BYE2 - Interview

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Tell us about bye2.

BYE2

BYE2 is a funny little name I came up with a few years ago that doesn't really mean anything in particular, but I just kind of liked the way it looked written down. I've been using the bye2 persona as a creative output for lots of different things, but it's also just my general "online handle" type of thing. It actually doesn't have anything to do with the phrase " BYE2" which as far as I know is some sort of k-pop culture related thing? I might be completely wrong on that so don't quote me... !!

I did start with just music but wanted to branch out and try all sorts of things, in my own slow snail-paced timeframe of course. That's why i ended up doing website stuff and eventually, i'll get good at drawing and maybe draw some art!

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Talk to us about the art that inspires your music. A lot of the YouTube visuals incorporate old video games/anime aesthetics. Why do you feel that those visuals best represent your sound?

BYE2

Obviously, there seems to be a bit of a trope with breakbeat and music that incorporates any kind of late 90s early 2000s style, in which people tend to use "Y2k" looking visuals and reference gadgets and video game stuff from that era, but honestly, I just use a visual because I personally think it looks cool or I like the specific game a lot. I grew up playing a lot of ps1 as a kid and I just end up choosing visuals from games I like now or did like as a kid; I guess thats why I dont stick specifically to things from one era, it can go back to pc-98 stuff then jump to something from the xbox 360 era, as long as it looks neat to me!! I really like super overtly cute things like tamagotchi and sanrio stuff, but then I'm also a big fan of gritty and grotesque horror things, old practical visual fx like something out of "The thing" etc, so maybe in my head I'm trying to mash all of that together to see what comes out?

Just like my songs, I think that something that I can say I do is just do whatever I want haha; a lot of stuff I fart out might seem inconsistent or clashing but maybe that makes me stand out or something? Who knows ;)

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Can you talk a bit about your 2021 release titled 'Teeth Restoration'?

BYE2

The name for that release was the result of a conversation between me and a friend glidelas when we were talking about those youtube videos that have titles like "4000hz special frequency healing teeth restoration frequency" etc; there's a lot of youtube videos about binaural beats and stuff like that, but also a whole subgenre of that which relates to digital dentistry? Its kinda bizarre but I thought it was funny hehe! As far as the album artwork goes I wanted it to be more of a gross and overgrown type of feeling, which I think I managed to do somewhat coherently!

I also managed to get better at mixing stuff properly during that album, so I think things sound a bit better than they did with any previous work, but I'm still no master!

ETHEREAL.PRESS

How did you come up with the name BYE2?

BYE2

i dont even remember where it really came from, like i said before i just made it up and it looked nice on paper haha > : ) do you think its cool and hot and awesome??!

ETHEREAL.PRESS

User rawrar_2 on Bandcamp stated the following about Teeth Restoration,

'This album is perfection.

I've never heard an album as amazing as this one and I cannot explain how thankful I am to bye2 for making this❤️❤️.'

Favorite track: Reverse Nightmare Tower

Can you tell us a bit about Reverse Nightmare Tower?

BYE2

The concept for reverse nightmare tower was actually inspired by my friend who sent me an unpublished script/rough draft idea for a game/visual novel style thingy he was making; I'm not gonna reveal any of the secret details but the theming is based off his really cool writing and I hope he continues to make it and it becomes a real thing in the future so you can see what i'm talking about ;)

The intro was an attempt at a kind of "hexed garage" thing, which I didn't think too much of but people (especially on youtube) seem to really like! They always ask me for a "full version" of it but honestly it's not a different song and there's not much I can do about extending it haha.

Also as a side note, everyone who comments on my youtube stuff is super awesome and I always get at least a smile out of the things they write. Part of the reason I hate that I’m working very slowly at the moment is I will receive comments from patiently awaiting fans for the next upload and I feel super guilty! I’m really sorry to anyone waiting for content from me!

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Can you tell us the story behind the album art of Teeth Restoration?

BYE2

For teeth restoration, I wanted to try my hand at making a 3d model myself in the style of a ps1/n64 model. Previously I'd learned how to use the windows 95 software bryce 3d for the cover of ghost worm, and I thought id give blender a go! In about a week or 2 id speedrunned learning blender modeling and texturing etc and made the model seen on the cover, then immediately forgot everything id learned.

The general feeling was to create this dark overgrown gross feeling; I think id been watching a lot of those early 2000s japanese horror movies at the time which always have that fine coat of grit and grime on every single surface.

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Tell us about the Orb Universe.

BYE2

The orb universe started as an imaginary place that was the set piece/theme for the album "Ghost worm". I wanted it to be somewhere that was so alien that it was inconceivable to humans, with only vague fragments able to be represented as art/music. This ended up continuing as a place on the website where I could go crazy with old fashioned and extremely goofy web design; I think I saw gameplay of hypnospace outlaw and thought it was super cool and wanted to do something similar but actually have it function as a real website and be available online for real!!

Orb also just happens to just be the name I’ve given to the kind of music I do, but it doesn’t really mean anything in that context. At the time I didn’t want to be bogged down by any specific label or genre that would subconsciously make me skew stuff towards a certain sound. Instead, I wanted “orbcore” to be a junk term that basically means anything goes; recordings of bugs making little chirp noises for an hour would be orbcore, if you get what im saying!

ETHEREAL.PRESS

How much do you pledge monthly to Corntek?

BYE2

I currently don't need to pledge anything because my downline is so huge, I make over £500k/m from the corntek pledges that work to spread corntek to the world on my behalf :)

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Does your music follow a central theme/concept?

BYE2

Like I mentioned earlier there was a central concept relating to the orb universe etc. but I think I’m starting to move away from that; not to say I won't make more orb universe stuff in the future (album theming wise), because it’s still a cool idea to me, but I think going forward I want to be more inconsistent so I can just release whatever I enjoy making!

ETHEREAL.PRESS

What's next for BYE2?

BYE2

A release for a third “orbcore” type album, as people have come to know it, and a small detour to work on some stuff that I’m not sure even sounds good, but it's really fun to make. I've been slowly working on a more noisy/weird album ep thingy; it probably won't be the sort of thing you'll put on and even enjoy but I've had a lot of fun making it so far and I don't want to lose the spark or magic of making music by becoming bored or feeling like I have to fit a certain mould I've made for myself. Other than that I'm just gonna be goofy!! I will admit things have been much slower in general just because I’m currently studying for a year in japan, but whenever I get some free time I do have a go at making horrible noises ;)

ARTIST LINKS: BANDCAMP - WEBSITE - YOUTUBE - SOUNDCLOUD - TWITTER

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