A Dragon Quest Best Dance Mix Approaches: Interview with Electronic Artist Dragonfly

I think many of you are still scratching your heads about this one. After the mixed reaction that people had to the Final Fantasy Remix album (which I happened to enjoy), here we are with a remix album from the “other” RPG titan. The music appears to be more traditional this time around, although I’ve only heard two clips from the albums’ 10 tracks. You can check out the samples on the album’s official website.

It was announced that electronic artist dragonfly would be handling the remixes for this album, and we’ve been fortunate enough to catch up with him to ask how this project came about and how he created the music. We also talk about the possibility of another Dragon Quest Best Dance Mix album, and what he has planned for the future.

Gather up some puff puffs and read our interview with dragonfly after the jump.

While the album is out in Japan, you can still hit up the official website for some samples if you’re interested.

OSV: Dragonfly, thanks for taking the time to speak with us regarding your work on the Dragon Quest Best Dance Mix album. We haven’t seen your name associated with game music in the past, so we were hoping you could start by telling us a little about your musical background and how you came to work on this album? Was it your idea, or were you approached by somebody to work on these remixes?
dragonfly: I had actually already remixed both “Overture” and “Heavenly Flight” from Dragon Quest VIII, and wanted to release these two tracks, but later when we were discussing this possibility we decided to make an entire album!

OSV: What was your overall approach to the music? Given that all the source material is traditional orchestral music, did you have any difficulty reimaging the tracks in an electronic style?
dragonfly: I make most of my music by transforming a variety of genres into an electronic style. I think techno music is somewhat related to classical music because both of them were started in Europe. I also think that since the original compositions are so wonderful, they sound great in any sort of style or arrangement. So I enjoyed working on this music.

OSV: The Dragon Quest series is a huge deal in Japan. Having listened to the samples on the site, your work does sound drastically different in some cases. Were you worried at all about alienating the series’ hardcore fans with some of these remixes?
dragonfly: I wasn’t worrying about that when I was working on the album. I tried hard to keep the original melody line intact while translating them into dance beat music.

OSV: We have to ask, are you a fan of the Dragon Quest series yourself? Were you responsible for picking the tracks for the album, or were you told which tracks to remix? If you did choose, how did you go about picking your favorite tracks to remix?
dragonfly: Yes, I’m a big fan of the Dragon Quest series. I was able to pick a number of my favorite tracks from the series, and after receiving lots of advice, came up with the final track list. The tracks I chose were my favorite ones when I was playing the games. Later, I listened to the music again and got inspiration from the music.

OSV: Given that there are only 10 tracks on the album, are there perhaps remixes that you created that didn’t make their way onto the CD? Do you see a potential for a Dragon Quest Best Dance Mix II if this album is successful?
dragonfly: I think that Dragon Quest Best Dance Mix is the first and the last album. But if this work is successful, and if given the chance, I would like to make another one.

OSV: Now that you’re finished with the album, I’m wondering if it has turned you on to the game music industry in Japan. Perhaps you were already a fan, but tell us your thoughts on game music, and if you’re interested in pursuing similar projects in the future.
dragonfly: I haven’t decided yet, but I’d like to try remixing some other music out there along with music outside of video games.

OSV: There are a lot of electronic musicians around the world who are always interested in hearing what kinds of software that other artists use. Would you tell us what sorts or tools (software, synthesizers, etc.) you used to create the music on Dragon Quest Best Dance Mix?
dragonfly: For this album, I used synthesizers to make my own custom sounds in an attempt to give the music a human touch and have new sounds that hadn’t been heard before. I make it a rule to make “timbre” by myself. To create these “humane” sounds, I used analogue synthesizers and softsynths to make my new sounds. I especially liked using my ROLAND JP8000 to make mellow timbres. This one is very good for translation for harmonics, filters, envelopes, effects, gaps of the saw wave and so on. I also used “re FX Vanguard,” a softsynth , to make the main melody lines and most of the base parts. As for the beats, I used the VENGEANCE ESSENTIAL series to create a united sound, then finally ran everything through EQ and compressors. As for the DAW, I used Cubase SX3..

OSV: Would you like to tell our readers where they can find out more information about you and your music, and perhaps what you’ll be working on next?
dragonfly: Yes. Please feel free to visit my official website here: http://sound.jp/dragon-fly/index.htm.

For now, I’d like to relax and work on my own music and enjoy DJing and other live activities along with doing some other remix projects. Thank you very much for your interest in me and my work on Dragon Quest Best Dance Mix.