Video game music is something that has been intriguing Game Over founder and guitarist Wire's mind for almost two decades. However, the concept of "Nintendo metal" - to rearrange Nintendo video game tunes into heavy metal -
... Video game music is something that has been intriguing Game Over founder and guitarist Wire's mind for almost two decades. However, the concept of "Nintendo metal" - to rearrange Nintendo video game tunes into heavy metal - didn't become reality until 1998 when the actual band was born.
Game Over was founded in 1998 by Wire and Kimpa around the time they quit another band they were both in (Cryptic Art). About two years and lots of arguments later, Wire had completed the rearrangements and lyrics of five songs. Kimpa did the drum programming. The recording of the guitars and bass took place in a very dark apartment with drainage problems (aaah the smell!) on the bottom floor in a godforsaken suburb of Södertälje, Sweden. During the entire recording process Wire was wearing a torn Marduk shirt while Kimpa was hanging over her shoulder deleting the audio tracks he didn't approve of. The recordings took a more glamorous turn with the vocals which were done at Pang Studios in Stockholm. A friend named Antichristine, who also wrote the vocal melodies on the first album, was the one who recommended Tim Reaper as a vocalist for Game Over. The Nintendo Metal album was finally finished.
The first track released from Nintendo Metal was Little Mac's Confession which became a smash hit among video game music fans all over the world. Game Over felt that there was need for more music and started working on the material for a new release. First thing on the list was to find a real drummer, at which point Kimpa resigned from the band and Zoid from Satariel was recruited. Zoid was a friend of Wire's boyfriend. A couple of months before he became part of the band, he had heard Game Over on the radio and was quite excited to learn that one of the band members was actually someone he indirectly knew.
NESperado was released in 2006. The most well-known songs from the album were Hyrule's Angel (The Sleeping Beauty) and Transylvanian Temptation. Incidentally the former was released on a CD along with the newsstand edition of Electronic Gaming Monthly in late 2004.
Wire started working on a new Mega Man cover in 2007 using a miced up amp for the first time in the history of the band. Wire's maid cottage at her family's summerhouse served as the guitar studio this time around. Due to the loud volume, Wire had to run outside during each take for which reason she couldn't record during rain. So whenever you listen to the song, keep in mind the guitars were played outside in nature!
In 2008, new drummer Egg and bassist Dasaten joined the band. Egg had been responsible for the drumming on Wire's pop project, Felinity. Wire met Dasaten over at OverLooked ReMiX where they both used to be judges. He was one of the most productive remixers of the entire site and his submissions would always involve a lot of bass. Wire liked his playing and decided to offer him a spot in the band.
Additional credits (current band members not included):
•Drum programming, Nintendo Metal: Kimpa
•Vocal melodies, Nintendo Metal: Antichristine
•Mixing/mastering, Nintendo Metal: Peter Wendin of Faceshift
•Drums, NESperado: Zoid of Satariel
•Female vocals, NESperado: Alexandra Eisenstein, also the vocalist of Wire's band Felinity and Queen of Hard Rock
•Sitar, NESperado: Olof Strömqvist of White Man's Overbite
•Backing vocals and some vocal melodies, NESperado: Criss Blackburn of VII Gates