Nerdapalooza 2008 - MC Frontalot (2655412276)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Nerdapalooza was an annual
nerd music Nerd music (or geek music) is the overall category of music collecting the musical genres that grew from nerd culture; different styles that share the same common ground. Origins The earliest example was filk music, from the 1950s onwards, pl ...
and arts festival in
Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
, United States, the first of its kind to invite all genres of the nerd music movement under one roof, including
geek rock Geek rock (also known as nerd rock or dork rock) is a musical subgenre derived from pop rock and alternative rock within the nerd music group. It is a sister genre to the chiptune-influenced rock subgenre Nintendocore and related to other branches ...
, nerdcore,
chiptune Chiptune, also known as chip music or 8-bit music, is a style of synthesized electronic music made using the programmable sound generator (PSG) sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers and video game consoles. The t ...
, and
video game music Video game music (or VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to ...
. The festival was conceived by John "hex" Carter, who hosted a nerdy music themed radio show through KRFH, the student-run radio station at
Humboldt State University California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt also known as Cal Poly Humboldt, Humboldt or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California or California State Polytechnic Universi ...
. The word is derived from nerd and ''palooza'', a reference to
Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...
. Nerdapalooza, LLC was dissolved on October 29, 2013.


Nerdapalooza Southeast 2007

Nerdapalooza Southeast, the first Nerdapalooza event, was a nerd music festival centered in North Central Florida. The show showcased nerdcore. It was organized by Rob Tobias. Proceeds all went to benefit "The Purple House", a charity dedicated to helping the homeless.


Nerdapalooza Beta

Designed as a small show, it was sponsored by KRFH and was held in
Arcata Arcata (; Wiyot: ''Goudi’ni''; Yurok: ''Oket'oh'') is a city adjacent to the Arcata Bay (northern) portion of Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, Arcata's population was 18,857. Arcata was first ...
,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
at the Kate Buchanan Room at Humboldt State University on September 22, 2007. Organized by
John "hex" Carter Nerdapalooza was an annual nerd music and arts festival in Orlando, Florida, United States, the first of its kind to invite all genres of the nerd music movement under one roof, including geek rock, nerdcore, chiptune, and video game music. The ...
.


Nerdapalooza UK

Nerdapalooza UK was the United Kingdom equivalent of the American nerd music festival. Unlike its United States counterpart, it consisted of fewer artists and was a free event. Although supported by Nerdapalooza US's creator, the creator and organizer of Nerdapalooza UK was Stephen "MisterB" Brunton.


Nerdapalooza Southeast 2008

A continuation of the previous years show, Nerdapalooza Southeast was again organized by Rob Tobias. However, Carter moved to
Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
in late 2007 to act as co-organizer. Michael "The Spork" Evans and Nicholas "Sir-Up" Carman were also key coordinators for the success of this event. The show was also hosted by 3 local radio DJ's from 91.5 WPRK. Josh Thew and Logan Donahoo of "Serious Business" along with Andrew Grey of "Talk Nerdy To Me". The event was to benefit Child's Play charity and had been the most successful of all of the Nerdapaloozas thus far, receiving press coverage from both bloggers and print media, including an article released in Blender Magazine.


Nerdapalooza 2009

Held July 11 and 12, 2009, the first full Nerdapalooza showcasing all nerd music, it was again a charity show with proceeds going to
Penny Arcade ''Penny Arcade'' is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website ''loonygames.com''. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have establish ...
's "Child's Play" charity. Carter became Executive Director, along with other key directors Michael "The Spork" Evans, Joshua Thew, and Aaron "Masurao" Yarhouse. Official presenters were the members of the Letters Versus Numbers podcast among them Nerdapalooza UK organizer Stephen "MisterB" Brunton. This show was the first time that the four major players in the nerdcore music scene (
MC Frontalot Damian Hess (born December 3, 1973), better known by his stage name MC Frontalot, is an American rapper and web designer. Hess began releasing music as MC Frontalot in 1999. His first successes came through Song Fight!, an online songwriting and ...
,
MC Lars Andrew Robert Nielsen (born October 6, 1982), known professionally as MC Lars, is an American record producer, rapper, cartoonist, podcaster and educator. Lars is one of the self-proclaimed originators of "lit-hop", and is the founder and CEO of ...
, MC Chris, YTCracker ) all performed at the same event.


Nerdapalooza 2010

Held July 17 and 18, 2010 at the Orlando Airport Marriott, this Nerdapalooza marked the first year that the festival operated as its own company managed by John Carter and Aaron Yarhouse, along with press and talent directors Nina Talley and Josh Thew, respectively. The events fund raising will once again support the Child's Play charity. In 2010 the show was presented by Nerdy Show, the official podcast of Nerdapalooza that Executive Director, John Carter is a co-host of along with
Brian Clevinger Brian Clevinger (born May 7, 1978) is an American writer best known as the author of the webcomic ''8-Bit Theater'' and the Eisner-nominated print comic ''Atomic Robo''. He is also the author of the self-published novel ''Nuklear Age''. Career ...
, "Triforce" Mike Pandel, and Cap Blackard.


Nerdapalooza 2011

Nerdapalooza 2011 was held on July 16 and 17, 2011, again at the Orlando Airport Marriott. Headlined by
The Protomen The Protomen are an American rock band, who started their career on and are perhaps most widely known for composing concept albums loosely based on the video game series '' Mega Man''. Their stage names are largely references to pop culture film ...
and
I Fight Dragons I Fight Dragons is an American chiptune-based Rock music, rock band from Chicago. Their music is a combination of rock with chiptune, featuring electronic sounds made using Nintendo Game Boys and Nintendo Entertainment Systems, a genre also known ...
, Nerdapalooza 2011 also featured The Bossfights, Sci-Fried, Marc With a C, and Captain Dan and the Scurvy Crew, amongst many others. In addition to the concerts, visual artists such as Dan Hay and Tony Baldini were featured in the art gallery. The official presenters of Nerdapalooza 2011 were Schaffer The Darklord and Nelson Lugo.
Shinobi Ninja Shinobi Ninja is an American rock and hip hop band from Brooklyn, New York. Origins Prior to joining the band, Baby G (Edara Johnson) was a professional dancer for Rihanna, P Diddy, Daddy Yankee, Jason Derulo and others. Meanwhile, Axis, Mi ...
was named best new band.


Nerdapalooza 2012

Nerdapalooza 2012 took place August 3–5, 2012 at The Social and The Beacham in downtown Orlando, FL. Top billings were Koo Koo Kanga Roo, Metroid Metal,
Math the Band Math the Band is an American chiptune-based synthpunk band from Providence, Rhode Island formed in 2001 by Kevin Steinhauser. Originally being a solo project by Steinhauser, the band's style has been sometimes called Nintendocore. The band has ...
, and others. The Protomen headlined both August 4 and 5, the latter with a full
Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
cover set. Over 800 people were in attendance. The event was dedicated to the memories of Michael "Triforce Mike" Pandel and Joshua "MC Gigahertz" Montgomery.


Nerdapalooza 2013

Nerdapalooza 2013 took place October 18–20, 2013 in the West Concourse or the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. The headlining acts on Saturday and Sunday were
Nerf Herder Nerf Herder is an American rock band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 1994 by Parry Gripp (vocals, guitar), Charlie Dennis (bass) and Steve Sherlock (drums). They describe themselves as a "geek rock" band, and are known for simplistic ...
and
They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a d ...
, respectively. Disagreements within the company saw two members resign before the remaining members dissolved the company a week after the close of the event. They Might Be Giants management sued John Carter, Josh Thew, and Bryan Kissel over breach of contract for failure to pay, with their case against Kissel being dismissed in 2017. They Might Be Giants' case against Josh Thew was dropped in early 2019.


Event history


References


External links


Official Nerdapalooza Website

Wired Magazine


{{nerd music Music festivals in Orlando, Florida Nerd music