Daily Inspiration: Meet Nic Gitter

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nic Gitter.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
When I was 13, my friend handed me his earbuds and coaxed me to listen to a track on his phone. As deadmau5’s hypnotic synths flowed into my aural canal, I was transported. With this introduction to electronic music, the artist’s skill for handcrafting simple yet effective soundscapes using a mix of analog and digital electronic hardware and software led me down the EDM rabbit hole, where I would become equally enthralled with the music of producers Madeon and Zedd, two of my greatest inspirations to this day. Months of nonstop EDM consumption followed, after which I was overwhelmed with a passion for the form and determined to learn how to make electronic music myself.

From childhood, I’ve always had both a strong emotional connection to music and a deep vein of nostalgia. When I started playing video games, I immediately connected with the vibrancy of the game music, which breathed life into the lush and colorful worlds in which I found myself so immersed. It seemed right, then, that I should create my first works under the alias Video Game Remixes (VGR for short) to showcase my love of both game music and EDM by—as my namesake implies—making remixes of my favorite video game music. After teaching myself how to make electronic music on FL Studio —not without a good many technical mishaps and screaming meltdowns—I began releasing my remixes on dedicated YouTube and SoundCloud accounts. Despite my beginner skills, I decided to create some electronic remixes of songs from a Cartoon Network show I’d been watching, Steven Universe. I released a track on SoundCloud; it felt like I was sending my music into the void, so I didn’t expect it to find much of an audience. But that day, I went to support a friend in a high school production of Les Miserables, and when I came out of the performance, the play count had ballooned to 1000. I was stunned— it was my first inkling that I could truly reach people with my music. That remix has now amassed four million plays on SoundCloud.

I had to keep up the momentum, so I followed up the success of the first track by releasing two more Steven Universe song remixes using the same synth presets and drum loops I’d used on the first one. A humble start down a path that I had no idea I was blazing for myself. The success of the first Steven Universe remixes eventually caught the attention of Cartoon Network staff members. They invited me to Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank, where I got to meet the artistic director and storyboarders of Steven Universe, and even show creator Rebecca Sugar herself. This music thing seemed to be getting me somewhere! My partnership with the network continued, and they’ve since commissioned me to make several official remixes, along with a medley of iconic CN themes for a holiday remix album.

From that first auspicious and audience-discovered track, I’ve worked hard to build a career with continuous outward expansion into different directions with regard to creative collaboration and multiple revenue streams, which is what the ever-changing musical taste and technological environment demands.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I started out working on electronic music with a friend of mine who already had some sound design experience, but as we started to encounter creative differences, I realized I’d have to learn how to use music production software for myself. That was perhaps my first lesson in trusting my own artistic instincts and owning my creative process.

And while I was starting to develop a following but my producing skills were still budding, other rising artists accused me of bloating my numbers—something, quite honestly, I didn’t even know how to do. Next they criticized my production quality and denigrated my success. I can’t lie—that didn’t feel great. These naysaying voices planted a tiny seed of doubt in myself. But the listeners couldn’t be wrong; I had to believe in my ear, my work, my talent. So I redoubled my efforts honing my sound and skills, proving to myself that I could gain mastery in this craft I love.

There have been many such moments of doubt or creative burnout in my career since then, but fortunately they’ve been completely outweighed by the joy I find in creating music. For every moment of despair when a track seems impossible to get right, I’ve had ten when I can’t help getting out of my chair and dancing around to the beat I’ve created. Making music is my life’s passion, and I’ll be damned if I let any haters get in the way—especially if the hater is me.

There are also some very practical challenges I have to overcome on my journey. When I began my career, there were only a handful of successful producers on the internet, but today, it seems everyone and their brother wants to crank out EDM. And in a world where technology plays a part in every aspect of our lives, the algorithms on YouTube have changed significantly. The growth I enjoyed on that platform in my early career—which actually launched me—seems a thing of the past, the channel’s algorithms no longer favoring independent musical artists/creators. Just as the music industry has moved from albums and CDs to streaming services, so artists will have to continue to adapt to an evolving tech-driven landscape and market.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My goal with my video game remixes is to do justice to the original themes, maintaining the energy and essence that make them so iconic, while also putting my own tasteful electronic spin on them to transform them into electronic bangers ready to be played out on the main stage of a music festival. In this way, I’m melding my passion for both game music and electronic music and viscerally transporting listeners into the world of the game. Some of my favorite examples of this intent are my renditions of “Lost Woods” and “Gerudo Valley” from the beloved The Legend of Zelda franchise, and I just released a full-throttle remix of “Koopa’s Road” from Super Mario 64. If you’re a fan of both EDM and game music and haven’t heard my tracks, you’re missing out!

I release my remixes at regular intervals, but I also supplement them with a number of different projects. From game music remixer to game composer, I’ve created original compositions for Triple-A games such as Rocket League (via release with internet label Monstercat, a dream label for me since the beginning of my career) and Fortnite under my originals alias Nokae. I’m also proud to have composed a theme song for one of the player-characters in the action sport game Omega Strikers. The EDM influences I bring to these themes bump up the game energy, while the influences of my favorite game music inform the melodic and chordal theming and song structure of the pieces.

Collaborating with artists I admire is one of my favorite things about my job. For example, I’ve had the opportunity to work with streamer and internet personality LilyPichu on songwriting and music production for her musical project, Comfi Beats, which was a collaborative dream and afforded me the chance to work on genres and songwriting styles outside my own. It’s been a joy to push myself in different directions and to continue to develop my range and skill.

Of course, live performance is another incredibly fulfilling aspect of my career. There’s nothing like feeling the energy of a crowd who knows and loves your work. I’ve loved performing my remixes and original tracks to crowds in high-energy live sets around the country, as well as at Club MOGRA in Tokyo, Japan. Most recently, I was thrilled to open for J-Pop superstar LiSA (best known for her work on the opening theme songs of iconic anime Demon Slayer and Sword Art Online, as well as contributing a hit song for the Japanese release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) in partnership with Crunchyroll at the beautiful 10,000-seat Rady Shell in San Diego.

What’s next?
Growing up with multiple video game and anime influences, it only made sense for me to study Japanese in Tokyo during college. Since then, I’ve returned annually, building my social and business circles. It seems the interest is reciprocal, as Tokyo and Osaka are two of the top three cities where my tracks are most streamed via Apple Music. For these reasons, it’s my goal to spend more time in Japan to connect with Japanese fans/audiences and work with Japanese collaborators. What would be a more fitting next chapter of my career? I also have my sights set on working more as a game composer, writing music for Japanese anime and TV, and writing and producing Pop music that transcends cultures.

I’ve had a nontraditional and thrilling ride so far, and I’m just getting started! I’m still putting love into the projects I started nearly a decade ago while also eyeing opportunities to evolve and grow. Regardless of where my music journey takes me next, I know that the influences that made me fall in love with game music and EDM will always be an integral part of my sound and my principles as a musical artist. Along the way, in music and in life, I’ve remained true to myself, and everything from my sound to my brand is wholly authentic, as I’ve never had an outside hand guiding me or remaking me for the market. I hope my music will always remain a testament to my values and gratify an ever-growing audience.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/videogameremixes/
• Twitter: https://x.com/vgremixes?lang=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/videogameremixes
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/videogameremixes
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3pCoHlohSNQdXBNDxuWd12?si=toNmrg1ARWSdwQ9EHTWgww