Nick Norton - "Soviets Make Good Games"

The sound of and overall aesthetic presentation of “Soviets Make Good Games” by the LA based Nick Norton belie a deeper story of mental health and recovery at the heart of it. As a track “Soviets Make Good Games” is a retro synth composition that utilizes intersecting arpeggiated synth lines and woozy melodies to create a track that feels suspended in time. The Soviets in the title could be a reference to the super-limited edition synthfluencer-coveted Soviet era oscillators and synthizers put out near the tail end of the Soviet collapse. Instead the nod goes to the creation of Tetris and some of the first computer-generated music we’ve heard being a Russian folk song burned into our brains.

Beyond the musical direction of “Soviets Make Good Games” which recalls artists like Symbol or Rival Consoles, the story of Nick Norton is a really fascinating one. I am going to quote from the press release here: “Norton was working in live sound and recording when the pandemic hit in 2020. Seeing his musician friends out of work, he put up an online fundraiser with Equal Sound. It went viral, and got attention from Billboard and The New Yorker. While Equal Sound’s Corona Relief Fund, with the help of a team of volunteers, raised and distributed over $100,000 to out-of-work musicians, Norton worked himself into a psychotic break that resulted in hospitalization. Doctors diagnosed him with bipolar 1 disorder and, during the manic phase, he ruined his romantic relationship, lost his apartment and business, and spent himself into bankruptcy. After moving in with his mom, the severe depression that normally follows a manic episode set in, eventually returning him to a psychiatric care facility after months of being unable to leave the couch.

After getting out, Norton started spending his time googling “career change mid 30s” and “longshoreman salary” until stumbling his way into the online certificate program in digital audio post production at Santa Monica College. Before long, an acquaintance hired him to cut sound for a reality show production company, and having to focus on work gradually drew him out of his depression.

Norton’s home studio grew alongside his improving mental health. Every new piece of gear, every new library of sounds, and every bit of learning about production necessitated a new musical experiment. His depression would disappear completely whenever he had his head down discovering new sounds.”

We rarely get to the other side of these tales of mental health. The part where recovery comes from creating music. It’s impressive to hear the balance that the creation of music has brought on the other side.