Chiptune band goes indie rock

Anamanaguchi, known for 8-bit soundtracks like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, shifted direction on their 2025 album Anyway with fuzzy guitars and indie rock songs written at the American Football house.

Born on forums, stays online

The band of Peter Berkman, James DeVito, Luke Silas, and Ary Warnaar formed in 2004 on internet forums and remain deeply connected to gaming communities and the weirder corners of the web.

Ableton Live Operator powers ideas

Luke Silas relies on Ableton Live Operator for quick songwriting and idea generation, with sounds from it often making it to the final product.

“I think my most used tool is Ableton Live Operator, it is simple and powerful and can make basic things happen incredibly quickly.”

Phone mics are underrated

Ary Warnaar says built-in laptop and phone microphones are underappreciated for capturing ideas quickly, and the quality is now good enough that scratch vocals often stay in final mixes.

“They're great for just getting ideas down fast, but now they sound so good that I find myself not even re-recording what I thought would be scratch vocals.”

Peter loves the Logitech MX Master

Peter Berkman is obsessed with the Logitech MX Master 3S mouse, praising its sideways scroll, quiet click, and responsive tracking across any surface.

“Best mouse I've ever had. It has a sideways scroll. It has a button to switch between notched and smooth scroll wheel.”

Amphetamine keeps exports running

James DeVito uses the Amphetamine app to prevent his computer from sleeping during long exports and renders, letting him work on other tasks while files process.

Metronomes deserve more love

Luke Silas advocates for metronomes as underappreciated tools that strengthen timing and let musicians play with rhythm more confidently.

“I love metronomes! Strengthening time is so important, and getting more comfortable with a metronome means you get to play around with time more confidently!”

Discord is the first install

Luke Silas installs Discord first on any new device, making it his essential communication tool.

Missing the headphone jack

Ary Warnaar wishes phones still had 3.5-millimeter headphone jacks instead of requiring dongles that constantly break or get lost.

“Would kill to get a normal 1/8-inch headphone out again. I've been constantly replacing dongles ever since Apple ditched the headphone out.”

Worldwide radio aggregator amazes

Peter Berkman loves vvorldwide.com, a radio aggregator pooling feeds from NTS, The Lot, dublab, and KEXP worldwide, calling it a product that should have existed years ago.

“It's like having a radio dial in your car except it pools the feeds from NTS, The Lot, dublab, KEXP, loads of different places from all over the world.”

Too goddamn many tabs open

Luke Silas has 46 and 31 tabs open across two windows, mostly links to share or content to read, and admits he can't be the only one with this problem.

“46 and 31 between two windows. Too goddamn many. Most of them are meant to be shared with others or read/watched, every weekend I do a cleanout but there are truthfully a few that have been sitting for months.”

Twitter for news and games

Luke Silas uses Twitter to stay connected to gaming news and communities, though he avoids Instagram because it stresses him out and prefers long-form YouTube content.

Lowballing Facebook Marketplace

Ary Warnaar's happy place online is Facebook Marketplace, where he enjoys making lowball offers on overpriced items to keep sellers humble and prices down for future buyers.

Speedruns are comforting

Luke Silas finds comfort watching video game speedruns on Twitch streams like Games Done Quick and RPG Limit Break, enjoying the community and personalities.

“Video game speedruns! Twitch streams like GDQ or RPG Limit Break are very comforting to me and a very sweet community of fun personalities.”

3D printing changed stage production

James DeVito credits 3D printers with revolutionizing his workflow, allowing him to design and print stage production brackets within an hour.

“The fact that I can design a bracket etc. for stage production and have it in hand within an hour really is the future.”

Game Boy still sparks creativity

Luke Silas recently bought new flash cartridges for his Game Boy after years away, ready to use it again as a self-contained music workstation.

“I'm going to say my Game Boy counts for this question. I use it less for sound design than I used to, but I bought new flash cartridges recently for the first time in years.”

Anyway is a sleeper classic

Peter Berkman loves their album Anyway so much that listening back surprises him, believing people who didn't get it will eventually come around on it.

“Going back and listening to our album Anyway always surprises me. I love it so much. I think it's the kinda thing that people who didn't get it will eventually come around on.”

Really Like To accomplishes everything

Luke Silas is proud of Really Like To from Anyway because it's loud, fast, fun to sing along to, and includes an ambient section showing the band's current direction.

“I think the song Really Like To from our latest album Anyway is a song that accomplishes a lot of the things I want to when writing for the band!”

Progress, not perfection

Luke Silas lives by the advice progress, not perfection, a philosophy that guides his creative work and personal growth.

“Progress, not perfection.”

Splurge on travel and meals

The band agrees that travel and special meals are worth splurging on, with Ary Warnaar arguing that adventure is as valuable as any physical purchase.