Zoom In, Zoom Out: Interview with Travess Smalley

Very excited to share out interview with Travess Smalley, famed for Pixel Rugs and just now releasing the incredible CRAWL on Feral File. Lots of notes for this one. We discuss:

• How Travess got into art & coding, surf clubs, & NFTs
• Pixel Rugs as a daily practice & the fandom surrounding them
• CRAWL!!!! How does it work, what are the influences, and what was it like to work with Feral File on this release
• Exploring organic textures in art & experimenting with printing techniques
• Generative Art Conference in Berlin recap
• Emergent play, creative software & being inspired by roguelike games
• Rapid Fire (music, future guests & gaming with kids)

Travess also has a great set of links to things reference here that all should check out & enjoy

• Worldmaking: A Guide To Minecraft Music
• Bill Evans - From Left to Right
• January Mornings
• Travess' 2024 in review on Are.na
• Games Research on Are.na
• Creativity in Gameplay on Are.na
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlRVOziQQ7A

Games that influence CRAWL

• Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup
• Caves of Qud
• Noita
• Brogue
• Dwarf Fortress
• Sim Ant
• Nethack
• FTL: Faster Than Light

More Music!

• Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou - Souvenirs
• Patricia Escudero - Satie Sonneries
• Noviciat Des Soeurs Missionnaires De Notre-Dame D’Afrique
• Hans Joachim Roedelius
• The Durutti Column
• Dungeon Synth Archive on YouTube
• Comfy Synth Archives on YouTube

Follow Travess on Twitter @travess

Follow us on Twitter @waitingtosign and on Farcaster @wtbs

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Episode Art: CRAWL by Travess Smalley

Intro & outro tracks by PixelWank