What is their inspiration now?

[Vert1]

What is inspiring Japanese musicians now? Before it was music coming from the clubs, the freshness of an industry in its infancy, etc. It would be nice to compare past answers to present ones of the vets in the industry.

YUZO KOSHIRO
Yuzo Koshiro's past inspirations:

The Music that Inspired Me

I was going to clubs all the time back then. Around the time of the first Bare Knuckle game's development, I was frequenting a club near the US Army's Yokota Air Base, and the hip-hop and R&B that was popular there had a particularly big influence on me. In the popular Western music scene of the era, this kind of black music existed alongside techno and house, and it was all growing together, so I naturally began to think about taking them all in. I was particularly floored by the swinging rhythms that characterized breakbeats, and this one rhythm pattern that was taking a generation by storm at the time, the "ground beat" [Note 6], was my favorite, so its influence showed up clearly in the title music for Bare Knuckle.

6: Soul II Soul's "Keep On Movin'" and Enigma's "Sadness (Part I)" are the most famous examples. It had a massive influence on my work.

source

Yuzo Koshiro's current inspirations:

Chris: In recent years, you've also explored trance music on the Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune trilogy. What inspired this approach to these soundtrack, compared with the more conventional score for the original Wangan Midnight, and how have you kept the games sounding fresh over the years? Given your choice to include trance arrangements in various arranged albums too, is it safe to assume the style has become a favourite of yours?

Yuzo Koshiro: The score for Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune turned towards trance music because the producer, from Bandai Namco, wanted it strongly. I had not heard much Trance music until then, but I got used to it pretty quickly since I already liked other types of dance music. To keep the sound fresh, I have used the most current trance sound throughout the series. I've really come to like the genre too.

source

The answer in the recent interview gives you little idea about Yuzo's inspriations now. He doesn't seem very inspired by any particular artist or movement; it seems the great influence of others has disappeared and now it is simply about him making good music in different styles. What is his mental process for producing tunes? Does he ever go out and drive cars fast? Does he ever look at pictures of cars when composing the music (I assume he gets to see or test out the music in the game's prototype)? Does he get his inspiration from the magic of bringing the names of track titles, i.e. 'Inexhaustible energy' to life? Does he visit race tracks? What gives him the drive to produce more tracks?

Does he write down in Kanji

[Falk]

......wat?

[Rhythmroo]

Originally Posted by Vert1

What is inspiring Japanese musicians now? Before it was music coming from the clubs, the freshness of an industry in its infancy, etc. It would be nice to compare past answers to present ones of the vets in the industry.

I do say, sir, that this is an interesting topic to talk about; however, would you like to start the topic off with an example?

[Vert1]

I edited the op.

[_if]

Originally Posted by Vert1

What gives him the drive to produce more tracks?

The need to eat can be very inspiring.

I don't know if the answer to this question is available in English for many Japanese composers, if any. I wish we could get more interviews and longer interviews with some people. Maybe not as big as that huge one with Uematsu 1up.com did years ago, although that was enjoyable, but something like that where it gets deeper than usual and at greater length. No offense to Chris for his interviews though. He often asks about obscure things and gets information we wouldn't have encountered otherwise.