Interview No. 160

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest has been with Newgrounds for quite a long time. His series Adrellia Village has garnered him multiple awards, including three Daily Features. He has an amazing singing voice and is a talented underrated writer. I am most pleased and privileged to welcome, @MistyEntertainment.

Q: How did you find Newgrounds and why did you join?

A: As weird as it may sound, I actually found Newgrounds through Neopets. On Neopets, there would be this section called “The Neopian Times” where people submitted stories and comics. Although most of the comics were just images, there was an artist who went by neo_tomi who uploaded a few flash animations, which blew my mind as an 8-year-old. I think at some point he linked to an animation he did on Newgrounds from there, and that’s when I first found Newgrounds. I can’t link to the flash since it was one of the many that got removed within the past several years due to copyrighted music, but he’s @ReporterClock here. I always had a fascination with art and animation, and so finding a site like this where you could submit your own stuff and you’re guaranteed to have some sort of feedback (whether it’s through reviews, scores, etc.) - that was huge. I probably joined because I wanted in on the action. I submitted a whole lot of stuff here - and it was also just a fascinating place. Kind of surreal to think about just how rich the site was in content in 2009, and how it’s been more than a decade since then, and there’s only been more awesome stuff being uploaded.

Q: At what age did you become interested in music?

A: With regards to making music, I briefly got some guitar lessons while I was 6 or 7. I didn’t make it very far though, and I eventually just stopped because I got bored pretty fast. When I was 13, however, I found my old acoustic guitar and started to mess with it. At some point I became aware of what guitar tabs were, and I slowly started to work up my skills. I started songwriting with my editing software at the time Vegas Movie Studio 9 (not sure if that’s the exact title, but it works). I’d basically just take some percussion loops and samples, and I’d make some pretty dodgy-sounding music by pitch shifting stuff. Eventually, I started to learn more about chord progressions and whatnot, and I started writing songs with the guitar tab software TuxGuitar. This actually became a pretty important part of songwriting for me to this day - I’ve found that composing music in guitar tab software has really worked for me, and it gives me the ability to test different melodies.

Q: In the past we have been joined by a number of singers on Newgrounds. Hania, Cayler, Jazza, Zachary Louis, and FolegAlmighty all shared their stories about their vocals. You are now part of that list. At what age did you start singing?

A: I think I started at around age 14. I still have recordings from that time and it was pretty bad! But as with all things, you have to be willing to ride it out at first before it gets better.

Q: When eddsworld and NCH were here we talked about their battles with cancer. When were you diagnosed with cancer and how are you now?

A: I was diagnosed with cancer shortly after my 17th birthday. These days, although I’m in remission, I’m still suffering from the aftermath of it. Lately I’ve been dealing with some health issues involving headaches and eye aches. They’ve been pretty debilitating. I also have been struggling to go back to eating solid foods, so I mostly get through the days by drinking a whole bunch of Ensures. Things have been pretty bad lately, since my pains have been preventing me from working. I’m still holding on and hoping that things will get better, though. The problems with my eyes have been a relatively new development, so hopefully I can get back to work soon.

Q: One of your earliest submissions is entitled The Bureaucrat. A simple rock song for sure, why the title? Where did the first note come down for this and when did you decide it was done?

A: Ah yeah, that one’s from the early days! At that point, I wasn’t writing lyrics, though I’d still have the vocal melodies for them. Many of the titles from that era didn’t mean anything, and this is no exception. I was still finding my style as a melodist here. The chord progression is somewhat derived from a wonderful Oasis B-side called Underneath the Sky. I didn’t really care too much back then, so songs were usually just done when I felt like it.

Q: My absolute favorite by you is entitled The Ballad of Joey Domino. How long did it take to write and compose this song? What can you tell me about your collaborations with MarkSilverMedia? Also who is Joey Domino?

A: It started because I had this verse with no chorus - at the time, I sent it to Mark. We were collaborators, and he sent back this great chorus. He’s a talented guy, and the song wouldn’t be the same without his role in writing it.

Q: What is in your opinion, the definition of music?

A: That’s an interesting question! Probably anything that involves some sort of instrument as the bare minimum, to separate it from spoken word.

Q: You have released your own albums over time. What advice can you give to those looking to make, release, and sell albums?

A: It’s hard to say because even now, my music has never really been that popular and I still don’t really know how to market it because a lot of the go-to places for that sort of thing (Reddit, Facebook groups, etc.) are usually just filled with people only looking to promote themselves (and I’m not gonna pretend I wasn’t part of that problem to an extent.) But with regards to making music, one of the best pieces of advice I can give is to write a lot of songs. I’ve only officially released 2 of the first 100 songs I documented, and I had to write a whole bunch of bad songs before I got to any good ones. Also, study the songs you’re really into - analyzing good works of art is always a good way to go.

Q: What is the Adrellia Village series?

A: Adrellia Village is a series I started when I was like 9. Stylistically the characters are basically Cyanide & Happiness ripoffs, but there are also “real” people and other beings that I drew for it. It helped give me my start in making things, and it was cool to have a whole universe of my own, even if it was heavily derivative of some things.

Q: What is Flash Library 4/20?

A: Many years ago, I started a series called “Flash Library.” The original idea was that they would be daily collabs with other animators and we’d all make something for it. Sometimes they’d have themes - eventually I did away with the schedule and just decided to do them whenever. At that point in 2016, it had been a little while since the last Flash Library we did, so I figured we should do one for 4/20!

Q: I am a fan of Steven Universe so when I saw Trash Library: Steven Universe I was excited. I thought this was hilarious even the rant at the end I found hilarious! I don't think I will ever get "I am king of the lesbians" out of head for as long as I live. Reading the description there seems to be more to this story, but it is a bit unclear. Could you perhaps elaborate the project details for us?

A: I remember it starting with me making a Flash shitpost which I often do, and at some point Artistunknown and I decided to do a Trash Library that was Steven Universe themed and combine our talents. After checking with him, Artistunknown said that it came to fruition because it was meant to be a final send-off for @thebreadandbutter’s channel, which earned part of its audience from Steven Universe related videos, but then it took some time for AU to finish his part and Bread’s channel got deleted by YouTube, and when AU finished, it was just within days of the Steven Universe movie airing. And as I said, I used to have a collab series called Flash Library, so we decided to flip that on its head and just shitpost. Someone even did an Italian dub of it.

Q: What can we expect from MistyEntertainment in the future?

A: I’m not entirely sure due to the health issues I’ve been having lately, but if I get better, I’ll definitely be making YouTube videos and working on my music. My second album has been in the works for quite a while! I’ve got tons and tons of songs written. There’s some great stuff waiting to see the light of day, I can assure you that much.

When I made the suggestions thread I was sent a PM suggesting I interview MistyEntertainment. I was told he had been on the site for years and that he had been constantly making stuff. Whether it was movies, art, music, or even a few games. He was constantly finding ways to contribute to Newgrounds. We are most fortunate to have him here. He serves as a reminder that we must be grateful for all of our content creators, for we all strive to better one another here.

The Interviewer is a part of Dohn's Desk Productions

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