Interview with Nobuo Uematsu

He travelled to Sweden to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Final Fantasy series by attending the world premiere of the Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy tour. On December 4, 2007 we got the chance to talk to Nobuo Uematsu some hours before the concert in Stockholm was about to begin.

Can you describe your childhood?

- I was just a normal child, growing up in a family without any musical background. I didn’t go to any music school, but we had a piano at home so I started to learn to play by myself.

What did your parents work with?

- My father was a teacher and my mother a housewife.

So, how did you come up with all these memorable melodies later in life?

- I think it is a lot of inspiration! It is not based on any knowledge.

What are you doing when you are not composing music?

- I like to cook food.

Is that every video game composer’s hobby? Akira Yamaoka said the same.

- I’m sorry that I have the same hobby as him (laughs)! We have a lot in common. At this moment, I’m renovating my new house and at the same time Yamaoka-san is doing the same back at his home. Sometimes he sends e-mails to me telling me about his house planning.

So you are good friends?

- Yes, we were for example recently talking about building a private studio.

Together?

No, at each of our houses.

I know you’re always getting this question, but how is it going with the third Black Mages album?

- Yes, I get that question very often, but I would now like to promise to people that the album will be released in March 2008.

So, it is decided then?

- Yes, in my heart! I have so many reasons to be finished in time.

You are very welcome to perform with The Black Mages in Sweden.

- The problem is that no one has invited us yet!

I have to fix that.

Yes, you have to. I will of course give you any discount you want on the ticket price (laughs)!

How did you come up with the idea of composing an opera piece for a Super NES game?

- The Final Fantasy VI development team had an idea to put an opera scene in the game. Yoshinori Kitase wrote the lyrics for it and I was asked to compose the music.

How did you approach the challenge of composing an opera piece?

- It was very interesting, because I had never listened to opera music when I was asked. I didn’t have any knowledge on composing such a piece, so I did it in my own style. When Dragon Quest composer Koichi Sugiyama found out about the opera part in Final Fantasy VI he called and asked me why he hadn’t been told about this great idea earlier, so that we could have worked together on it (laughs)!

If you got the chance to compose music for any game you like, what would you choose?

- I personally do not like violent games, so maybe an education game for children. I like very dramatic stories, but in general I am open to new projects.

In 1994 you released your first and only solo album, Phantasmagoria. Would like to do something similar in the future?

- I have this idea for a solo album, using only acoustic traditional instruments. Whenever I get the chance to do this, I will do it. I just need more freetime.

How was it to compose the music to Final Fantasy VI?

- It was probably one of the best times of my carrier and I was very excited. As Final Fantasy VI was released as the third game in the series on the Super NES, the team had a lot of experience. The composition phase was wonderful and I could work very smoothly. And as of today, I often get requests for music from Final Fantasy VI to be performed on concerts.

Yes, an orchestration of “Ending Theme“ from Final Fantasy VI would be wonderful to hear live.

- I think your idea is interesting! Since the ending theme is quite long, we could orchestrate it and then collect the ending theme from each game in the series and make a concert or CD out of them. I have to ask Arnie Roth about this!

Yes, talk to him and also tell him that we want a fully orchestrated Final Fantasy VII soundtrack.

- Would you be a sponsor?

Yes, of course (laughs)! If it isn’t too costly. As a conclusion, can you tell us about the transition of composing for the NES and then proceeding to the Super NES?

- Thanks to the increased number of sound channels on Super NES compared to NES, we could use many different sounds at the same time. Except for the technical parts, I didn’t change anything in the way of composing melodies.

Av Johan Köhn [2007-12-28]