By Keith Walsh
Singer/songwriter Roberto Montoya knows the culture around 1980s video arcades well. On the new electronic music album with .PHNX (Connor Williams), the two collaborators dramatize the experiences of young people playing video games, and the controversies that surround them. It’s called “Neon Ballet,” and it’s fabulous.

The 10-track set by .PHNX and Roberto Montoya started initially as a song called “Polybius,” about the urban legend of government-run video game experiments in 1981 involving a mythical, highly addictive game console of the same name that purportedly sent subliminal messages to users. The legend, which would have inferred involvement of DARPA and the CIA, featured stories about men in black and data mining experiments. The urban myth inspired video games by the same name, including one for PC in 2007 and one for Play Station 4 in 2017.

The album Neon Ballet features expert synth rock, no surprise, as Montoya, contributing vocals, guitars and synths – not to mention lyrics —  is a veteran artist, with his electronic music band BETAMAX DUB MACHINE and his rock band Icons of Industry. .PHNX too is a skilled producer who uses Fruity Loops Studio 20 and an array of virtual synths —  Vital, Flex, FB-3100, Surge XT, T-Force Alpha Plus, FLEX, GMS, LABS, Dexed, and Harmless – to create the epic sounds found on the album.

The first video from the album is Inversion.

I had the chance to ask Montoya and PHNX some questions about the music and concept of their album.

POPULAR CULTURE BEAT:  Is there some concern really that video games in the 80s were addictive, or did arcades give teens a safe place to go? And keep them away from more serious trouble?
Roberto Montoya: “I grew up in the 80’s and was part of the arcade culture at the time so I remember the concerns from people about the potentially harmful effects that video games can have like addiction and introversion. My memories are mostly positive so I tried to capture that in my lyrics. PHNX selected all the voice clips from interviews and other content from the 80s. I wrote the lyrics. I think the sound clips touch on the concerns of the time and my lyrics provide another perspective.”

POPULAR CULTURE BEAT:  Don’t video games, then and with all their variations now, even Nintendo handheld, teach kids problem solving and persistence?
Roberto Montoya: “I think video games can be positive for sure. They can provide a healthy outlet for problem-solving and other positive aspects. I also think they can have negative effects and although some may argue that the backlash in the 80s was paranoia, I think some criticisms came from legitimate concerns.”

The producer who goes by the name .PHNX has been a friend of Montoya’s family for decades, though a generation younger. He collected the soundbites about video game culture almost as an archeologist, as he was born after the 80s.

POPULAR CULTURE BEAT:  how do the sound bites reflect the paranoia of the 80s?
PHNX: “The intensity of the reaction to video games gaining popularity was always odd to me, as I grew up way after it was normal and it was never a big deal. I quietly chose mostly negative stories to highlight media’s attention to negativity regardless of overall impact, and to emphasize how the gut reaction is panic.”

Icons Of Industry on Facebook
Betamax Dub Machine On Facebook
.PHNX On Instagram
.PHNX On YouTube
Polybius On Coinop.org

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