Masuk Free Press

Comedy music is a genre that has evolved over the years, as new artists have continued to flourish onto the scene and give their own humorous tunes to the world. However, with the rise of the internet, comedy music (and, by extension, parody music) took off, as music sharing became even easier and music creation became more accessible. Many took advantage of this boom, including one man – Brent Black. 

Brent got his start during Youtube’s infancy in the late 2000s after uploading various videos of him performing video game music under the iconic alias of Brentalfloss. He then added lyrics to various video game soundtracks and took his career to the next level, including hits such as Cave Story with Lyrics, Super Mario Land with Lyrics and Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon with Lyrics. Brent has accumulated nearly 220 million views in his over 15 years on YouTube and also holds a masters degree in musical theatre. Along with that, he’s made video games with his studio, Smiling Buddha Games, and made Khan!!! A Star Trek parody musical.

Nowadays, Brent is working hard juggling multiple projects but found time to answer some questions for the Masuk Free Press. Here are some of Brent’s answers: 

Q: You are doing a concert at RetroGameCon on the 11th. Do you plan to do more concerts like this? 

A: “If I get invited! It seems like my return to Brentalfloss video content (in the form of YouTube shorts) has suddenly made a few people remember I exist, so if they keep inviting me to perform at events, I’ll keep doing it!’

Q: Youtube has changed since you first started. How do you think that YouTube’s evolution has affected your career and how have you adapted to these changes? 

A: “To be honest, the major YouTube changes happened after I stopped doing YouTube full-time (around 2016) but in 2020 I decided to do a limited season of regular videos and found that CPMs (Cost Per Millie) had gone down drastically and the content that used to get six figures-worth of views was suddenly getting 30-60% fewer views. I didn’t do much work to fully understand the changes in the algorithm because I didn’t have any intention of making it an actual “job job” and was fine with the reduced pay during Covid lockdown.”

Q: In 2023 you released Khan!! The Musical, after years of more Youtube-focused work. What was the transition like for you going back to musical work? 

A: “I started writing “Khan!!!” in 2015 and its development became a robust part-time job between 2018-2023. I loved the ability to tweak it and test it and get it “just right”, as well as the ability to be present with the audience enjoying my work (rather than just reading YouTube comments and counting “likes”), but I will say that I had gotten spoiled by YouTube when it came to the compromises of collaboration; musical theatre is one of the most collaborative art forms and it took some growing pains to accept the various ways in which the final product will inevitably differ from the writer’s original vision. “

Q: Speaking of other work besides music parodies, what is Smiling Buddha Games planning after Use Your Words 2? A sequel? A new game? 

A: “That’s a big question in my life right now! I have a concept for another Jackbox-style game and it’s not impossible that I would continue the Use Your Words series, but Use Your Words 2 took much, much longer than I had expected and I got a little bit burnt out on game development. So, for the moment, I’m enjoying a bit more of an explorative career chapter where I experiment with stuff and see what feels good, rather than being a 60 hour-a-week workhorse like I was for all of 2024. My bank account isn’t enjoying it, but I am!”

Q: With the rise of AI especially in art and music, how do you think the industry has changed and will change with its rise? 

A: “I have internal disagreements with myself about this. It’s really cool to see what AI can come up with, particularly in the way it can mix musical styles and imagine songs written by preexisting songwriters, but it also makes me sad that the technology steals work from human artists and has such a negative impact on the environment. I have to believe that there will always be people who want to be able to say “I (or “my team”) personally made every decision that led to your experience of this, and we can speak to every choice we personally made”… the big question on the other side of the token is “Will consumers of art continue to value the fact that something was made by hand, or will it become as quaint and niche handmade furniture”?” 

Q: The video game industry is rapidly changing these days as the console wars come to a close and prices hike, how do you see the next couple years for gaming? 

A: “I actually don’t get mad about price hikes because the video game industry has been greatly devalued over the past decade or two, and it may be due for a correction. If games cost $50-60 in the early 90’s, it’s not insane that they would start to cost $70-80 over 30 years later. That’s not a popular opinion and of course, it’s not great for consumers who also find themselves with less relative buying power and lower wages than 30 years ago. There’s a balance to be found, and everyone is finding it. Meanwhile, we tried to raise the price of Use Your Words 2 a dollar over what we sold the first one for eight years prior and we were surprised how many people complained. I guess the kids who grew up with the freemium market are now becoming broke adults and I sympathize with them just as much as I do the devalued dev community.”

Q: What is your favorite part about creating music?

A: “I think it’s the part where you get lost in the fun of creation itself. Some people call this the “Flow state”, it’s kind of like how playing a new game that you love can be kind of hypnotizing and take you to a different brain state, but once it’s over, you want to do it again and again. My brain works in strange ways when I compose, particularly with orchestrations; I sometimes imagine different instruments as different characters or singers all working together. For these reasons, I think the excitement of making something that wasn’t there before, particularly in the first big push toward a finished demo (even if it’s got a long way to go) is my favorite part.”

Q: If you had to restart your music career from step one, what would be some things you would have done differently? 

A: “That’s hard to say. I wonder that a lot, actually. But what I always come to is “If I had done something differently, is it possible that I would never have had a lucky break that led to notoriety and a full-time career?” It would have been smart for me to learn to sight-read music, but what skills would have been sacrificed in the zero-sum game of time and energy? I sometimes wish my material in the early days of Brentalfloss had been more family-friendly and a little less edgy, but maybe that flavor is a big part of why it took off at the time. I wish it all looked more tidy and organized and classy in the rear-view, but I think something about the mess actually led to the success.”

Q: Which song was the longest/most difficult to create and why? 

A: “The video I did with Dave Bulmer called Ocarina of Time With Lyrics took two years to complete, largely because we traded off who wrote which lyrics (the song is over nine minutes long), and after filming the big confrontation in the UK we changed the ending and had to re-shoot the video a year later.”

Q: What is your dream collaboration? 

A: “When it comes to music, I don’t often think in these terms because collaboration is typically harder for me than just doing it myself. But I think it would be awesome to team up with Jackbox Games to make my next game idea.”

Q: Best memory of a concert/liveshow you have? 

A: “Wow, so many. My latest one is returning to the mainstage at a convention called MAGFest that’s centered around music and gaming (“music and gaming” are what the “MAG” stands for). I had played various shows there over the years but I hadn’t played the mainstage since around 2012, so when I was invited to do it again in 2023 at the tender age of 39, I jumped at it and I felt like I had come home. Seeing the number of people who came out and knew all the words reminded me that even though my feelings about the “Brentalfloss” brand are complicated, it’s a fond memory for a lot of people.”

Q: Weirdest “with lyrics” you were ever asked to make?

A: “I’m sure there’s a weirder one than this, but I was invited to make a promotional “With Lyrics” video about the 2014 game Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric. A company I worked with thought it would go well with my brand since I do “lyrics” but I thought the idea of a promotional “With Lyrics” didn’t make sense, since I poke fun at games even when I actually like them. Also, the idea of my first-ever Sonic the Hedgehog lyric video being about that game just seemed wrong.”

Q: Mario or Luigi? 

A: “Luigi. Probably because, as a little brother growing up, I was forced to play Luigi when playing co-op with my brother. Also, I’m the younger and taller brother in my family, so I could relate.”

As Brent opens up his career to more projects, he continues to improve on his craft and take lessons from his previous successes to build bigger, better, and newer things. Anyone interested in Brent’s work can check out his youtube channel (Brentalfloss) or his website, (Brentalfloss.com)  where you can find more info on Brent’s previous projects, such as his CD’s, and his up and coming stuff, like the concert at Retro Games Fest.