Posts Tagged ‘Getting to Know Your Friends at Harmonix’

Rock Band 3 has been released for just over 3 days now and it’s difficult to be a Rock Band fan and not be totally hyped. It was a long road. Almost like Rock Band 1 all over again. From the day we saw that tease in Green Day: Rock Band it’s been a feverish journey filled with speculation, info mining, rumor busting (or sparking), and YouTube video drooling.  In classic Rock Band community form there’s been an extremely vocal response to every tiny tidbit of info we’ve received and while skimming through the comments and stories here on RockBandAide, I was struck by something that was said in the recent Billy Joel story…

Looks like one of the first artists lusted after shortly after the reality of a keyboard in Rock Band 3 was announced may soon be coming to Rock Band as DLC.

That kind of got me thinking “What about all those songs that Harmonix forgot?” Sure there’s DLC to look forward to but I can recall a lot of songs that I thought after reading the USA Today article officially showing off Rock Band 3 were just sure things. Certainly we all expected a Dream Theater song, or a Beastie Boys song, I myself thought for sure Beck’s “Where It’s At“ was going to pop up, but to no avail.

So with no further ado, to put the cherry on top of your hype sundae, here’s 33 songs Harmonix forgot…

Read the rest of this entry »

Wow, did I drop the ball on getting this one out! Since PAX unofficially starts today with the Rock Band 3 party at Jillian’s, I think it’s time I exhaust the videos I had taken from PAX East earlier this year. And I can say with confidence that the final “Getting to Know Your Friends at Harmonix” video segment features some of my favorite people at Harmonix, the self-proclaimed “Gigglebitches:” @thebeststeph, @HMXKatattack, and @HMXThrasher. I didn’t get as much time to hang out with them at the whirlwind that was E3, but they helped make PAX East (my first “con” of any sort) an unforgettable experience for me. If you are going to PAX this weekend, DEFINITELY stop by the Harmonix booth and introduce yourself to them, because they are some especially kick-ass people.

Check out my conversation with them below, but please excuse the craziness in the video. We were all hungover, operating on a few hours of sleep, and literally counting down the minutes until the end of PAX East at this point.

I think it’s a fair statement that through the course of running this website, I’ve had a chance to meet some awesome people. What started as a labor of love has turned in to something much bigger than I could have imagined. Not only a creative outlet from my normal 9-to-5, and a chance to obsess with others about Rock Band, but I’ve met and hung out with a bunch of people from Harmonix. I’ve chatted with HMXPope (@MrPope on Twitter) a number of times online, but finally had a chance to meet him at PAXEast. Comfortable both in front of and behind the camera (he’s responsible for most of the community videos Harmonix sends out), he was busy most of the weekend successfully emceeing the Rock Band Lounge. I was able to steal him away for a few minutes and ask him a few questions about himself and what it’s like to work at Harmonix.

And here’s his epic vocal performance of “Painkiller” at PAX East (mentioned in the interview above):

Thanks, @MrPope!

One of my biggest regrets at PAX East was not having enough time to interview people from Harmonix for this segment (sorry, @HMXHenry). Even though I was in Boston for about 4 days, I never really got down to “work” until the last day. I easily burned through two batteries and a nearly a 16gb memory card of images and video. Hopefully I can chat with more people at E3.

One of the people I was lucky enough to stop and chat with before my time in Boston ended was Helen, AKA HMXHellion. Most of you are probably most familiar with her through her band Tijuana Sweetheart (formerly known as Vagiant), featured in Rock Band, “Seven,” and Guitar Hero 2, “FTK.” Tijuana Sweetheart just made their RBN debut with “Trash Candy,” and has two more songs, “Sticks and Stones” and my personal fave “No Mercy,” on the way. Check out the band, the songs listed above, and more on their Myspace page. I wasn’t expecting to have a chance to talk with her, but I was able to grab her for a few minutes and chat a little about herself and what it’s like to work at Harmonix, so check out the video below!

Oh, and I completely agree with Boston’s Weekly Dig newspaper… “Helen is cool as tits!”

Thanks, Helen!

If you’ve been playing Rock Band for awhile and are even modestly involved in the community over at the RockBand.com forums, I’m sure you’re aware of @HarmonixSean. And if you are aware of him, you’re also probably aware that he is an unbelievably kick-ass fella. Sean was literally the first person I ever met at Harmonix, and hands down one of the coolest.

A friend and I went to check out the Beatles: Rock Band demo in Chicago a month prior to release, and we grabbed drinks with the Harmonix crew later that night (see pic below). My apologies to @HMXThrasher and Drew, because I’m pretty sure I was man-crushing on Sean and ignored them the entire night! I was completely enthralled by Sean’s stories, but the most amazing part about him is after everything that he’s seen and experienced, he is still so unexpectedly down to earth and normal, in a grown-up music nerd kinda way! While I have no problem embracing it, most of my close friends wouldn’t really fit into the “nerd” category, so it was a mostly new experience for me to chat with someone who understood my obscure “Big Trouble in Little China,” “Fallout 3,” and “Planet of the Apes” references.

HMXers Thrasher, Drew, Sean, and myself

Anyway, enough about that… Check out my chat with Sean at PAX East below!

Thanks, Sean!

Assuming you’ve played a Rock Band title (why would you be reading this otherwise), you’ve seen some of the amazing contributions Casey Malone has made to the franchise.  Casey has worked on just about every Rock Band title to date, including the Track Packs.  Not only is he a developer, but it’s safe to say that he’s a fan, as well.  If you didn’t get a chance to see him on the PAX East panel video, definitely check it out. He’s got some great input and a number of hysterical lines!

Anyway, check out my conversation with Casey below! There’s also a special cameo at the end!

Thanks, Casey!