The Shizz

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The Shizz logo

The Shizz is a website and forum devoted to the Arizona independent music community, featuring bands such as The Minibosses, Fatigo, Vin Fiz, I Hate You When You're Pregnant, The Necronauts, Colorstore, and The Budget Sinatra. While many members and visitors to The Shizz are residents of Arizona, the forums have become known world-wide due to the rising popularity of the Minibosses and video game music in general.

1 History
2 Events
3 The Shizz subculture
4 Shizz bands
5 External links

[edit] History

The Shizz was created in 2001 by Donald Martinez to provide directions to a New Year's party. From there it evolved into a calendar of local events and is now the online center of a flourishing community of Arizona indie bands. Thanks to the exposure from The Shizz, local bands often draw a larger audience than national touring acts. In 2003, Martinez released a Shizz compilation CD featuring 12 local bands, each of which contributed towards production costs and received an equal number of CDs to sell. The site continues to be a great asset to the music community of Arizona. [1]

[edit] Events

The Shizz holds a monthly concert at the Paper Heart Gallery called "Shizz Second Saturdays" with bands featured on The Shizz and other local acts.

[edit] The Shizz subculture

As is true with most online communities, members of The Shizz have an understood set of inside jokes, memes, and often-visited websites. While no band is most important to The Shizz, The Minibosses are arguably the most popular, and therefore most elements of this subculture originated in The Minibosses section of The Shizz forums. Some examples include:

11:60 began as an accidental double forum post and has grown into an epic miscellaneous thread.
Chromelodeon is an 8-piece video game cover band from Philadelphia. They have toured nationally several times, and are close with most groups from this community.
Dwelling of Duels is a regular video game music cover competition in which many members participate. Announcements and voting are done on The Shizz.
Good-Evil is a game, movie, and music review site run by members raub himself and thecreeper.
HS, short for Head Slapper, is a variant of KS.
Jenova Project, a precursor to the Minibosses which only played covers of Final Fantasy music.
KS, short for Knee Slapper, a neologism coined by the now-outcast Michael T. Altenburg (axlrose7000). KS is used in place of "LOL".
MAGFest, the Mid-Atlantic Gaming or Music and Gaming Festival, a video game festival held in Virginia. The Minibosses play there yearly.
Mail Error is an error in the Invision Power Board software on which the Shizz forum is run. Although the error is known and could be fixed, it provides entertainment for senior members and functions as a test for new members.
Matt Smith, also known as Klawful, has created album art for the Minibosses.
Melon.jpg, an image of two gay males and a melon, was often introduced into threads for shock value before Martinez banned pornographic content. Melon.jpg is The Shizz equivalent of goatse or tubgirl.
Minibossies, also known as Bossies, are fans of the Minibosses.
New Member Animation is an animated gif created as an introduction to new members.
Shizzies are members of The Shizz, similar to Minibossies or Bossies but more general.
The Shizzinary is a guide to The Shizz and all of its peculiarities.
The Shizz Family Photo Album is a photo album of willing members with at least 50 posts.
The Shizz Resources is a collection of video game walkthroughs created by members.
Sparks is the drink of choice by the Minibosses and many Bossies.
Temp Sound Solutions is a prolific video game cover band consisting of forum member Shawn Phase. TSS is suspected of covering more Nintendo Entertainment System themes than any other band.
Vin Fiz is both a Shizz band and an answer to any poll, on any subject, posted on the Shizz forums.