The Nerd Signal mentions bronies

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Souce: Critical Hits – Brony Up

Critical Hits – Brony Up

Written by Andrea Piernock on 09/13/2011 – 2:46 PM -

My original plan for this week’s article included a discussion of musical supergroups and a review of The Bossfights’ debut album. Anticipating this topic, I recently asked my Twitter followers to name some of their favorite nerdcore or geek rock supergroups, but after some initial comments about wizard rock and other subgenres of fandom or theme music, the ensuing conversation led me down a different path entirely: the emerging brony scene.

Unfamiliar with bronies? It’s the term given to male fans of the series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, a 2010 reboot of the 1980s favorite, created by Lauren Faust, known for her work on other popular cartoons like Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. Chances are you would recognize the distinctive artwork and animation as typical of the style.

While the term “brony”– a portmanteau of “bro” and “pony” — may have started out by mocking the male fans, many now have chosen to welcome the label and its culture. Fandoms have popped up across the Internet and in real life communities, bringing together people who might otherwise remain “in the stable”.

Myself, I haven’t been involved with any of the My Little Pony franchises in well over 20 years, so I enlisted the help of Jarod Watson, aka alienbobz, a music lover and self-proclaimed brony, to give me some insight on what makes the new MLP so magical. He explains:

I wasn’t a fan during the first series, but from what I know the only characters they were able to get from it are Applejack and Spike. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, etc. are from the third series but they were changed in this new series. So far the only other changes I have seen is that [there aren’t] any humans. [...] One of my internet friends that I added during that time claimed himself as a brony so out of pure curiosity I decided to watch an episode. The first episode I watched was “Dragonshy”, which is still one of my favorite episodes. I thought it was so awesome that I had to watch the other episodes [...] from the beginning. By the time I was done watching it the first time, I was truly hooked.

Jarod was first introduced to the new series through Kristina Horner, who tweeted a link to a YouTube video featuring

. His love for the show wasn’t immediate, but came once he’d finished watching the entirety of the first season. Feeling slightly embarrassed about the brony label, he kept his new passion to himself for a while. Finding other offline fans, who loved the series as much as he, encouraged him to embrace the fandom, and the brony label that comes with it.

However, the brony fandom is not without its detractors. Many find it difficult to imagine that something so obviously targeted to little girls could be enjoyed not only by boys but also by men in their 20s and 30s. Jarod himself has experienced some resistance, as his nerdy friends didn’t quite understand the appeal of the series, but he’s come to terms with the opposing opinions. “I am proud to be a brony,” he says.

As with many genres of geekdom, the brony culture is seeing its share of musical efforts. Several nerdcore and geek rock artists, such as Shael Riley, have professed their brony status proudly. Others have even begun writing and recording their own brony-themed music, as themselves or as their pony-loving alter egos. One of the best creations to come of this is the single “Pony Swag” by Swagberg, featuring fellow nerdcore rapper Maros.

Swagberg ft. Maros – Pony Swag from Bill Brewer on Vimeo.

A lifelong music fan, Jarod’s been involved with the nerdcore movement for about five years, listing Optimus Rhyme and Dave Matthews Band as a couple of his favorite artists. He credits the budding brony music scene with his new admiration for dubstep and eurobeat. “There are many re-mixers that have come out of this community that just do an amazing job,” he says, citing the remixes that Alex S. and Eurobeat Brony have created using the MLP original score.

The difference, claims Jarod, between a regular run-of-the-mill fan and a bona fide brony is that “the bronies have truly embraced the show”. The developing brony music scene is a testament to that, and will certainly find its way into the hearts of nerdy music lovers everywhere, just as much as songs about roleplaying games, Harry Potter, Firefly, Doctor Who, comic books, and video games have.

Bonus: If you are feeling so inspired, you can watch “Mare in the Moon”, the first episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic over at the good ol’ Youtubes.

Shout out to Kirby Krackle for amusing me with their #broniemovietitles thread on Twitter. Thanks to Z., Church and Matt for bringing the brony music scene to my attention. Special thanks to Jarod Watson for the interview.

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And, oh... noticed that Kirby Krackle is mentioned at the end. Now why does that sound familiar?

Also Kristna Horner!

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

I really haven't seen anything quite like the brony music scene before. Its almost a challenge sometimes keeping up with all the new mixes that keep coming out.