I was in a band for years, rotating between multiple instruments and singing for millions of fans. We were wildly successful, and I loved mixing up my setlists. 

My ultra successful band was named The Magikarps.

Yeah, the fans were on my screen and the instruments were (mostly) plastic. But it’s still a true statement. 

The day I walked out of the store with a used copy of Guitar Hero with a guitar for PS2 was a revelation. I spent the night playing through the entire game—on easy. The next night I did it all again on medium.

It took a while before my brain could get my fingers to work on higher difficulties, but I spend endless time playing Guitar Hero, as well as Guitar Hero III when my cousin would bring it over.

The game changed all over again when I got Rock Band for my Xbox 360. Suddenly I had multiple instruments I could master. 

I have an awful singing voice, but that didn’t stop me from deciding I wanted to beat every song in the game on each instrument. And I decided I would do it on expert. 

Surprisingly, vocals were the easiest for me to get through. I struggled on guitar through the second solo in Green Grass and High Tides, and the notoriously awful detection on the original Rock Band drums made the speed of Run to the Hills nearly impossible. 

That’s when I started searching around and found the “sock mod” and man that was a game changer! Who knew that long songs and rubber bands would make a difference?

It wasn’t long before I bought stick-on pads that attached to my drum set to improve the sensitivity, along with a proper set of drumsticks that I would tape up for better grip. 

When Rock Band 2 came out, things got even more intense. I was getting together with friends regularly for Rock Band parties and I ended up dropping hundreds of dollars on the Ion Drum Rocker—the premium electronic drum kit made just for Rock Band 2. 

Rock Band 3 brought vocal harmonies, and suddenly my friends and I were going around town hunting for mic stands so we could play instruments and all sing at the same time. 

It wasn’t unusual for us to all get together and take turns buying songs for the game during a party. My library has hundreds of extra DLC tracks. 

When I wasn’t at parties, I was building my fanbase as a solo star. You could often find me singing into a mic while playing guitar. If not, I had the boom mic stand set up while I drummed. 

It lasted for years. Whether we got together specifically for the game, or we had it for background entertainment while we all got drunk. 

I do own Rock Band 4 for Xbox One, and I do enjoy playing it. It has lost some of its early magic, but man is it still fun to play on occasion and relive my glory days.  

The Magikarps will live on forever.