Artists You Need To Know: Lame Genie

My introduction to VGM came from a Rhode Island band called Lame Genie when they opened for Galactic Empire and Mac Sabbath. Their set was unlike anything I had ever seen before, mostly because I had never seen a band perform live covers of video game music. Their set was a lot of fun, even for someone like me who is not really into video games. The music was energetic and the band looked like they were really into the performance. They also had a screen set up to the side that projected the video game’s theme that they were playing, as well as breaks in between to give a shout out to their merch man. It was pure fun and I thought Lame Genie should have a chance to introduce themselves:

Concert Crap: Who is Lame Genie?

Kyle Sawaia: Lame Genie is a video game cover band from Providence, RI. We take video game songs (Mostly classic chiptune songs) and turn them into big rock/metal songs.

CC: How did the band get started?

KS: The band got started in 2013 when our guitar player Jeff had uploaded a lot of video game covers on his own to Soundcloud.

CC: Where did the name come from?

KS: The name is a play on Game Genie, the add-on that let you cheat in games on the classic systems.

CC: How would you explain VGM to someone who has never heard of it?

KS: VGM simply stands for video game music, it’s mostly bands doing a similar thing as us, turning old video game soundtracks into rock songs.

CC: What are your live shows like?

KS: Our live shows are 50% music, 50% visual. We project game footage that syncs up with the songs we are playing, along with visual comedy skits in between (We don’t take ourselves too seriously).

Lame Genie is an experience more than it is just a band. Get yourself to one of their shows ASAP not to miss out on any more of the fun.

All questions answered by drummer Kyle Sawaia.

Bandcamp / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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Post and interview by Karen Shalev

Have you checked out Lame Genie? Comment below.

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