Ukie Launches Game Changers Live Game Music Event Featuring Chipzel, Luci Holland and More

Friday 24^th July: Ukie has announced the first Game Changers event will take place on Thursday 6^th August showcasing the best of established and emerging UK games music talent.

Hosted live from London’s Loading Bar, and sponsored by Harmonix and NCSOFT’s upcoming music game FUSER, the first Game Changers event bring together five fantastic female games composers and musicians.

Providing a mix of live-as-it-happens performances and exclusive video content, the evening will feature high-energy rave sets from chiptune and synth artists Chipzel and Circuit Bird, an exclusive Zoom-recorded collaboration between composer Luci Holland and the Tinderbox orchestra, a journey through the diverse genres of indie game specialist Ninichi and the synth-heavy retro game sounds and visuals of singer and producer Nyokeë.

The event is a first of its kind event for Ukie, the UK’s video game trade association and will be the first in a series of showcases demonstrating the enormous value that a range of creative skills and disciplines bring to the games industry.

The Game Changers series aims to highlight the incredible work of a diverse range of people across the sector, with the aim of encouraging more people from a wider range of backgrounds to consider careers in games

The Game Changers event will also be raising money via live donations for games industry charity GamesAid and Mermaids, a charity supporting trans and gender-diverse children, young people and their families.

“Music plays such an important role in bringing games to life. We’re really excited to demonstrate the work of so many fantastic musicians and composers and inspire the next generation of music talent to think about what they can do in games,” said Dr Jo Twist OBE, CEO of Ukie.

“We’re delighted to be partnering with Ukie for this important night of music,” said Alex Friend, Director of Product Marketing at NCSOFT. “The line-up features five incredibly impressive talents and we can’t wait to see what they have in store on 6^th August.”

Ukie’s Game Changers takes place on Thursday 6^th August from 7.30pm – 11pm BST, via Ukie’s Twitch channel at www.twitch.tv/ukietv.

ARTISTS

CHIPZEL

• Niamh Houston, AKA Chipzel, is a BAFTA-nominated and award-winning independent composer, producer and performer from Northern Ireland. Chipzel ‘s unique music combines her specialist instrument, the Nintendo Gameboy, with an ever-developing blend of electronic and analogue sound. Chipzel is a prolific game composer, with smash indie titles including Super Hexagon, Crypt of the Necrodancer and, more recently, Dicey Dungeons to her name. She has also released three studio albums, scored for mixed media and toured worldwide.
• Website: chipzel.co.uk
• Twitter: @chipzel

LUCI HOLLAND

• Luci Holland is a Scottish composer and sound artist, based in Edinburgh, creating music and audiovisual art for games, film and concerts. Her recent games work includes Blazing Griffin‘s 2018 release Murderous Pursuits, the orchestration and arrangement of fellow games composer Jessica Curry’s Disappearing for the Materia Collective and a bespoke soundtrack for the extensive Skyrim mod Lordbound. Luci also works as a musical director and composer with the youth music charity Tinderbox Project and in 2019 joined the classical music station Scala Radio to present The Console, a weekly one-hour show dedicated to celebrating great music in games.
• Website: luciholland.com
• Twitter: @LuciHolland

NYOKEË

• Inspired by early Chiptune and 8-bit music, singer and producer Nyokeë presents an energetic mix of synth heavy Kawaii Bass and retro game sounds, wrapped in electrifying games-influenced visuals and Harajuku street fashion. While primarily an artist-producer, her work highlights the active influence games music and visuals are having on wider musical culture, and she continues to expand her repertoire with an as-yet-unannounced game soundtrack. Her influences include Kero Kero Bonito, BT, Bjork and Unicorn Kid.
• Website: nyokeemusic.com
• Twitter: @nyokee

NINICHI

• Ninichi is a British & Thai composer born & based in the UK, specialising in game music but also writing for film, TV and commercial projects. She composes in a broad range of styles encompassing electronic, jazz and orchestral pieces, with Oriental and African influences, and has created the soundtracks for a wealth of indie titles, including Arcadium, Mini Hospital and the forthcoming games Powerpool Slam and Cyclocube. A strong advocate for video game music and independent music creation, Ninichi was also featured in the BBC Bitesize Series: Composing Music for Video Games.
• Website: ninichimusic.com
• Twitter: @ninichimusic

CIRCUIT BIRD

• Luka-Antonia Harvie, AKA Circuit Bird, is a freelance video game sound designer and musician based in Hull and London. An emerging artist, specialising in chiptune, rave and Eurodance, Circuit Bird’s work to date has focused on podcast intros, jingles and voice acting, but she hopes to expand her growing repertoire with work on game-related projects.
• Website: soundcloud.com/circuitbird
• Twitter: @circuitbird