Getting To Know R&B Genre Blending Artist Missingno
Hailing from Akron, USA, Missingno has just released a project called 'Mood', the lead single off of his project '808-Bit Music'. The genre-blending artist instantly captivated us and we’re excited to have been able to interview the artist.
Missingno reveals what his latest release is about, his upcoming projects and more.
Tell us about your latest release?
'Mood', the lead single off of my project '808-Bit Music', is a slow to mid-tempo electronic song that captures the edgy, slightly angsty emotions of wanting to be left alone or waking up on the wrong side of the bed and just having a bad day. I wrote it sometime in 2016 or 2017, I can't even remember now. But it was sometime when I was getting ready to leave Texas and move to Ohio. The instrumental for 'Mood' flips a sample from the original Pokemon Battle Theme over a synthy, 808-led instrumental.
Even though 'Mood' was released in 2019, the video for it was released in 2020 due to me being hesitant about releasing my first music video and re-shooting it multiple times to make sure it was of decent quality. It really should've been released earlier. I was going to try and time it with SXSW 2020 but that's about right when COVID-19 really began to hit as a pandemic. The music video for 'Mood' features me singing in the middle of Highland Square—a popular nightlife area in Akron, OH—in the snow, while wearing a Pikachu onesie.
What else can we expect from you soon?
A few things, but most importantly I'm dropping a project on August 28th called 'The Dirty Beach EP' and shooting a video for the single, called 'Dirty Beach'. It's a really fun and up-beat song with summer vibes compared to 'Mood', so be on the lookout for that. Also expect a virtual performance for 'Art In the City' (Dayton, OH) sometime in August I believe. I recently did one a few days ago for LAUNCH Music Conference 2020 on the Pathfinder Stage. I also plan on dropping a bloopers / outtakes of 'Mood' video which should pretty much feature me messing up and different people's reactions to me walking around in a Pikachu onesie in the dead of winter, which ranged from people yelling "ayy Pikachu!!" to a dude coming up and spitting anime / geek bars while we were shooting.
How do you cure waking up from the wrong side of the bed? What makes the day better?
Alone time, music and video games. Just putting my headphones on or playing my PS4 and blocking out the world. But in most cases where I can't do either of those things while I am actively annoyed, I might just isolate myself or treat myself to something sweet like a snack or pastry or something....just something to make me feel happy and counteract the day's bullshit.
What stimulates your soul?
As one would expect, music and singing. I'm pretty simple. I do also get a certain satisfaction from cleaning that I just can't put a word on. I don't know if it stimulates as much as cleanses me and takes a weight off sometimes...maybe therapeutic is the word I'm looking for.
You use the pokemon theme, what's your favourite pokemon?
I would have to say Sceptile because Leaf Blade is probably my all-time favorite Pokemon move. The idea is so fucking dope to me to just have a blade grow out the side of your arm like a tonfa and to be able to slice shit up and then just retract it. On top of that, the Grass-types starters up to Gen III felt sort of lame compared to the Water and Fire starters, so seeing Sceptile's lizard-like / draconic look plus Leaf Blade that really sold me.
You have a blended style of music, how did you come up with it? And find your sound?
As far as listening to music, I've always listened to Hip-Hop and Pop mostly (some Rock). But as I got older I started to listen to video game OSTs and R&B more and I feel like my 'sound' is a direct combination of what I listen to. For this most recent project, 808-Bit Music, I was very inspired by The Weeknd's 'Kissland' because it had a non-mainstream Pop sound which I really enjoyed and tried to emulate. It was also interesting to me how he and his team could create something that's "Pop" which is normally seen as popular, usually up-beat music, but also somehow avoid popular trends. Using this inspiration coupled with the game sounds I feel like I was able to create something that's unique or whatever, and that's cool, but what I made is not something that people are used to hearing or may want to hear. So there's a pro and a con to this type of approach but in the end...I love what I was able to create and I'll never regret doing it.