Social media helps launch quirky projects. For XSPONGEXCOREX, a SpongeBob Squarepants themed metal band, it is a shining example of a  floundering idea turned into a whale of an adventure thanks to  the vast ocean that is the World Wide Web.

Are you ready, kids?

XSPONGEXCOREX is a one man music project founded and performed by 22-year-old Neil Schneider from Troy, NY. Schneider originally hatched his remixes off the popular Nickelodeon cartoon for his personal enjoyment.

“[The project] was random,” he said. “In Troy, there isn’t much to do, so a lot of times I would just sit at my computer and make rhythmic sounds.”

Schneider explained that these sounds are part of the “breakdown” of a band’s song that he would create. In terms of metal music, a breakdown focuses on slow drum beats that are complimented with chugging guitar rhythms. Schneider drew inspiration composing these breakdowns to create the sound  of XSPONGEXCOREX.

“I was working and just made a quick 50 second breakdown,” he said, “and my friend told me ‘all I can think of is SpongeBob’s laugh in this.’ After we made the breakdown, we both lost our minds and thought ‘this is beautiful.’”

After creating a few mixes and publishing them on the XSPONGEXCOREX BandCamp site, Schneider didn’t think that his small project would grow in popularity until one of his friends encouraged him to launch it on social media.

“I made this as a thing for me and my friends to laugh at,” he said, “and one of my friends went ‘dude you got to make a Facebook page about this.’”

Currently, XSPONGEXCOREX’s Facebook profile has a over 13,500 “likes.” The project also received attention from various Rock and Metal news outlets including Metal Sucks, Metal Injection, and Alternative Press.

The added exposure helped Schneider’s mission to donate all of the money earned from XSPONGEXCOREX’s albums to charity.

Schneider began his donation mission after releasing his first EP “How Tough are Ya?” in 2014. The charities that he donates to include the Little Kids Rock charity, the Make a Wish Foundation, the Fender Music Foundation, and the Hungry for Music children’s charity. According to a recent interview with Music Notes Review, Schneider has  donated roughly $1900.

Recently, he mentioned on the XSPONGEXCOREX Facebook page that the project’s third and most recent EP “Bold and Thrash” garnered over $525, to which he donated all proceeds to the Hungry for Music children’s charity.

These charities — especially the Little Kids Rock, Hungry For Music, and the Fender Music Foundation focus on providing aspiring child musicians with resources and instruments to cultivate musical talent.

“People usually donate to charity because they want to help, so I want to donate and help [kids] jumpstart their music careers,” he said.

Musically, XSPONGEXCOREX is very simple. Where it lacks in musical creativity and diversity due to the sameness of rhythms and tones, it succeeds in well-timed SpongeBob audio clips that will make you laugh like a goofy goober with every listen.

As for a performing a live show, Schneider is cautiously considering going from online to on stage.

“I would love to,” Schneider said. “I would have people say to me, ‘dude, I would so want to see a XSPONGEXCOREX show,’ but it would take a lot of hard work.”

He said generating studio music for a live venue was one likely complication.

“It’s a lot of time to make [the show] happen and make [the music] sound that good,” He said. “You got to make it sound really good.”

Schneider also mentioned that he was unsure of how many people would actually attend the show. However, given Schneider’s current popularity, he is certain that the best location to perform his first local show would be at Bogies in Albany, NY.

On top of creating, mixing, promoting, and distributing the music, Schneider  manages his own merchandise department for XSPONGEXCOREX on Store Envy. Despite running the whole business himself, Schneider  continues his quest to help others through the powers of music.

“It’s overwhelming, but overwhelming in a good way,” he said.

Be sure to drop on the deck and flop like a fish to XSPONGEXCOREX’s latest single “Look At It” off of the “Bold and Thrash” EP.

Alex Lindsay can be reached at [email protected]u and on twitter on @thatjournalist1