FFO: Chrono Trigger, Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout, Phantom Brave PC and Equip & R23X
Favourite Track : One Last Time
Eric took the time to answer a few questions we had. Heres what he had to say!
Q1: The last Sabotage Studio game that you composed for was The Messenger, a love letter to the 2D Ninja Gaiden games. At first glance Sea of Stars appears to be a clear love letter to Secrets of Mana. How much inspiration, if any, do you draw from those retro soundtracks when scoring your own?
A1:The Messenger is actually the first, and so far the only published Sabotage game as of this writing... and also the only full game soundtrack I've ever composed (and done SFX for)! I'd wager to say Sea of Stars is more of a love letter to Chrono Trigger, but you're not wrong in that it is influenced by all of the classic JRPGs of that era. My own inspiration is most certainly drawn from the soundtracks of the games to which we're paying homage... but in the same way we're attempting to improve upon and modernize the gameplay of the retro games we love, while still paying proper respects, I try to put a modern spin on the music as well with a very retro-forward sound blended with modern production. Retro game soundtracks are so catchy because they absolutely had to be, there was so little to work with in terms of technical limitations, it really puts all the focus on the composition.
Q2: How much Influence do you think video games have on the current Metal scene overall?
A2: Almost every metalhead I know is a gamer, so you'd think in between all that gaming and making music some of it would rub off... I know videogames as a medium and art form has really inspired and elevated a lot of other art forms, getting people to really raise the bar on everything they do in terms of quality and storytelling.
Q3: You play drums in the well loved and established death metal project Nekrogoblikon. In 2018 you released the the video for "Dressed as Goblins" directed by the legendary Brendon Small. Was that a galvanizing moment in your career?
A3: "Well loved" is debatable, and if all it takes to become "established" is to "exist for 15+ years" then sure we're pretty established haha. I dunno about galvanizing because we're just doing stuff and making stuff, and it's not like he did it for free just because he likes us that much... we hired him because we wanted him, but he was interested in the project enough to take it on and come up with lots of cool ideas. He was super nice and really fun and easy to work with, I think it came out really well.
Q4: What's the last game you played?
A4: I'm super late to the PS4 party but I'm currently enjoying God of War and FF7 remake, beautiful games.
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