We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Unicorn Hole. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Unicorn below.

Hi Unicorn, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?

Nintendocore as a genre is misunderstood. Metal tends to be a serious genre with dark lyrics about fairly heavy subject matter. Nintendo games, on the other hand, tend to be bright and family-friendly. For this reason, the genre is often not taken seriously by metal fans, and often too abrasive for Nintendo fans. People are quick to judge a book by its cover. There are plenty of nintendocore bands with a mature sound, complex compositions, and serious tones- bands that would likely appeal to standard metal fans. There are also bands in the genre that focus more on synth melodies, catchy hooks, and a fun sound than they do on writing heavy music- these bands might appeal to casual Nintendo fans.

Beyond that, nintendocore also started out as a MySpace musical movement. I was around back then, fifteen years ago, releasing music under the same name I am today. My sound has improved so drastically since then, most people wouldn’t even realize it was the same band if the tracks weren’t labeled. This improvement can be seen in the scene as a whole. Sadly, when they hear nintendocore, most people only think of the MySpace-era teenage bedroom artists that didn’t really have the experience or the equipment to realize the sound they wanted to. I really believe it’s time the genre had another shot at the spotlight. Nostalgia for the music and games of our youth is more in the foreground now than ever- just look at the countless throwback music festivals and pixelated indie games announced every year lately. But hey, if that takes another fifteen years, I’ll still be here then, pumping out more jams.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I release nintendocore music under the name Unicorn Hole. Nintendocore combines the abrasive sounds of metalcore (itself a combination of metal and hardcore punk) with the nostalgic bleeps, bloops, and music of retro video games. I’ve been at it for fifteen years, since the MySpace days when the genre first began. I’ve performed at a gamer fest in Baltimore- a set that included full-body morph suits, a loose glizzy being eaten off the bar floor, and a keyboard exploding into a thousand pieces. A professional youtuber nearing half-a-million subscribers talked about me on his stream, including calling me better than Horse the Band, who created nintendocore in the first place.

The composer for Banjo-Kazooie, a game that meant the world to me as a kid (and still does), personally told me he enjoyed a metal version I made of one of his songs. I’ve got a video game about my band hosted on GameJolt (Unicorn Hole’s Creepy Cabin) and I’ve released hundreds of songs over the years. Many of my songs are silly and focus on video games, while others are more serious and personal. Finally, several of my releases expand the NCU- a sprawling fantasy story I dreamt up, which is told across several concept albums by myself and other bands as well. I’ve even got animated lyric videos that depict the characters and events on my YouTube. I like to think in the niche-within-a-niche world of nintendocore, I’ve firmly planted my weird little flag.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

It’s about to the point where there’s nothing to be done for small musicians. The way most music streaming services pay out so heavily favors top artists that small and even midlevel artists get next to nothing. If a band isn’t playing stadium shows, they aren’t making much of anything from ticket sales. If you want to support a small band, buy their merch! I make peanuts from streaming, but a shirt or album sale provides a nice little profit. Pay extra for their stuff (most BandCamp releases let you input whatever price you want) or hop on their Patreon if they have one (ahem). It’s really common for artists to undersell themselves, so if you’re passionate about an artist’s work and have some extra scratch, pay them what you think their efforts are really worth.

Another huge thing is to be an outspoken fan. When I find a random album I really dig online, I’m gonna share it with any of my friends that I think will also get into it. If I could choose between someone buying an album and a shirt from me, or showing my music to five of their friends, I’d choose the latter every time. (Why not both though? Eh? Eh?) I can buy a FaceBook ad, but when someone sees it they just see an ad. If their friend is telling them “this is really good, I think you’ll like it” that’s a totally different situation. Finally, be outspoken to the artist as well! Don’t just say “cool song” or “this is fire.” Say something specific like “this chorus has been in my head all day” or “the drums on the bridge are super unique.” The creative process is a blast, but it is mentally taxing. Feedback like this, at least for me, really helps to rejuvenate that.

This answer doesn’t apply 1:1 to all forms of art, but I think the overall ideas can probably be applied to most. Also, I’m not just preaching; if you visit my BandCamp, take a look at my collection of purchased albums (over 150 at the moment). Also notice that I review every single thing I buy to try and help the artists that little bit more! I also have videos on my YouTube hyping up a ton of the rad artists in the scene!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

There are a million artists pushing and shoving, trying to get people to pay attention to them. A few get really lucky and end up in the spotlight somehow or another. Most of us don’t, though. We just keep on creating because we love the process and the end product.

I also think sometimes about how if I were to, say, start mowing lawns, I would certainly be able to find some clients. Lawns need to be mowed. Nintendocore, on the other hand, is not needed. There’s nothing practical about it. It isn’t a puzzle piece, it’s just some glitter you could sprinkle on the puzzle if you want. So, what the heck am I talking about?

Despite the fact that I am one of a million people trying to be heard, and despite the fact that the thing I’ve dedicated myself to isn’t exactly solving any particular problem.. I still have fans and supporters. There are people who listen to my music all the time. I have people supporting me on Patreon. It absolutely blows my mind that anyone would decide that the weird art I make is worth paying a monthly fee for- but some do! I always offer my music for free, but plenty of people pay anyway. This might be a cheesy answer, but the most rewarding thing about being an artist is every single person willing to support me in any way.

There are countless artists that will never once pop onto your radar. And of the dozens, hundreds, maybe even thousands that do, you simply can’t give much time and energy to most of them. There just isn’t enough to spread around. So when anyone decides that Unicorn Hole is one of the ones they’re gonna pay heed to, it makes all the effort I put into it worth it.

Also, someone sent me a can of beans once. Actually, yeah, I wanna change my answer. The beans were the most rewarding part. Send more beans.

Contact Info:

• Website: uholeband.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uholeband/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unicornhole
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/unicornhole64
• Other: https://www.patreon.com/unicornhole https://gamejolt.com/games/uholecc/444719