victormcknightmusic.com


Victor McKnight

Hey, folks!

Bad news: I'm going to be real - I have been really, REALLY struggling to get a project off the ground. I had some really amazing collaborations (a few of which would shock you) planned that I have since had to reshuffle due to scheduling and budgeting (the usual boring suspects). As a result, I have about three finished instrumentals that I've been sitting on for months. I'm at a point now on YouTube where this realistically isn't sustainable for me on a base level. Truth be told, I would love to start working for other people, rather than myself.
Too often, I feel as though communication between myself and a select few collaborative artists in the community has grinded my own projects to a halt, and it's tricky for me to invest so much time and money into projects that quite frankly don't end up getting finished. It's very important for me as an artist to bring my works (and other folks' works) to life. For the last year or so, I have felt like an absolute unit of a racehorse that doesn't get to race. I'm itching to release things constantly because I am an artist, and I love expressing myself! Unfortunately, the cards haven't been very well laid out for me in terms of collaborative workflow. It got so bad that one of my songs had gotten a new vocalist about three times over.
I'm doing what I can to make back what I can, but I feel that with the rise of AI art, everyone's prices going up, among other factors, I have had a harder time protecting myself financially for music endeavors. The Patreon being created was definitely related to this struggle. Thankfully, I've still got my eggs in many more baskets outside of YouTube, but this is still my bread and butter.
I have made it clear before that I do not consider myself a vocalist, so I'm constantly having to hire out to vocalists to catch up where I left off. This has been the case for years; where I generally do not make back the financial investments I make into my own projects. So... I slow down, over and over, again. I want to go full throttle on YouTube again, but the struggle of collaboration is starting to make the process non-enjoyable.
I think I'd like to be done creating Sonic content (of my own desire) for the remainder of the year - or at least take a break from it, as I really want to start honing some far more original visions for my music. I think fan content is integral for any working artist, but quite frankly, I don't think it's going to help me grow, at this point. The "Sonic 4" song is still definitely on the table, of course -- but I think it'll be more fulfilling for me if I were to release it in a way that's untethered to Sonic-related assets (if I were to release it now). There's surely a place for me in the Sonic community somewhere, but right now, I don't feel there is any.
I'm not at all embarrassed of what I've done these last few years because I do love the Sonic franchise with all my heart, but it's hard to be taken seriously releasing my 12th consecutive song with something Sonic the Hedgehog related on the thumbnail. Even imposter syndrome often has me feeling discredited (or rather, devalued) in the nerdcore space because of this notion. They have ALWAYS been original songs to me firsthand before anything else (which is why I make such a point to be as non-referential as possible with the lyrics of said songs), but it's hard to be taken seriously because of that visually associative stigma. There's no shame, I assure you, but there is the desire to be something far greater than what I've often been associated with doing.
Now... the good news (and much shorter, at that): Short and to the point... I'm now taking commission work on VGen! I finally got a code to be able to accept work off the website. This includes instrumental work, jingles, and vocal tuning. Do with that information what you will! You can find a link to my VGen just below, here. I don't expect commissions to come flying in, at all, but I have a few slots open for various different services. Please take a look, if you're interested!

vgen.co/VictorMcKnight


Thank you for reading, and again, I'm very sorry for the silence on my end. I might be gone for, dare I say, a few more months. I'm now considering a lot of new options for myself that can better help me put my feet on the ground, again. I hope you're all having a wonderful 2026.

Much love,
VM

1 week ago | [YT] | 258

Victor McKnight

Hey, folks! I'm sorry for the silence on my end (as per usual). I'm starting a few original songs (outside of Sonic) that I'm genuinely very excited about. I kid you not, one of them will be utilizing a 9-string guitar. It feels as though I'm really dipping my toes into the full-blown metal genre, now. I don't think I've ever written songs this heavy, before!

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 182

Victor McKnight

Hey, folks - I'm going to be archiving all existing music related videos from ‪@VictorIRL‬ and re-uploading pretty much every single instrumental (and a cappellas, too - which would be new) to ‪@HouseOfMcKnightPublishing‬!

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 126

Victor McKnight

#SYSTEMF4ILURE

✅ 'REST4RT PROGR4M' SUCCESSFUL ✅
** REVIEWING L4ST KNOWN COMMAND... **
❌ PROXY INTERCEPTION DETECTED ❌
.-- .-. .. - .. -. --. / - --- / .-.. --- --.
❌ 4N UNEXPECTED ER4OR H4S OCCURRED ❌
❌ MISSING REQUIRED FILES FROM L4ST KNOWN B4CKUP. ❌
>> W4ITING FOR INPUT... <<

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 29

Victor McKnight

Victor McKnight is thinking, once more (dangerous):

I am not nearly in the realm of "top 'Sonic' fan music creator" by a longshot, nor do I really want to be labelled as a "Sonic creator" despite what the last few years have paved for me. I love Sonic, and I'm happy I can share what the series means to me with you folks. It's realistically becoming another "Bendy" situation for me where it is kind of becoming the thing I'm most-often associated with.
I feel as though, even with Sonic-inspired music nowadays, you really have to be niche and established in a sub-community to really take off again, here... and I'm not sure that's entirely for me! I got comments recently talking about how they wanted "Overdrive" to appear in this thing called "Outcome Memories" and it's the first time I've ever heard of that! Makes me feel old. 🤣
Then you have a ton of other Sonic-adjacent music creators here that are also collaborating with franchise-official veterans like I did. It really makes you think! Not that I'm the hipster of this idea, or anything, but... I have a lot of growing to do, and I'm probably not going to find it doing more Sonic-related works, outside of the usual personal fulfilment it provides me.
That in mind, I really do kind of want to try tackling different series throughout this year. What is my music career if not a constant financial and emotional risk? I think there's a lot of amazing VGM out there that's equally made an impact on me as a fan of videogames and music. So... I hope you folks will listen, when the time comes! I'm sorry that this year is starting out so slowly for me. I have personally made the investment into my next major project so I'm pretty tough on looking forward, right now. 🤣

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 189

Victor McKnight

#SYSTEMF4ILURE

❌ 4N UNEXPECTED ER4OR H4S OCCURRED. ❌
>> REST4RT PROGR4M TO CONTINUE <<

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 44

Victor McKnight

Hey, folks—thank you for all the well wishes, and again, my apologies for taking so long on this next admittedly short cover I’m putting together.
I’m popping in really quickly to announce that I’ve started adding a few disclaimers retroactively to my video descriptions, but I want it on the record once again to make things clear:
I do not and will not utilize or showcase any AI generated content on this channel. The very thought to me is against the foundation of art as a whole. This will also be emphasized on future uploads. I hate that I have to do clarify on this, but my discovering of an AI generated music channel putting out Sonic covers multiple times within a week really got under my skin.

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 260

Victor McKnight

Hey folks,

Minnesotan, here: I'm not going to go into the nitty gritty details of what's taking place here, but it's genuinely cost a heavy toll on my mental health as of late. It's also not just me. It's my friends and family in Minneapolis. I apologize for the lack of music. I really wish I could get back into the swing of things as always, but I'm finding myself waiting on collaborators to finish their parts, and whilst that happens, I'm kind of... left to my own devices just thinking about what to do with my time to get through this. I'm very lucky to be a stay-at-home person in the way that I am. It makes me fortunate. But it's still very difficult to avoid the news and keep a positive headspace all the time. It's made me feel strangely negligent to every obligation I feel I have.

With that in mind, please take care of yourselves and each other. I'll see you with new music as soon as I can.

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 382

Victor McKnight

Hey, folks! I'm currently re-opening music commission work for those who need it (and y'all can reach out to me on my website with the contact form), but after investing a large amount of money into a PC after my last one was crapping out... what better time for me to get a crazy huge opportunity for a future music project. Thing is... it also came up at a monetarily inopportune time. Sometimes, I shock myself with my ambition, and my wallet often can't keep up... so with that in mind...
Assuming you have no need or desire to commission me for music directly, I'm sharing my Ko-fi link with a funding goal for a pretty expensive future project. 😁 The project WILL happen, it's just that timing is everything! I wish I could talk about what this is all about, but I don't want to, quite yet! Under normal circumstances, I would be able to afford this expensive endeavor, but I figure with the emergency purchase I had to make a month back, I should swallow my pride. Please consider helping me out if you want to! 💙
ko-fi.com/victormcknight/goal

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 118