Games
The Diggin’ in the Carts host on his new show, his favourite picks and what he’s cooking up next.
Many gamers around the world grew up with what might have seemed like basic computerised tunes from classic games back in the eighties and nineties, but behind the 8-bit and 16-bit graphics, there’s a story to them – and the people who composed them.
Red Bull Music Academy is back with another series that explores these 8-bit chiptunes from gaming relics of the past, dubbed Diggin’ in the Carts, and dives into video game music both past and present.
Based on the acclaimed Red Bull Music Academy documentary series of the same name, the new radio show is hosted by Nick Dwyer, the writer and co-director of the original series, as he looks to dig deeper into the world of artful bleeps and boops that inspired a generation.
From interviews with some of the most legendary names in Japanese video game music such as Sega’s Hiroshi Kawaguchi to guest selections from artists inspired by chiptunes and game soundtracks, Dwyer explores the storied musical history of these classic games. The eight episode series is currently airing on RBMA Radio, before wrapping up on December 8.
The New Zealand native and Tokyo resident took some time out of his busy schedule to chat to us about what got him into video game music, what his favourite tracks and composers are and where we can see the show heading in the future.
Hey Nick, how’s it going? Tell us what you’re doing right now.
Things are going good! Just arrived in London to meet up with my production partner Tu Neill (who I worked on the Diggin’ In the Carts video series with). We’re just getting ready to head off around the world for a shoot, which is always exciting.
What’s a regular day look like when you’re not hosting Diggin’ in the Carts?
For the last few months I’ve been back in Tokyo working on research for a new series that Tu and I will be producing next year that’s in some ways a follow-up to the Diggin’ in the Carts video series. It’s not video game-related but is definitely shining the spotlight on another set of incredible Japanese men and women, so we’re very excited to be getting that off the ground. Also been working on another little project that is Japanese video game history-related, but I can’t say too much just now, which is difficult because I can’t wait to tell the world about it – I’m really bad at keeping my own secrets secret.
What got you into loving video game music specifically? What’s an early memory?
My mother got a small inheritance when I was about six. She spent the whole thing on buying us kids a Commodore 64 and I used to use my older brother's tape deck to record the game music and listen back to it every night before I’d go to sleep. In particular the music of a game called ‘The Last Ninja’, which was composed by Ben Daglish, was a particularly big inspiration. That was my introduction to electronic music, period.
A few years later my older brother went to Japan for work and bought a Super Famicom and a ton of games which he sent back to New Zealand. Hearing the soundtracks to games like Dragon Quest V and Final Fantasy V in particular was pretty life changing for me when I was that age. So yes, gotta thank my big bro for that, without him the Diggin’ in the Carts series wouldn’t exist.
What are your favourite tracks and composers?
Ah, this question. It’s very hard to answer as there’s just so much, and to be honest, the longer I’ve spent this year especially digging deeper into the history of Japanese video game music, the more I stumble upon new favourites constantly. For now it’s only really the history of Japanese video game music that I’ve been going in on, so all of my favourite tracks come from Japan and are all of the chip era.
At the moment I’m really into the late '80s / early '90s work of a composer called Shinji Hosoe, who composed music for a lot of killer Namco arcade games. At that time Japan was riding this wave of soaring economic growth known as the ‘Bubble Era’ and people had money, life was good and Japan was partying, and to me Shinji Hosoe’s compositions from that time sound like Bubble Era video game music. This hyper-luxurious '80s video game sound which is all his own. Also a company called Masaya and their PC-Engine soundtracks in particular just happen to be ridiculously good. But I guess everything you’ll hear in the radio show is music I love a lot!
What makes a track, chiptune or otherwise, really stand out for you?
What's been really important for me with both the video series and the radio series too, is to present a side of video game music that transcends being just music that was created to serve a purpose within a video game, and in its own right is just incredible electronic music.
I love the unique tones and sound palette that each different chip from each different machine is capable of and there’s a handful of composers during that era who were creating their own sound drivers and employing techniques to squeeze the most out of those chips. I must admit though, there’s a lot of music from that era that leaves me cold, but the stuff that shines, shines so bright for me. It is in its own right this incredible era of pioneering Japanese electronic music.
Which company/developer stands out for you as having the best sound team that were really pushing hardware boundaries?
I think when you’re talking about the history of Japanese video game music and sound teams that were pushing hardware boundaries you have to make mention of Konami. In the late '80s and early '90s they really valued sound as a force and not only had a team with some of the most technically able composers of the era, they were actively producing expansion chips for their Famicom and MSX titles that pushed sound capabilities to their limits. All of the Konami titles produced with the VRC6 chip or MSX titles with the SCC expansion are worth checking out if you’re a fan of that 8-bit sound.
Where do you see the direction of video game music going in the future? Do you think we’re only touching the surface?
I’ve got to be honest with you and admit that my knowledge of contemporary video game music isn’t the greatest, but I’m hoping that as the DITC Radio series continues, I’ve got an excuse to dive deep into it. For me it was the whole package back in the day, these unique games with these unique graphics and these unique chips creating this unique music. As soon as the capabilities evolved to the point where it was possible to produce ‘real music’, for me video game music lost a bit of it’s charm – but that’s because I’m so heavily biased towards those chip sounds from that era.
I know there’s so much incredible music being created now, I just need to get around to listening to it. So much of my time the last while has been diving into the history of it, so as for where it’s heading, give me a few minutes to get my head around where it’s at and I’ll get back to you on that one.
What do you think of games that are specifically music related – such as Ouendan!, Parappa the Rapper, to Space Channel 5 and even the likes of Guitar Hero/DJ Hero, or Bemani? Do you think there’s still unexplored space for music video games?
I’m not going to lie to you, I haven’t played any of those games, but I think all of those games you mentioned did great things for the industry as a whole in terms of bringing all new audiences into the fold and explored different ways in what video games could be enjoyed.
Who was your favourite interviewee for the first series?
To hard to pick one as there’ll all great and I’ve become friends with a lot of them now and see them from time to time. But in saying that (and sorry to rest of them) Manabu Namiki is such a cool dude. I’m a massive fan of Detroit techno and his work, especially his arcade shooters, which are stacked with those influences. He features in the first episode.
Where can we expect future series to head? Outside Japan, who are your favourite video game composers?
Yes, the series will definitely head out of Japan and right up to the present day. In terms of my favourites outside of Japan there’s been a bunch over the years but again, mostly older composers. People whose music I’ve loved are Ben Daglish and Chris Huelsbeck for their C64 era music. Tim Follin is an all round Don. Neil Baldwin’s soundtrack for Erik The Viking. David Wise. That Axiom Verge soundtrack from a couple of years back which was composed by Thomas Happ. Oh, and Dylan Beale for inventing Grime.
And finally – if you could save only one specific video game from being wiped out on the entire Earth, leaving that as the only game on the planet, what would you choose and why?
If the rest of humanity doesn’t go down also and I’ve got someone else to play with then of course, no question – Street Fighter II. “Combos for days”.
Diggin’ in the Carts airs Thursdays at 7 PM ET over on RBMA Radio. For more gaming coverage, be sure to follow @RedBullGames on Twitter and like us on Facebook.