Virtual Boy started out as a simple class project that became a full-blown musical phenomenon, the likes of which have scarcely been heard before. Henry Allen and Preston Walker experimented with an electronic pop sound that was different from most they had heard before and collaborated to create an EP for their advanced music class project. All it took was the right people to hear their work, a few fans and Virtual Boy was a fully fledged musical duo with a debut EP, “How Long Does It Take To Get To Space?” Playing mostly local shows in Los Angeles, this unique group has nowhere to go but up in the ladder of musical success.

GLT: First off, who are the members of Virtual Boy and their instruments?

Virtual Boy: Well I’m Henry and during live shows, I use two keyboards and an electric guitar. It all runs through one or two laptops, play back tracks and midi controllers. I’m Preston and I use the same instruments as Henry, but I add vocals with a vocoder. It’s this device that goes on the mic and makes my voice sound robotic.

GLT: You have such a unique sound to your music. What are some of your influences?

VB: (Preston) We both have our unique influences and they’re mostly from the L.A. beat scene, like the Romantic Era, John Williams, Röyksopp, Air, The Glitch Mob, NALEP, Midnight Juggernauts and just too many to name. We were also influenced by a lot of 80’s synth pop and classical music, too.

GLT: Did your music classes from Chapman play a part in your group? Or is it solely individual style?

VB: (Henry) Well we’re still in school but we have one more year. Actually, the entire thing started in our Music Technology class. I had to take it as a requirement and Preston took it for fun. Eventually, we both took the Advanced Music class a few semesters later and we had to make an EP for the final class project. Someone from 1320 heard it and that’s where we are.

GLT: If you could work with any artist, who would you work with?

VB: Muse. Our music and theirs has this classical music quality, and I feel like our sounds have a lot in common. Royqsop (Swedish), and Air. They use a lot of synthesizers.

GLT: You and DEVO seem to have a lot in common in regards to musical styles. Are you excited to be playing with them? Have you listened to them before?

VB: (Henry) Oh, it’s a dream come true to play with them. Preston introduced me to DEVO when we met. “Work It” was pretty much the theme song for our freshmen year (laugh).

GLT: If you had to describe your music genre, what would it be?

VB: You know we haven’t been able to accurately describe it. It’s like a hip-hop and electronic project that’s more down tempo, as opposed to super fast beats, like at clubs. Someone once called it “experimental electronic,” but we also like to call it a “future beat.”

GLT: What are some of your favorite venues to play at? Are there any in San Diego?

VB: We both agree that the better venues are more packed. It sounds weird, but we prefer a smaller venue that’s just packed with sweaty people just dancing. It’s that much more intense. (Preston) One place we loved playing was in the Austin city limits called Stubbs BBQ Restaurant. We were excited to have our first show there. But overall, we love going to different places wherever we play a show.

GLT: Do you come to San Diego often?

VB: We have been more recently since our manager lives there. We played a show in May and we loved San Diego. What’s not to love about it? We played one show in Ocean Beach and another at the House of Blues in downtown. I know we’ll be playing here a lot more and we actually have another show here in August.

GLT: Your newest album, “Omega Supreme,” was released in June. How was it working on the album and how do you feel about it?

VB: Well the material we released were two of our songs and the other tracks were our songs as well, but remixed by others. It was older material, but we didn’t have much time to work on it because of school. Since then we’ve had a lot more material finally finished for the next one, so we hope to have a new EP coming out in August.

GLT: What are some words that you guys live by?

VB: (Preston) My choir director had this whole speech he would give, but ultimately it was something like, “No matter what you do, you’ve got to strive to do better than yourself.” So I’ve always tried to live by those words. (Henry) Oh jeez, I don’t know. Probably “Mo’ money mo’ problems?”

GLT: What are some of the craziest things you guys have ever done?

VB: (Preston) Probably the craziest thing for me was singing for the Pope at the Vatican. That was pretty intense. (Henry) Well, I remember one time we played a show a few weeks ago in San Francisco, and everything was kind of underground, I guess. It was weird because we couldn’t advertise or promote it. I don’t think they had a permit, because it was in this abandoned warehouse in this not so nice district. It was just creepy. But we played our set from 3:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. We didn’t really know what time it was, so we hit up the bar and it just kind of freaked us out when we got a beer, went outside and saw the sun.

GLT: Do either of you have partners?

VB: (Henry) Well, I have a girlfriend and we’ve been dating for two and a half years, I think. Preston here is single. Can you bold that so everyone sees it? (Laugh).

GLT: Have either of you kissed any boys?

VB: No, I can’t say either of us have. Although, we do support those who do.

GLT: Your success just begs the question. Why would you ever name yourself after a failed video game console?

VB: (Laugh) We were trying to figure out a name for us and we just ran into an old Virtual Boy, and we thought it was a cool name. We identified with it. I mean, it was a console that blinded kids in the 90’s and we liked that idea (Laugh). Nintendo actually cancelled the trademark and we filed an application for the name about a year ago. We actually got our certificate last week in the mail. So we’re official now.

GLT: Do you guys play video games?

VB: Not really. There’s a few that we play like Rock Band. (Preston) I like Super Smash Bros. Melee. No matter what, if I see it somewhere I stop what I’m doing and play. (Henry) I’m not too big on video games, I enjoy black tar heroin, (laugh). Nah, I’m kidding. I’ve become more addicted to the TV show Dexter. Also, we’re both huge The Office fans.

GLT: Are you guys excited to play at San Diego Pride?

VB: Oh yeah, big time! As far as festivals go, we haven’t played any yet. We’re playing one on Saturday the 10th, but Pride will be our first city festival. We’ve never played any before so we’re really excited about it.

GLT: What do you guys like to do in your spare time?

VB: We’re both runners, so when we’re not in the studio we run or eat (Laugh). We’re mostly laid back, we hang out, drink some beers with friends and we’ve been going to a lot of baseball games. A majority of our time is spent with our music right now.

GLT: Do you prefer to cook at home or eat out?

VB: Eat out for sure. We try to eat in more because it’s obviously cheaper, but it’s way too easy and fun to try new places. We travel a lot too, so there’s never any time to cook.

GLT: If you all weren’t in the music industry, what would you be doing right now?

VB: (Preston) I’m studying advertising right now, so I’d probably be interning at a PR agency or something. (Henry) I’d probably be wishing I was involved in the music industry (Laugh). Well, I hope to do Music as a Masters, but more on the business side. If I couldn’t do music, I wouldn’t know what I’d do.

Thank you again, Virtual Boy for speaking with us and we look forward to hearing your music at San Diego Pride. We wish you the best in your future endeavors.