Q. Good day Missingno! We appreciate you taking the time to speak with us. The first thing we want to know is, how did you come up with your artist name, and what does it represent to you?
A. I chose the name Missingno. for a few reasons. I grew up playing Pokémon and was always into gaming, so I wanted a name that reflected that part of my identity. “Missingno.” is a glitch that technically stands for “missing number,” and I connected with that idea because I’ve often felt like certain social things didn’t come naturally to me. At times, I even felt like a glitch myself. The name became a way to represent who I felt I was, even through insecurity.
Q. What has your journey as an artist been like up to this point?
A. My journey as an artist has been challenging. I started going out to open mics and networking just before the pandemic hit in 2020, which completely disrupted everything and made the early stages uncertain. I’ve had help along the way and connected with people who are well-established in the industry, but I wasn’t fully prepared at the time to make the most of those opportunities. Since then, it’s been a long process of trial and error, especially around promotion—figuring out who my audience is and how to properly reach out to press, blogs, radio stations, playlist curators, and influencers, all of whom tend to look for specific formats. I’ve also been scammed by so-called promo companies that used bots while claiming otherwise.
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At one point, I even became disillusioned after realizing that some of what I thought were my most successful releases, in terms of streaming numbers, were actually inflated by bots when I couldn’t yet tell the difference between legitimate and fake promotion. Even after all of that, I’m still here because I genuinely love music. It’s something that can connect with people on an emotional level and leave a lasting impact.
Q. What makes your music different from what listeners might hear from other artists in your genre?
A. My musical influences are a big part of what makes my sound unique. While I listened to mainstream hip-hop, R&B, and pop, I was also heavily influenced by alternative music—artists like Odd Future and City Morgue, as well as rock bands like My Chemical Romance, Three Days Grace, and Papa Roach. I also drew inspiration from J-Rock and J-Pop from anime OSTs, along with 8-bit video game soundtracks like Sonic the Hedgehog and Donkey Kong Country.
Q. What was the moment that made you realize you wanted to pursue music seriously?
A. From 2015 to 2018, I was making music on my own as a hobbyist, and that was cool at the time. After I dropped my first full project, 808-Bit Music, following my graduate school program in 2019, I decided to take music seriously. I knew even then that traditional jobs didn’t always offer real security, and building something of my own felt like a more stable path.
Q. What message or energy are you trying to bring to listeners through your music?
A. The message and energy that I try to bring through my music is soothing, peaceful, and reassuring. I want it to feel like it’s okay—okay if you’re not like everyone around you, okay if you don’t feel fully connected to your environment, and okay if you don’t have the words to express emotions you haven’t fully processed yet. My hope is that anyone who listens can feel understood, even without everything being fully explained.
── Missingno presents a compelling identity rooted in gaming culture, personal introspection, and a sense of emotional disconnection that he has transformed into creative expression. His journey as an artist has been shaped by persistence through disruption and learning through experience. He faced immediate setbacks that complicated his early growth. While he has had moments of access to industry connections and opportunities, he describes not being fully prepared at the time to capitalize on them. Despite these challenges, his commitment to music remains intact, driven by a genuine emotional connection to the art form and its ability to resonate with listeners.
