Video game-influenced band to perform at High Dive

In 2004, two musicians were playing video games when they had the idea to produce a new kind of musical performance art. Bit Brigade will be taking nerd culture to new heights at High Dive today at 8 p.m.

Bit Brigade will play in Gainesville as the first stop of their weekend tour, which also includes Tampa and Orlando. Opening artists for Bit Brigade will be Cartridge Carnage and Mantras Octave, with DJ Drew Love spinning before and between sets.

The premise of a Bit Brigade show is simple: a gamer will do a “speed run” through several levels of a video game while the live band plays in replacement of the game’s built in background music.

Speed runs are a method of playing with the intention to get to the next level of the game as fast as possible without being booted out by “losing a life,” Bit Brigade fan Dayton Steward said.

“As the gamer plays, the band matches the levels he’s at. They play the victory tunes, even the music that would play when bosses are being blown up,” the Orlando resident said. “It’s great, because sometimes the gamer will beat the level or game in a few seconds and the band doesn’t even get to play the whole song.”

Steward attended a Bit Brigade show at Nerdapalooza in 2012, not knowing what to expect of the band.

“It’s really engaging and nerve-wracking,” Steward said. “You get really invested in the runner like you would if you were playing the game yourself.”

Bit Brigade started as a side project of another band, Cinemechanica, which originated in Athens, Georgia.

Although Bit Brigade is their current focus, group members still create original music on their own in their respective bands, Cinemechanica, Double Ferrari and Maserati, guitarist Bryant Williamson said.

“Myself and the original guitarist, Andy Pruett, came up with the idea while hanging out and playing Contra on the Nintendo Entertainment System back in 2004,” Williamson said. “I called our gamer, Noah McCarthy, immediately, and he said he was down. We did our first performance of Contra a few months later.”

The band’s guitarist, Jace Bartet, and bassist, Luke Fields, later joined McCarthy, Williamson and the original drummer, Mike Albanese. In total, the band has produced six game soundtracks with two on the way for both Batman and DuckTales games.

Bit Brigade will perform three Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES, games on this leg of the tour, including Castlevania, Batman and DuckTales.

DJ Drew Love, who will get the video game atmosphere underway before the show, is a Gainesville favorite, previously playing residencies at University Club and The Motor Room.

“I tend to be their guy when they have nerdier acts play,” Love said. “Everything I’ll be playing is going to be influenced by games and nerd culture.”

“The remixes tend to be from the NES/Genesis era, as well as Mortal Kombat, Mario, Sonic and Zelda. Half the time, though, I’m not even sure what I’m going to play before I go on. Reading crowd responses is important for any show,” Love said.

The doors for the Bit Brigade show will open at 8 p.m. Tickets, which are $8 in advance, can be purchased on ticketfly.com. Tickets will also be available for $10 at the door.