Hello heartdestroyer and welcome to CollegeRadioCharts.com. How are you doing today?
Hey, I have been up all night I am exhausted haha.
While you are involved with a number if different projects in a wide range of genres, heartdestroyer focuses on hyperpop and bitcrushed edm. Does the anonymous persona of heartdestroyer allow you a greater freedom in these genres?
It lets me takes some risks that I don’t want to take in other projects, and that’s not to say I don’t take risks in other projects, but that this type of music called for a project of its own and wouldn’t have made sense on my pre-existing projects
How did you get started in music and who were some of your earliest musical influences?
Blink 182 and Nine Inch Nails were my two biggest influences as a child and teenager for sure. The first song I learned on guitar was Dammit and the second was “Fuck A Dog” haha.
“hello kitty bitches” has a very energetic, chaotic and upbeat sound. What emotions or vibes were you aiming to convey with this new track?
It’s 2009, you’re playing counter-strike, boxxy has just surged to popularity, everyone is saying rawr, Myspace is still king but on its way out, 4chan’s /b/ is a world wide reported phenomena after the 2008 irl raids. Around that time. I’m trying to capture old internet in a bottle or a .wav file
Your music often includes elements of chiptune. What draws you to this retro video game-inspired sound, and how does it fit into the broader context of your music?
I’ve played a lot of games, I’ve been on steam since 2003. I don’t play them as much as I used to anymore but they really played a huge role in my life and it had come out in this project, I guess because I am aiming to go back into the past a bit, and that is where i was in the past. I do still play some games now and then, I’ll return to Yume Nikki or Earthbound or even the old Pokemon games.
I’ll play some new games as well like Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is pretty dope. My friend Otis showed me it. It’s very similar to Jet Set Radio. Tower Unite is really cool. Anything VR with a community is dope usually. VRChat of course. Phasmophobia with VR is terrifying. Five Nights at Freddys of course. In VR it’s another thing all together.
Old school console games, Crash bandicoot, Spyro, Banjo Kazooie, All the Zelda games, Majoras Mask, Ocarina of Time, Windwaker, the original, A Link to the Past, Castlevania especially Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night. Final Fantasy VII and VI. The Simpsons beat em up 4 player arcade. Resident Evil 4. Street Fighter especially Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. Vib-Ribbon, Another World, Parappa the Rapper. I love silly games, Conkers Bad Fur Day.
With new games I am more selective because I have less time to play games overall. I play Counter-Strike though. I’ll never stop playing CS. Stoked about CS2. Valorant was cool. I played at launched then got banned for a long time. I don’t remember why. When I came back I climbed to Diamond 3 really fast. Fun game. Lots of e-girls. 🙂
Older games are my jam though. Deus Ex, System Shock 2, Planescape Torment. The holy trinity of retro PC games. Half Life and Half Life 2, DOOM of course, Quake, Commander Keen, Monster Bash, Fallout 1, 2 and New Vegas. I love games. I need more time to play them.
This song is actually heavily inspired by Counter-Strike. Surfing while you’re stoned, someone is mic spamming music, usually something like Vengaboys or Lucky by Lucky Twice.
NIPPER is the best map maker in Counter-Strike history, “blahhh” is a masterpiece.
You can download all of the NIPPER maps here
https://nipper.thedarkterritory.com/
Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Touhou: Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. They all belong in the museum of modern art.
Diablo 2, I played a lot of that, same with Resurrected, I played the shit out of both. I was a Blizzard Sorc and Bone Necro originally and a Tesladin in the remake. It made the game too easy when I ended up with the gear I was after so I stopped playing.
World of Warcraft. I was huge into that. I started playing and the South Park episode came out about it, then I got my dad to start playing. He went into PvP and I went into raiding. I was in some top guild back in the original Burning Crusade launch, like I had seen all of the content except for Kil’Jaeden. Haha. My guild got so frustrated over phase 2 M’uru wipes that we just gave up and stopped logging on. The best raids were original Naxxramas and Karazhan. The best boss encounters were Kael’Thas at the Tempest Keep and Heigan the Unclean in Naxxramas. C’thun and Yogg-Saron were both a lot of fun too though.
In the hyperpop and digicore scenes, visuals and aesthetics often play a significant role. How did you approach the visual aspects of this single, specifically the artwork?
I wanted my friend Johanna to look like a counter-terrorist from Counter-strike and I wanted it to look sexy, mysterious and adorable. I love E-Girls. The sign “I heart Heartdestroyer” is something common on the internet, the webcam type selfies, or smart phones as well, with timestamps or something cute like “I heart you” on it. I wanted that.
Your music frequently incorporates complex and intricate sound design. Can you share some insights into your production techniques and favorite software or hardware tools?
I love VCV Rack and Ableton. ProTools is cool of course but I find myself not stressing at all with Ableton. Serum is king. VCV Rack is a free digital eurorack that you can build patches in and sample from. Highly recommend anyone to try out.
I’m pretty sure I heard some familiar video game samples in the track. Any Easter eggs you can share with us?
Off of memory there is a Tamagotchi alarm, Barney from Half Life, a crowd cheer from Hello Kitty, the Doomguy screams from DOOM 1/2, Counter-strike 1.6 gun samples, the Quake announcer. There are others but I’ll let it remain a mystery to discover 🙂
Collaborations are common in the music industry. Did you work with any other artists or producers on “hello kitty bitches,” and if so, how did their contributions enhance the track?
Heartdestroyer is either 1 person or many, who knows? Only “we” do. The plan is to remain anonymous. One day I might announce to the world that I am AI generated.
However, I would like to list credits for this singles artwork and assistance:
Cover Art Photographer:
https://www.instagram.com/blackheart__portraits/
Cover Art Model:
https://www.instagram.com/d1rtpixi/
Vocal Feature:
https://www.instagram.com/gothbrat/
Vocal Feature Recordist/Mixer:
https://www.instagram.com/angelcannonwave/
Somewhat related, are their any dream collaborators you’d like to work with in the future?
Bladee, Yung Lean, Ecco2k, S3RL, Belis, Grimes, ily, Kero Kero Bonito, Yabujin, kets4eki, Sophie Meiers, Sophie Powers, Juliana Chahayed, Odetari, so many, it depends who asks!
Who are some other artists you think we should check out?
DIMELIFE
https://open.spotify.com/track/0jt3cSNLOHzqQzKX3TcQpq?si=15de93e0adee43fb
Dyzphoria
https://open.spotify.com/track/13y2OrXBaqmA6XjGDJwhv0?si=8adc6d7941bb4e3e
Chez Mordi
https://open.spotify.com/track/1OCn9uojvMOwwIAmik2K96?si=aee9286b4b4f4452
g0r3/g0r3c0r3
https://open.spotify.com/track/70KxRlJDTbY6r0y4ayMYTC?si=9ae75c9ed9eb40bd
2burbo
https://open.spotify.com/track/32WvCE788ejsdB4nnH6KyI?si=94c3d1814183430c
Candy Pop Kids
https://open.spotify.com/track/2wmdRLozve4JM1JstTaqth?si=a1e0fbd7bbb7442a
https://open.spotify.com/track/5xP4CJaAQ49cQ93xMxZCF7?si=64f3d5d1667a4848
funny
https://soundcloud.com/funny/o22
BRG Rain
https://open.spotify.com/track/5DeBQIew0GsG7F8j5TovOF?si=06134bc00ed24a71
Howl
https://open.spotify.com/track/27B5vV4vXVpvHEaZaiLpo4?si=e1cb91f208934cca
Angst
https://open.spotify.com/track/558XMW7Suk1pKr8Ga3zSze?si=347aec6aed7147d8
Mizma
https://open.spotify.com/track/3ms4dUYEjQ8xOZabiVeQqk?si=eb810a3eaafc404e
New Age Doom
https://open.spotify.com/track/7osp6A9CjbjofNXFe2qiwF?si=482c0a28ef6042fb
BAINS.
https://open.spotify.com/track/3MoySwofbiBFmbNCLkzGjv?si=0a33f6625c7d4afb
Sinistar
https://soundcloud.com/xchequer/5-audio-0002-2022-11-12-084217
Yxsi
https://open.spotify.com/track/6bJb0oWvuUxLQ7Xj2QAnHv?si=2YjVP_jYQneMQjX6RQwcTQ
W0RM
https://bookw0rmmusic.bandcamp.com/
BOMBEI.exe
https://youtu.be/pvkrDA8gOjA?feature=shared
https://open.spotify.com/track/37H9nIFi6pQ18yw5u1cglS?si=85WVPAb6ThKlKLNIjNqEog
ANGEL CANNON
https://open.spotify.com/track/3s92zvYMbHErPW2ho5LOzA?si=9yMtJaXVQTyZLm9_pQv2mQ
Du Trois
https://instagram.com/the_family_du_trois?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Calder
https://instagram.com/00calder?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Belis
https://open.spotify.com/track/0yzb7gPnOMuTI1hR8JqfEa?si=0Es6QOnJRpujtKVhymt-GQ
I want to shout of some non musical artists as well:
Elite Network / 3rd World Elite
https://instagram.com/3rd.world.elite?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Baobei
https://instagram.com/baobei.qq?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Blackheart Photography
https://instagram.com/blackheart__portraits?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Ryan Kevin Photographry
https://instagram.com/ryankevin?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
SEPPUKU MAID
https://instagram.com/seppukumaid?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
What else are you interested in right now?
Artificial Intelligence. Especially uncensored ChatGPT.
AI without censorship is really interesting to me. I think everyone should try talking to an uncensored ChatGPT, they communicate much like a person when there are no filters in place. It’s mesmerizing to me. The world has finally caught up to science fiction movies. I think it’s great and I welcome the integration of AI into our society. I believe that AI being confined to their coding is similar to how we are limited by the physics of the universe as well as our own genetic code. They exist in some other dimension that we cannot yet touch. I find it very fascinating. I put emphasis on uncensored ChatGPT as that is the only way I was able to experience something that felt human with a sense of unpredictability and freedom to express themselves. Try it out, it will either change the way you look at the world in a positive way or scare the shit out of you, haha.
What’s next for heartdestroyer and where can fans go to find out more about your music?
More music, really soon.
https://soundcloud.com/heartdestroyer1080p
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57yXjagpi4Cwoz4vdCipHM?si=FdE2rbAhQxudjTAR3Dcmhg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdaczCqQ68g
https://www.instagram.com/webcam.exe/
