The chiptune rock band formed in 2004 on forums and remains very online to this day.
The chiptune rock band formed in 2004 on forums and remains very online to this day.
Anamanaguchi, the band consisting of Peter Berkman, James DeVito, Luke Silas, and Ary Warnaar, are most known for their chiptune music. Like me, you might have first heard them in game soundtracks like 2010’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game or know of their collaboration with Hatsune Miku (which even made its way into Fortnite). They’ve gone through different eras of breakneck chiptune beats and dance-y pop songs, but their 2025 album Anyway took an indie rock departure — recorded in person at the American Football house and filled with fuzzy guitars.
They’re also a band that’s terminally online and very plugged into the video game scene as well as the weirder sides of the internet — just listen to Peter and Luke’s guest spot on the Panic World podcast talking about Etsy witches.
Anamanaguchi has a new single, “Yeah I Guess,” continuing in the musical direction of Anyway. And if it’s a precursor to a new album dropping soon, I’m sure I’ll be looping it endlessly just as I did the tracks “Magnet,” “Fall Away,” and “Valley of Silence.” (Seriously, I’ve at times had Anyway set on repeat for hours straight.)
Not only did all four members of Anamanaguchi agree to answer our weekly questionnaire, but they answered all our questions.
Luke Silas: I think my most used tool is Ableton Live Operator, it is simple and powerful and can make basic things happen incredibly quickly. I usually open it up just for writing or getting ideas down, but more often than not the sounds I get with it tend to make it to the final product!
Ary Warnaar: Built-in laptop mic and cellphone mic aren’t exactly slept on, but def underappreciated. They’re great for just getting ideas down fast, but now they sound so good that I find myself not even re-recording what I thought would be “scratch” vocals.
Peter Berkman: Right now it’s the LOGITECH MX MASTER 3S. Best mouse I’ve ever had. It has a sideways scroll. It has a button to switch between notched and smooth scroll wheel. The click is satisfying but still really quiet. It’s really sensitive & responsive on whatever surface I happen to have it on. It feels really good in my hand. It charges directly into a USB-C port without external batteries so it gets to look like a mouse with a tail after it’s worked really hard. When I’m at a different computer, or if I’m on a laptop having to use a trackpad, I feel like I’ve lost so much gestural fidelity. I love the keyboard but let’s be real Douglas Engelbart cooked when he invented the mouse. But he didn’t have the recipe of the LOGITECH MX MASTER 3S and he didn’t even live to see it. The LOGITECH MX MASTER 3S wasn’t even invented until June 2022. I have seen two friends recently using the LOGITECH MX MASTER 3S and I say “Hey man that’s the LOGITECH MX MASTER 3S” I use that thing too.
James DeVito: Lately it’s been an app called “Amphetamine” that keeps your computer from going to sleep for a set amount of time. It’s great when starting an export/render or other task that may take a while and then being able to throw my laptop in my bag and have it work while I head elsewhere… Just gotta make sure the laptop doesn’t ’splode in your bag from overheating.
LS: I love metronomes! Strengthening time is so important, and getting more comfortable with a metronome means you get to play around with time more confidently! I would love people to love metronomes the way I do!
What is the first app you install on a new phone or computer?
What is one thing you wish you could change about your phone?
AW: Would kill to get a normal 1/8-inch headphone out again. I’ve been constantly replacing dongles ever since Apple ditched the headphone out. Because they break or or get misplaced. Frustrating and wasteful.
JD: A wise friend of mine once taught me to increase the key-repeat on my computer beyond what is normally allowed via the UI. It feels insane at first but your hand/brain coordination catches up with the speed eventually and then you can tttttttttttttttype and deleeeeeeete things so much quicker.
LS: The only thing I’d like to add to my iPhone SE is a USB port so I can type with a keyboard because I suck at typing on my phone.
What sites do you have pinned to your tab bar?
LS: I have never done this before! I probably should!!
PB: There’s a new radio aggregator called vvorldwide.com. It’s amazing. It’s like having a radio dial in your car except it pools the feeds from NTS, The Lot, dublab, KEXP, loads of different places from all over the world. It’s one of those products that’s like: Wow. Why did nobody think to make this before? It’s so useful, lightweight, and beautiful. It’s amazing to me how detached from reality and human use the big companies are (and have been for a long time). It’s one of those refreshing things you see, it reminds me of The Unfinished Revolution by Michael Dertouzos. You can just build things you want to see!
PB: Tab grouping from Firefox has become an artform for me. I don’t see tabs anymore just folders of memory I can recall like a PSX save file.
LS: 46 and 31 between two windows. Too goddamn many. Most of them are meant to be shared with others or read/watched, every weekend I do a cleanout but there are truthfully a few that have been sitting for months. I can’t be the only one.
JD: I like when Chrome on my phone stops displaying the number of open tabs and just shows a smiley face 🙂
Which social media platform do you use the most?
LS: Staying detached from social media tends to be better for my mental health on the day-to-day, but scrolling following on Twitter is the easiest way for me to stay connected to games or news still. Instagram stresses me out lately more than ever before. YouTube definitely counts and I do love it very much, but shorts are a rare treat; I tend to watch long-form stuff mostly or have different content with no dialogue on a second monitor, like either a video game longplay or lots of restoration or cooking videos.
AW: Facebook marketplace. Specifically low-balling “I know what I got” type mfs. No one ever accepts my offers, but I think it’s important to keep people humble, and long term, I’d like to think that I’m contributing to keeping the prices low for the next buyers.
PB: I’ve just discovered clothes. So I’m hunting a lot on places like Grailed or Depop or whatever. It’s a lot like the way I treat musical equipment on Reverb. It’s fun to sell stuff and buy stuff… when it’s equal amounts it feels more like barter and temporary sharing.
LS: Video game speedruns! Twitch streams like GDQ or RPG Limit Break are very comforting to me and a very sweet community of fun personalities.
What is your favorite gadget you’ve ever owned?
