These are some friends, acquaintances, and mutuals I've known through the years of being in the indie game scene. The line between heroes and friends is beautifully blurred in my life. All of these artists have great music, games and/or other art worth checking out.
Andrei Eremin - Andrei is the master producer and secret weapon behind artists like Closure in Moscow, Haitus Kaiyote, Oscar Key Sung, Chet Faker, Kllo, and many more. He is also a good friend who never fails to keep in touch. He has taught me that kindness, not just skill, is what will determine your success in any given industry.
If you're a musician and you're not working with Andrei, you're missing out.
Noah Eadie - Noah is a brilliant graphic artist, with a beautifully gritty style of visual art. He makes excellent comics, album art, and character/weapon designs for his unique tabletop game Kill Sector.
I particularly love his one-panel comic Sid. Consider recruiting him for your next album cover!
Zane Batson - Zane is the most underrated indie game developer of our time. His art style is unique and singularly his own. If you ever get a chance to work with him, you are blessed. He is the Lorne Lanning of our generation.
cly5m aka "tapeworm" - tapeworm, as the founder of GMG and creator of Seiklus, is the calm elder statesman of the art-game scene. He has been an inspiration since my youth, and his site is a legendary hub for game developers.
I am proud to say he is also a great acquaintance. He is what every game developer should strive to be - a good playtester.
Harrison Lemke - Harrison is an inspiration among indie gamedev peers who are also excellent composers. I consider him an important contemporary of the scene. I particularly love his music, especially his old chiptune classics, but you should definitely check out his games too.
Allison J. James - Allison became a titan among the indie game scene through years of diligently creating fonts, which now total over a thousand, and have been used by every franchise imaginable. Her work is ubiquitous, and watching her grow has been one of the most satisfying, humbling story arcs I've witnessed in the indie game scene.
Go check out her +200 games like Nildigo and Innoquous 5, and if you're ever need good fonts, check out her collection first.
Juju Adams - Juju is a knowledgeable programmer and longtime guru for novice game developers. He has provided assistance to indie hits such as Deltarune, Hyper Light Drifter, Shovel Knight and more. He is also one hell of a bassist. He is always looking for new talent to pass his knowledge onto. Hit him up if you are an up-and-coming game developer!
Reidd Maxwell - Reidd is best known for making Pokemon fangames inspired by popular creepypasta (internet horror stories). He is the mastermind behind Lost Silver and Cursed Black, two of the scariest Pokemon fangames ever made. He is now working on Pokemon: Strangled Red, based off the original creepypasta!
Mordi - Martin, aka "Mordi", makes some of the most enjoyable video game-inspired music you can find. His early instrumental pieces will always hold a special place in my heart. He is now a freelance audio designer that you should definitely consider working with!
Eden Simmons - Eden is a skilled composer and lyricist. She is now a DJ who writes great electronic music. Check her out!
Maddy Thorson - You know Maddy as the creator of Celeste. But those of us from the early indie game scene recall her pioneering the precision platformer genre with the Jumper series in the early 2000s, long before games like Super Meat Boy existed. Some of my earliest games from that time were Jumper clones.
Don't sleep on Maddy's early games, like Jumper Two or An Untitled Story. They're as enjoyable as her new ones, with a rawness and innocence that I personally favor over the very polished style of modern indie games.
Shawn Noel - The meteoric one. He created some of the greatest indie games before the scene even got big. No one's games are as synonymous with the word "fun" like Shawn64's games. Gone but never forgotten.
Kimberly Kubus - The original avant-garde game developer. The Johnny games pioneered unconventional gameplay and aesethetics. At 36 games total, it is the longest-running game series from the early gamedev scene. Few were ever as unhindered, unrestrained, and truly original in their approach to game design as him.