NAMM and BnF and Synthdaddi, Oh My
January in Los Angeles is usually pretty busy, but 2025 was a whole other beast.
January usually means at least one tradeshow, but this year we covered NAMM, Buchla and Friends, and we had our annual team meeting (Synthdaddi) all within a 1-week window. We were tired, y’all.
A moment
It’s hard to talk about January 2025 here without an acknowledgement of all that happened. January in Los Angeles started with hurricane-force winds which quickly led to fires on a scale we’ve never seen, power outages, evacuations, and devastation. We here at NE are all safe and home; we are lucky. We send so much love and support to everyone impacted. If you’re not from LA, I think it’s hard to understand the scale of the destruction here. Thank you to all the folks who donated to our relief efforts last month.
Let’s start with NAMM
We haven’t attended NAMM in person since 2020. This year, Stephen and Kris went back as part of the Delicious Audio booth. Stationed next to the kind folks of Vongon, we had a fantastic time nerding out and demoing Dystorpia, as well as debuting Batverb, which will be available for preorder soon. We also got to meet a long-time customer and all-around cool dude who had a tattoo of our feetbat icon!
It was great to show stuff there again, and Paolo does a great job of making NAMM more affordable for a small team like us. We met all sorts of people (as one does at NAMM) but it was just an overwhelmingly positive three days. Plus we got to hear how saxophone sounds through our pedals. Spoiler: it was SO GOOD. More on that coming at a later date. Thanks to everyone who came to our table!
It was a social week
Our beloved Patrick slid into town for the week and took advantage of the time to also do a few performances. The ever-awesome SoCal Synth Society hosted their annual event in Anaheim near NAMM. Patrick performed to a packed house and a great time was had by all. And on Sunday, AIAIAI was generous enough to host a small afterparty for the Buchla and Friends crowd. Patrick brought the house down once again and we all learned that a pro move is to have a fan going nearby and use it as a prop throughout the performance.
And then there was Buchla and Friends
While Stephen and Kris were at NAMM on Saturday, Markus and Patrick took care of the social and technical duties of Buchla and Friends. Massive shout out to Peter from Buchla who did an absolutely incredible job putting the event together. It was a huge aggregation of synth nerds from around the world. I highly recommend attending this show next year!
We got to show off our new Confundo Funkidos (which is an absolute beast to set up a simple demo patch for!) as well the three platform firmwares we launched in December. Plus Batverb also made an appearance. The whole team was there on Sunday, a very rare moment for all four of us to be in one place at the same time.
It was also a cathartic moment here in Los Angeles. We got to check in on so many friends we hadn’t seen since before the fires. By all accounts, it was good to have a moment to feel “normal” outside of everything else that was happening here at that moment…and it was an excellent reminder of how strong, resilient, and kind this community is.
Let’s not forget Synthdaddi
After the dust settled from NAMM and Buchla and Friends, we had Synthdaddi, our annual team planning meeting. Shout out to Party Nails for naming it so many years ago. As per standard operating procedure, we had the lovely Kelly Maryanski create a custom logo for us.
Need a live illustrator for an event? Hit her up.
Synthdaddi was short this year, only two days. We cooked food, talked about the state of things in the industry, and argued about what we want to work on. We like to plan out a tentative release schedule for the next two years though we’ve never once come close to actually following it.
As always, we concluded the event with our closing ceremony. Markus is in charge of the awards ceremony, and each year has new categories for us. When we asked them about trophies, but they informed us that the real trophy is the friends we made along the way.
In a sign of the times, this year also marked the first year in which AI won an award. Unfortunately, it was for the best quote, confirming that AI is funnier than we are. But it will never be as awkward. I think we have a lock on that.
After that we did the annual La Croix toss. This somehow became a tradition back in maybe 2018 at the close of NAMM. We clear the sidewalk and each throw a can of La Croix from our balcony. The winner is judged on criteria of bounce and fizz. This year, we had to do it on our back patio so we got creative. Stephen tried to smash one with a shovel. Kris climbed up on the retaining wall. Stephen climbed on the roof. Alas, no one achieved the sort of success we have on the front of the house, but the back porch smelled like berries for a couple of days, at least.
I’m talking about this frivolity because I want to say how great this team is. We genuinely have fun together and care deeply for each other. Stephen and I could not do this without them.
Roadmap, 2025
We have already released, by popular demand, Confundo Funkidos, the successor to Confundo Funkitis. If I’m honest, that feels like about a year ago.
I’ve already mentioned that we set up a plan for the year…and then generally don’t follow it, but you know, it’s good to have a guiding star. This year, we have so much fun stuff planned. Preorders for our pedal Batverb will begin soon, with an expected release in March. We hope to have more modular fun, and a few surprises, because we like to keep you on your toes. You didn’t think I’d let the cat totally out of the bag, did you?
We also expect to be out and about a bit more. Patrick will see your smiling faces at a variety of shows and Stephen and I hope to see more of the Southern California folks around. If you see us somewhere, please come say hi! We love chatting with you.
