It’s often said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. For Vancouver dance-punk band Fake Shark-Real Zombie!, this cliché holds true in the world of music-based video games.

“I don’t know why, but you haven’t really lived until you’ve heard a kid with a Russian accent try to sing ”˜Running for the Razors’,” singer Kevin Maher told the Georgia Straight by phone. “It was the most surreal thing, seeing people butcher my vocals.”

Fake Shark-Real Zombie! is one of a handful of Canadian music acts selling versions of their songs through the Rock Band Network. The on-line service is available for use with the games Rock Band and Rock Band 2, developed by Harmonix Music Systems.

“It’s kind of like the iTunes for Rock Band,” Will Littlejohn told the Straight by phone. Littlejohn is CEO of the California-based music-production studio WaveGroup Sound, which helps artists get onto the network. “It’s another pathway into the Rock Band environment,” he said.

While the original Rock Band store allows users to download additional Harmonix-produced songs, the Rock Band Network features tracks produced independently of Harmonix. The network launched on the Xbox 360 in March and came to the PlayStation 3 in April. Smaller bands have been quick to embrace it, and the catalogue has already grown to more than 290 tracks, with new songs being added every week.

“It’s a worldwide thing, and I think that it’s more interactive than just listening to it [a song] on MySpace,” Maher said of the network. “Right now, it’s really the best way to do it, because anybody can download it [the songs] anywhere, the artist still gets a little something in their pockets, and who doesn’t like Rock Band?”

With their four-track EP Angel Lust available for download, Fake Shark-Real Zombie! had more tracks on the Rock Band Network when it launched than any other artist.

The band isn’t the only Canadian act represented. Finger Eleven, Silverstein, and the Stills all have tracks available on the network.

Closer to home, Vancouver’s own saviours of metal, 3 Inches of Blood, also have a track for download, their 2009 single “Battles and Brotherhood”.

“There’s a reason we made that song the single. It’s a quick-driving, faster song, it’s a catchy song, and it’s got a bit of exposure already, so it made sense,” 3 Inches of Blood singer Cam Pipes told the Straight by phone. He noted that the speed of the song “really adds to the challenge level, from a video-game perspective”.

Despite only having one song available on the network, Pipes is more than happy with the response the band has received so far.

“Even one is cool enough, because now there are people who are sending us their YouTube footage of themselves playing our song on Rock Band and getting 100 percent, which is great,” he said, laughing.

Maher also enjoys seeing videos of fans attempting to play his band’s songs. “We almost feel bad because there’s a lot of drum overdub that humans couldn’t possibly play, and it’s funny watching people give themselves seizures trying to play it,” he said.

While gamers may struggle to play some of the songs from the Rock Band Network, bands can also find it difficult to convert their songs into the required format.

The process is long, and includes splitting a song into instrument-specific tracks called stems, then charting each instrument four times, for each level of difficulty. All in all, there are 16 different tracks to be created for each song. Lastly, it’s up to the band to set the price of the song, anywhere between $1 and $3.

Bands may find this process too labour-intensive to handle themselves, which is why a number of studios offer track-authoring services.

Littlejohn’s WaveGroup is one such studio, but it’s been in the business longer than most others.

“We were part of the original Guitar Hero—we put that together with RedOctane and Harmonix,” Littlejohn said, noting that his studio worked on the first four Guitar Hero games. Regarding the Rock Band Network, he said, “It was kind of a natural production for us to move into, given that we’ve done a lot of support audio for these games over the years.”

Besides 3 Inches of Blood, WaveGroup has worked with Gov’t Mule, Reverend Horton Heat, and Steve Vai to get their songs onto the network. But for smaller bands without the means to hire a studio to author a track, Littlejohn says there’s no reason to despair.

“I think that anybody can do it,” he said. “If you have a lot of time on your hands and you’re willing to learn the process, you can do it. I really believe that. It’s a level playing field. There’s no major barrier when it comes to equipment—some free software, a computer, and you can basically do it if you put the time in.”

Littlejohn encourages all bands looking to reach a new audience to put their songs on the Rock Band Network, saying that it represents the next step in music distribution.

Maher agrees. “I really do think it’s kind of the future of musicians actually making some money off of their art,” he said. “So, I’m completely stoked about it.”