“Hey, does anybody want to playtest a chart?”

For juch., that could mean anything. A prolific charter with over 140 charts under his belt, not including his numerous collabs, his work has spanned that from the indie-pop of Garrett Williamson, the calm yet chaotic jazztronica of Anomalie, to the various electronic genres of the SOUND VOLTEX series.

What sets juch. apart from other charters is his distinct willingness to push the boundaries of standards while remaining playable and fair – although perhaps “fair” is used in the loosest of possible terms, as he’s previously described his style as “using patterns in the most evil possible way”. As such, he’s gained something of a reputation for charts that demand your full attention – and a bit more.

And if his typical fare is too difficult for a player, there’s also a good chance that his name still instills a sense of morbid curiosity, because juch. is also recognized for his prominence in another field of charting – meme charts, and a whole lot of them: the cocaine-fueled 80’s nightmares of SkyCorp Home Video, the warped insanity of Bosh, and everything in between – juch. is just as notorious for his memes as he is for his actual charts.

With such a unique reputation among the charters of SpinShare, we sat down with juch. to find out what’s inside the mind behind the W I D E.

What got you into Spin Rhythm XD? How did you find out about it?

I found SRXD through Hyper Potions’ video on their new song, New Year, and was blown away with how fun it looked. The only knowledge I’ve had on rhythm games [was] playing Guitar Hero when I was super young, watching a lot of Rock Band videos, and osu! for like a week. I usually don’t buy games on Steam unless I get some gift card, but I figured I’d try the game out since it was on sale. And here I am today, becoming a rhythm gamer.

What made you decide to chart for Spin Rhythm?

Not sure. Community stuff never clicked for me, and I was only planning to make a few charts. Then I started being in voice chat in SpinShare more often, and it just never got old making charts.

What’s your general process behind a chart? What makes you decide you want to chart a song, and what about that song influences the chart’s overall design?

I usually chart based on specific sounds (beat/tap on kick/snare, chart every noise unless it’s not fun, etc.) Sometimes I derive from that pattern if it means making the chart more interesting, though it’s not that often. I usually chart what I wanna see in the game/what I find very catchy and interesting. Recently, I’ve been charting Infected Mushroom because of how wacky and catchy their songs can be.

Are there any other charts or charters that you look to for inspiration in your charts?

Darnoc & Programmatic were the first charters I was inspired by. Their Haywyre and Adventure showcases were what inspired me to do the Sonic CD showcase (which I will finish one day). I’d say that Darnoc has been inspiring me a lot more though, since I’m starting to experiment a lot in my IM charts. Shame he ain’t doing Speen anymore, would love to collab with him again.

In terms of more recent charters, Stride and Kali are usually who I’m the most inspired by. Whenever they do a chart that isn’t an embodiment of suffering (cough Endymion cough), it’s a banger.

A lot of players would certainly call some of your charts…unorthodox, to say the least. What is it about these “wacky” charts that so intrigues you?

The standard conventions are pretty cool and all, but I wanna push those to the limit. I like the wacky charts because it lets them stand out from a crowd, and I like charting non-standard because it’s fun to push the limits of what’s standard. It also involves more skill in FCing non-standard charts, because positioning and control of your wheel becomes a skill you have to master. Stride’s chart, Ikaros, is a great example of this.

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juch. 01/11/21
They’re also pretty fun too idk

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You tend to work with big charting showcases quite a bit. How does working on these projects compare to working on “one-off” charts?

Chart showcases are HARD to make. They require a lot of commitment and focus for me to finish them. I say “finish” because I’ve only finished 3 of 5 showcases so far. The last 2 have been WIP since May. I usually prefer doing small-ish showcases over big ones, since it doesn’t become as daunting or overwhelming.

You sure put a lot of effort into meme charts, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t pay off. The only thing I can ask really is…why? Why are you like this, why are your meme charts like this, and why are they always so damn hilarious?

Imagine a chart is like a car. You drive along the road and there’s a flow to it. The meme car doesn’t give a fuck about ANYTHING; your physical condition, where you want to go, who you are? lmao the meme car is just gonna go BJHBKJBHBKJBKJBRHKBRHBJBKJB and you will die.

Your charts span a lot of different genres and artists. You want to discuss a few of them?

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juch. 01/11/21
Sorry what? I zoned out.

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imfallinfree 01/11/21
I was hoping for these questions to make up a lot of the interview. I’m asking them anyway and you can’t stop me.

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juch. 01/11/21
epic lmao

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Firstly, Garrett Williamson is evidently an artist you really enjoy. Not only was your first chart his single “What If I’m Hurt Again”, but you charted his album “Middle of Nowhere” not long after its release. What is it about Garrett’s music that made you decide to chart them, and more importantly, one of your favourite artists?

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juch. 01/11/21
*Middle of Somewhere

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imfallinfree 01/11/21
Shit. Well, answer anyway.

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I’ve known about Garrett’s channel for a while, back when he released the first “How to make FNAF Not Scary” videos. I never knew he made music until I checked out another series he did, RTTTA (Random Things To Talk About), which had WIIHA as the main theme. That song fucking slapped and I was interested in Project 1997, the name of Middle of Somewhere at the time.

I was at the streaming party on the night it came out, which was pretty epic. I also was super happy to see that he’s also done music for Scott The Woz, which is insane to me.

Next up, you’ve been experimenting quite a bit in your recent Infected Mushroom charts, pushing the boundaries of what we can feasibly call a “standard chart”. What about Infected Mushroom makes you so eagerly experiment with your charts?

Infected Mushroom does a lot of experimenting with their music, and they’ve always been geniuses with their music, no matter who was publishing their music. I love charting their music because there’s a lot you could do with these songs. And if I could do anything with these songs, why stop at standard conventions? That’d make them more interesting IMO. I’m even planning on doing a huge showcase from them soon, but I need to finish my other showcases first.

How about Sound Voltex? In between your various charting projects, the occasional Sound Voltex chart makes its way onto SpinShare under your name. Any reason that Sound Voltex is something that you’re drawn to chart?

I had never really heard of the game until I was into SRXD. I saw Kali charting *Feels Seasickness…* which reminded me of Jet Set Radio but on 8 tons of crack. Those songs are batshit insane and very hyper/catchy, and charting those songs can be very creative. I still plan to chart some more songs, since I keep finding a lot of good ones in their 1k+ library.

Alright, now let’s finish up. Of your charts, are there any that you’re particularly proud of? Which one was the most fun for you to chart?

I’m super proud of the GW showcase and most of my IM charts. Especially Bliss on Mushrooms, that was the most fun I’ve had charting a song in a while. There’ll be other upcoming charts that I’ll like more than BoM, but BoM was the one to me that solidified the WIDE reputation of mine lmao.

Any charts that you consider your favourite, or any that you feel got overlooked?

That’s a bit hard to answer because 90% of my playtime is playing my own charts/charting. I don’t really play other charts as much. That being said, Stride’s Arcaea charts are really good. Arcahv is one of my favorites from him & Kali lately, and I didn’t see anyone play it much.

Anything that you have to say about the SpinShare community?

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juch. 01/11/21
their ok idk never seen em before ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Any advice that you’d like to give for charters?

Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback or playtesting. Also if your first chart ends up not as good as you want it to be, don’t worry about it. You’ll get better as you chart more and learn more from it.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

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juch. 01/11/21
coomer_B.ogg

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One last thing: one pattern must be made illegal. Which pattern is now illegal?

Anything involving matches.
…Ok real answer: Extended zick triangles with beats implying movement, I no likey

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imfallinfree 01/11/21
I lied, there is one more thing I want to ask – when are we finishing Great Pretender?

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juch. 01/11/21
we can do that on saturday 🙂

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imfallinfree 01/11/21
😀

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