Interview with Jason Michael Paul

Jason Michael Paul is the producer of PLAY! A Video Game Symphony and the Dear Friends: Music from Final Fantasy concerts.

How does it feel to be the first to produce a world wide tour of game music?

It is an amazing experience! I have already achieved obtaining a new audience with the Dear Friends - Music from Final Fantasy concerts. I make believers in the music of video games everyday. Classical music lovers cannot help but love what we are doing. It is all in the presentation. I wish I could share some of the letters that I have received from delighted fans, some of whom have never listened to Uematsu's breathtaking music before to those fans who traveled across the globe to listen to Uematsu's music in a live orchestral concert setting. The power of music to bring people together is something that I love being a part of. That is what video game music can do. Bring generations together and fans from all walks of life! I witnessed this many times throughout the Dear Friends concert tour.

Tell us more about the upcoming tour.

PLAY! is a symphony concert series with music from a catalogue of blockbuster video game titles that will tour around the world. We have a variety of originally composed music. Our tour will feature never before heard orchestrations by the original composers themselves. We will even have an opening fanfare composed by one of the most significant composers of video game music of our time. Outstanding graphics on large screens above the orchestra will accompany the scores, highlighting memorable moments from the video games.

When did you start planning this tour?

I had been planning a new concert series and thinking about such a series when I was doing the US tour of Dear Friends - Music from Final Fantasy. It was a perfect time to collaborate with Thomas Boecker whom I respect and timing wise it was natural because of the success of Dear Friends.

Is it decided which countries you will be visiting?

We will launch the tour in Spring of 2006. We are investigating dates, and orchestras as we speak. Basically, we have sales information to guide us but we are looking at the big picture. Our goal is to bring gaming music to wherever it is that there is a good orchestra capable of performing the music to our standards. We are planning on going world wide so US, Europe, Asia, South America, Australia, New Zealand.

Is all the music to be performed decided yet?

Yes, we decided for the final concert program already. We are going to publish all the details within the next weeks.

The Video Games Live tour is now cancelled due to poor ticket sales, and only two of the concerts planned for this fall was performed. How will you make your tour a success?

Truly, I have a totally different approach to how I want my show to be perceived. I am keeping the show clean without a lot of added nonsense. I am sticking with the plan of growing the genre in slow steady steps. I am working with distinguished orchestras to legitimize the music and break down the barriers to open up the acceptance of video game music as an accepted musical form. The focus of our tour is the music, the publishers and the creators of the music solely and of course the fans.

PLAY! is a true symphonic video game music experience in true symphonic environments and venues. There is no playback on this show or choreographed stunts. I feel that the simplicity is the beauty of the show.

You also produced the Dear Friends: Music from Final Fantasy concerts in USA. What reactions did you get?

So many to list! One of the most memorable moments was hanging with a family of fans who had traveled from Florida to a show in California. I really felt at that moment that I accomplished what I had set out to do. Being able to interact with a family of Final Fantasy fans, and Final Fantasy music fans for that matter, showed me that music can relate to all ages. The father was 55, the wife was 50, the sons were 24, 18 and 10, and the daughter was 12. It didn't stop there. This family also brought their grand parents. So you had a 78 year grandma with an 80 year old grandpa. Truly amazing! Occasionally I will see fans on the streets in LA, SF and I will see them wearing a shirt from the tour. That is the biggest reward!

Will there be more Final Fantasy concerts next year?

I am sorry. I cannot say anything about such concerts at the moment.

When will the tour schedule for PLAY! be announced?

Stay tuned! We are going to announce the schedule shortly. Feel free to subscribe to our newsletter at the official website www.play-symphony.com. We will keep the fans updated about the progress on our tour.

Interview Conducted by Johan Köhn [2005-11-07]