Front room fame for Joey

That’s how Kildrum music fanatic Joey Schmidt sees an industry where fortunes can be made and reputations gained on the strength of consumer popularity.

He now has ten of his home-made tracks forming part of the indie game Disastr_Blastr, whereas previously it had only had sound effects.

“That came from a chance encounter,” he said.

“I was chatting online with someone in the US who was involved with the game, and asked when the music was going to be added.

“When it turned out that hadn’t been planned I volunteered, and now the sounds I mixed here in Kildrum are part of the game.”

Joey, (40), is building a reputation for himself as a can-do creative artist who can provide innovative solutions to challenging problems.

But beyond that he’s also delighted every time he’s able to prove that the world really is a global village where ideas can be communicated effectively across time zones and continents in the blink of an eye.

The old-fashioned idea that sophisticated design has to take place in a dedicated hi-tech environment and is open only to a special caste of uber-experts is daily blown sky high, just like the avatars in a computer game.

“There’s still this perception some like to foster, that you have to go to London or Sweden to get anything serious done”, said Joey.

“It’s something I really despise, because it’s just such rubbish.

“Why is London or anywhere else important when you can communicate from anywhere – it could be Antarctica for all the difference it makes.”

He stresses there are countless other developers operating exactly the way he does, and sees the home studio syndrome as one of the internet’s great liberating developments.

The old-fashioned way of approaching the subject would be through the acquisition of qualifications, then employment by some corporate interest – and some musicians and designers will still pursue that sort of career path.

But they’re hugely outnumbered by talented entrepreneurs who, like Joey, are increasingly adept and creating and taking advantage of niche opportunities.

Where his own music mixing is concerned, Joey is certain the best is yet to come.

The Disastr_Blastr Steam Greenlight community page is at http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=465665756 and Joey’s website is at www.joeyschmidt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/