Victim Cache

Victim Cache is an electro indie rock duo founded by John Quarles and Tim Soderstrom. Currently, the duo is focused on pioneering new styles and genres with an emphasis on integrating the chiptune sound with other styles of music.
The duo first met in 2001 while pursuing their undergraduate degrees in Computer Science at the University of Texas. Though they occasionally had jam sessions and would frequently discuss music, it was not until the summer of 2010 that the band was formally formed and the duo began working on their first studio album.
Significance of the Name
John and Tim, being both Computer Science majors in college, came up with a name fitting of their undergraduate studies and opted to name the band after the specialized CPU Cache of the same name.
Chipsurf Pipeline
The band's first album, Chipsurf Pipeline, was released on February 13, 2012 and announced via a YouTube video As the name would suggest, it is a melding of both the surf and chiptune genres.
The album makes heavy use of the Nintendo Entertainment System as a synthesizer of sorts and it appears in most every song on the album. To a lesser extent, the Nintendo Game Boy was also used both on its own and in harmony with the NES and other instruments. Though used sparingly, the SammichSID and SammichFM synths were also used, both of which are powered by the now vintage C64 SID and Yamaha OPL3 sound-chips respectively.
Instead of relying on emulation, the band opted to use the original hardware with minimal post production other than for adjusting EQ and volume levels although the sound channels were recorded individually for this purpose. Because the NES and Game Boy tend to be noiser, modifications were made to both to help provide a more pure recordable signal. In the case of the NES, Tim designed a small audio output board called the NESA (short for NES audio) which bypassed the standard audio pipeline and also allowed for audio input directly from the game cartridge.
Music for the NES was composed using FamiTracker and exported to NSFs. These were then loaded on to a PowerPak cartridge for playback and recording off an NES. For the Game Boy, Little Sound DJ was used allowing music to be composed directly on the hardware itself.
John performed all of the guitar work on the album, using a variety of electric guitars. The Yamaha RGX-112 was used for the earlier songs on the album and was later largely replaced by his Fender Stratocaster HSS. A Jackson PS-1 also makes an appearance for some of the deep bends found on a few of the songs.
In the summer of 2011, Dingus reviewed two of the songs off the album, noting of Tsunami Gaiden (the title track to the album) that "pumping this track on your headphones and riding the G-train in the sweltering heat might create slight delusion but rather than having the song enter your world, ‘Tsunami Gaiden’ drags you into its own." Though there is a fair bit of high energy songs off the album, the album itself is rather complex in depth and emotion, best exemplified by Yakuza, a song Dingus also reviewed, noting that "‘Yakuza’ is a benevolently calm track...allowing a momentary lapse in thought where pure enjoyment can settle."
On February 26th, 2012, Tuned reviewed the completed album saying it was an "...Exquisite album from start to eventual and perfectly executed decay finish."
Track List
* Tsunami Gaiden
* Yakuza
* Symphony of Vengeance
* Level Grindin’
* Tidal Riders of Doom
* Bank Robbery
* (When In Doubt) Bomb It Out
* Mr. Transistor
* Cloud People Assassins
* Phoenix Down
* The Genesis Machine
* Riptide Resistor
* Mushroom Kingdom
* Gunslinger Ghost-Town
* The Final Boss
* End Creditz
The name Riptide Resistor was coined by one of the fans of Victim Cache (Tom Jenkins) and was the result of song naming contest Victim Cache held via Facebook
Kickstarter
In 2012, Victim Cache put together a Kickstarter with the goal of pressing a vinyl record. The project was successfully funded on Jun 18th, 2012 having raised $1,040 which, alongside the money Victim Cache was able to come up with, allowed them to press 100 colored and 200 black 7" records. The songs chosen were the results of backer votes, weighted by their pledge amount. Song for the A-side was Tsunami Gaiden with Genesis Machine on the B-side.
The Next Steps
On August 27, 2013, it was announced on Victim Cache's blog that Katy Reiner would become the newest member of the band. The band is currently working on a different sound that combined acoustic elements with chiptunes. while working on a sophomore album that will be even more story driven than the first with a greater emphasis on playing live. Though their album-driven work is different than Chipsurf Pipeline, Victim Cache still occasionally release chipsurf singles, that latest of which is Space Hatchet.

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