If you’re craving the sweet, electronic sounds of your favorite ’90s video game, Vector Hold has your fix. This solo project, fronted by San Jose musician Peter Rice, deals in blippy, 32- and 64-bit synthwave compositions. Much of the Vector Hold catalog is original material, though Rice has had some fun crafting covers of ’80s and ’90s tunes—all of which sound as if they could be part of the soundtrack for the Sega Genesis game Road Rash. Last year, Rice recreated the Rush songs “Subdivisions” and “Ghost of a Chance” as a tribute to the Canadian prog-rock trio. Rice will perform with the Caravan’s DJ Bit. (SP)

Vector Hold
Fri, 9pm, Free
Caravan Lounge, San Jose

Welp. Another year has flown by. This one seemed particularly hectic—what with the Trump-dominated news cycle, all the natural disasters and the #MeToo movement. But this is the music section. So, let’s set aside all of the insanity of 2017 and focus on the insanely great local music that we saw over the last 365 days.

Covet
‘Aries’
Back when Metro first began looking into Covet, the band fronted by Saratoga guitar heroine Yvette Young, they were still putting the finishing touches on the music video for “Aries.” It’s the only official 2017 release from the band this year, but it demonstrates the musical dexterity and songwriting abilities of Young and her bandmates. It also is proof that they’re ready to become full-blown rock stars. In the clip, which they posted on YouTube back in February, Covet completely trash a room—which they built specifically for the shoot in Young’s parents’ garage. In some ways it’s a fitting visual for the song, but there’s also a bit of a juxtaposition going on: while it’s true that Young, bassist David Adamiak and drummer Keith Grimshaw are totally shredding on the track, the song is far more serene than many of Covet’s peers on the proggy, guitar-driven instrumental music scene.

The Gentle Cycle
The Gentle Cycle
Though Derek See and Maxwell Borkenhagen—guitarists behind the local psych rock project The Gentle Cycle—share many interests, it seems that location was the chief bonding agent in their music’s winding lysergic chain. The group, which was rounded out by bassist Todd Flanagan and drummer Craig Heitkam, was composed entirely of veteran San Jose musicians. The self-titled record was tracked mostly live in a studio overlooking the SoFA District. The band used See’s analog, reel-to-reel recording console, which when paired with the album’s vinyl release makes for an especially warm-sounding product. But it wasn’t just vintage gear and good chemistry that made the album work. The energy of the room is palpable. “It’s instant vibe when we’re here,” See says of the band’s rehearsal space and recording studio.

Fritz Montana
Father Mother Sister Brother
Fritz Montana had a good summer. The locally brewed indie blues trio released their first full-length. Father Mother Sister Brother is a catchy, bare-bones, nine-song collection. The band released the LP on June 30 and celebrated the very next day by headlining San Francisco venue The Independent for the very first time. Recorded at Different Fur Studios in San Francisco, the new collection is the culmination of years of work for the band, which started in 2013 but consider the record their first official statement. “We started off wanting very much to be something along the lines of the Black Keys,” drummer Matthew Hagarty says, noting that the Keys album Brothers, and Sound & Color by the Alabama Shakes, were both early influences for the group. It shows—but not in a bad way. Album opener “Everyday” is built around two repeating guitar riffs, verse and chorus, each of which evokes that same sense of distant familiarity that The Black Keys aim for—simple and homey, but not quite nostalgic.

Vector Hold
A Tribute to Rush
Anyone who was pumped about the second season of Stranger Things would do well to check out Vector Hold. The latest two-song set by Pete Rice—a.k.a. the one man band known as Vector Hold—not only channels the buzzy analog sounds of John Carpenter and Survive (who famously composed the title music for Stranger Things). It is also a tribute to Rush. The Canadian prog-rock trio weren’t one of the many ’80s needle drops on the show, though they probably should have been. Sure Billy Hargrove was more of a hair metal dude, but it’s impossible to believe that he didn’t also own a copy of Signals, the 1982 record containing Rush’s epic critique of post-war sprawl, “Subdivisions.” The Vector Hold homage takes care of that, reimagining “Subdivisions” as a crunchy 16-bit instrumental.

Chow Mane
Mooncakes EP
Ask Charles Yan—a.k.a. Chow Mane—where he comes from and he won’t start with his birth. For him, it all goes back to China’s Cultural Revolution, which was the impetus for his family fleeing China. Hard times and family history form the foundation of Yan’s deeply personal, lyrical storytelling. On Mooncakes, the excellent EP Yan released at the beginning of October, he revisits the struggles he experienced growing up the child of immigrants in Salinas and East Side San Jose. But he also drops hard-stunting bars about just how dope his grandmother’s cooking is. On “Dumplings,” Chow Mane fuses the pride he has in his heritage with a trap music trope. The result is this euphoria-inducing line: “Grandma steaming dumplings up on the stove,” Yan raps, before an overdubbed callback cuts in. “Whip it up, Grandma!”

Mike Huguenor and André Jaquez contributed to this story.

To mark the late Selena’s 46th birthday, Sonido Clash is throwing a party at BackBar SoFa, headlined by San Jose cumbia band Corazon Salvaje. The third annual Selena-themed bash Also this week: Vector Hold, a locally based synthwave duo who deploy heavy metal guitars and a Commodore Amiga 500 to craft the kind of blippy chiptune that might have soundtracked early-’90s Sega titles like “Road Rash” come to The Caravan.

Dinners @ Wax Wednesday
Wed, 8pm, Free
Cafe Stritch, San Jose
The guys in Dinners don’t like to make a fuss. Over the course of two excellent releases—their 2013 full-length debut, Black Rabbits, and the 2014 EP, Who is Lee B?—the San Jose indie rock quartet have kept it real by focusing on the music. Their Cafe Stritch shows are always a good time: just as much about booze and brotherhood as they are about the band’s fuzzy tangles of lo-fi riffs and slacker melodies. They take the Stritch stage for this week’s installment of Wax Wednesday. (NV)

Casey Donahew
Wed, 7pm, $10-$15
Rodeo Club, San Jose
Born in the Fort Worth suburb of Burleson, country singer and band-leader Casey Donahew is proud of his Lone Star State heritage—that much is clear in his ode to Texas, “One Star Flag.” The song’s accompanying video features scenes of bull riding, cattle wrangling and good-old country living. All that and one hell of a fiddle solo. Donahew got his start playing local bars in his hometown, building a following with his blend of roadhouse riffs and outlaw country swagger. His most recent record, 2016’s All Night Party, claimed the No. 3 spot on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart when it debuted last fall. (BS)

BackWords
Fri, 7pm, Free
Cukui, San Jose
San Jose lettering artist Alissa Rosete is flipping her world around—or at least her art. The illustrator-turned-graphic designer is taking words of admiration and some of silliness, and inverting them so they read as if you were viewing them from the other side of the glass. She creates her bold and finely detailed type by hand with ink, though her calligraphy game is so on point, it could pass as computer-generated. You can find Rosete’s typography emblazoned on the menus, signs and even the tip jars at Iguana’s, where she works on the marketing team. (VS)

Erik Griffin
Fri, 7:30pm, $20
The Improv, San Jose
Eric Griffin—a.k.a. Montez, the gruff, fun-loving cubicle jockey in Comedy Central’s Workaholics—is currently on tour, headlining clubs and college campuses across the country in support of his multiple comedic endeavors. In addition to putting up with Adam, Anders and Blake’s tomfoolery, he has a full-length comedy album, Technical Foul: Volume One, and will play the character of Ralph on Showtime’s upcoming dramedy, I’m Dying Up Here. Griffin has also appeared in NBC’s Comics Without Borders, Showtime’s Comics Unleashed and TNT’s Franklin & Bash. (BS)

Out of Slumber Party
Fri, 6pm, Free
Seeing Things Gallery, San Jose
Hosted by Drew Roulette and Billy Barnes, this one-night benefit for local pediatric research will feature work by the organizing artists, as well as many more South Bay illustrators and painters. Metro contributors and masters of pen and ink Tad Malone and Jeremiah Harada will be showing—along with Carlos Agrillo, Sarah Collins, Megan Curry, Ben Henderson, Josh Bays, Myca Tran and more. Proceeds from sales of original art go to Stanford Children’s Health. The show will also feature live music and drinks. (NV)

Overwatch Tourney + Silent Disco
Sat, 12pm, $5+
AFK Gamer Lounge
Spend the day blasting your enemies with the squad, noshing on snacks and throwing back beers—then dance the night away as you revel in sweet, sweet victory. That could be you, if you and yours have what it takes to go all the way in AFK Gamer Lounge’s Overwatch tournament this Saturday. The day begins at noon, with check-in, and the tourney is slated to run until at least 8pm. That’s when the silent disco begins, with DJ Patrix, DJ Smoov and J.Slay all spinning all the jams. (NV)

Irina Kulikova
Sat, Apr 15, 7:30pm, $25+
Trianon Theater, San Jose
Consistently ranked as one of the best living classical guitarists in the world, Irina Kulikova comes to San Jose for the final concert of the South Bay Guitar Society’s 2016-17 concert season. She is known for her deft touch and ability to blend clarity with fluidity—striking out well-defined melodic and rhythmic lines without ever losing the flow of a composition. Over the course of her 22-year career, Kulikova has performed at some of the world’s most renowned concert halls, including Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow and the Oriental Arts Centre in Shanghai. (BS)

Selena Tribute
Sat, 9pm, $15+
Back Bar SoFa, San Jose
“Baila! Baila esta cumbia!” Since her passing, Latin pop superstar Selena Quintanilla—better known by her given name alone—remains one of the biggest influences in Latino music. To mark the late Selena’s 46th birthday, Sonido Clash is throwing a party at Back Bar SoFa, headlined by San Jose cumbia band Corazón Salvaje. The group’s contemporary-yet-traditional sound echoes the vibe that Selena so expertly captured in the early ’90s. Hosted by Andrea Garcia, Mex Tape and a Selena impersonator, the third annual Selena birthday bash is fast becoming a can’t-miss fiesta. (VS)

Vector Hold
Sat, 9pm, Free
Caravan Lounge, San Jose
“I played a lot of old school side-scrollers and button mashers back in the day,” says Pete Rice, the man behind Vector Hold. Rice is still punching plastic buttons, but now, instead of gunning for first place in Road Rash, Rice is using his Commodore Amiga 500 to craft the kind of blippy chiptune that might have soundtracked the early-’90s Sega Genesis motorcycle racing game—in an alternate and much more badass, heavy metal universe. His crunchy, nostalgia-heavy tracks are catching on in a major way, as he rides at the vanguard of a major synthwave revival, led by the likes of Carpenter Brut and S U R V I V E. (NV)

It’s doubtful that any of us ’80s babies realized it at the time, but we soaked up a lot more than words like “shoryuken” and meme-worthy phrases, like “all your base are belong to us,” while we sat cross-legged on the floor, frantically tapping our plastic Nintendo and Sega controllers.

It would seem that our tiny, developing brains—hyped up on sugar-laden cereal—were absorbing the soundtracks to our favorite video game titles. And now, fully grown men and women all over the country are picking up guitars, keyboards, drum kits, and, in some cases, Game Boys, to pay homage to these iconic melodies from the Reagan and Bush I years.

The Rockage 5.0 festival, slated to take place March 11-13 at venues all over San Jose, corrals a cohort of musical groups that specialize in either reproducing the music of Zelda, Mega Man, Super Mario Bros. and the like—or else take cues from those crunchy, 8-bit synth sounds.

There are 17 bands performing over the course of three days at The Ritz, Café Stritch, SoFA Market, AFK Gamer Lounge and the lobby of Metro’s downtown headquarters. That’s a lot of music in a very short period of time—it’s enough to vex even the most seasoned music festivalgoer. But instead of throwing your Wiimote at the nearest screen, or punching your neighbor in the arm, like you used to do when your younger brother beat you at NBA Jam, take a deep breath. We’re here to help you prioritize.

Here are six bands you’ll definitely want to check out at this year’s Rockage.

Bit Brigade
This quartet is so serious about replicating the experience of their favorite video game titles that they’re actually a quintet. Which is to say, that in addition to drums, bass and two guitarists, Bit Brigade also have a full time game-player in their lineup. Noah McCarthy blasts through levels of Metroid and Mega-Man while the band “meticulously replicates every musical cue, cutscene and boss battle in perfect synchronization.”

COLA
In addition to all the chiptune groups at this year’s Rockage, there are also a few straightforward rock & roll groups. And few San Jose bands do straightforward rock & roll like Cola.

Fartbarf
With a name like Fartbarf, it’s pretty apparent what you’re gonna get. Except not. Rather than being a group of greasy-faced adolescents who ran out of good ideas for what to name their band, Fartbarf is a trio of Cro-Magnon mask-wearing analog modular synth enthusiasts who sound a lot like a drunker (a much, much drunker) Tobacco—with live drumming and an obsession for chiptune flourishes.

Vector Hold
The genre known as chiptune, is also commonly called 8-bit music and sometimes “Nintendocore.” But for Vector Hold—a.k.a. Pete Rice, bassist for local stoner metal trio, Forgotten Gods, it’s all about the 16-bit sounds of the Sega Genesis … and the buzzy, lo-fi synths of John Carpenter films.

Hawk Jones
Given their traditional rock instrumentation—guitar, bass and drums—and their tendency to lapse into spacy, feedback-and-delay squalls, it would at first seem that Hawk Jones, like Cola, are outliers in a festival stacked to the brim with bands who take so much inspiration from the world of early console game soundtracks. But when you consider the Tera Melos-esque angularity of their rhythms and guitar lines, it makes sense. The limitations of 8- and 16-bit chips is precisely what gave the music that crystalline feel. These local boys simply replicate that ping-ponging sharpness with strings, membranophones and the chips inside their effects pedals.

Nick Reinhart
This guitarist and bandleader also produces music that recalls the wild and spastic sounds of Tera Melos—probably because he co-founded the group. The Sacramento band’s frontman gets far noisier and stranger than he ever did with Tera Melos. His cracked-out attempts at free jazz run parallel to the tunes of fellow Sacto psychos, Hella. And, like Hawk Jones, the music he creates may not have a direct connection to video games, though he certainly makes a valiant effort at sonically representing the explosive, synaptic bursts so many of us experienced as children—zonked on Lucky Charms, staring at the cathode ray tube and rubbing our thumbs raw on those tiny, red A and B buttons and black D-pad.

Rockage 5.0 plays on Mar 11-13, Various Times, $30 at Multiple Venues, San Jose.

Some musicians seek inspiration in literature. Others find it in love or loss. Still others might listen to music in search of a creative spark. But whenever Pete Rice is looking to get his juices flowing, he usually turns to one of two muses: Sega Genesis games and cult ’80s flicks.

“I played a lot of old school side-scrollers and button mashers back in the day,” says Rice, who makes synthwave music under the moniker Vector Hold. Rice is quite partial to the tones and arrangements found on titles for the classic 16-bit system—which were often darker and more brooding than the heavily compressed sounds used by Sega’s competitor, Nintendo.

“There’s definitely a Sega sound,” Rice says. “It’s bit-crunched, lo-fi drums; arpeggiators; saw-tooth, sine form, wave synthesizers. You use very minimal tracking—only about five or six tracks.”

In addition to taking inspiration from Sega games, Rice also draws from movies—especially those featuring synth-heavy scores. He points to the John Carpenter films Halloween and Escape From New York, Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, and “terrible, bad love comedy movies that are off the beaten path.”

In fact, Rice says he was spurred to launch Vector Hold after watching the 2011 grindhouse vigilante-justice flick, Hobo With A Shotgun.

The film’s score features a song titled “Hunters,” by Power Glove—a buzzing, menacing affair, with thundering synth tom-tom hits and a steady growling pulse. “Wait a minute,” Rice recalls thinking. “That sounds like something I do. My life changed after watching that scene.”

(Here’s that scene. Warning: Graphic Violence)

Rice, a lifelong musician, who also plays in the local stoner metal act, Forgotten Gods, has always made electronic music. He’s been crafting tunes on his vintage Commodore Amiga 500 computer since long before the recent explosion in popularity of EDM. But he never knew what to do with his tunes, other than throw them up on SoundCloud and forget about them.

After doing some research on Power Glove, however, Rice discovered an entire community of artists producing synthwave. “I found my people,” he says.

Since then, his SoundCloud and BandCamp followers have ballooned and he’s been pouring himself into Vector Hold with as much vigor as he gives to Forgotten Gods—which is already a serious band that regularly tours up and down the West Coast.

A typical day for Rice begins with his day job at a sheet metal shop. “I go to work,” he says. “I get home from work. I sit down and I work on my electronic music, then I go to band practice for a few hours, and then I get home and work on some Janitors stuff and Vector Hold. Then I do it all over again.” (In addition to playing in Forgotten Gods, Rice is also the only active member of the ska band, Janitors Against Apartheid.)

Rice plans to release the latest Vector Hold album, Night Marauder, on July 21—through BandCamp, Spotify, iTunes and other digital platforms.

All of the songs on Night Marauder carry a sense of intense urgency and evoke images of car chases and gun fights from campy ’80s action films. It would make the perfect soundtrack to an epic getaway on a palm tree-lined freeway—as the synth patches from Rice’s Amiga streak past, like blurring neon lights. If the album sounds like a specific video game, it’s Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. It’s all hot pink and muggy.

Fans of Rice’s previous work as Vector Hold will notice that he has added more sounds to his latest effort—including soaring lead guitars. On Night Marauders, Rice says he was branching out and trying new things.

“It’s really all over the map this time,” he says. “There are heavy, rocking tunes; laid back Sonic the Hedgehog-style stuff, and there is some old-school Vector Hold stuff. I’m just throwing everything at it right now. I’m just giving it everything I can.”