about a month ago i interviewed matthiew myers of leetstreetboys about some questions i had, i'd have liked to get these, and the article on the band, out sooner but i was just super all over the place this month, so sorry for the delays, but here's the full interview that'll be linked in the main article, also on the site.

me: " First thing is there's a specific video of "yuri the only one for me" (my favourite song after "up all night" and "imaginary boys") being played at a video games live concert and i know it happened on other occasions at those, i've always been curious if that was a planned thing that you knew about at the time, like if they asked or if it just kind of happened."

LSB: "To answer your question, Tommy Tallarico from Video Games Live contacted us about showing the video and we reached an agreement for him to show it. Up All Night is one of my personal favorite songs that doesn't usually doesn't get much recognition from fans. High five to you for mentioning that one in particular!"

me: " Up all night is just so immediatly catchy that i can never get it out of my head! The unplugged version especially just hits so well when i listen to. Oh wow tommy himself reached out? I've watched a lot of his G4 show so i'd have felt starstruck haha, its nice to finally have some context behind that. In a lot of old live shows i actually noticed some stage performers used guitar hero controllers, i always thought that was a really funny detail, did that inspire songs like "guitar hero hero" or was that something that came after the song. "

LSB:" I came up with the silly idea of playing a Guitar Hero controller in the Yuri The Only One video. Later when I performed I aimed to recreate the character from the video onstage. Guitar Hero was a hugely popular game at the time and I thought it would have been cool to have that song in the game, but it never happened. "

me: "i have to imagine it's been modded into some of the older games dozens of times over at least! with how unashamedly otaku the band is, being shown on japanese TV must have been a real defining moment for the band, how did that feel? i imagine it'd have been a real "we made it!" kind of moment, was there much of a japanese fandom at the time stemming from it going viral internationally or did the television crew just stumble across the music on their own."

LSB: " Being on the Japanese show was a strange experience. It all happened very fast. At one point their producers wanted me to fly out to Los Angeles to be with the person I started the band with and film some kind of live rehearsal with musicians. That was expensive and impractical, so then they wanted to meet me where I lived and approach it how they did. I think the producers expected me to be more of a stereotypical otaku than I am (like plushies and anime merchandise littered all over my home, etc.), rather than being basically a hardworking artist. At the same time, unfortunately, I was also dealing with some serious chronic physical health issues. The day before the shoot happened I almost needed to go to the hospital. I just wanted to be a professional and help give the show what they wanted, and I was happy it got done. The circumstances were pretty strange, so when you watch the clip it is whatever you make of it I guess. The other interesting coincidence at the time was that my brother was living in Japan while this was going on. So one day he just turned on the TV in a foreign country and saw this show with me on it. "

me: "i can imagine tuning in and seeing a family member live on tv must have been a real shock, i had a similar experiance this year when i ended up being interviewed in a tokyo airport about why i was there haha, someone i knew saw the clip and was like "is this you lol". it's always so nice to see older clips like that and remember how the net and how fandom used to be for me."

LSB: " It was probably similar to the experience you described. Why were you interviewed, just curious? "

me: " it was a show that was about why forign people are visiting japan, i was attending an otome game event called "desert de otomate" and so i told them about it, it was a nice interview all things told. one thing i'm very curious about is the PS VITA game roomates that you did some music for, i thought the game was great and one of my favourite of that last wave of vita releases, i even bought the physical version from eastasiasoft since i was huge into the console at the time, how did that project come about? was the main male lead at all based on the character from the bands videos and comics? he reminds me a little of that."

LSB: "I had already worked for the developer (Winter Wolves Games) as a composer before, but Roommates was (and still is) a very special project for me. I spoke with the writer while the project was ongoing, and to my knowledge, the character (Max) wasn't inspired by me or LeetStreet Boys. After reading the story I definitely saw a lot of myself from when I was the same age and in college. During that era, I also sang in more "normal" bands and tried my best to make something happen with my music. I'm not sure if I was as obnoxious as some players find Max, but I probably had my moments! So for me, that song was incredibly fun to write and perform. I tried really hard to be true to my "college local band trying to make it" former self, so I'm glad that shines through for you. It also felt like poking fun at my former self from those days, because Max's attitude is a little bit silly and over-the-top too."

me: "i never found the roomates character annoying, i thought he was a lot of fun, in general i was super impressed with the game, it was my first time playing an english language dating sim that i felt i really clicked with, i do think the music might have been part of that, the game had a really good vibe to it, i'll for sure need to look into the developers other projects, i was mostly familiar with the game due to it being on the vita, does the soundtrack of it count as a leetstreet album haha, i'm curious of you would think of it that way since that was how the games music was promoted on the playasia website." "one thing i'm curious about is with how the culture was around anime specifically when the older songs came out, it was a much more diverse scene as far as what kinds of shows were popular and referenced in those old songs with more of the like of shoujo anime like ouran and vampire knight and fruits basket being popular, plus josei like nana/paradise kiss and even some BL like gravitation in addition to the more usual shonen like inuyasha or d-grayman or soul eater, where now you don't see that as much, with popular things tending to stick to a shonen/isekai/harem templates for what hits it big, do you think that change in the anime scene as it is now would reflect in new music by the band or do you think it would be as varied on what gets referenced like it used to be in those older songs, and in general what do you think of the anime landscape as it is now?"

LSB: "Thanks! They promoted it that way as a selling point. Fine by me. I had a good relationship with the developer and the company that did the port. I've noticed that in recent years overt romance doesn't seem to have as much coolness with anime fans compared to the time when LeetStreet Boys started. I think there are a number of social issues that might point to why that might be. I think anime fans are still proud to be anime fans, especially in a convention setting. Recently I was sitting in the audience watching the opening ceremony of a huge event and my mind started wandering thinking about, "If I was on this stage right now and I had a microphone in my hand, what kind of new song would I create to make this crowd absolutely go no nuts?" I came up with some answers that I liked, but it would also take a lot of effort to organize a new music project and get fans excited about it. "

me: " yeah it's been something i've noticed too, it's rarely the focus of a lot of what gets big anymore, which is a shame speaking as someone who prefers that style of show." "conventions in general seem to be the main place that older spirit of fandom is still alive, the kind of unabashed proud geekyness tha i remember t a lot of the mid 2000's fandom having, that sense of community and shared love for things, do you think that style of fandom could ever make a full time comeback in the same way say older styles of websites are beginning to, or do you think the newer form of, slightly more cynical and slightly toxic fandom is here to stay."

LSB: "i think everyone has their own personal view on what fandom is "toxic" based on their experiences, and every era has good and bad actors. There was plenty of bullying back then too, as my old scrapbook of weird hate mail from years ago illustrates. The scene definitely feels tamer now but some of the change was unavoidable, and some fan behavior is easy to criticize. "Glomping" and smacking people with yaoi paddles meet the legal definition of assault. Cosplayers (especially underage kids) getting drunk and puking in a hotel lobby is not a good look. If events are going to be sustainable then that stuff can't happen. I understand that as conventions get bigger and more crowded then not everybody likes those changes. But there are still small and midsize conventions that focus on a particular niche or have more opportunities for nuanced programming. "

me: "i guess it's easy to look at things through rose tinted glasses sometimes, harder to remember the bad sometimes when the good can shine the way it does. i only really have two small questions left: for one in a lot of my circles i've seen a large resurgance of love being shared for the band, i was put back into listening a lot a few months ago by someone i know who is also a big fan, have you yourself noticed much of a resurgance in people going back and appreciating the music as of late? the other question is mostly just what line do you think is your favourite, i mostly ask because i was listening to "yuri the only one for me" and the line "priceless like a ps3" is one of those that always manages to make me smile basically any time i hear it, do you have any favourites?"

LSB: " From around 2016 to 2020 I was dealing with a lot of harassment. I shut down a particularly nasty video that used my content without my permission and locked down the YouTube channel. That definitely helped because now fans can enjoy the music and videos without being bombarded by snark, hate speech, and pejoratives. It's great that you've seen a resurgence of interest in LeetStreet Boys! All the fans who were teenagers when we were active are now young adults so they're more influential today. I appeared as a guest at small anime convention last summer and that was enjoyable and encouraging. The person I started the project with and I have had some discussions about doing something new, but at this stage, it's way too early to talk about it. "

"Priceless Like A PS3" was a fun line. Years ago we were selling pink "girl" midriff t-shirts with that text on them (see attached mockup). Girls bought them. Big dudes who couldn't fit into them bought them. It was really silly, and they sold out sometime in 2009. "
Some of my other favorite lyrics...
Like a Pokemon I Pikachu (pika!) -- Yuri The Only One (really set the tone for the rest of the song and for LeetStreet Boys)
"I saw you at the masquerade / in the costume that you made" -- Masquerade
"One day we'll talk it out on Oprah" -- Fanboy Of The Opera
"Jack Thompson picks a legal fight / they're bringing me to court / go get me Phoenix Wright" -- Rockstar Games
"I wanna see my face on the anime screen" -- Otaku Anthem
"Tell me when you look at me / through this mask what do you see" -- Comiket
"We're creeping out the creepers" -- Up All Night
"When this story ends you will fall from the sky in my arms / 'til our legend lives on in the stars" -- Sakura
"I have a dream where I save the world" -- My Life Is An RPG
"Let's stay up late tonight together watching tentacles / Kaoru and Hikaru on the inside we're identical" -- Harajuku Girl (Best pickup line ever?)
"Beat this game a hundred times / a hundred extra lives / but I've got no life" -- Hikikomori
The chorus in "The Song Of Time" is a real tear-jerker
"So long to being nameless" -- My Name In Lights
"We're the power-ups / won't cower up no matter what's in store / we'll sour up their game we're gonna claim the new high score" -- Power-Ups
"Tomorrow we'll be zombies but it's alright / don't wanna have to say goodbye" -- Up All Night