Meet the Artist Transforming Birmingham through PS1 Visuals

Low-poly, high impact – Kyle Hill turns Birmingham into a PS1 fever dream

In the most recent addition to our “Loading…” interview series, I chat to Kyle Hill (@_kyjhi), a West Midlands based artist and music producer who has quickly gained notoriety on social media for recreating Birmingham and utilising a low-poly visual style reminiscent of the PS1.

His combination of taking real life spaces in Birmingham and transforming them via Blender into something that captures the gaming scene of the early 2000s has connected with thousands of people in the West Midlands and beyond.

As someone originally from the West Midlands, it’s an area that doesn’t get a lot of love or representation. I myself have a love-hate relationship with it, even though it will always be home. However, when I saw Kyle’s work on Instagram (@_kyjhi), it was wonderful to see these familiar places intertwined with pure gaming nostalgia, and it was a pleasure to talk with Kyle about his creative process behind his work.

Can you tell G.URL a little bit more about yourself? Where are you based?

My name is Kyle, and I’m a 3D artist, photographer, and music producer based in the West Midlands. On social media, I go by the name @_kyjhi. I’m all about underground culture and I’ve always been into art, photography, music, graff, skating you name it.

I originally started using Blender as a way to create low-poly, PS1-style visuals for some Jungle and UK Garage tracks I produced. I wanted some underground, nostalgic, gritty visuals to match my music. I quickly became obsessed with creating 3D art in Blender. This side project has taken over all my other hobbies recently and become my main creative focus.

What are the specific games or consoles that inspire your style?

Even though my style leans more towards the PS1, I’d say it all started with the N64. Being a child in the late 90s/early 2000s, my older brother introduced me to a lot of games, but the ones that stood out the most were Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Banjo-Kazooie, GoldenEye, and Perfect Dark. I remember being amazed by these colourful 3D worlds; these memories have always stuck with me.

I didn’t play much on the PlayStation back then unless I was staying over at my mate’s house. As I got older, I remembered how much fun I had playing these old games, so I decided to explore the ones that I didn’t get to play. This led to me falling in love with the graphical styles of PS1 titles such as Silent Hill, Resident Evil, and Parasite Eve (the list is endless).

As we are on the topic of inspiration, I have to mention Dwnstate, Moofju, Vicestrella.psd, and Jasper.golding. These are a bunch of talented artists who make some quality content and definitely had an impact on my work.

What is it about nostalgia and low-poly art that you’re drawn to?

Some people appreciate imperfections, and I’m one of those people. Especially in an era where most films and games are shot and produced in the highest level of detail possible, we keep striving to make things more realistic. But in this pursuit of realism, I feel we have replaced emotion and creativity with visual quality. Low-poly art strips all that realism away and brings us back to a simpler time where atmosphere and emotion were the main focus.

Do you see your aesthetic evolving? Maybe by recreating other cities in the same way?

I’m very familiar with Birmingham, so it’s worked out naturally as I know a lot of the spots and the inside jokes. But yes, I’d love to start creating some other cities and pushing myself to create some other forms of content, I do get a lot of comments asking me to do so. I think it will come in good time.

Would you ever like to recreate the style of other consoles or games?

Creating some videos in the graphical style of the N64 games I mentioned earlier would be a new challenge for me, and it’s something I have thought about doing a few times. Games such as Zelda and Banjo-Kazooie have a completely different aesthetic to what I normally like to create, so I think it would push me out of my comfort zone in a good way. Experimenting with those vibrant colours and textures would probably open up a whole new creative path.

Why do you think your audience is so drawn to your work?

I think a lot of people immediately recognise the locations in Birmingham. It’s interesting to see a familiar place, especially when it looks like a game that was made over 20 years ago. I reckon it makes people feel nostalgic, which I always find interesting because nostalgia creates this sense of happy sadness or sad happiness. It’s almost like it puts you in a dream-like state.

Some find it relaxing and comforting, whereas others feel uncomfortable. I’ve experienced nostalgia while watching old videos from way before my time, feeling attached to something I’ve never even lived through. So, I’d like to think the audience who aren’t familiar with Birmingham have the same feelings.

Are there any challenges in using Blender when creating your work? Or on the other hand, advantages?

I’ve had my ups and downs with Blender, especially at the start. I actually uninstalled it twice in frustration, but eventually, I came back and got it doing exactly what I wanted. Creating low-poly art always looks easy from the outside, but it definitely comes with a few challenges, finding a balance between simplicity and detail is a tough one, as is making objects actually look like something while keeping the poly count low.

Luckily, we have a lot of resources available online, which is great.. plenty of plugins and add-ons that can be put straight into Blender.

What’s fun about recreating areas of Birmingham? Can we expect to see the infamous Maccies on the ramp next?

It’s really enjoyable to make some places that I’m familiar with in this graphical style. Once the scene is animated and rendered out from Blender and I start adding audio, it’s very satisfying watching it really come to life.

I know Birmingham does have a lot of downsides, but I feel like it doesn’t get enough love as it deserves, being the second city. So, it does feel good to get people hyped up about seeing places they probably walk past every single day.

I love reading the comments that my audience leaves, and I know Maccies on the ramp has become a popular request that’s spawned a few little Easter eggs in the videos as well. I might make it one day, but personally, I think as infamous as the McDonald’s on the ramp may be, Birmingham has a whole lot more culturally significant and meaningful places that I can include in my artwork before I create a render of the world’s largest fast-food chain.