Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Sullivan King, Yakz, and Grabbitz: what gamers play

Fans say it sort of sounds like Pac-Man chomping on the ghosts

Sullivan King brings his “metalstep” to the Music Box on Jan. 24.
Sullivan King brings his “metalstep” to the Music Box on Jan. 24.

It seems that local concert promoters are nodding ‘yes’ in unison with my basshead brethren lately, and following the lead of video gamers. On January 24, Sullivan King, Yakz, and Grabbitz will perform their dubstep at the Music Box.

Past Event

Sullivan King

  • Friday, January 24, 2020, 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
  • Music Box, 1337 India Street, San Diego
  • 21+ / $20 - $30

Sullivan King plays metal-guitar solos on his Schecter guitar, DJs, and yell-sings shrieking vocals atop hellishly-low bass drops. Yakz is more chill and fuses slower reggae-style beats within his dubstep set — which bassheads refer to as “riddim”: wordplay on how a typical Jamaican reggae artist might pronounce the word “rhythm.”

Grabbitz’s sound is said by some dubheads to be a bit more like “pop” dubstep; loaded with soft lyrics that lead to the heavy drop and dubby-twangs, as heard on the 2014 EDM-favorite “Here With You Now.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

“I know a lot of gamers that play competitively that listen to music while they are playing — dubstep is a popular form of music, and about five years ago, there was a period of time where you could hear it more in actual video game soundtracks,” said Ian Ferguson, who works at Luna Video Games in Chula Vista; he’s also a DJ and has been gaming for 30 plus years. “Syndicate on the Xbox 360 has music in the dubstep style,” he added.

“If I play World of Warcraft on player-versus-player mode, or play Diablo, it would be more metal and dubstep, or both: Metalstep (like Sullivan King),” said Raving Mad, another gamer. But “for World of Warcraft while doing dungeon/questing/farming, I like epic music.”

“Dubstep and metal is a fairly aggressive type of music,” Ferguson said, “and when people are playing action packed games, they generally listen to it because it has a lot of energy to it.... Most of these games allow you to drop the music but keep the sound volume up. Things that you maybe have to listen to, like footsteps, you can keep that part on but turn down any background music.”

This style of gaming, where gamers replace soundtracks in gameplay with the aforementioned styles of dubstep, became popular when streamers would stream live while listening to “bass-thicc” dubstep — on the Twitch live streaming video service for everything video games.

On the flipside, many dubstep producers are fans of video games and samples of popular games are evident or influenced in some of their music.

On Yakz’s “The Music” cut, at the 53 second mark, some fans say it sort of sounds like Pac-Man chomping on the ghosts. Yakz has never verified such on the record.

Grabbitz recalls being inspired by video games to produce music. “When I was about 12 or something,” he said in an interview with Rolling Stone, “I started making beats on an Xbox game called MTV Music Generator.”

Sullivan King reportedly discovered EDM after playing hours of online gaming and listening to dubstep OGs, including Skrillex and the late-Avicii.

SK-Gaming.com polled 150 video gamers: “Does listening to music improve our play?” Thirty-nine percent said “yes”; 11 percent said “no”; and the rest said they were “unsure” or had “other” responses.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Stinkfoot Orchestra conjures Zappa at Winstons

His music is a blend of technical excellence and not-so-subtle humor
Next Article

Pet pig perches in pocket

Escondido doula gets a taste of celebrity
Sullivan King brings his “metalstep” to the Music Box on Jan. 24.
Sullivan King brings his “metalstep” to the Music Box on Jan. 24.

It seems that local concert promoters are nodding ‘yes’ in unison with my basshead brethren lately, and following the lead of video gamers. On January 24, Sullivan King, Yakz, and Grabbitz will perform their dubstep at the Music Box.

Past Event

Sullivan King

  • Friday, January 24, 2020, 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
  • Music Box, 1337 India Street, San Diego
  • 21+ / $20 - $30

Sullivan King plays metal-guitar solos on his Schecter guitar, DJs, and yell-sings shrieking vocals atop hellishly-low bass drops. Yakz is more chill and fuses slower reggae-style beats within his dubstep set — which bassheads refer to as “riddim”: wordplay on how a typical Jamaican reggae artist might pronounce the word “rhythm.”

Grabbitz’s sound is said by some dubheads to be a bit more like “pop” dubstep; loaded with soft lyrics that lead to the heavy drop and dubby-twangs, as heard on the 2014 EDM-favorite “Here With You Now.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

“I know a lot of gamers that play competitively that listen to music while they are playing — dubstep is a popular form of music, and about five years ago, there was a period of time where you could hear it more in actual video game soundtracks,” said Ian Ferguson, who works at Luna Video Games in Chula Vista; he’s also a DJ and has been gaming for 30 plus years. “Syndicate on the Xbox 360 has music in the dubstep style,” he added.

“If I play World of Warcraft on player-versus-player mode, or play Diablo, it would be more metal and dubstep, or both: Metalstep (like Sullivan King),” said Raving Mad, another gamer. But “for World of Warcraft while doing dungeon/questing/farming, I like epic music.”

“Dubstep and metal is a fairly aggressive type of music,” Ferguson said, “and when people are playing action packed games, they generally listen to it because it has a lot of energy to it.... Most of these games allow you to drop the music but keep the sound volume up. Things that you maybe have to listen to, like footsteps, you can keep that part on but turn down any background music.”

This style of gaming, where gamers replace soundtracks in gameplay with the aforementioned styles of dubstep, became popular when streamers would stream live while listening to “bass-thicc” dubstep — on the Twitch live streaming video service for everything video games.

On the flipside, many dubstep producers are fans of video games and samples of popular games are evident or influenced in some of their music.

On Yakz’s “The Music” cut, at the 53 second mark, some fans say it sort of sounds like Pac-Man chomping on the ghosts. Yakz has never verified such on the record.

Grabbitz recalls being inspired by video games to produce music. “When I was about 12 or something,” he said in an interview with Rolling Stone, “I started making beats on an Xbox game called MTV Music Generator.”

Sullivan King reportedly discovered EDM after playing hours of online gaming and listening to dubstep OGs, including Skrillex and the late-Avicii.

SK-Gaming.com polled 150 video gamers: “Does listening to music improve our play?” Thirty-nine percent said “yes”; 11 percent said “no”; and the rest said they were “unsure” or had “other” responses.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Not enough Readers in Mission Beach

Mayor Todd Gloria's skin color
Next Article

Yo-Yo Ma, Wagner, and Tchaikovsky come to San Diego

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.