signalcon 2026: An Interview With 直子coed

July 16, 2026 5 Min Read

Signalcon 2026 took place over this last weekend and pretty much everyone agrees it was a huge success. Having watched and thoroughly enjoyed almost all of the packed 3 days myself, I couldn’t stop thinking about it over the past couple days. This was my second signalcon and I’ve gotten especially involved with the scene over the last 9 months. I genuinely believe that signalwave (in particular as it is organized through the Signalwave Discord server) represents the best artistic and creative output in Vaporwave right now. And this year’s festival particularly backs up this assertion, featuring a diverse collection of old and new artists covering every facet of the signalwave gemstone. The audience seemed to agree, as the viewership averaged around the 60s across the whole schedule and the chat room was almost too busy to keep up with.

In this interview with signalcon organizer and everyone’s favorite homie, 直子coed, we learn more about the work and vision that goes into organizing such a successful festival and showcasing the talent within the scene. As always, Naoko drops plenty of names and homies along the way, as well as giving out some advice to potential newcomers.

How much work goes into signalcon and what is your process for figuring out the schedule? Is there anyone you want to shout out for helping?

直子coed: I start planning for signalcon months in advance! I open submissions very early, so homies have lots of time to prepare their sets. As soon as sets start coming in, the schedule starts to take shape!

I see signalcon like a giant movie. Each set is a new scene added to the movie! The more sets we have, the clearer my vision for what the movie will be like.

For example, this year, once we got the sets of victory over death and טסרקט, I knew the movie could begin with a surreal, cinematic opening! Once we got the sets of crispy_doodles and Abel Project, I decided on a comfy, nostalgic section for the finish of day 1! I would like to shout out these homies, as well as all the other homies who sent in their sets early. They really helped the vision of signalcon take shape!

Speaking of vision, I would like to shout out too the amazing visual artists who made visuals for the fest. Big thank you to [carteBlanche], ishiiburidai 石井ぶり台, ｔｅｐｈ　ｃｏ. 愛, B O R T media, obzsin, Pool Plants, AnotherBubblebath, Dez and DinkiePie for helping bring signalcon to life!

How do you compare this year’s signalcon to previous iterations?

直子coed: signalcon 2026 is the biggest signalcon so far! We have 63 sets, and many sets were made by a team of homies. I am so happy that so many homies came together for this beautiful event. The first signalcon in 2023 was two days and 24 sets. Now, the fest is a giant three-day extravaganza!

How does signalcon reflect the state of the signalwave scene and the larger vaporwave community?

直子coed: Right now, signalwave is on the rise. We always have new homies joining the community and sharing their personal interpretations of signalwave! The signalhomies are very open-minded and like to try new things, so the genre is always growing in fun, unexpected ways. signalcon is the perfect showcase of this growth. Every year, the fest is getting more imaginative and experimental!

At first, signalcon was mainly TV commercials. Now, signalcon includes documentaries, video games, lots of anime, travel footage, rave footage and epic movies! Especial shout out to LAPA, Strmi, sekkar, oundvikligt ∞, Gate电视, EAST ACCESS andＰＣＰエンジェルダストfor bringing super unique and fun concepts to signalcon this year.

Thanks to our unique concepts and our beautiful music, the signalhomies are becoming a big part of the vapor community! Homies like channel 71, victory over death, ｔｅｐｈ　ｃｏ. 愛, Mary K Ashley, ishiiburidai 石井ぶり台, itachiツクヨミ, Cinematic Sequences and Mom and Dad’s Computer are very beloved in the wider vaporwave world. Tons of vaporhomies enjoy signalcon, either attending or performing! Shout out to Pad Chennington, FIJI島の水, [carteBlanche], solodolo84, crispy_doodles, B O R T media, Tetrax Unlimited, MakeMistakes, oneyearexperiment, Rudedog and 0ngαku Moԃkәү for being part of the fest this year. I am so happy to see how signalcon brings everyone together!

Do you think there were any trends in this year’s submissions? Was there anything you saw that seemed “new”?

直子coed: The homies brought so many fun ideas to signalcon this year! I loved to see so many anime visuals, from homies like 年代, solodolo84, ishiiburidai 石井ぶり台, Pool Plants, Dez and FIJI島の水.

A big new trend is lots of beautiful signalambient. We had super fun soundscapes from homies like victory over death, Sideris, УВБ-76 and 幽霊.

There was lots of footage filmed by the artists themselves! ＧｒａｐｈｉｃＣｏｍａ and ＡＳＴAdvantage filmed gorgeous landscape footage for their sets.

ＳｕｉｔｅＢ, Dub Prophet, Suop, Dream World Deluxe, channel 71 and Jusmix brought big classic vapor vibes too!

Also, there were some fun uses of formless, abstract visuals. Homies like Toadofsky, sekkar and 恐ろしい幻影 made us wonder what we were looking at and really sparked our imaginations!

Do you have any ideas yet about next year’s festival?

直子coed: As soon as I start getting sets, I will start having ideas! One thing I know though: the signalhomies are super imaginative and talented, and they will make the next signalcon amazing!

What do you say to someone who wants to join the signalwave community?

直子coed: I remember when I was first starting to make signalwave. I had a very personal, unusual interpretation of signalwave, and I did not know if the homies would understand it. But now, I know that the signal community is full of homies who feel the same way as me. We all come from different backgrounds and different life experiences, and so, we each bring a unique perspective to the genre!

Signalwave is a genre with no correct definition. Every signalhomie is welcome to interpret it in their own way! This is how the genre is always expanding and our community is too. We are always open to new ideas, and so, there are no boundaries to signalwave!

If you make music that you feel has a signalwave vibe, we would love to have you in the signal community! We love supporting each other, growing our music skills together and celebrating each other’s successes. In the signalwave community, I’ve found lots of homies who enjoy my personal, unusual music. If you join the signalwave community, I’m sure you will too!