Interview

Featured, Game Music, Interviews

Cosmic Star Heroine / HyperDuck Interview and Giveaway!

October 5, 2016 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on Cosmic Star Heroine / HyperDuck Interview and Giveaway! Share this

Earlier this week, we had the opportunity to catch up with everyone’s favorite Irish musical duo. Okay, maybe not everyone’s favorite … there are probably loads of Irish musical duos out there. But if we narrow it down to Irish VGM duos, it might be safer to say that Chris Geehan and Dan Byrne-McCullough of HyperDuck SoundWorks top the category.

In the past few years, their work on Dust: An Elysian Tail and Penny Arcade’s On The Rain-Slick Precipice Of Darkness 4 have defined their sound and given them a strong fanbase. In the following interview, we get set for what’s to come, as well as how you can win a free digital version of the upcoming Cosmic Star Heroine OST when it arrives (digitally, via Bandcamp) on December 7th of this year. (more…)
Miscellaneous

Watch Cutman Interview Brentalfloss while playing Mario Kart

July 19, 2015 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on Watch Cutman Interview Brentalfloss while playing Mario Kart Share this

When he’s not busy producing some of my favorite bangin’ video game remixes, DJ Cutman can be found playing through a ton of games on his YouTube channel. It’s here that he’s launched a new series called SmashTalk where he chats with other personalities from the gaming community while they play a competitive game.

The pilot episode features comedian/songwriter Brentalfloss and is as amusing as you’d expect for an interview conducted during a game of Mario Kart 8. Alongside complaints about red koopa shells there’s a good discussion about Brentalfloss’ academic education, his favorite childhood games and a message to others trying to break into the YouTube scene. He also lays out the history behind Wario while winning a race; the guy is talented. Check it out up above or over on YouTube.
Featured, Game Music, Interviews

OSV/RPGFan Team Interview: VGO Guests

November 14, 2012 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on OSV/RPGFan Team Interview: VGO Guests Share this OSV/RPGFan Team Interview: VGO Guests

[Left to right: Dennis Rubinshteyn, Patrick Gann, Noriyuki Iwadare, Damian Thomas, Hiroko Miyaji]

The four guest composers at the VGO show in Boston on October 7, 2012, each managed to squeeze into their busy schedules some time with myself and some of my old friends from RPGFan. Above you’ll find a photo we took with Noriyuki Iwadare and his own guest, Ms. Hiroko Miyaji (wife of the late Takeshi Miyaji, creator of Grandia).

Before you read the interview, try taking this pop quiz. For one of these composers, we ask about all the action one of their earliest work has seen in the “SQ” arrangement series. For another, they are surprised to learn we know what the game Esper Dream is. For yet another, we find out a peer composer they really admire and respect of late is Michiko Naruke. And finally, one of these composers talks about his partnership with a particular game designer who used to work for Square Enix and is now with Level-5. Can you match up these four composers properly *before* reading the interview?

After the jump, check out our short but informative interviews with each of the four guest composers. And be sure to check out RPGFan for their questions and respective answers from each of these VGM luminaries! (more…)
Featured, Game Music, Music Production

Original SoundCAST: Episode #014 (feat. Andrew “zircon” Aversa)

July 17, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 8 Comments Share this

To us, Andrew Aversa is one of the few people who really represents what game music is all about. That’s because, even in the past year, Andrew has shown himself as a force to be reckoned with on all fronts: AAA game music, indie game music, and fan-made arrangements.

In this episode, Brenna Wilkes and I talk with Andrew for a solid hour about his work on Globulous (which Brenna recently reviewed), on Soul Calibur V, and the super-funded Kickstarter campaign for the OCRemix album under his direction: Final Fantasy VI: Balance and Ruin. This last topic takes up over half of the episode, and it should! At the time we recorded this (Saturday), the campaign was at $60,000, 400% of the $15,000 goal. As I’m writing this post, they’re now at $75,000. I also got *this* in a Kickstarter Backer’s email:

What does that mean? Well, everyone who’s getting a physical copy of “Balance and Ruin” will also get a newly-printed, *all 4 disc* version of Final Fantasy VII: Voices of the Lifestream as well. That’s good stuff.

Anyway, listen to the episode to learn about everything zircon’s up to. And if you want even more podcast-delivered info on the Balance and Ruin project, please check out this great Nitro Game Injection “after-show” recording with Larry “Liontamer” Oji, which was just recorded on Sunday.

Download: Original SoundCAST Episode #014

If you want to know what BGM we have behind all that talk-talk-talk, click the “more” button. (more…)
Game Music, Music Production

One Musician To Another: Rafael Dyll Interview (Plus a Giveaway!)

July 10, 2012 | Brad Dyck | 1 Comment Share this

Today marks the release of the neo-retro Strategy RPG Rainbow Moon (eastasiasoft, PS3), and we have an interview with the game’s composer Rafael Dyll. He has embarked on his most ambitious project to date. Previously known for the trance influenced Söldner-X soundtrack, Dyll was tasked with creating the sonic environment for almost all of Rainbow Moon. Dyll was kind enough to speak with us about what it was like composing for Rainbow Moon, his start in the industry, and the current state of game composing!

Does this game, or its soundtrack, interest you? If so, be sure to head to Rafael’s facebook page, hit “like” to add yourself as a fan, and leave a comment saying that “OSV sent you.” Everyone who does this over the next two weeks will be entered in a drawing to win a signed copy of the Rainbow Moon Melodies soundtrack CD and a download coupon for the exclusive “Last Chapter Tracks” digital album download as well. So, if you like good/free stuff, get on that, and then join us after the jump for the interview! (more…)
Featured, Game Music

Arrangement of the Zelda Goddesses: Chad Seiter Interview

July 9, 2012 | Haroon Piracha | 7 Comments Share this

In the past couple of months, there have been a surge of concerts that have blown audiences away. This concert series is not a mixed bag of video game music like Video Games Live or PLAY! A Video Game Symphony, but focuses on one game series – The Legend of Zelda. Having been to many video game concerts myself, I have not run into an official video game concert where the music director actually arranged the music specifically for a 100+ piece orchestra. Not even the Final Fantasy concerts (“Dear Friends” “More Friends” “Distant Worlds”) hit that mark as they were (mostly) just live performances of arrangements made for previous albums. The music was always there, they just brought together musicians and perform the pieces live. But this is where The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of The Goddesses hits an entirely new realm of concerts for Americans: instead of ripping the music from the video game, or old work being replayed, why not arrange an entirely new piece for the audience?

Recently, I had a chance to talk with the man who arranged the music for these Zelda concerts, Chad Seiter, a man who has put a lot of hard work into the arrangements. I sat down with him at his concert at E3, he was nice enough to share his passion and love for what he called The legend of Zelda: Symphony of The Goddesses.

Read the interview after the Jump. (more…)
Chip Music, Experimental, Game Music

Explore Me, Kind Sir: Eirik “Phlogiston” Suhrke Interview

July 3, 2012 | Audun Sorlie | 3 Comments Share this

Eirik Suhrke might not be a name that rolls off the tongue, but for many years, this young man has been a central part to the chiptune community. In his early teens, Suhrke traversed the internet as Phlogiston, one of the brightest new minds in the chiptune scene. His style was indescribable, his passion undeniable, and his dedication unmatched, within just a few years, Suhrke had been one of the youngest to receive a release on 8bitpeoples, launched his own successful chiptune/video game soundtrack label service and performed live at Blipfest.

Today, he has taken the proper step into video game music, responsible for the music in Derek Yu’s smash hit Spelunky XBLA. So it is for that reason that we took the time to catch up with an old friend, and talk about his rise to fame, and his current projects.

Check out the interview after the jump (more…)