Interview with CocoeBiz September 16, 2004
Q. It seems you're incredibly busy these days now that you've started your own company. What do you think has been the biggest change, for good or for bad, since striking out on your own?
A. There are really a number of reasons I'm so busy right now. My roles as company president and as composer are so different, in order to reconcile them I constantly have to be able to change my entire mindset and figure out the best use of my time. But I think I've gotten better at it than before.
Q. And in the midst of all these work-related pressures, you're composing the score for Final Fantasy 12, a major production. You've composed Final Fantasy-related music before, but nothing, I think, for so huge and prominent a project as this. How do you feel about it, now that you've finished? Give us an inside story about the production.
A. Umm, actually I'm still working on FF12. (laughs) It's certainly a huge project but, if I might flatter myself, I always put the same amount of love into everything I work on, so the pressures I'm dealing with are about the same as normal. I will say that since FF12 has several different targets than FF Tactics or Tactics Advance, the music as a whole is easier to listen to.
As far as stories from behind the scenes go... Well, this team sure has a lot of heavy drinkers. There were many episodes that I still laugh just thinking about. Sorry, but it's not something I can write much about here. (laughs)
Q. You've also done the music for another big title, the new shooter Gradius V, which is personally a highly anticipated game of mine. What image did you have in mind while composing, and how did you go about it? Also, any impressions on the final work?
A. I also love Gradius and played it a lot, and I was heavily influenced by its music. It was a great honor for me to able to work on a title like this, but also very stressful. For Gradius V, I didn't really think about the previous music in the series. I was given specific requests for music styles from the client, so while keeping those in mind, I tried to work in my own personal images using my particular writing method.
Q. Anticipation for this game is also building overseas. Suppose you were offered work by a foreign client?
A. Any work I might be offered from English speaking circles thanks to the cooperation of CocoeBiz would always be welcome. I think we'd be able to handle commissions from non-English speaking foreign countries as well, so please discuss it.
Q. Do you have a message for your fans throughout the world?
A. It took 2 years for me to get my company off the ground, but the scope of our work is increasing bit by bit, so please support us whenever you see our names even in fields other than game music. Mr. Iwata and Mr. Namiki are constantly coming out with new work, so please check it out. Thank you very much.
Also I want to thank for the people who sent me fan email. I read every email and I appreciate them all, thank you.
From CocoeBiz: We also thank you all for your email to Mr. Sakimoto. We forward all email to him. We will have a Q & A page soon. Questions will be answered and will be put on the Q and A page. Usually, he doesn't answer to every fan email but he reads them all.
Interviewed & Interview Contents by Kahori Ezaki (CocoeBiz., L.L.C.)
Contents Translated by James McCawley.
Editorial Supervised by Kahori Ezaki (CocoeBiz., L.L.C.)
