Brony Music & Musicians

[FritzyBeat]

I noticed recently, despite all out threads discussing our own music we make and all the music outside the fandom, there is a surprising lack of discussion on brony music and brony musicians in general. The other post music threads also have a rather large lack of discussion about said music, let alone the lack of music about ponies ;P

I figured that considering we are a forum built on music about ponies, we need a place where we can talk about and discuss with one another all the other musicians in the fandom together.
So, here is (hopefully) that thread ;P

Here, you can feel free to post and talk about all the various types of music and musicians we have in the fandom. From the early days of fandom music to today. Discussion is highly encouraged as opposed to just posting all your favourite pony songs. So feel free to bring up inspirations, talk about your favourite pony songs and artists, and throw around your opinions on said musicians and their work (but PLEASE keep things civil, no bashing of other musician's work please).

(Also, please don't post your own songs here, we have lots of threads already for that ;P)

[ph00tbag]

Not a bad idea, as long as it doesn't devolve into a gossip thread.

[FritzyBeat]

Not a bad idea, as long as it doesn't devolve into a gossip thread.

Indeed, hence why I made it clear that this is not a thread for bashing musicians (including talking about personal life stuff and such). This is merely a thread for discussing the music, and the musicianship of the musician.

I made sure to talk to Freewave before posting this thread too, so if any of that sort of stuff happens to derail the thread into baddy badness, he mentioned we can always contact him, or of course one of the other mods. =)

[Freewave]

I highly encourage this thread as the self-serving act of "look at my song" has discouraged many from looking at what others are doing musically and recommending many from the community. I know BMD and FIMM spend ample time signal boosting many large and small musicians and frankly i'd love it if other people can recommend their peers. It's not much of a commmunity if people don't.

If people can't follow directions lemme know and i'll take care of those posts.

[Freewave]

Since this thread actually needs activity to help launch it I'll post my own thoughts. I came into this community near the end of 2011 (October). It was musicians like NotaCleverPony, Eurobeat, and PinkiePieSwear that really attracted me to it and got me fully involved in taking part. A lot of that first wave of musicians is what i compiled in this overall cd worth of "essentials" and list. I still think it's a good overview of how it all unfolded, important names, and key tracks. Take a look in my signature for anymore brony music tools.

There was just a ton of possibilities and hope around this time and while PPS and NACP dropped out rather quickly there wasn't the same level of fear of others doing the same. But it was clear that there was a real community at play even if some arguments and splits were already taking place as early as 2011.

I had the priviledge of seeing some peers like Aviators, Archie, And the Rainfall, and SGAP really take off during that time when people still took part in Toastbeard's and before horsefame, money, and "careers" really took over a lot of the discussions. It was pretty dang hard to get on EQD back then tbh as they started getting the pre-listeners to get the quality up to specific standards and they didn't have MOTD (music of the day) for the runners up that were also "good" quality. I honestly don't miss the blanket hatred most people had for EQD back in the day. I think they're a much better and fairer organization now (despite not having musicians as their pre-listeners anymore) then they had been in the years past.

Out of the people who made this music i really recommend SoGreatandPowerful, And the Rainfall, Le Soldat Pony, Tarby, Alex S, PinkiePie Swear, Jackleapp, Makkon, Simgretina, Foozogz, 4everfreebrony, Cherax, Jeff Burgess, Stars in Autumn, Dr.Dissonance, Evdog, and Psychedelic Brony (and many i'm forgetting). Sad thing is how many people i didn't get a chance to fully check out their music and get to know them (whether they are still here or have moved on).

It's still a bit sad that I've been here 2 1/2 years and still feel like i missed out on that first year.

[FritzyBeat]

I highly encourage this thread as the self-serving act of "look at my song" has discouraged many from looking at what others are doing musically and recommending many from the community. I know BMD and FIMM spend ample time signal boosting many large and small musicians and frankly i'd love it if other people can recommend their peers. It's not much of a commmunity if people don't.

If people can't follow directions lemme know and i'll take care of those posts.

^ Pretty much everything in Freewave's post above :3

So, just to get the ball rolling on the thread a little bit (and since this kinda feels like the best musician to start with XP)...

Most of you on this forum, and probably all of you who have been around here since the early days will probably know this musician, but I've been rather saddened to find out that there are a lot... A LOT of musicians in the fandom who do not know of Not A Clever Pony.

http://www.youtube.com/user/iamnotacleverpony

We all (for the most part) remember For the New Lunar Republic, but NCAP had a ton of other songs that have just been super inspirational for me, as well as a ton of other musicians on and off the forum. NCAP may not be around anymore, but the music still is, and as something that has greatly motivated me to create fun and enjoyable music, I'd say that if you haven't heard more then For the New Lunar Republic , then now is definitely a time to maybe take a look at NCAP's other songs on Youtube, and the albums "Princess Celestia is Best Pony" & "Princess Luna As Imagined".
http://notacleverpony.bandcamp.com


(My Personal fave)~

I'm sure I wasn't the only one to fall in love with this music and Freewave's ninja post I think proves that XP

Since this thread actually needs activity to help launch it I'll post my own thoughts. I came into this community near the end of 2011 (October). It was musicians like NotaCleverPony, Eurobeat, and PinkiePieSwear that really attracted me to it and got me fully involved in taking part. A lot of that first wave of musicians is what i compiled in this overall cd worth of "essentials" and list. I still think it's a good overview of how it all unfolded, important names, and key tracks. There was just a ton of possibilities and hope around this time and while PPS and NACP dropped out rather quickly there wasn't the same level of fear of others doing the same. But it was clear that there was a real community at play even if some arguments and splits were already taking place as early as 2011.

I had the priviledge of seeing some peers like Aviators, Archie, And the Rainfall, and SGAP really take off during that time when people still took part in Toastbeard's and before horsefame, money, and "careers" really took over a lot of the discussions. It was pretty dang hard to get on EQD back then tbh as they started getting the pre-listeners to get the quality up to specific standards and they didn't have MOTD (music of the day) for the runners up that were also "good" quality. I honestly don't miss the blanket hatred most people had for EQD back in the day. I think they're a much better and fairer organization now (despite not having musicians as their pre-listeners anymore) then they had been in the years past.

Out of the people who made this music i really recommend SoGreatandPowerful, And the Rainfall, Le Soldat Pony, Tarby, Alex S, PinkiePie Swear, Jackleapp, Makkon, Simgretina, Foozogz, 4everfreebrony, Jeff Burgess, Stars in Autumn, Dr.Dissonance, Evdog, and Psychedelic Brony (and many i'm forgetting). Sad thing is how many people i didn't get a chance to fully check out their music and get to know them (whether they are still here or have moved on).

It's still a bit sad that I've been here 2 1/2 years and still feel like i missed out on that first year.

Despite only having joined in October 2013, I can echo everything Freewave has said here =D
While I never got to actually be a part of the runs NACP, PinkiePieSwear, and all those other musicians had back in the day, they have still been hugely inspirational for me as a musician =D

But even so, I am still very happy that I'm able to meet so many of the more recent musicians, as they are all really nice people ^_^ Synthis, SlyphStorm, 4everrfreebrony, µThunder, ClaviSound, Reuel, Mogul Dash, and others have all been EXTREMELY inspirational and encouraging to me in getting into making music for the first time ^_^ They are definitely musicians I look up to as both inspirations and friends =)

[ph00tbag]

As far as artists that got me into the MLP music scene, and really demonstrated to me that there was really something there as far as making pony music, leading me to actually start producing music again, I would say some of the big inspirations were Foozogs, PinkiePieSwear and JayB. The first two have definitely been mentioned, but I definitely don't think JayB should be left out of any consideration. He was more of a second-wave producer, but he brought a really modern Trance sound that hadn't really been captured by any other Brony musician.

His earliest tune still on Youtube was this one, although I feel like there's earlier ones that he did.

Oh, d.notive was another one that I was big into back then. His 80's house mix of Becoming Popular was my jam back in the day.

As far as artists that I've been really excited about lately, if you don't know about Le Soldat Pony or 4everfreebrony by now, then you've probably been living under a rock. They're both excellent. I'm also a huge fan of Pony Time (aka Caden L. Welborn), Aoshi's independent productions, donglekumquat and Pivot.

I might do a few more posts in this thread about artists that have impressed me lately with just their first couple of tunes, as well as a summary of brony Psytrance producers (There's actually more than one active one these days! Woohoo!), at some point.

[Freewave]

Yeah JayB's trance tracks are never short of amazing. I know when the scene started Thorinair was the one go-to for trance and he's always been mopre of an instrumental covers guy when he started. JayB has had ample professional experience before ponies, his production is stellar, and he often favors using vocals (and well). Doesn't hurt that he uses physical synths vs vsts which is a unique advantage.

D.Notive has always been the go to for synthpop/retro and i'm glad he likes a Depeche Mode sound that the scene was lacking. I still think Foozogz My Mind is Full of Pony is one of our best albums.

You definitely mentioned a few people i've heard great things about recently but haven't really followed that well.

[AgentsofDiscord]

I have been making music for nearly 10 years. Despite that experience, i have no actual training in or knowledge of music theory/playing instruments.

I have always been overly critical of other producers/musicians. mostly because of my personal life and childhood. but that is nothing for this thread.

I respect all of the big names in the scene, even if i have my personal takes on their song writing.

Being featured several times on EqD's Music of the Day has given me a lot of chances to see some excellent work that I personally would have featured as a spotlight.

ImTheMoon is one of the artists i was featured along side. The one i first encountered was "Tricks", which is about Trixie Lulamoon.



The song is so beautiful. I love it from beginning to end. Infact, the ending is one of the most beautiful sections i have ever heard in brony music. Full of Redemption, and Positivity.

I am not sure if the embed will work for youtube, i am not entirely sure on how to do that.

[Freewave]

Nice to have you here on MLR AgentsofD. We've actually featured you quite a few times on FIMM http://fimmusic.tumblr.com/tagged/Agents-of-Discord Ph00tbag in particular is a very big fan of your music. Glad to know you've been at it awhile. If you ever want to help FIMM out and help recommend your fellow peers best new tracks don't be afraid to join up with us (that's actually an open offer to Fritzy or any others as well). We certainly believe there's a lot of great material that should be pulled out of the MOTD and given a bit more of a spotlight. :)

I fixed your emded. The only problem was S at the end of the https

[AgentsofDiscord]

We've actually featured you quite a few times on FIMM http://fimmusic.tumblr.com/tagged/Agents-of-Discord Ph00tbag in particular is a very big fan of your music.

Holy Crap! I never expected to be featured anywhere other than EqD! Glad to see Ph00tbag likes my stuff. I might take that in consideration when I finish my next couple of tracks... hmmm...

Glad to know you've been at it awhile. If you ever want to help FIMM out and help recommend your fellow peers best new tracks don't be afraid to join up with us (that's actually an open offer to Fritzy or any others as well). We certainly believe there's a lot of great material that should be pulled out of the MOTD and given a bit more of a spotlight. :)

I might actually take you up on that. Just PM me the Details about what I need to do for that.


I am currently working and talking with an artist called Retrotype. he makes some lovely work, which i will not hesitate to point you towards. unfortunately he is moving on from Brony Music now.

Still, here is one of his tracks from music of the Day.



his Mixing is so clear and crisp, which is honestly hard to come by. (Even I can't Mix this Clean!) Its a shame he is stepping out from brony music, yet i can understand and SEE why. he has the skills to do great things!

[FritzyBeat]

Yeah, JayB and d.notive are some of the more experienced musicians in the fandom, and their music is very much top quality stuff for indy music =)

Even me not being the biggest fan of trance music, I find myself really getting into a lot of JayB's stuff. Love is in Bloom remix, Rain (which he got the wonderful Giggly Marina to sing on X3), and my personal favorite of his trance songs, I Love Everything, which has that awesome vocal chopping X3

Ironically though, my favorite song of Jay's is something completely different from his usual style, his Hearts Strong as Horses remix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBkRL7_9Pko

I just love the pop-rock sound he captured in this song, very uplifting and all-round entertaining.

d.notive is also a very unique case in the fandom, his 80's/90's style with the heavy synths and beats is just mesmerizing, and something that we really don't have much of in this fandom. So even if his beats WERENT already amazing, he would certainly stand out in that respect ;)

And I know everypony ALWAYS uses Let Your Mane Down example, but GOSH DANG IT its so good XD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW4v3Yci0Sw

Also, AgentsofDiscord! Thank you so much for reminding me of ImTheMoon! I had been planning to look into their music for a while now, but stuff got in the way and I totally forgot XP I'll be sure to check out both them as well as Retrotype right now! Thanks for the links! ^_^

[ph00tbag]

I think I've seen a couple ImTheMoon things. That Tricks track is really intense. I think I missed it in my own listening through the MotDs.

I've always loved Retrotype's stuff. I hope he still gets the occasional itch to do brony stuff down the road, because I want more excuses to tell people about him.

[FritzyBeat]

I've always loved Retrotype's stuff. I hope he still gets the occasional itch to do brony stuff down the road, because I want more excuses to tell people about him.

Well, as long as he's happy making what he wants to make, I'm happy :3 As long as its good music I can still enjoy it ^_^
But I do agree, its good to have people making pony music to introduce your brony friends to =)

[FritzyBeat]

So, recently I've been feeling really nostalgic, so I decided to go back into my brony music library to find some songs by some of the really early musicians of early 2011, long long before I ever joined the fandom X3

Now, most of us know a lot of the originals (Eurobeat Brony, Not A Clever Pony, Makkon, PPS, Sci, etc...) but I have noticed there are a few musicians from those old days who were really quite popular among the fanbase, but seemingly slipped under the radar soon after, one in particular musician who I am very fond of being TheSaltlakrits.

Saltlakrits - At the Winter Gala (Mashup / Remix)

Salty was one of the earliest remixers in the fandom, coming in around April of 11 with his Giggle at the Ghostie remix, and man, every song Salty made was just amazing X3 Unfortunetly Saltlakrits only ever uploaded 3 songs to youtube, making finding info on him REALLY hard XP (stuff like, who were they, and if they are still making non-pony music somewhere :P) . So if y'all longtime bronies know anything about that and can tell me, It'd be much appreciated, but until then, I'm happy I at least still have those three songs to enjoy =)

[ph00tbag]

It's the MOE of brony music.

[FritzyBeat]

It's the MOE of brony music.

I feel like I should somehow get that acronym, but I don't 83 explain? :P

[Freewave]

Sadly i don't get it either.

[ph00tbag]

MOE was a fanartist in the early years of mlp who made these really stunning paintings with landscapes and epic battles and stuff. He/she basically disappeared after about a year, and no one really knows where he/she went.

Moe is also responsible for this thing:

[FritzyBeat]

Ooooooh! I see now XD Yeah, and given that information, I think its a very legit comparison to put MOE and Saltlakrits into the same boat together XP Sometimes I wish we could just send Prince Caspian and Reepicheep after that lost boat of legends to find them again, but oh well =P *shot*

But yeah, this is the stuff our fandom's 'legends' are made up of I guess X3 Even so, as Freewave once said about a number of brony musicians, we'd much rather have them here with us then saying all these goodbyes~ <3

[JoshSpicer]

I vastly miss the old school guys like Lulz, Pogosama, Prison, and the always obvious Swagberg.

EDIT: Oh, as well as SweetestBelle and MIU (the later of whom has essentially ceased doing pony songs, unfortunately.)

[ph00tbag]

I feel like I'm in bizarro world. Please tell me that there are more people who know who Mimic is, and that he actually has more than 157 subs. This is his latest thing:



I'm just flummoxed that someone who is doing stuff this phenomenal is just kinda sitting at less than a thousand subs.

[FritzyBeat]

I feel like I'm in bizarro world. Please tell me that there are more people who know who Mimic is, and that he actually has more than 157 subs. This is his latest thing:



I'm just flummoxed that someone who is doing stuff this phenomenal is just kinda sitting at less than a thousand subs.

Wow, that is really pretty! And me being a big fan of ambiance, this hits me right in the feelz :'D
He's definitely earned himself a sub from me. I also noticed that he still has 1-2 thousand views on most of his songs, so at least people are hearing his music, maybe he just hasn't reached the right audience yet.

[EDIT]: SWEET CELESTIA I AM ADDICTED TO THIS PERSON NOW~ <3<3<3 Thank you so much for sharing his music ph00tbag! =D

I vastly miss the old school guys like Lulz, Pogosama, Prison, and the always obvious Swagberg.

EDIT: Oh, as well as SweetestBelle and MIU (the later of whom has essentially ceased doing pony songs, unfortunately.)

I know of most of those names. I remember some great songs from Lulz, Pogosama, and MIU. I know OF the SweetestBelle, though I have yet to hear any music outside of a rap I think from a megamix. And I've never heard of Prison I don't think (at least not that I can remember). If you have any links to some music from him it would be awesome if you could share them =)

[Freewave]

Yeah you guys are starting to recommend some overlooked musicians now. I'd love to see a few examples thrown in here (with spoiler tags if you can )

Fritzy I don't know if I've ever approached you about joining FIMM but your presence would be welcome. I know i always see you on ytube and having someone else who can recommend great new, old, and overlooked pony tracks for the blog would be a welcome addition. Always looking to have some real fan of MLP music and consistent listeners join up. Let me know if you're interested.

[Fl Brony]

I always feel so weird when it comes to talking about other Musicians and recommending them, mostly because the majority of people I do listen to are already well known.

I joined the fandom in December 2011 and at that time the only artist I really knew about where Mic the Microphone, Glaze, The Living Tombstone, Lulz, and Alex S. And I only really discovered them by clicking on the recommend bar while watching Mic's dramatic readings before I even knew that there was music in the fandom. Hell for the longest time and ever now I couldn't really name you any SoGreatAndPowerful songs, which always seems to make me feel like the odd one out a lot of the time.

I think the people I have to recommend are QT Mark/Vanille/Phage/What ever the hell he calls himself now, Metalcore Pony, Little Philly, Madhouse for Equines/Madhouse Archives, PrinceWhateverer, Sam Synthis, Lava Lectrode, Nexgen, and Among the Herd.