The Red Mage Battles Imposter Syndrome: A VGM Tale
- May 9
- 13 min read
Updated: May 15
It’s been a few years since I’ve written one of these recap blogs, hence the backlog (or “backblog,” if you will). I know it’s a lot, so read some, all, or none. Choose your own adventure, but the chef recommends the full course. And feel free to catch up from where we left off.
Pre-ramble
I am a dabbler. I take an interest in a lot of different things, but somewhere along the skill tree, once the difficulty spike starts looking like a FromSoftware boss fight, I’m out. I admire the people who can push through that wall, but at this stage in my life, I’ve accepted that this is just my nature. I am a jack of all trades and master of none. A red mage, if you will.
So, bluumonk is a red mage?
Yes. Though the moniker is actually a reference to a song from the jazz great, Thelonious Monk. So there’s your little piece of trivia.
As a red mage, it’s hard to stand in a room full of black mages and not feel inadequate. My black magic will never compare. And that’s what it feels like going to conventions like MAGFest and VGM Con and watching these high-level wizards absolutely fuck shit up. Every year, I leave inspired, humbled, and dangerously close to buying several thousand dollars' worth of music equipment I do not know how to use.
Even seasoned warriors know there’s always a bigger fish. Kudos to the people who accept this law of nature and somehow make peace with it. I’m still out here casting mid-tier support spells and trying not to get one-shot by my own insecurity.
2017 was my second year attending MAGFest, where I once again donned my Wario costume. Frustrated with the violently neon yellow shirt I had settled for, it had been in the back of my mind to eventually find something closer to Wario’s actual golden-yellow color palette and less “crossing guard having a mental breakdown.”
Then fate intervened.
I spotted a guy wearing a shirt from some event I’d never heard of before, but more importantly, it was the exact shade of yellow I had been searching for. So I tapped him on the shoulder and asked where he got it.
Turns out the shirt was from Gamer's Rhapsody, a convention founded by Thomas Spargo, the very person wearing it. The color came from the previous year’s theme: Super Mario Bros. 3.
To my surprise, he took down my info, and about a week later, a package showed up at my door containing some Gamer’s Rhapsody swag that permanently became part of my Wario outfit.
This was incredibly cool of him, and the kind of thing that sticks with you. So seven years later, I finally decided it was time to check out his convention.
Note: Gamer's Rhapsody eventually rebranded to VGM Con.
VGM Con 2024
I flew solo out to VGM Con 2024, raw-dogging the experience with no companions, no connections, and no expectations.
VGM Con is much smaller than MAGFest, roughly 1,000 attendees versus MAG’s 20K+ sensory overload endurance test. At something like Super MAG, there are effectively infinite things happening at all times, and my strategy has always been to wander aimlessly until something hijacks my ADHD hard enough to hold my attention.
VGM Con operates differently.
The schedule isn’t nearly as dense, and I quickly realized the quality of your experience is heavily tied to whether or not you know people. Luckily, making friends there is shockingly easy, and honestly, that’s where I think it outshines MAGFest. Because the event is smaller and everybody funnels through the same handful of common areas, socializing happens naturally. At MAGFest, you can disappear into the crowd. At VGM Con, after about 24 hours, everybody starts recognizing everybody else like survivors in a post-apocalyptic RPG hub town.
As I was wandering through one of the convention corridors, I heard, and physically felt, this energy radiating out of the jam room. I had no choice but to investigate.
Inside was Joey Z running a freestyle session with anyone brave enough to jump in, and the vibes were absolutely off the charts. I’m not even particularly into hip hop, but his authenticity was magnetic. Much like Sammus, he has this ability to completely drop the armor and put everything out there. No irony. No distancing. Just pure energy.
Eventually, I decided to join the jam myself, making my grand entrance via an extremely important wind chime solo. Every band needs a guy contributing approximately 3% to the overall soundscape.
With incredible charisma, Joey started introducing all the jammers and spontaneously invented a backstory about how he and I went way back to our drum circle days. And just like that, I became a forever fan.
I make my entrance around the 1:31 mark
Rob Kovacs (88-bit) was absolutely everywhere that year. He gave a great breakdown of the production process behind his soundtrack work for Straylight, could routinely be found annihilating piano at the Key Stage, and then teamed up with 8-bit Music Theory for a killer set on the Boss Stage.
Together, along with their phenomenal band, they form a musical Voltron that I have decided to call “96-bit.”
These guys are operating at a level of technical proficiency that almost stops registering as human after a while. At a certain point your brain just goes, “Well, alright then,” and accepts that some people were put on this Earth specifically to make the rest of us feel inadequate about our chord progressions.
After the day’s festivities, sometime deep into the cursed hours of the early morning, I ran into Robbie Benson from Super Soul Bros. and Dominic Cerquetti in the halls doing these impromptu jukebox-style performances for whoever happened to wander by.
As a fan, I obviously had to get a photo with my musical crush.
Someday, this picture will become an album cover
On the second day of the event, I sat in on a panel about promoting your music, where one of the hosts, Parnell, mentioned the SML podcast as a potential promotional outlet. Having been on the podcast before, I shot Joe a message to let him know his show got name-dropped, and he informed me that he was actually at the convention.
This is where the event suddenly opened wide for me.
You see, Joe seemingly knows every single person in the VGM community. Hanging out with him was like walking around with a side quest NPC who inexplicably has maxed-out faction reputation with everybody in the game world. Suddenly, I was meeting people I’d spent years watching perform at MAGFest.
Super Strikers debuted their album Giants at the con, and everyone told me I must check out their performance. I had no idea who Super Strikers were, but I would soon learn. Turns out they are the house band for Brave Wave and the story behind Brave Wave is honestly kind of insane.
Not that long ago, a guy named Mohammed Taher traveled to Japan with the goal of tracking down the composers behind some of his favorite video game soundtracks and coaxing them out of retirement. For many of these composers, the music they created was simply a job they did decades ago before moving on with their lives, completely unaware that their work helped create an entire global culture of people obsessing over these soundtracks at conventions like MAGFest and VGM Con.
Through his efforts, Mohammed helped launch Brave Wave Productions, releasing original VGM covers and even getting some of these legendary composers to create new material. That included Takashi Tateishi, composer of Mega Man 2, a soundtrack that many people, myself included, would argue belongs in the conversation for greatest VGM OST of all time. After dropping that banger, the man then basically vanished from the scene, completely unaware of his own legacy.
At the end of the second night, Theology put on an incredible DJ set at the Hero Stage. I was pleasantly surprised to hear him drop several tracks from Secret of Mana, which has long been my favorite OST and, in my completely unbiased opinion, does not receive remotely the amount of love it deserves.
After his set, we chatted for a bit and got to fully geek out over our shared love for the game. Nothing builds instant friendship quite like two grown adults aggressively explaining Super Nintendo soundtrack lore to each other at 1 AM.
After a few more cocktails at the bar, it was finally time to call it a night, and essentially the end of the convention. But I already knew I’d be back.
I came to test the waters and see whether I would enjoy the event as much as MAGFest, and I absolutely did. While I benefit from living close to where Super MAG is held, making it out to Minneapolis is definitely more of a pilgrimage. Still, I can confidently report that the juice was, in fact, worth the squeeze.
MAGFest 2025
When I was at VGM Con the previous year, I was chatting with Tom’s dad, who informed me I needed to meet Vaughn because we had both attended the same language school in Monterey, California. Apparently, the Defense Language Institute pipeline to VGM conventions is stronger than anyone realizes. I finally caught up with him at the VGM Con booth at MAGFest, and we became fast friends.
I went to see my friends in Bard City perform on the new XP Stage. Due to technical difficulties, the stage was running behind schedule, so Bard City’s slot was temporarily taken over by Eternal Hoshi, who absolutely tore the place down. I got the chance to witness a Naruto Run mosh pit, which is something a hilariously awesome mix of words.
Afterward, Bard City finally graced the stage and crushed it. If you are unfamiliar, they are a D&D-themed band whose songs can literally change depending on dice rolls, which is either an incredible artistic concept or a cry for help from somebody’s forever-DM.
I got the chance to see Super Strikers perform again. Over the previous year, I had become a pretty big fan. They might even crack my Top 5 VGM bands, which is not a list I discuss publicly because I enjoy having friends. They brought out Masashi Kageyama, the composer for Gimmick!, to perform with them. It was his first trip to the United States, and you could tell how much that moment meant to everyone involved. Sadly, we lost Mr. Kageyama the following year. I am glad he got to experience firsthand how deeply people loved his music.
I also caught a set by The Arkadian, who teamed up with Stemage to create a rare VGM act with vocals that perfectly emulate 80s hair metal in a way that feels both nostalgic and medically inadvisable. I met him afterward and learned he also went to Berklee. I kept passing him in the halls, but the problem was I did not actually know his real name, so every time I saw him, I just called him The Arkadian, like he was a Batman villain. At this point, I refuse to call him by his name.
And who can forget my favorite, Bit Brigade? This year, they leveled up to the 16-bit era with a performance of Super Mario World and even did an encore with F-Zero. What can I say about them that I haven’t already said? At this point, they are basically a constant of the universe. Like gravity, or bad hotel Wi-Fi at conventions.
Until next time, MAGFest!
VGM Con 2025
The OneUps were one of the main acts at this year’s VGM Con. As a relative latecomer to the VGM scene, I had missed these guys during their peak years, so this felt like finally catching up with one of the foundational bands of the community. Later, I ran into Mustin at the bar and somehow ended up sharing beers with him and the legendary Alexander Brandon. I told you, VGM Con is unreal.
It is a bit surprising that there is not more representation of PC games in the VGM scene. Other than the Tiberian Sons, I cannot really recall much PC music being played at these events. WASD helps fill that gap. Fronted by Austin Green, who is also a key figure in running Dwelling of the Duels, WASD treated us to a set packed with killer tracks from Quake, Doom, Space Quest, Warcraft, and Unreal (hope Mr. FunkyRustic caught the set). Somewhere in the distance, a LAN party spontaneously materialized.
We also got to watch Danimal Cannon argue with himself, which somehow made perfect sense in context.
Much love to Lauren the Flute, and The Returners. I welcome anybody who will evangelize Final Fantasy VI as the greatest RPG ever made. Some people hear that opinion and start nodding respectfully. Others immediately begin drafting a manifesto.
On my way home, while waiting for my flight, someone struck up a conversation with my buddy after noticing his merch and correctly assuming he had just come from the con. That person turned out to be Tuck, aka Biggoron, and after chatting for a while, he casually suggested we collaborate on a track sometime.
A few months later, he made good on that promise by inviting me to play on his arrangement of Waluigi Pinball from Mario Kart DS. Kev Ragone from Super Strikers was also involved, which immediately made me feel like I needed to practice harder. The track ended up being a blast to work on. We submitted it to Dwelling of the Duels and took second place!
Not a bad result for a random airport terminal conversation. I made new friends, collaborated with the drummer from one of my favorite VGM bands, and won an award. Meanwhile, my normal airport experiences usually involve a seven-dollar bottle of water and public despair.
MAGFest 2026
yeah, losers
This marked my tenth year attending MAGFest. That sounds impressive until you meet The Lumberjacks, an elite group of attendees who have somehow managed to attend every single MAGFest. These people have seen things. Ancient things. Forbidden things.
Naturally, this led to a lot of reminiscing about the good old days. Joe showed off his collection of MAGFest badges dating all the way back to the beginning. Looking at them felt like examining sacred relics recovered from a long-lost civilization fueled entirely by Mt. Midori (Mountain Dew and Midori).
I ran into Theology in the lobby, and we ended up hanging out for a bit. Matt is a native of Minneapolis, and MAGFest was happening during the time ICE protests were ongoing. Renée Good had just been shot a few days prior. These were heavy conversations, and, as difficult as it was for me to process from a distance, it was even harder for Theology and my other VGM Con friends from that area.
I do not really have a graceful transition out of that other than to say conventions like MAGFest matter because they give people a temporary escape hatch from the real world. Sometimes you really need that. Thankfully, there was no shortage of distractions.
I knew Stemage had worked on Steven Universe, so I checked out Rebecca Sugar’s set despite not knowing much about the show. I was completely unprepared for how enormous and passionate the fanbase was. The ballroom was packed wall to wall, which is not even guaranteed for some of MAGFest’s biggest acts. Then Estelle made a surprise appearance, and the crowd lost its collective mind, completely justified. She may legitimately be the biggest celebrity to ever perform at MAGFest. Sorry, Nobuo.
dannyBStyle also showed off their obscure indie soundtrack. Very underground stuff. Few people have heard of it ;)
My friend Jarrett was a smash hit at the con with his Uma sign, and he revelled in the attention
And somehow, against all odds, we got Bit Brigade on the main stage for the third straight year. This time, they tackled Mega Man X. I do not know what cosmic bargain was struck to make this happen, but I refuse to question it. Holy fucking shit.
Of course, with Mega Man X as the theme, there was no way Mega Ran was not showing up. Or should I say Grammy-nominated Mega Ran, because apparently, we now live in a timeline where that sentence is real.
VGM Con 2026
I decided to fly out on Day 0 this year to maximize the experience. When I grabbed dinner at the bar, Mustin and his friend Analisa showed up, and I got to spend some quality time hanging with them. He told me the story of how The OneUps originally went by The OneUp Mushrooms, but the second half eventually got dropped because that is how Tommy Tallarico kept referring to them.
I was unfamiliar with Tommy Tallarico, but after hearing Mustin talk about his spectacular fall from grace, I had to investigate. Suffice it to say, the man made more than a few completely grandiose claims over the years that eventually came back to bite him. I had no idea the VGM community had its own Billy Mitchell. It just so happens that I, too, hold a Guinness World Record, Mr. Tallarico. And by "I" I mean "we" in pretty much the same sense that he does. Anyway, the rabbit hole on this is absolutely worth a few hours of your life.
By my third VGM Con, the friends had honestly become a bigger part of the event than the music itself. It is just a really good hang full of genuinely cool people. The post-con SML podcast echoed that sentiment pretty heavily. More than one person described VGM Con as a “must-attend” event every year, and I completely agree. In fact, I agreed hard enough to buy a lifetime pass.
My favorite bass player from Baltimore, Darmock from Steel Samurai, played a solo set on the Warp Stage.
Of course, I had to support my guys in Goronsemble.
I wandered into a set by a group called Los Veros and immediately started laughing when I saw Stemage on stage because, apparently, this man legally has to be involved in every VGM project on Earth. To be fair, the band is basically a VGM supergroup led by William Carlos Reyes from The OneUps, delivering smooth Latin-inspired VGM grooves that ruled.
Speaking of Grant, he gave an incredible presentation, speedrunning the history of pinball music. He is fully committed to getting PGM recognized as a legitimate VGM subgenre. As a fellow PGM composer, I respect the mission.
I'm sure the VIPs would be arriving at any minute
Disco Cactus delivered a killer set that included music from Celeste.
Lacey Johnson absolutely blew me away. The main stage crowd was buzzing the entire set, and honestly, the VGM scene always benefits from strong vocal performances.
Closing out the Boss Stage on Saturday night, Theology premiered tracks from the third and final phase of his Secret of Mana albums. Knowing this would probably be my last opportunity to collaborate with him on one of our favorite soundtracks ever, I had reached out the previous year and basically begged him to let me contribute.
So when he played our track live on stage, I completely lost composure and rushed the stage to give him a giant hug. As somebody who spent years attending these conventions mostly from the sidelines, this was the first time I had ever contributed to a performance in any way. That moment genuinely sparked something in me. Now I want more. I will make it to the stage myself one of these years.
The next morning, Robbie was up early, or more accurately still awake, entertaining the hungover survivors. Honestly, there is no better way to close out VGM Con.
See you all next year.
~Scott
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