This track was inspired by Voltron the animated series and the largest of the Paladins, Hunk, who is the most loyal friend and protector who keeps the team grounded. As the pilot of the Yellow Lion with an elemental alignment to earth, the propulsive bassline and drums are driven by Hunk to allow the other synths and melodies to soar. For Velocity 128, we are looking to play more shows in 2025 and growing the synthwave community in the Pacific Northwest while continuing to release new music.

New music! Inspired by a trip to Oahu and the notorious 80s B-movie, “Hard Ticket to Hawaii,” screened at our Betamax Video Club events in DC. Analog synths, effects pedals, a moody bass line, and classic drum machine sounds set the mood for undercover agents with big hair, rocket launchers, and shuriken bopping around the islands to take down a criminal syndicate. “A nice place to visit, but you wouldn’t want to die there!” Haha.

Uplifting, cinematic synthwave with a driving synth lead inspired by the Voltron Netflix episode when they rallied all the aliens defeated by the Galra Empire to free their planets. Despite being massive underdogs, this “Coalition” found hope along the way. Classic drum machine rock beats, a punchy low end, and uplifting arps round out the track. Fits in playlists for anime fans, gamers, road trips, and workouts. Rocked out at NEON Retro Fest last spring and Betamax Video Club residency in DC.

“Even Treks” is the follow-up to our previous single, “Odd Treks,” inspired by an episode of The Toys That Made Us based on Star Trek. This reimagined instrumental was produced with synths and drum machines to create more emotional, retro beats with the Star Trek films in mind. Our music with Velocity 128 fits a wide open travel vibe, like on a hike to Mirror Lake, Washington as shown in the cover art.

Inspired by an episode of "Toys That Made Us" on Star Trek, they mentioned the Motion Picture was a dud for kids and grown-ups alike. So I imagined a more dynamic film score using arps, strings, and piano sounds from Native Instruments and Ableton VSTs. Eric (@iterations) programmed the the 808 and 707 dance beats using the TR8S and added a Roland D-05 pad. It sounds like a dance remix of a cinematic score from the 80s-90s if you happened to walk through Tysons Corner somewhere between Rainforest Cafe and Nordstrom's. Haha.

The third new track we've released this year takes a bit of 80s space disco that leads into 90s electronica.

The transition from “80s to 90s” came from a rehearsal session when we jammed on top of the 80s space disco themes then somehow ended up in 90s electronica with pads and metallic synth melodies. The name “Marmora” came from a covert, rebel sect in the Netflix Voltron series, which was an interesting take on divisions within the dominant alien culture in the series. In a way, our music serves as a soundtrack inspired by shows from our youth revamped from 80s nostalgia into modern classics with more nuance.

Credits:

Written and performed by Eric Garwood and Jonathan Lim; arranged and mixed by Jonathan Lim; mastered by Scott Radke

Released on Jade Anvil Collective

Velocity 128 is @Iterations and Jonathan Lim

The upbeat & uplifting follow-up to the previous track, “Gary Manslaughter,” “Kobol” takes that western road trip vibe to an airy space with soaring, melodic, analog synths and punchy rhythms of the 707 drum machine. At the time of release, the duo's creative process will now cross the east and west coasts of the U.S. from Washington, D.C. to Portland, Oregon.

Written and performed by Eric Garwood (@iterations) and Jonathan Lim; arranged and mixed by Jonathan Lim; mastered by Scott Radke

This track builds on a retro-80s cinematic theme inspired by scenes across a western desert. We used vintage analog synthesizers along with current sounds and production techniques. There’s a bit of wordplay in the title, “Gary Manslaughter,” as an homage to retrowave.

The music video was compiled from clips of our West Coast gigs and road trips produced by Seannie Cameras (Sean O'Grady).

My opening set from Rock & Roll Hotel in DC last summer. I started off the afternoon rooftop vibe with indie rock tunes and some synthwave mixed in during the World Cup 2018 watch parties all around us. Featuring music by Korine, TImecop1983, Another Green World, J P J, Deathwish, Mitch Murder, Living Phantoms, Garden City Movement, Stilz, TEEEL, Makeup and Vanity Set, and Lost Years.

Playlist:

1 @korineband - Sweet Misery

2 Living Phantoms - No Sleep, Just Dreams

3 @anothergreenworld - Carl Sagan

4 Mitch Murder (@daataa) - The Line

5 @jpj5624 - Annapurna

6 @deathwishmusic - Professional Driver

7 @lifelike - Miami Nice (Part 1)

8 @Timecop1983 - Static (feat. The Midnight)

9 @gardencitymovement - Foreign Affair

10 @AnotherGreenWorld - Lost Boys

11 @teeel - Radar Lovin

12 J P J - Man-at-arms

13 @makeupandvanityset - Syncro

14 Mitch Murder - Program 893 (Instrumental)

15 @stilzyyc - Black Rain

16 @lostyears - Pressure

My first time DJing in San Diego, I opened for Mr. Wright and Jungle Jimn for DeepTech SD at Kava Lounge. [About the audio - I accidentally recorded with the mics instead of the line inputs, so you're hearing voices from the bar and the weird acoustics from the DJ booth. :p ]

Featuring synthwave from @yotasmusic and @stilzyyc (New Retro Wave), @alis_on (France), @Rosentwig (Germany), @Krosia (France), @memorexmemories (Midwest Collective), and Virtual Cat / バーチャルねこ (@user-267168485 Japan); nu-disco by Velocity 128 and @Iterations (Jade Anvil Collective), and @peterzimmermann (Germany); post-punk goth rock by @replicant_music (Chicago) and @shepastaway-music (Turkey); future bass and trap by Conrad Clifton (@infinitypoolrecs), techno and electronica by John Tejada (Kompakt, @paletterecordings), @Polynation and @sky-civilian (Atomnation); and indie dance by @icky-blossoms (Saddle Creek), @Kauf (L.A.), and @juno-dreams (Vancouver).