Interview with CocoeBiz May 24, 2006
Q. Mr. Sakimoto, you were joined by both Mr. Masaharu Iwata and Mr. Hayato Matsuo, both who have worked with you on many projects in the past, in the production of Final Fantasy XII. How does it feel working together as the famed 'Ogre Trio' once again? How many and, if possible, what compositions were both Mr. Iwata and Mr. Matsuo responsible for?
A. I planned to recreate the 'Ogre Battle Trio'. We have been musical colleagues since we worked on Ogre Battle, so I felt an enormous amount of pleasure to work with them on the same project again. Mr. Iwata was responsible for 2 tracks, and Mr. Matsuo was for 7 tracks (I'm sorry that I can't answer what they composed, I can't inform more than Aniplex provides). You can see their contributions in the soundtrack, so I'd like you to check it.
From CocoeBiz (Edited on 30/5/06): After the release of the Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack, the linear notes state Mr. Iwata composed "The Sochen Cave Palace" and "The Feywood". Mr. Matsuo composed "Riot", "Abyss", "The Dreadnought Leviathan Bridge", "Challenging the Empire", "Seeking Power", "Ground of Recollection", and "The Forgotten Capital".
Q. Mr. Matsuo orchestrated both opening and ending themes in Final Fantasy XII, and is also the first time in a mainstream Final Fantasy game where the series' orchestrator, Shiro Hamaguchi, was not responsible for the orchestrations. Was there any intention of using Hamaguchi or was Mr. Matsuo the original choice?
A. We decided to adopt an external orchestrator for a reason of time. Mr. Matsuo is my old friend, so we can understand each other easily, and what is more, he is the best orchestrator I know. I haven't thought of other choices.
Q. When working on Final Fantasy XII, you also composed the music to Fantasy Earth -Ring of Dominion-, co-composed the music to Atlus' Stella Deus, as well as composing the music to vocalist Lia's album 'Colours of Life'. Do you find it difficult to multitask on various projects? Do you think having a full schedule affects consistency of your many projects?
A. Time must be limited in every work, so I will do what I can when I'm needed. Speaking about various compositions, actually, I feel it is easier to work on various projects with different concepts than working on multiple projects that are similar. I guess new ideas occur when I rejuvenate myself with taking a break or changing a viewpoint.
Q. In the near future, we will get the chance to listen to your compositions on a new Mistwalker project, ASH on Nintendo DS. How is this going? Will you be busy with projects every minute of this year?
A. Currently, 7 projects are in progress which I'm involved in. But I don't know whether the promotions of these projects have begun, and the production of games are often extended, like FF12, so there are no products that I can declare that will be released this year. (laughs). I think ASH is a project big enough to begin an early promotion. Besides ASH, I composed several tracks in an action game, and so forth. Though these compositions will not be talked about very much, I will be glad if you listen to them.
Q. Thank you for taking a moment out of your unbelievably busy schedule and answering these questions! Are there any words you'd like to mention to your overseas fans?
A. Hello everyone who loves games and music. Both games and music can leap language barriers, and I'm truly glad to meet you living all over the world with game music. Some non-game products will be released this and the following year; please listen to them if you are interested. These will have some extraordinary features, so please look forward to them in the future!
Interviewed, Interview Contents & Translation Supervised by Harry Simons.
Contents Translated by Kago.
Editorial Supervised by Kahori Ezaki (CocoeBiz., L.L.C.)
