song. we clearly hear that our character dies. It is at this moment where the album truly begins, where it’s real depth comes into play, as from the third song on we accompany this character on their journey into the realization that they have passed away and that they were abandoned during their time of need.

The artwork for this release works perfectly, the overlaying images conjuring up a dazed and confused feeling of awakening in a hospital late at night after everyone has left, confused on how you got here in the first place. Medical instrumentation on the side of your stretcher, a long corridor through which you wander while thinking that you are fine, and your soul being the lonely trooper to go through it all.

"Undoubtedly, the sounds you mention always tell a story, or try to make your imagination fly about what you hear and how you can interpret it. 超越 灵魂 (Death Channel) was also like that and what I can recommend for anyone who wants to achieve something of that style, they should simply think about something in their life, in some passage or memory or anecdote, in any situation, and try to figure it out and portray it In music."

- 超越灵魂

Death Channel

When reaching out to 死亡頻道 (Death Channel) regarding any commentary or interesting information regarding the release of “超越灵魂” (Beyond Soul), they told me the inspiration for the project comes mostly from video game soundtrack elements, like Silent Hill and Alice: Madness Returns. That, combined with vaporwave techniques with projects like メディカル= (Medical) and 아버지 (father) led to the creation of 死亡頻道 (Death Channel).

“超越灵魂” (Beyond Soul) is born with sounds and interpretation from some parts of the producers own personal life as well.

"I have been hospitalized 4 times in my life and most of it between 2010 and 2014 I spent in the doctor and hospital accompanying my grandmother until her death (RIP). All those moments of my life, those feelings, being there and living it, was what gave the sound of 超越灵魂 (Death Channel)."

- 超越灵魂

Death Channel

Deathdream is an abandoned goldmine of music, a collection of releases forgotten to time and left to rot away in the furthest corners of Bandcamp. But as we’ve learned today, that may be the ultimate plan of it all anyway. If you are someone who is interested in making Deathdream, 暗い自然 (Dark Nature) notes that you should make a new anonymous alias. Do not worry or stress about publicity, there is someone out there who will notice you. Most importantly, just try to make something you haven’t made before. Dive into the deepest parts of your mind. Most Deathdream that exists is something someone made on the side as a great way to filter creative energy.

So...what will you create, my friend?

Until next time, much love, ur boi,

Pad Chennington

Also known as "Youtube's Vaporwave Valedictorian", Pad Chennington is a content creator who has created a substantial following on YouTube for his videos discussing all things Vaporwave. Starting in the Fall of 2017, Pad's videos range from reviews to breakdowns, interviews to unboxings, and much more, always revolving around odd and interesting music genres found throughout the internet. Pad has also recently released an album in February titled "CONTRAST", available as a free download via the My Pet Flamingo label.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: NITEPUNK

We're super excited to feature you on our blog, Darknet, and share who you are to our readers. Can you tell them a little bit about yourself, both as an employee and music producer?

Hi! I'm Lasha from Brooklyn, originally from Republic of Georgia. Art and creativity have always been the driving forces in my life, so I let them guide my life. That's how I ended up becoming a music producer and employee for Vapor95 and DARKNET Recordings.

I moved to the states from Georgia in 2015 with the plan that I'd make music and art for living, although I was always driven towards the culture here and always wanted to be surrounded by like-minded people from all around the world. I thought New York would be the perfect place for that.

When did you start your music journey? Can you tell us more about the process of becoming a musician?

My first contact with music started in early childhood when I was probably three or four years old. My main musical sources were my mom and dad, separately showing me their favorite music. Growing up, I remember I'd dive deeper into those artists or their albums to find more and explore that world myself. Music was always a very vivid and clear imaginary world for me where I'd always want to hang out.

Despite my strong love of music and dance, I never thought of becoming a musician. I always had music in my head, always improvising, singing different voices over my favorite songs, etc. but being in a studio, surrounded by instruments, guitars, keys was always so far from how I saw myself. Computer and music-making software completely changed that for me. It was a quick and fun way to explore a completely free-form world of music, sounds, creativity and I got hooked right away. I started to take it seriously when I was 15 and making music, experimenting and exploring my artistry and creativity has been as much fun as when I was just starting out.

How did you start working for Vapor95?

I was backstage at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, just hanging out with friends and artists. At one point, I was standing next to this cool and uniquely styled guy and next thing I remember, our mutual friend came up to us and said "you guys are gonna be best friends" and here we are today. Best friends, me and River (CEO of Vapor95). We got into crazy hyper-dimensional conversations about everything, including music of course.

It was so impressive for me how welcome, kind, and motivating he was to me. My life really changed after becoming friends with him. After a couple of hangouts, he asked me if I would help him with his music EP. I was instantly down to help out. I was working at a restaurant at that time, so couldn't dedicate as much time as I would have liked to. So, he offered me a job at Vapor95. Started as his assistant, helping out with everything, and then we directed my skills towards launching DARKNET Recordings, expanding it as a Vapor95 Media Platform!

What do you do at Vapor95? How do you juggle your music career and Vapor95 work?

I'm mainly an A&R and manager for DARKNET Recordings but I do small back-end tasks for Vapor95 as well. With DARKNET, I make sure the label is running smoothly. I reach out to artists about their music and needs, distribute their music to platforms, curate playlists, make mixes, and work on the creative direction of everything.

Could you tell us a little more about what you're working on? Vapor95 and music stuff.

At the moment at Vapor95, we have a couple EPs in the early stages of shaping up. About my music, I just got signed where one of my biggest inspirations is signed as well and we're planning each step carefully.

I have a track coming out on a compilation of one of the biggest names in bass music which is kinda crazy. He was the very first guy I heard Dubstep from. I'm so excited to start releasing all original music with the label starting in September or October!

Where do you draw your inspirations from? Can you guide us through the process of making a track, from start to finish?

I feel like everything is becoming more and more inspirational to me, starting from music to life experiences, feelings, memories, sometimes pre-passing out moments too. Dreams, too. Making a track is such a trip! I realize when I'm in composition mode, I almost don't remember making them after. I completely zone out and get lost in the crazy alchemy process.

I sometimes start with drums, grooves, or simply sound designing and melodies. It's always different depending on the mood. Sometimes it's just a quick idea and will turn into a song after weeks, days, or even years. Sometimes the idea is so strong, you just stick with it and finish it in a couple days. When the flow is there, everything becomes so easy.

What's your goal with music? Where do you see yourself in five years?

My goal with music is to be able to travel around the world, play music, get to know people, and gain all the crazy experiences with them.

There's something so crazy and magical about sharing music with the people as one collective consciousness, so I want to do that with shows and high energy performances around the world. I really want to be doing that in the next five years. I don't know when/if I'll ever be tired of it. I definitely wanna try myself in clothing design, movie/games scoring, and hi-tech visual art! These are my dreams.

If you weren't a musician, what would you do for a living?

I'd still make music.

But for a fair answer, I'd maybe be a dancer or a visual artist! Or maybe, I'd do curling at the winter Olympics.

What is your absolute favorite music to put on and work to?

Liquid Drum & Bass, Lo-Fi hip hop, Vaportrap, old school UK Garage.

If you were to make a playlist for an end of summer party what would be on it?

"Love Me More" by Chase & Status

You’ve made huge strides in your music career over the past few years, what advice do you have for someone who is trying to break into the industry?

I've come to realize that the more you think of "making it", the more it holds you back. You always have to be loud about what you create. I think the art that isn't shared, doesn't really exist. But what I mean is, don't wait for anyone's approval, whether that's the labels, channels, whatever. Keep making music/art for the sake of fun and creativity.

Have fun with all the aspects of releasing it and sharing it with people. Do it in your own way, in your own style. Always keep improving it. Always keep learning. When it's the right time, the right people will show up to genuinely help you take your vision to the next level.

What is the origin story of the name Nitepunk?

It just kinda flew to me itself. I was always an explorer rebel kid so the word "punk" and the attitude of it always spoke to me deeply. I could relate how I felt most of the time.

When I moved to the States, I wanted to start all over again with a new name and story. I wanted to make it something that could relate to my high energy self as well as a peaceful character of mine. My mind feels peaceful and most creative at night. I merged those two things into Nitepunk.

You recently released an EP, Red Turbulence, tell us a little bit about how this process was for you compared to the other music you’ve put together. What inspired you?

Red Turbulence tracks were supposed to be singles at first. But after Never Say Die Records reached out, I decided to go with the full EP and put all these out. I knew I had to go extra hard with the wrapping up of the EP. It was definitely the first big release for Nitepunk music.

I worked with super talented and creative visual artists for the teaser (credits in the video) but mainly with @iamgogokhia & @cbu3D. We spent all day working on the assets and visuals for about two months! One of my favorite memories ever!

Watch the teaser for Red Turbulence EP here!

Lastly, any upcoming shows (digital or otherwise) / projects we can direct people to check out?

Unfortunately, no upcoming shows at the moment. But, my music is on the way and I hope the Vapor95 community likes it too. The next couple months are very exciting for me! Can't wait!

✨ NITEPUNK ✨

SOUNDCLOUD
YOUTUBE PLAYLIST
SPOTIFY

✨FOLLOW DARKNET ✨

SOUNDCLOUD
INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK
BANDCAMP

How to Make Your Own Aesthetic Face Mask

If you’ve managed to depoliticize the mask wearing issue in your own head (or even if you’ve hyperpoliticized it), you’re onboard with wearing one.

Most people agree that in spaces with the potential for crowding, wearing a mask is, at the very least, common courtesy (if not common sense).

Either way, chances are that you’re interested in making your mask a bit more personal and less bland and/or medicine-y (Yes, I made that word up and you know exactly what I mean). Japan and Korea have been on the aesthetic mask wave for years now, so we need not look far for inspiration for an aesthetic design of our own.

We’ve put together this brief guide to help you put together a mask of your own from the comfort of your own home.

Equipment You’ll Need

There are a few varieties of masks that you can make and each of them requires slightly different starting materials or tools. In this guide, we’ll be covering a couple of varieties:

• Face Masks with Rubber Strings or Hair Ties
• Face Mask with Built-in Strings

1. Mask Fabric (any design of your choosing like these, for example)
2. Scissors
3. Rubber bands or hair ties (Not necessary for Mask with Built-in Strings)
4. A ruler or tape measure
5. Pencil or some other writing utensil
6. Paper
7. Some sort of adhesive like hot glue, iron-on patching, or stapler

Making a Face Mask with Hair ties

We’ll get started with the easiest face mask by procedure to make. For this process, you’ll only need to fold your fabric in a specific pattern and attach your hair ties or rubber bands accordingly.

Step 1:

Measure an 8-inch x 14-inch segment of your fabric and cut it into a rectangle.

If you’re working with a printed Tee, or tie-dye pattern, you may want to measure this area over the part of the design you want facing outward. Do your best to have your favorite part of the design as centered as possible.

If you’re cutting from a T-shirt, don’t worry too much about stitches, since they’ll most likely be hidden when you fold.

Step 2:

Fold Your Fabric or T-shirt material from bottom to middle and top to middle

For this step, you’ll want to measure about 1 inch from the top and bottom of your fabric and make a line across its width. Once you’ve done that, fold your fabric along this line.

Step 3:

Fold your fabric once more to “double” it and add rubber bands

Once you’ve folded it once, fold your fabric once more about midway through the first folds to double its thickness. Once you’ve done this, measure about 2 inches from the right and left edges of your fabric and attach your hair ties or rubber bands here.

Step 4:

Fold Right and Left Sides Toward Center

The right and left sides of your mask should meet once you fold them toward center. If you’d like, you can secure them here with stitching, or stapling, but the tension once you wear your mask should be more than enough to keep it in place once worn.

Making a Mask with Built-in Strings

For those of us without hair ties on hand (who also happen to have scissors available), our hopes for an Aesthetic Face Mask-erpiece (I’m neither proud nor ashamed of this play on words) remain alive. There is far less folding required for this version of your mask.

Step 1:

Measure an 8-inch x 14-inch rectangle of your fabric of choice

Step 2:

Measure 6-7 inches from the right and left edges of your rectangle and cut.
In this step, you’re aiming to measure out the length of your tie strings, while leaving a central rectangle or block of fabric to act as your actual mask. To achieve suitable thickness for each string, you'll want to measure 6-7 inches along the bottom and top of your fabric rectangle and then about .3 to .5 inches toward the center.

Once you’ve done this, be sure to create a mark or line to cut along since these lines will be the edges of your strings.

Step 3:

Add 2-3 layers of fabric to the portion of your mask that covers your face.

As you may have already noticed, this design is a lot thinner than our previous one and thus, will be a little less effective as a filter. As a result, we strongly recommend measuring the central part of your mask, cutting matching rectangles from your fabric or another fabric and placing them between your mask and mouth.

If you don’t have a stapler or needle and thread available, you can cut small holes into the corners of your new fabric squares and the corners of the face covering portion of your mask and thread your tie strings through them.

Making your N95 or Surgical Mask more Aesthetic

Of course, no homemade mask design can match the effectiveness of an N95 or surgical mask, but they certainly can be better when aesthetics are taken into consideration. If you’re the type of person who isn’t willing to sacrifice safety for looks, you can consider this final process to make your surgical mask or N95 even more aesthetic.

Measure your Mask

First things first, you’ll need to know the dimensions of your mask as closely as possible. Of course, when it comes to the N95, shape prohibits precise measurement, so you’ll probably want to hold your fabric against the surface of your N95 and cut instead of taking measurements. Surgical masks are usually rectangular when not worn, so you’ll have little issue when taking measurements for these.

Attach Your Design of Choice to N95 or Surgical Mask

Once you’ve measured your fabric of choice, we recommend gluing, ironing on, stapling, or stitching your new design onto the front of your mask, being extremely careful to thread or staple only through the very edges of your mask and not through the breathable surface, since this can compromise your safety and the safety of others.

Where You can Find Aesthetic Designs for Your Mask

Finding a creative and aesthetic design for your mask can be tricky, especially since there are so many options available. If you didn’t have anything particular in mind, or are interested in finding colorful, vibrant designs with references to Japanese, Ancient Greek and Vaporwave culture, consider using a Vapor95 bandanna as the base fabric for your material.

Our bandannas are incredibly comfortable and long-lasting, so they’ll survive the necessary cleaning and sterilizing that all masks must go through inevitably.

We also have a huge collection of Aesthetic Face Masks available online at Vapor95.com.

The Birth, Death and Resurrection of Tamagotchi

If you didn’t live through the '90s, you probably missed one of the biggest technological fads in recent human history. In this blog, we’ll be taking a look into Tamagotchi, the fad that took the mid '90s by storm and died a premature death shortly after.

What Was Tamagotchi?

Put simply, Tamagotchi was a tiny plastic egg with a black and white display and three unmarked buttons. In this plastic universe, there lived a digital pet that required care and attention, much like a real pet. Tamagotchi pets required feeding, loving attention, watering, and the occasional poop clean-up.

According to their origin story, Tamagotchi pets are alien beings, who required their plastic cases to remain safe from the Earth’s atmosphere. These pets would routinely alert you to their needs, at practically any time of day or night and should they be left unattended for too long, you could quite literally return to a dead Tamagotchi.

True heartbreak for any child of the '90s.

How it originated

Tamagotchi pets originally found life in the minds of Aki Maita of Bandai and Yokoi Akihiro, who worked for WiZ, a company that specialized in animations and toys. Interestingly, Maita wasn’t a toy designer at Bandai originally, but instead worked as an office manager, presumably helping with HR and logistics.

As the story goes, inspiration struck one day as she was watching TV and she felt the desire to create a pet that children could take with them anywhere and care for at all times. She brought her idea to Yokoi, who helped with the design process and even helped her shape the origin story for Tamagotchi.

How it became popular

Once an initial design was agreed upon, Maita did an incredible amount of groundwork to ensure that Tamagotchi would provide the maximal amount of entertainment and joy for children. Maita took several hundred prototype Tamagotchi pets into the High Schools of Shibuya. Then, they distributed them to high school girls, who she thought would be the primary demographic for the pets.

Once distributed, Maita conducted several surveys to fine-tune Tamagotchi pets into the powerhouses they would soon become. In November of 1996, Tamagotchi was launched in Japan and shortly after that, they took over the world.

Why Was Tamagotchi Such a Hit?

It's crazy to think that in a time where technological entertainment was advancing so steadily that something as comparatively simple as a Tamagotchi would become as popular as it did. By the time the Tamagotchi began its invasion of American shores, Gameboy, Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo, and PlayStation 1 had all been released at this point.

Titles such as Super Mario 64, Pilot Wings, Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider and Crash Bandicoot had all been released and were thriving. One would think that these titles alone would be enough to satisfy the technological or entertainment cravings of any mid '90s teenager.

However, Tamagotchi offered a type of entertainment and development that was entirely separated from an action or adventure genre.

Tamagotchi Provided the Illusion of Life

For those of us who lived through the '90s or were born before it, we’re probably all too familiar with the attachment we developed to our stuffed toys and action figures. We spent hours playing, constructing story lines, building “houses” and “neighborhoods” for them to live in with pillows and Barbie houses and anything else we could dream up.

We wanted them to live.

Taken out of context, that could seem extremely creepy, but these toys were already very much alive in our minds. The only thing cooler than acting out those stories would have been our toys being able to interact with us as a pet would.

Tamagotchi filled this childhood void, by pretty accurately simulating the demands of a real-life pet. This effect was amplified by the fact that Tamagotchi pets' needs would have to be addressed at seemingly random times, the same as a real-life pet.

Finite Lifespans Heightened Emotional Attachments

So long as you could keep your Tamagotchi functioning, you could theoretically play and engage with new pets for an eternity. However, each individual pet’s life lasted only a finite amount of time. In modern Tamagotchi pets, lifespans can technically be infinite, so long as users avoid making mistakes in caring for their pets. 

The average Tamagotchi of the past, however, would last 12 days or less. Which in effect made every moment we spent with them that much more precious. Every beep for food or play or cleanups meant a little bit more, since there was a chance that it could be the last one for that particular pet.

If Tamagotchi was So Popular, why did it die out?

The exact reason why Tamagotchi died out is still up for debate. There were several contributing factors, but one of the most commonly cited was the fact that they were so damned hard to keep alive for the average kid. Once the rush from being part of the trend died down and children began interacting with their virtual pets in depth, frustration became a common part of the experience.

Given their widespread popularity, many schools in the USA also moved to have them banned for a number of reasons. Most markedly was the simple distraction from the school curriculum. This resulted in a significant amount of cultural upheaval in the suburbs as parents were taking on the additional task of keeping their children's pets alive since they could no longer take them to school.

It’s safe to say that Tamagotchi didn’t die a pretty death…

If you’re Feeling Nostalgic, There’s good News

On a brighter note, there is some good news for those of you who are now feeling that pang of nostalgic hunger. Tamagotchi was recently re-released as a larger, full color version with more functionality than its black and white predecessor.

The new Tamagotchi On allows you to customize your Tama, raise them to adulthood, marry them and give rise to new generations of Tama who are combinations of their parents. There’s even an app that goes with it, allowing for connection with other Tama parents and fun minigames.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: SEERLIGHT

We're so happy to feature you on our darknet blog since you've been collaborating with us on designs! Tell us a little bit about yourself and how long you've been doing art.

Thanks for having me! I've been drawing for the majority of my life. I've only gotten serious at it when I was around 17 and wanted to pursue a career in the game or animation industry. I was never hired anywhere but I did end up paving my own career through social media instead.

Tell us a little bit about the designs you've created in collaboration with Vapor95. What inspired these works? If you had to pick a favorite, which one would it be and why?

A lot of the artwork I do is inspired by anime and Lo-fi and Vaporwave aesthetics. I like to mash all the aesthetics I love into one piece. That's why all my work has small elements of anime, Lo-fi, Vaporwave, and sometimes Cyberpunk in them. If I had to choose a favorite, it'd probably be my Konohagakure piece (named Ramen Village on the site). It's just a favorite of mine.

Your style is incredible, inspired, but as original as they come. Please tell us about your artistic journey.

My style wasn't always just line art and flat colors like you see now. I used to do a lot of paintings with many textures and tried to make them look like oil paintings. I used to draw that way because I absolutely hated doing line art. But ever since I started experimenting with line art more, I've really leaned into it and enjoy it now.

Could you tell us more about what you're creating/working on right now?

Right now I'm working on various projects I can't talk about at the moment. But I'm always doing fan art of various series.

Do you listen to music while working on your art? If so, please share your favorite artists or albums with us!

Yes, I listen to a lot of Lo-fi and Chill music. Right now, my favorite artists are probably Powfu and LUND.

You are a world creator. Your designs look like they could be from animated feature films. Where do you get your inspiration from to build these worlds?

A lot of times they're actually fan art from anime series or films so that's no surprise! I like to take specific scenes or ideas from films and try to recreate it with my own spin.

Every artist faces days where they lack inspiration and drive to create. How do you deal with these moments?

When I'm not motivated, I simply take a break and do something else for a while. A lot of times, that's gaming or reading manga and watching shows. After I've had my fun, I'm usually ready to work again.

If you werenʼt an artist, what would you do for a living?

I'd probably end up being a pro gamer or something lowkey.

What is your ultimate dream to accomplish with your art? How do you see yourself at the highest point of your career?

The highest point I can imagine myself is having my work recognized by practically anyone who uses the internet.

Anyone who sees my work will instantly know it was made by "Seerlight".

If you could blast a text message to every phone on the planet to deliver one 160 character message, what would it say?

Boobs.

Finally, what would you say to up-and-coming artists who want to pursue their passion?

Take it easy. Don't force yourself to work more than you should. You should always be having fun with your work.

✨ SEERLIGHT ✨

INSTAGRAM
TWITTER
WEBSITE

✨FOLLOW DARKNET ✨

SOUNDCLOUD
INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK
BANDCAMP

Seven Ways To Bring Some Aesthetics To Your Apartment

Apartment design usually seems like a really ambitious project. Repainting, relocating furniture, cleaning up before, cleaning up after. It’s probably seemed, for a long time, like something you can simply do later. Fortunately (or unfortunately) for you, we’ve all been forcefully given some extra time indoors. So, right now might be your best shot at actually getting some work done on your apartment.

Adding some style to your place doesn’t have to be a herculean undertaking though. There are a number of very simple things you can try to get that aesthetic look you’ve been searching for, without a ton of effort. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

Full disclosure: many of these come from Vapor95.com.

#1: Philips Hue Lighting

One of the most obvious considerations when redecorating an apartment is repainting. Painting your walls can create a dramatic change in the ambiance of your apartment. This isn’t just a weird psychological trick. There’s actually a scientific basis for why this works.

Physical objects have a tendency to absorb visible light and other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. The color of an object is determined not by the colors they absorb, but by the colors they reflect or fail to absorb completely. So, an object that appears primarily red, is actually all colors but red.

Trippy? Yes, but core to understanding the next point.

The reason the “feel” of a room becomes cooler when you paint a wall blue, is because there’s slightly more blue light bouncing around the room now. This affects how you perceive things in the room, since the colors will appear slightly different.

This same effect can be achieved without all the effort of repainting an entire room by using the Philips Hue Lighting System. This system allows you to fully customize your lighting, switch colors when you’re bored, change the color and intensity for romantic ambiance, or even create epic shows that groove with your music.

#2: Heisei Accent Poster

The word “Heisei” refers to the period of time in Japanese history and culture which started in January of 1989 and ended on the 30th of April 2019, when Emperor Akihito abdicated from the Chrysanthemum throne. That probably sounds way too cool to be true but it’s a fact, not a video game story line.

This period in Japan’s history is characterized by a large expansion in the availability of technology and has thus promoted the spread of Japanese artwork and themes across the globe. This Heisei poster captures something of that period through its use of the color palette and a gun-wielding anime girl.
If you’re looking to add something unique to your room in addition to lighting, this is a solid choice. Given it’s use of color, this poster doesn’t even need lighting to be an accent.

#3: Gasmask Geisha Poster

In a weird juxtaposition of traditional culture, beauty, and modern warfare, the Gasmask Geisha can make an interesting accent piece in any room. There isn’t a ton of background info on the poster, though it clearly draws inspiration from anime-styled animation and even hints to some extent at the possibility of violence among the flirtatious musings of the geisha.

Being black and white, this poster can take on a number of tones and work well in pretty much any mood lighting you choose. It’ll also look stellar in a lighting music show.

You can find this poster here.

#4: Indoor, Desk or Tabletop Zen Garden

Regardless of how bland or boring your apartment may be, it’s hard to make a Zen garden flop. If you can afford to get a Zen garden sized for your apartment, setting one in front of the TV or as a centerpiece in your living room can be an incredible addition.

Zen gardens offer a ton of aesthetic value and make a significant contribute to a relaxed feeling in most apartments. If you can’t get a large garden, there are options for tabletop ones that offer similar value aesthetically. You can even make your own.

#5: Himalayan Salt Lamps

True Himalayan salt is harvested from the Khewra Salt mine in Pakistan. The salt here is argued to be millions of years old and gets its distinctive pink color from minerals found in the salt. Lamps made from this salt are believed to be healing in nature and provide a few benefits like:

1. Clean the air in your home
2. Soothe allergies
3. Increase feelings of well-being

While we cannot explore the veracity of these claims in this singular blog post, we can confirm that Himalayan Salt lamps, do lend an awesome, warming atmosphere simply by being placed in a room. If you’re hoping for a romantic movie evening or just good lighting for falling asleep, this is a solid bet.

#6: Miniature Cacti (And other easy to maintain plants)

Small cacti look cool. Nothing else need be said.

Jokes aside, a few well-placed plants can make a tremendous difference in any room, especially if they flower. Normally, the idea of taking care of something is a turn off, if you’re not a maintenance-oriented or care-giving person. The plants we suggest, however, are all easy to maintain and bloom without much difficulty.

They are perfect additions to our aesthetic list of easy things to do to make your apartment a cooler place.

Low maintenance plants in order of coolness:

1. Christmas Cactus
2. Amaryllis
3. African Violet
4. Hibiscus
5. Peace Lily

#7: Cross Room Themes

Cross room themes can be a good way to add some consistency to your apartment and “extend” an aesthetic to multiple places. Take for example the Scanset blanket and beach towel from our site. If your room and bathroom have similar base colors (like beige or white walls), then having this design as a center piece can catch your eye and fill the space nicely.

The best part of using a blanket or towel as a center piece besides the practicality of them, is their cost. Buying a blanket for room aesthetics is far cheaper than repainting and takes way less time to get set up. At the worst, you’ll actually have to make your bed to maximize your aesthetic. Not a bad way to start a good habit.

This combo can be replicated with many of the designs found on our site, since our blankets and towels come in many designs. If you’re feeling ambitious or are just very committed to color, there are a number of posters and framed prints which also fit this aesthetic.

Enjoy!

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
POST WOOK

We're so happy to feature you on our darknet blog! Tell us a little bit about yourself and how long you've been doing art.

Thank you! I am a full-time artist based in Los Angeles, California. My days are usually spent packaging up and placing orders, making art for clients, and making art for myself. I love going on hikes in the mountains here, and going to the beach. When I have free time, I prefer to spend it underwater scuba diving.

When did you start your artistic journey? And what made you dive into the world of collages?

I started making art as POST WOOK in June 2018, but I’ve been making collages here and there since I was 12. I don’t know exactly what sparked my interest in collage vs. other forms of art, but I enjoyed the process of cutting things out and pasting them more than learning how to draw or paint. My grandmother is a classically trained oil painter and after seeing how much time and effort she had to devote to her craft, I respected it but took my creative musings in a different direction. Oddly enough, we make similar art even if its a completely different
medium.

Please tell us about your creative process, how are your art pieces created? Where do you find the components of your works, are they also created by you?

I make my art on Photoshop now. In the early days way before POST WOOK, I used to cut out pictures and textures from magazines but found that Photoshop provides a way more compact and less messy outlet for what I want to do. I find my images all over the internet, and did a deep dive into copyright law before I started posting art publicly. The most important thing for finding art on the internet is making sure it's royalty free. Occasionally, my friends and followers who are photographers will send me their photos to use, and in the future I plan on getting a camera myself and taking some of my own photos to use as well.

How do the external world and current events influence your art and creativity?

I try not to make art solely based on current events but rather my feelings and emotions that derive themselves from whatever I’m seeing and feeling. Sometimes my emotions are inspired by current events, but I’m more so enthralled with the world around me.

Have you ever reflected on what draws you to surrealism? If so, what did you come up with?

I’ve always had an imaginative brain, and I didn’t realize how odd my worldview was until I started talking to other people about their perspectives. I’ve never gotten a medical opinion, but I’m almost positive I have synesthesia -- I can see and feel sounds in a way that I really can’t describe. My boyfriend is an audio engineer and sometimes when he’s putting something together I’ll describe it as ‘the smell of old leather’ or ‘ripping apart bubble wrap’ and he has no
idea what I’m talking about but it makes sense to me. When I look at people’s faces, they look much like Picasso’s cubism portraits which is why I tend to not use people in my art-- I never can find the place for them. When I listen to music, I see a world that looks like my art in a dynamic reality. I guess I make art that reflects the way I see things in a multi-layer, colorful and dysfunctionally functional world.

Could you tell us more about what you're creating/working on right now?

I’m very presently in an in-between phase with my clients, but I am doing a year-long project with the California-based, craft beer company Firestone Walker. I just wrapped up another year long project with the science and space publication, Inverse, and I’m currently working on a few projects I legally can’t discuss! But for myself, I’m planning on expanding my online store a bit more towards the end of summer to include new tapestries, blankets, and notebooks in addition to the maelstrom of prints that my followers and supporters love so dearly.

You have worked with big brands and musicians. Tell us about your favorite collaborations and the process of working with others.

This is such a good question! I really love working with Firestone Walker because the team is so laid back and fun to work with. I worked with Zillow in the very beginning of my career and that was also a very exciting project as well. I’ve been lucky enough to work with a lot of amazing clients though, it’s hard to pin down a specific project!

The process is just a lot of emails back and forth. It’s not super glamorous, now because of COVID it might be more zoom calls than anything else, but I’m usually just sitting on my couch taking notes and then revising projects. Depending on my direct and physical involvement in the project, something can be as hands-on as traveling for the brand and creating in-person content, or quite literally sitting on my couch revising it. With most things in entertainment, the big picture comes together once the project is finished and out in the public. That’s usually when
I can celebrate the triumph.

If you werenʼt an artist, what would you do for a living?

I actually loved my last day job and would do it again if I had to. I was an assistant for a private events team in a luxury hotel here in Los Angeles, and I really enjoyed that job. I’m an extrovert to my core and enjoy being around people and putting something together that makes them happy. I also love the logistics that go into event planning and execution, and the hospitality industry at large was the best industry (outside of art) that I’ve worked in.

What is your ultimate dream to accomplish with your art? How do you see yourself at the highest point of your career?

I really want to keep making an impact on the surrealism art world, and bring a new perspective to art. I’d love to see my art break into fashion at some point -- seeing my art on clothing in a runway show is definitely a goal of mine. I’d love to diversify outside of just digital art and start making more physical pieces for galleries and public art displays. I guess my tip top goal would be having my art as the display on the Los Angeles Convention Center, or to collaborate by name with a large brand like Gucci or Prada. I try not to think too much about the ‘means’ that lead to the ‘end’ because I’ve found that the path is always different that I anticipate.

Letʼs say you get full artistic freedom on a billboard on the busiest road in a huge city where millions will see your message. What would your message be? Any combo of words and images is fine.

Oh, I have so many things I could say. Before I even made art, I worked in politics and still have a deep affinity for reforming campaign finance because it can be a very dark place, so maybe ‘Overturn Citizens United’ -- or just ‘Vote’ if I’m taking the political route. Without words, I’d probably just make a nice landscape piece that portrays the surroundings of the billboard. I’m also a fan of abstract, almost troll-like art, so knowing me, I’d just put a big mirror on a billboard for no reason.

Finally, what would you say to up-and-coming artists who want to pursue their passion?

There’s so much! The most important thing is to think about the long term and your goals for the future. Invest in learning your craft as much as you can, and honing in your own style that sets you apart. Inspiration is great and can get you on your feet, but finding a new path to carve out will be far more helpful than trying to run someone out through their shadow. Google is a great resource for most questions, and you can learn a lot from different fields and people’s experiences. Become an expert in social media because the days of only getting recognition from galleries is over, and content is king.

Learn how to be your own agent and manager until you can find those people. I think all artists, not just visual artists, think there will be some superman that will do all of the logistical work for them so they can just make art. That might be true later, but learning how to be your own business manager will help you so much -- from correspondence with clients, to negotiating rates, managing a website, and organizing documents like contracts and tax documents. Art and business should go hand in hand if you want to succeed!

✨ POST WOOK ✨

INSTAGRAM
TWITTER
WEBSITE

✨FOLLOW DARKNET ✨

SOUNDCLOUD
INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK
BANDCAMP

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
DAVANSH ATRY

We're so happy to feature you and your incredible art on our blog DARKNET! Tell us a little bit about your background, share your story with us!

My name is Davansh Atry, 3D artist from India. I was an Electronics major at college and graduated in 2016. I was never much interested in a job in that field, majorly because I sucked at it. Haha. Art wasn't my thing from the very beginning. I stumbled upon it by mistake and it just stuck with me. And, i'm glad it did.

How long have you been creating art? And what was the deciding factor for you to pursue it professionally?

I have been creating art for almost three years now, started out sometime in 2017. Like i said, it wasn't my thing from the beginning, initially it was like a hobby that acted as an escape from what I was doing at that point in my life. And as time passed, people started approaching me with opportunities and it was then, when I decided to roll the dice and see where it goes.

Tell us about your process - how do you manage to make your ideas come to life and how close are they to your initial inspirations?

It usually starts with an emotion/thought and then I decide a scene set up for it, a concept, if I may. I then work on it until I'm able to somewhat bring out that emotion through it or basically until I'm satisfied with it.

The real treat is when the audience is able to feel the emotion/thought I felt while creating the artwork.

Do you listen to music while working? If so, what do you usually listen to? How do you see it affecting your final product?

Yes, I do listen to music while working. Here's my Spotify playlist that I usually have on loop while working.

Music is definitely one of the major sources of inspiration for me.

Where do you see yourself at the pinnacle of your career? What would be your ultimate dream come true involving your artwork?

I'd say working with some of my favorite artists would be both a dream come true and where I'd be at the pinnacle.

What would you tell passionate up and coming artists who want to pursue their art?

The only thing I'd say is "never give up". Consistency is the key, as they say, "Rome wasn't built in a day", so the more time you spend on it the better. Plus, share your work with the community as much as you can.

✨ DAVANSH ATRY ✨

INSTAGRAM

✨FOLLOW DARKNET ✨

SOUNDCLOUD
INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK
BANDCAMP

VAPOR95 LIVE STREAM 3.0 REPLAY

(Enter Full Screen mode for full e x p e r i e n c e)

In case anyone missed the third Vapor95 Live Stream...

We've uploaded the full show for you all!

The show was another incredible moment for us, featuring a roster of some of Vapor95's favorite musical acts. It was such a pleasure talking and vibing with fellow fans and supporters!

Special thanks to Android Apartment, Telenights, Lola Disco, kissmenerdygirl, 식료품groceries, Skule Toyama, Tupperwave, SUPERSEX420, 猫 シ Corp. and the Vapor95 friends and family! Be sure to follow and support these artists if you enjoyed their sets!

We're planning to do more of these shows so stay tuned for upcoming digital concerts by following the DARKNET Recordings Instagram, the Vapor95 Instagram, or our Facebook. You can also sign up for our mailing list on the bottom of our store's homepage.

POGs: What They Were, Why They Took Over, & Why They Ultimately Failed 

For those of us born in the ‘90s, looking back in time can be an incredible amount of fun. We had pretty much the best of everything. Cartoon Network actually showed good cartoons, with legendary shows like Dexter’s Lab, Courage the Cowardly Dog and The Powerpuff Girls always taking center stage. Personally, if I got home from school after Samurai X or Dragonball Z was finished, my evening was pretty much ruined. Unless of course, I got to go outside and ride my bike, Beyblade, or stomp my neighbors in Yu-gi-oh.

Being a kid in the ‘90s was arguably the best time to be a kid. Hell, even our commercials were better back then. I’d often catch myself singing the songs and not minding their presence. Nowadays, I can’t wait to get past those first five seconds so I can skip the remainder of the ad.

Among the things that are simply better about the ‘90s are POGs a.k.a. milk caps. For those of you who didn’t live through this phase, you missed a craze that swept practically the entire western world. Lucky for you, we’re taking a short, nostalgic trip to the ‘90s to see what they were, how they took over, and where they are now.

What are POGs and Where did they Come From?

Put simply, POGs are simple, round discs that were initially used to seal gallons of milk produced by the Maui-based company, Haleakala. Among the line of dairy products produced by the company was a drink known as Passion Orange Guava, which would become the namesake of our favorite little collectibles. In 1955, Haleakala would stop packaging milk in glass bottles, but would continue the production of collectible caps to facilitate continued play of the game.

Funnily enough, there's some debate about the origin of POGs. The actual shape arguably came from the caps used to seal glass milk bottles when it was still commonplace for milk to be packaged in glass. The trading and collecting aspect of POGs, however, has a couple possible origin stories.

One plausible origin for the game of collecting and trading POGs was Hawaii’s plantations during the ‘20s and ‘30s, when trading of milk caps was popular. The other plausible origin dates back a few hundred years to the 17th century, when Menko, a Japanese card game extremely similar to milk caps, became popular.

In 1991, a school teacher named Blossom Galbiso would revolutionize the use of POGs by teaching her class a non-violent game to be played at recess, using the disposable lids from Passion Orange Guava. Interestingly, the version of the game she taught her students had been inherited from her grandparents, who played it in the 1920s and ‘30s in Hawaii. The rules used in this version of the game were practically indistinguishable from Japanese Menko and very quickly caught fire among the youngsters.

So Why did POGs become so popular?

At this point, you’re probably a little confused as to how something so simple could become so popular. That is almost missing the point of POGs, however. Their simplicity is a large part of the reason that they became so popular so quickly.

At a basic level, POGs were simple snapshots of common culture at the time. If you were to dive into any collection of POGs, you’d be likely to have a solid understanding of what was happening at the time. POGs commonly referred to political figures like presidential candidates, popular movies, and even high-profile criminal cases like the OJ Simpson trial.

To draw a parallel to current times, POGs were like memes. They were “cheap to manufacture, easy to understand… easily spreadable, and rooted in a shared, collective memory” according to historian Burl Burlingame, who co-authored a book on the topic of POGs. When described in this way, it's easy to see the parallels as to why POGs may have become so popular so quickly.

Why did They Fall off?

By 1994, a mere three years after the initial implementation of POGs as a recess game, over 350 million POGs had been purchased in the United States alone and their popularity was still increasing. At this point, Alan Rypinksi had already purchased the POG trademark from Haleakala Dairy and had brought the trend to the mainland, forming the World POG Organization as he did.

Soon, Rypinski was entering into licensing agreements with every cartoon, sports team, and food brand seeking to expand their marketing to children and capitalize on the POG fad. Even the Roman Catholic Church had 50,000 POGs created to commemorate the visit of Pope John Paul II to New Jersey in 1995.

The popularity of POGs would ultimately become its downfall. Alan Rypinski’s desire to maximize and capitalize on the viral popularity of POGs, flooded the market with them. The fact that POGs were cheap and quick to reproduce encouraged thousands of businesses to begin printing their own and expanding on them in attempts to make them unique.

Ultimately, people began to take POGs for granted. There were so many of them so widely available that by the late '90s, less than a decade later, POGs began to die off. Around the same time, POGs came under public scrutiny as the game played by young children began to closely resemble gambling and patterns of addiction. Even D.A.R.E. began to home in on POGs as part of their curriculum for preventing drug abuse in schools, which contributed significantly to some negative press on POGs at the time.

As POGs saturated the market completely, they became less valuable as a marketing tool and eventually companies simply stopped using them to promote products to children. The fad died almost as quickly as it started, leaving millions of POGs to be sold as possible collectors’ items today.

How Much Is a POG Collection Worth Today?

If you’re hoping to finally cash in on your POG collection for thousands of dollars, it may actually be possible depending on how many you have and how well they’ve been kept. For example, a full Marilyn Monroe POG set can be worth over $1000 USD today. Most POG collections can expect a return of anywhere from $20 to a couple hundred dollars of today’s currency.

Have fun looking through the attic!

VAPOR95 LIVE STREAM 2.0 REPLAY

In case anyone missed the star studded second Vapor95 Live Stream...

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT 

Japhy

What's your role at Vapor95?

What do your day-to-day operations look like and what's your schedule usually through the day?

What did you do before Vapor95?

How did you end up working with Vapor95?

What are your passions and interests?

Everyone at Vapor95 has a creative hobby. What's yours?

Could you tell us more about what you're creating/working on right now?

What has been your favorite part about working at Vapor95?

Where do you see yourself in five years?

What are your top three albums to listen to while you work?

What are your top three favorite movies?

How would your co-workers describe you in a few words?

What's something you've never told your co-workers before?

What advice do you have for someone who wants to work in a creative, dynamic environment like a startup or a fashion brand?

What message do you have for the Vapor95 fans and customers reading this?

✨Follow Japhy on Instagram✨

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Nick Kempton

1. Nick Kempton aka Nickjaykdesign, one of the most aesthetic visual artists in the world. We're super excited to have you featured on our blog DARKNET and be able to share your incredible work! Can we go back to when you first decided you wanted to make art? Tell us your story! 

So basically, I have been around computers since I was very young, maybe 6 or 7, and I have always played around with graphic tools like Paint.NET, GIMP & Photoshop. I can remember making wallpapers when I was about 12 that I would post on DeviantArt. I have a lot of passion for graphic design and just being creative in general. I started the 'Nickjaykdesign' project back in 2017 to try to learn more tools and get back to creating.

2. The world in your art is very aesthetic and dreamy through sets, environments, and color schemes. Tell us about what goes into the process of creating your art? Tell us where the inspiration for your characters, textures and the world come from?

I am heavily inspired by movies, music, and the world around me. Often times, I will start a project just by looking around for inspiration on Pinterest while listening to some music. A lot of my art is also inspired by photographs of neon cityscapes. They are just something so beautiful that I cannot get over them no matter how much or how often I look at them.

3. How long did it take you to achieve your very distinct style? And what kind of softwares do you use to achieve the final version of your work?

I would say it took about a year and a half to achieve the capabilities to be able to create my own distinct style, but I feel it also took a lifetime of being inspired to achieve it. I use Cinema4D, Octane Render, Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects most often to create my work.

4. Do you listen to music while you create? If so, what kind and how do you see it affecting your final product?

I absolutely listen to music while I create. Music is a part of who I am. I think I pretty much always have music playing around me at some capacity. I listen to a lot of different kinds of music but most often it is probably EDM. Music is a beautiful thing because it can make you feel anything. It can make you feel happy or sad at any moment. I think that's why it's special to me. It affects my work as often times emotion can be seen shining through the art and those feelings are generated depending on what I'm listening to.

5. Your work and name spread fast in the music scene through the artworks you made for certain artists. Is there any upcoming collab you would like to tell us about? and also, how often do you collaborate with a visual artist?

I have so many projects that I will be showing soon but none that I can currently say :( I don't typically collaborate with other visual artists. Maybe I should do that more often :P

6. How do you see yourself at the highest point of your career? What would be your ultimate dream to accomplish with your work and when do you see that happening?

Honestly, I think working with some of my favorite music artists is all I want. I love seeing my work shared with a big platform and seeing reactions and emotions from viewers. Also, a big motivation for me is inspiring others to create. When someone tells me that my work inspired them, it's really a big deal to me.

7. Do you work on other projects besides Nickjaykdesign?

I don’t really work on other projects, I try to focus my time on my Nickjaykdesign project to really perfect my craft

9) Finally, we would love to ask - What would you say to up and coming artists who want to pursue their passion?

Be inspired. Look at everything you can. Read books, watch movies, look at photographs. Go out and explore. Let the things you see be your motivation. Always listen to your heart and don't let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do...

✨Follow Nickjaykdesign's Instagram ✨

or

✨Visit nickjaykdesign.com for more! ✨