Ex-2Minute Minor Drummer & Electronic Music Producer Zach Bridier Discusses 8-bit Remixes (The Witzard Interview)

2Minute Minor (2MM) is a Old School-style American Hardcore Punk Band heavily influenced by 80's Hardcore and the Working Class Oi! sound. Mixing in a message of positivity and unity. They are advocates for human rights. Formed in Chicago, Illinois. 2Minute Minor's current membership includes Wiley "Murder" Willis, Bob Shields, Jeff Hostetler, Marko Karacic & Larry Passenier. Now, an ex-member of 2Minute Minor, Zach Bridier—otherwise, known as Captive Portal, amongst other things—functioned as 2MM's drummer from 2016-18, as well as 2020-21, their in-house mixing engineer from 2017-21, their "merch guy" from 2017-18, and explains to The Witzard, he "also, did other minor various things and was, also, their wacky idea guy."

One of these so-called "wacky ideas" seems to have been formulated as a pseudo-parting gift to his fellow 2Minute Minor bandmates upon Bridier's departure from the musical unit: 8-bit Remixes. It's a six-track remix compliation featuring songs culled from throughout 2MM's storied discogaphy re-formulated in the style of 8-bit video game soundtarcks. We won't get into it too much more right here, but it's an awesome, nostalgic listen! We were fortunate enough to connect with Zach Bridier, via email, and conduct a comprehensive interview. It's been lightly edited for general clarity and can now be read in full below. 2Minute Minor's 8-bit Remixes is now available on your streaming service of choice. We quickly put together a Spotify playlist featuring both the originals and 8-bit remix versions for your listening pleasure.


ON1. How did the idea for this whole 2Minute Minor - 8-bit Remixes project initially come about? How did you go about selecting the particular songs to be remixed from throughout 2Minute Minor's back catalog?

Zach Bridier: One of the band's first single-track release was "Soda Tax," a fun little 20-second Hardcore Punk song about LaCroix. I had this wacky idea to put this song on as many different physical formats as possible. Before this remix project, it was released on a 3-inch mini-CD, two limited cassette versions, and 2-inch & 3-inch lathe-cut records. As I was nearing the end of my time in the band, I was thinking of putting "Soda Tax" on ONE MORE format; I re-discovered that I had a collection of floppy disks in storage and I thought that would be a funny last format to put the release on. As I was compiling the files to put on the disks, I thought of adding an 8-bit remix as a fun little exclusive to include on the disk.

I, then, presented the release to Wiley ["Murder" Willis], the vocalist, and he thought it was a fun, wacky idea. I, then, found more disks with different colors and we thought it would be fun to put different songs and remixes in each color. I decided to dedicate each disk color for the other previous mini-record releases the band came out with, which were two 3-inch lathe-cut singles, "Up The Pups" and "Conflict Machine," and a 2-track 1-inch lathe-cut called "We Hate 2Minute Minor." We, then, decided to compile all the disks and remixes into one package. I, then, chose to remix the song "Change My Life" from the band's first album, ...A Goon's Best Friend, to make it an even 6-track release. I felt like that song translated well in an instrumental 8-bit style.

TW2. What was your song re-creation process like transitioning from the original versions to your new 8-bit Remixes?

Bridier: I used the software Open ModPlug Tracker to create the remixes. I used a template created by the composer, Jake Kaufman, which uses sounds from The [Nintendo Entertainment System] (NES.) Making 8-bit versions of the songs was a pretty quick process. What really helped me was that I still have the mixing sessions for the original songs. So, I was able to focus on each instrument at a time. The remixes were made in an afternoon in May 2021.

THRE3. Did you draw inspiration and influence from any particular 8-bit video game soundtracks or anything of that nature?

Bridier: I've been listening to Chiptunes & Micromusic for a majority of my life. I've always been intrigued by how so many artists were able to compose music on so many different pieces of hardware and what sounds they were able to get out of them. Some collectives I've followed over there years are 8bitpeoples & Micromusic. I've always enjoyed seeing videos of concerts and studio sessions from these artists and seeing what they have been able to pull off live and in the studio. I highly recommend checking out the documentary, Reformat The Planet, where you can see a lot of what was going on in "the scene" in the mid-00's. So many amazing artists and pieces of gear are featured there.


FOU4. Prior to this particular release, you were a member of 2Minute Minor, as well... is it fair to say 8-bit Remixes was your parting gift to both the band and the fans?

Bridier: I would say so. It was a fun final release to put together and have it added to the band's catalog.

FIV5. So, what did the guys from 2Minute Minor think of your finalized collection of 8-bit Remixes?

Bridier: They thought it was a fun release and enjoyed hearing the songs in this format. I think they've, also, gotten used to releasing [projects on] "unusual" physical formats for a Hardcore Punk band haha.

SI6. 8-bit Remixes was released on now-SOLD OUT limited edition floppy disk and mini-CD's, correct? How did you decide on these formats in particular?

Bridier: Yes, we put out two different editions of this release. The standard edition had 20 copies and included the remixes on mini-CD and floppy disk. The Deluxe Edition included those same items, plus, other disks for each mini-record release. I've always enjoyed the floppy disk format, for some reason. It always seemed like a fun challenge to see how much you can store in such a limited space. 1.44 MB, to be exact. I have a handful of floppy releases and have been surprised with how much these artists have been able to store on these disks. For the mini-CD, I had a handful of blank discs left over from the "Soda Tax" mini-CD release and thought it would be fitting to use in this release. I've seen a decent amount of mini-CD releases come out in the Micromusic scene over the years.


SEVE7. What are a few of your fondest memories from your time spent recording, touring, and hanging out with 2Minute Minor?

Bridier: My fondest memories are the many releases we've put out over the years, especially, all the unusual format releases. Those have been really fun to put together. My favorite release to put together was the "Soda Tax" 2-inch lathe-cut. Originally, the band didn't think it was a good idea and that it wouldn't "sell well." I really wanted to see this release on a small record, so I decided to put it together in secret haha. When I presented the final product to the band and we released the record, it, surprisingly, sold out in three days! Needless to say, that's the release that spawned all the other wacky releases the band came out with over the years.

EIGH8. Now that you've parted ways with 2Minute Minor, what's next for you musically?

Bridier: I'm mainly going to be focusing on my Electronic projects and producer work. I'm currently building a home studio, which will, hopefully, be completed early 2022.

NIN9. What can you tell us about the current status of your various solo projects: Captive Portal, Sebon, Sitting & Laying, much,, DIY Together, and This Communication?

Bridier: My main solo project is Captive Portal, where I compose various styles of Electronic music. All my other pseudonyms are for styles and releases that I didn't feel would fit under the Captive Portal name. I'm currently planning on coming out with, at least, one more release this year. Once the studio is done early next year, I'm, hopefully, going to be releasing a lot more.

Here's the current breakdown of projects and styles, past and present:
Captive Portal - main project (Electronic)
Sebon - House/Dance
Sitting & Laying - Traveling Ambient
Much Comma - Singer-songwriter with Vocoded vocals
D.I.Y. Together - [Mash-ups] of two genres with guest vocalists. So far, a mix of Pop-punk with Hardcore vocals.
This Communication - Dark Ambient/Drone