Hello Resonance community and anyone who is curious what this is all about!

Today, we're taking the time to talk about the developers behind Resonance Games. Who are they, what are their Resonance experiences, and what makes them so damn talented?

Today is our inaugural member for the "Meet the Team" series - Brian Gatewood!

Brian joined the team in 2021 alongside some of the other core Resonance members. He's designed the pixel-art versions of all the characters (save the Hero - who was done by the talented @zak_amana much earlier than when Brian started).

He's now worked on all NPC's and 3 out of the 4 battle characters we're including in the Vertical Slice! He's generated a large following online - and you can find him at social media links down at the bottom of this article.

But without further ado - here's the full conversation that founder, Kurin Laing, had with our prestigious 2D animator.

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KURIN LAING (resonance founder):
All right. Hello, everyone. We are here with Resonance Games' first team segment, and we are here with a very special guest and will be having a bit of a chat with Brian Gatewood, our resident 2D pixel artist for Rhythm in You. He's actually been with us since the beginning,
more or less, right? Like, you've been with us since 2021 when  we put the team together.

BRIAN GATEWOOD (gatekid3):
I mean, yeah, basically. I think you almost went with someone else? *laughs*

KURIN:
I remember we reached out to you in 2020. I reached out to you on Twitter and you said "I'm too busy for this... It's cool, but I'm too busy."

BRIAN:
I don't even remember that. I definitely remember the email exchange where you were like, "hey, you want to do a little pet project thing."

KURIN:
Right, Zak did the original Hero art. He was based in France I think, and he did the original Hero pixel art character, but then you ended up taking that on and doing all the other characters. But one way or another, you ended up with us after we had already reached out and moved on, so it was kind of serendipity to get you on the team!

But anyways, where are you from, what's your deal man? 

BRIAN:
Oh God. You know, see, I knew this was gonna be a thing. So I should have probably thought about like the most basic question of you just asking  me about myself. I don't know what about me to tell. I like doing art. I like doing the pixels, making the pixels move.

KURIN:
You're based out of Chicago, right?

BRIAN:
Yeah, good ol' amer-eeka.

KURIN:
Is that a reference? 

BRIAN:
If you know, you know. *laughs*

KURIN:
Growing up in Chicago, did that influence you wanting to be an artist at all?

BRIAN:
Um Not really? It's one of those things where it very well could have, I feel like Chicago definitely does have a history of art and music, but I'm not too knowledgeable of that despite living here.

My love of art just kind of came from a lot of media consumption. 

KURIN:
You're an online guy. 

BRIAN:
Yeah, I'd say so, but it's not necessarily a positive thing. I am online derogatorily. *laughs*

KURIN:
Yeah,  a lot of your artwork is gaming related. But I also know for a fact that you can draw, you can illustrate, you've done other kinds of art. So I guess my next question is just: why did you gravitate towards pixel art? 

BRIAN:
Uh Let's see, I was doing a lot of illustration, but kind of hit a wall and I felt like I reached a point in my art where I wasn't really satisfied with it anymore. And you know the thing you should do in that situation is improve because then you know, you reach over that curve of being like, "uh my art sucks".

And then you hit a new curve and then you just keep improving. But instead, what ended up happening was I was experimenting with pixel art. And then I was in a stream, of uhhhh, I feel like I don't know how to actually pronounce it. I think it's like Michafrar; one of my pixel art inspirations, and I was this little timid artist. I said, "oh, can I share some of my pixel alert?" And then he was just like, "oh yeah, this is pretty good, you know what you're doing, keep going" and I was just like, "oh my God, you spoke to me... I'm good at this" and I just rode that high. 

KURIN:
How old were you at that point? 

BRIAN:
Uh, let's see. I just have to scroll down to when I drew that picture and then I'll have like a decent time frame of what year it was. God, let's see. Was it 17? Oh God, I'm still scrolling. I haven't seen the art yet. It was a while ago. 

2016 was when I made that art. 

KURIN:
So, how old would you have been in 2016?

BRIAN:
I was like 18 around the time. 

KURIN:
And so were you studying other art at the time or were you just focusing on pixel art even at that time? 

BRIAN:
Uh, I mean, I was doing art just in general. I didn't have any super robust art classes, so it was fairly self taught. I had art class in school, but I would, I don't know, I feel like I didn't fully sink my teeth into the basics like I should have and I just kept drawing a lot of just whatever; whether it be fandom, or just whatever popped into my mind. I had a base level of knowledge of animation because of Flip Note. My Flip Notes were never good, but I feel like I picked up a lot of animation fundamentals.

So I was able to apply that to pixel art more easily than my drawings at the time.  So I just ended up doing a lot more pixel art over time. And that's where my following started building. But now I want to get back into illustration, but I've been doing the pixel life for so long, I've gotten a little bit rusty. I'd have to relearn. 

KURIN:
And speaking of which, I think out of all the people on the Resonance team, you have the biggest social media following. We kinda joke about it in some ways cause you're our all-star in a sense.

BRIAN:
Yeah, it's because I have a lot of silly little ideas that are, I think quicker for me to implement aspects of for animation. And then because it's also fan art, people usually click that. So it'll be:  "Oh, Steven Universe art?", "Pokemon art", "Undertale"... 

KURIN:
People find you mostly for the fan art?

BRIAN:
I would say so. that's not to say that original things I do aren't of quality, but it's definitely not the thing most people come for. But it's one of those things where people may even stay for the original art that I do. But I feel like they mostly show up because of fandom related content and it's definitely the case for YouTube. Twitter might just be more through commissions or through some of those more viral fandom things, but my YouTube following feels like it's almost entirely contributed to because of fandom stuff.

KURIN:
What fandom, out of all the fandoms that you do art for, do you think most contributes to your growth? Like, who're the most, rabid fans that want to see pixel art from you?

BRIAN:
I mean, it's most definitely Undertale related. And I think that's funny because Undertale is, oh, God. Is it like eight years old now? Yeah, it's like eight or nine years old now and the fact is that I should be doing Deltarune because that's the newest thing that's currently being made. But people are still really into Undertale and it's across all social media.  So it's just really interesting to see how much staying power Undertale has over all of the new hotness.

KURIN:
Hopefully Resonance Games can one day be on that level. *laughs*

BRIAN:
It should. 

KURIN:
Are there any games in particular that have inspired your pixel art? Any other games that come to mind that are like, your go-to. Like, "oh wow, this game's pixel art is top tier".

BRIAN:
I think I got some of that from Iconoclasts. Oh God, how long was the development of that game? It might have been eight years, but it was by a solo developer I think? It was primarily one guy, though I dare not try to say his name because I do not know how to pronounce it. It's a really stylish looking game. It's kind of a metroid-vania or like a more story focused one. But yeah, I don't know, I played it on a whim but ended up really enjoying it.

KURIN:
So you joined the team in 2021 when we kind of put the team together, or at least the start of the team. I mean, the game technically started in 2020, but as far as most of the team goes, you've been on the it basically as long as anyone. So, have you ever worked on a project for 2.5 years like this?

BRIAN:
No, never for this long. This is probably the longest project I've been a part of and it's so weird, it doesn't even feel like that long at this point.

KURIN:
Yeah, 2.5 years, we've been doing the slow-burn style of development. One of the things that I'm proud of for Resonance Games personally is that out of, I think the seven people that kind of joined on when you did in 2021. The 2021 OG team, if you will. Everybody's still basically around, right? Like nobody is really left from that group of people.

So what made you stick around on the Resonance team? Like obviously, you know, you have a successful pixel art career. You have lots of opportunities, but you've felt you should stick around with our scrappy little group. So I'd like to hear from the man himself. What's kept you around on the Resonance Games team?

BRIAN:
You know, I like the amount of understanding from the team. I like the ideas of the game that we're trying to make. I love music and I definitely wanna see what this will become when everything's all finished. Jeff's music is phenomenal and that's definitely another thing that makes me, want to go on. And Barret's concept art. It makes me want to realize these things as best as I can.  So those are definitely the things that help push me forward. 

I just wanna be able to contribute to a project all the way through to the end. 

KURIN:
I'm sure Barret and Jeff will be happy to hear that they've helped to inspire you! And I know for a fact that your pixel art inspires other team members to wanna continue as well. So we're feeding into each other's hype, I guess in a sense. *laughs* 

BRIAN:
Pretty cool, pretty lit. *laughs*

KURIN:
As far as Rhythm in You goes. What's the first thing that comes to mind about the game? You know, whether it's the music or a specific track, specific character, something about the gameplay, what's your favourite element about it?

BRIAN:
The music is definitely my favorite aspect of the development. The Zephra theme is stuck in my head all the time. Throughout the day I'll just like, have it, and it'll just play in my head. Every time I get to hear a new song, I'm like... man, it just makes my head head go "burr".

KURIN:
So the Zephra town theme is your favourite, you think? 

BRIAN:
Yeah, I would definitely say that. Um, and then the Bandit theme is also, like a close second. But yeah, I don't know, the main town theme, it feels like it captures a lot of the vibes of the town as you describe it.

KURIN:
Yeah, I couldn't agree more. 

What's your, favourite character? Like, what's your favourite pixel art character that you've worked on for Resonance?

BRIAN:
Definitely Ooze.

KURIN:
You're an Ooze guy? *laughs*

BRIAN:
Yeah, I'm definitely an Ooze guy. He's got that frog in him. He's got that vibe, like a fitting type of theme song vibe around him. But yeah, I don't know. I wanna do more animations of him.

KURIN:
It's been a while since you've done some Ooze animations.

BRIAN:
I don't know, it's just like, it's one of those things where I'm like, "man, I really wanna make this character more lively". I wanna be able to get [Ooze] more juice. 

KURIN:
Yeah, I think he's very dynamic, right? I like his long limbs, he's probably fun to animate.

BRIAN:
Yeah, I wanna see what kind of expressions we can get out of him. 

KURIN:
So, Brian for the future Resonance Games community members. Do you have anything to say to them? Anything you want to express to get them excited about the project?

BRIAN:
Yeah, actually, because, you know, you've been asking me a bunch of questions, but I think I have a question for you and for everyone else.

KURIN:
Oh, you have a question for me? 

BRIAN:
Yes. 

KURIN:
OK. Go for it. 

BRIAN:
...Can you hear the music? 

KURIN:
Ah, you know, I can hear the music, Brian whenever I'm with you, I can hear the music. For those that don't know. Brian always asks that question at the end of every team meeting we're in. But yes, I can hear the music!

And Brian for any perspective pixel artists out there, or artists in general. What pieces of advice would you like to give? 

BRIAN:
Yeah, if there's any information for me to bequeath to any individual out there. I mean, if you're interested in pixel art, you don't need a fancy program to do it. Literally any free software or just any art program you probably have access to can make pixel art in some way, shape or form. So I would just say just hop into it, try it see what happens. And then if you do like it, then maybe you can like look into buying a program. But yeah, there's no barrier to starting it just as long as you have the means to, you know, if you have a computer, give it a shot. 

KURIN:
What software do you use for your pixel art? 

BRIAN:
Currently, I use Aseprite. I used to use Alpha because it was free. And then I used Gimp, which is just like a photo editing software similar to Photoshop. So just try whatever speaks to you and then go from there.

KURIN:
Perfect. And for those that want to follow you specifically and see the art that you do, what is the best place to do that?

BRIAN:
Honestly, wherever you're at. If you just search "gatekid3" you'll probably find my art. I post a lot of shorts to YouTube, I post a lot to Twitter whenever I have art done. I guess, formally Twitter... X... whatever.

I do have an Instagram and, you know, I'm trying all these new sites that are supposed to be for artists and stuff like that. So I'm trying to make all these other sites work. But, yeah, Twitter, YouTube...

KURIN:
You're most active on Twitter, right? 

BRIAN:
I think so, yeah. And also on New Grounds too, where I posted a lot of my early work up until now.

KURIN:
Awesome. Well, thank you Brian for taking the time to talk and for allowing the community to have a conversation and meet such talented individuals as yourself.  I know they really appreciate it, and we really appreciate you being on the Resonance Games team.

BRIAN:
It's a pleasure. 

KURIN:
The pleasure is all ours. Brian, thank you for joining us and we'll catch you guys in the next "Meet the Team" to talk more about Resonance  Games, art and video games and all that good stuff. Bye!

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If you'd like to see more of Brian's work. Check him out at these and other social media sites!

https://twitter.com/gatekid3
https://www.youtube.com/c/Gatekid3
https://gatekid3.newgrounds.com/

And stay tuned and follow the Resonance Games team on all forms of social media to learn more about our team, project and studio. You can find this and more at resonancegames.ca!