Musicman
Earth, 1999 AD.
People on Earth are freaking out about y2k and the fear of all electronic equipment shutting down or breaking. People were leaving voice recordings and written messages to the future of mankind out of fear that modern civilization was coming to an end. Coincidentally, right after the year struck 2000 AD, a massive solar flare wiped out all electronics. People of course thought the y2k glitch was at fault, since it was on everyone's mind at the time. In a society so intertwined with technology and the internet, people were now lost without it. Riots broke loose as people became outraged and scared. Earth had become a lawless, dystopian post-apocalyptic landscape, parallel to the purge.
The Solar System, 2081 AD.
Musicman was originally part of a band of alien pirates who scalp valuable resources from planets and sell them at a marked up price to planets that need it, essentially praying on the desperate and needy.
(To left: an image of what the alien pirates look like. They have off-white teeth and have a slightly darker complexion)
Originally, Musicman worked for these aliens and created augments and artillery for their endeavors. One day, he was tasked with creating an injectable computer chip that could augment one's abilities (such as speed, strength, etc.) He complied, and once he was finished developing it after months of research, he had moved onto testing.
Upon injecting the chip into his brain, he went through a painful process where he lost his eyes, his mouth, and morphed his head to a circular shape. The chip was at fault for all of this, having never been tested before on living subjects. The computer chip, as well as stripping him of all his senses, also made it so he could only hear sound coming from it. It outputs modular tracker music based off the user's brain inputs (essentially, the chip generates music based off emotions). All of the other aliens saw what used to be their ace scientist had become a mute and useless puppet. He could not talk, hear, or respond in any capacity and promptly booted him off the ship, sending him hurdling towards Earth.
In the universe Musicman exists in, earth was nothing but a barren wasteland decimated by the solar flare that struck Earth decades ago. There was no more humanity, just densely packed buildings slowly being engulfed by overgrown foliage. There was no more remanence of humans, only old cars, buildings, notes, and most importantly, music. Musicman eventually came across sample CDs and old synths/keyboards that survived over the years and decided to make use of them, finally being able to express himself freely by talking though samples and talkboxes, as well as being able to unleash all his musical ideas through the various instruments he had collected over time.
Other info:
His sunglasses were designed by himself before he transformed. They were a prototype commissioned by the aliens to augment a user's eyesight, providing better perception and allowing them to be taken off and moved freely while still seeing through them. The glasses have no arms and sort of gravitate/float about his head. The glare does not move side to side no matter how much light reflects off it. He is also only about 3'9, 4 inches shorter than his alien relatives due to the differences in head height.
History:
This character was made for a song I completed in 2019 and wanted to release onto Soundcloud, but I needed to make a quick image for the thumbnail. After not putting much thought behind it, I quickly whipped up this image in piskel to slap onto the cover. (as seen on right)
I guess it was supposed to be kinda like a stick figure version of Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles or something, I honestly don't know what I was thinking. But I just sorta forgot about him as a character of my own until way later (like 1 or 2 years). After that I repurposed him in an a cover image for an album I was making, giving him a smaller, more simple and cuter look. (as seen below)
After putting him on the album cover, I sort of claimed him as my own, choosing him to represent the music I make instead of myself. Its just a fun little sona of sorts to me now.