I saw this incredible Kate Bush fightstick that featured the art-pop legend’s 1985 album cover “Hounds of Love”— It was truly incredible … The craftsmanship was beautiful but I had no idea that anyone would even dream of putting such an impactful musician on a fightstick! I had to catch up with the creator + musician known as Milk to discover what inspired them to create such a dedication to the legendary artist known as Kate Bush.

This interview was eye-opening! — Proving, just how diverse in musical tastes the Fighting game community is!

AP: Hey Milk!  The Kate Bush fightstick is incredible! What experience do you have with building fight sticks? Are there more you've worked on? 

Milk: Thank you! You've become one of the many people who've surprised me with their interest in it! To be honest, I didn't expect as many people in the FGC to know about or enjoy her and I was very pleasantly surprised. As far as fightsticks go I started with making cigarbox sticks. Very simple, using very cheap pcbs. Those were sort of a test as at the time

I was trying to make a raspberry pi based arcade cabinet out of the hollowed shell of a 1930's radio! 

Unfortunately, the wood ended up being too thick for the components to poke through after drilling the holes. I still want to chase this idea, so someday that might come up! Aside from that, I've taken this gen 2 bnb fightstick enclosure through three different looks. First it was a FLCl stick. I love that anime. Afterward, it was a Hades stick. I really loved how both of these looked, but I wanted something that was more personal and deliberately not related to games or anime. Hence Kate Bush Fightstick!

AP: What does Kate Bush mean to you as an artist? —Do you have a favorite album or song by her? 

There are two things that Kate Bush pretty thoroughly embodies throughout her work; sticking to your own artistic visions and finding value in many different places. 

I don’t want to take you through her whole story, but if you look into Kate you find an artist who was solely in it to create the work that *she* wanted to create. She was almost entirely uninfluenced by her label. She called the shots, and if she hadn't her music wouldn’t be as absolutely unique and wonderful as it is. My favorite album is totally Hounds of Love, but The Kick Inside and The Dreaming are also so so strong! Her discography as a whole is worth going through.

AP: Why should the fighting game community know more about Kate?

Milk: That's an interesting question! Perhaps interesting for the same reason the stick is? One reason I think we enjoy fighting games is the very tactical sensation of our decisions translating into actions. Our intentions are manifested on the screen as our combos, punishes, and the fluid mess of beauty that our characters perform. Seeing that happen and really feeling connected to it is honestly rather sensual! It’s very sense-based! Kate Bush is sensual! (Sensual, not sexual!) That’s a big part of her artistic process and output. Her music is her expression, she puts her intention so perfectly into her voice and her playing. Her body and voice are her swords and the work she produces with them has so much depth and feeling. Running Up That Hill has such a fight in it. [laughs] I know thats a stretch in a way, but I think it makes sense. Kate Bush is one of those rare musicians who seems to have perfectly expressed herself in her music. I think a good fighting game player can be identified by similar amounts of expression in their play.

AP: What inspired you to make the fightstick?

Milk: Well I'd seen a few music-related fightsticks out there. My favorites are an MF Doom Mmm Food stick and a Daft Punk stick that has “better, faster, stronger” on it as the names of each button! This year has been very Kate Bush for me so it felt like an appropriate pick.

AP: What sort of other projects are you working on at the moment?

 Milk: Actually right now I'm focused on making the third album of my own music project! It's a collaborative mess recorded in my room. I like to think Kate Bush has had some influence on my work, though I think the comparisons would be hard to make. 


AP: Can’t wait to hear it! What are your favorite fighting games at the moment?

Milk: Right now I am on a huge third-strike binge. I think it's the most beautiful fighting game I've ever played. Visually, sonically, and mechanically. Aside from that, I jump in GG strive and KOF XV here and there.

AP: What’s next for your work? Can we expect another KB fightstick anytime soon? 

Milk: The next bit is going to be designing something for the snackbox micro I use to play on my work breaks! I'm kind of thinking Laurie Anderson. Probably something from the O Superman music video. Laurie is another pioneer of experimental and beautiful work.

AP: Thank you so much for your time….Any closing thoughts? 

Milk: I'm so excited that this stick got anyone’s attention at all! If you're curious about something else. you can find my music at secretnumbersband.bandcamp.com I recommend the album titled "Hidden Chunks."

 Thank you so much for your interest and for reaching out!

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