During the Sakura-Con expo for Japanese popular culture, Hiroki Kikuta answered questions on a panel on videogame music. The composer of such role-playing titles as Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 3 and Koudelka recently collaborated with Kenji Ito on the score for Concerto Gate, a massively multiplayer online RPG published by Square Enix currently in beta testing in English-language territories. During the panel discussion, the composer related that he was influenced by the folk music movement in the United States and held a deep interest in the music of Crosby, Stills, and Nash, The Band, Woodie Guthrie and Bob Dylan. Judy Blue Eyes is among his favorite tunes.

Kikuta began as a manga illustrator and penned his own illustrated novel, called Raven, while in his 20s. He still draws today, though he shyly refuses to share his illustrations. After creating Raven, the multi-talented artist sought employment as a musician at a game company called Square, which at the time had only 40 employees. It would later turn out that this artistic pursuit was his calling, requiring him to spend long evenings at the office fine-tuning background music tracks, bringing a sleeping bag with him to work to ensure that he had enough time to perfect the sounds of Secret of Mana.

Today, the composer finds the most inspiration in revisiting the music from his childhood and student days. A self-taught composer whose style bucks the standard rules of orchestration, he told the audience at Sakura-Con that he enjoys the idea of "Kikuta music" being unique. During the recording of live music for Soukaigi, the composer related, one of the performers approached him, saying the composition on the sheet music was written incorrectly. Undeterred, Kikuta told the musician to try playing the notes as written, with all the mistakes intact. When asked during the question and answer session by an attendee of Sakura-Con how he overcomes writer's block, Kikuta said he's never had it, and then proceeded to dance triumphantly across the stage to the sound of applause. Here, the musician joins us to share some thoughts on his music label Norstrilia and his album Concerto ~The extraordinary world of Concerto Gate~.

RPGFan: Kikuta-san, thank you for joining us. You participated in a music panel at the most recent Sakura-Con in Seattle, Washington. How many times have you been to the expo?

Hiroki Kikuta: This was my third time. I had received an invitation from someone named Rik Wall one day from out of the blue, saying that he was organizing a convention and wanted me to attend. He said he was a fan of my music, so I came to Sakura-Con. However, as soon as I arrived, I found out that Rik was in Iraq. He called me from Iraq! (laugh) It was the first time I received an invitation from a host that wasn't attending himself.

RPGFan: How did your two-disc original album Alphabet Planet come about?

Hiroki Kikuta: Alphabet Planet was requested by another fan of my music, one who was involved in online games. The album sounds similar to the music from Secret of Mana because I composed these pieces based on this request from this person. Many people mentioned that they have an appreciation for this album because it reminds them of Secret of Mana.

In our lives, we encounter incidents each day which make us feel differently. I wanted to compose music that helps brighten our day. In fact, I wanted to compose many different types of music to suit the various feelings we have, like a music box full of flavors so that the listener can choose a different type of tune for each occasion. There are many different events in our lives, from A to Z. I wanted to write songs that make the listener happier or encouraged in a variety of ways.

RPGFan: What went into the naming of the tracks?

Hiroki Kikuta: I thought listening to the songs might feel more like choosing from a variety of chocolates if the songs were not in a set order. The idea was for the sequence to be as unexpected as the many unrelated incidents in our lives. Although events may have no deep significance the moment they occur, we may realize later on the meaningful connections that exist between them.

RPGFan: Concerto ~The extraordinary world of Concerto Gate~ is another album that you have published independently through your record label Norstrilia. The track titles are very interesting.

Hiroki Kikuta: Concerto was not composed for the orchestra, of course, but I kept in mind that traditional orchestral music wasn't titled. Later it was cataloged sometimes, as in the case of "Kochel #xx" . Often orchestral music has been organized according to expressive words like "passionate" or "calmly" (labeled in Italian), which I thought is a similar requirement for video games. For example, "quiet in the dungeon" or "passionate in the battle." Instead of giving names to the pieces, I thought that it would be suitable to use expressive words as titles. Because these descriptions are typically Italian, all my tracks on this album have Italian titles.

The music for Concerto Gate was a "concerto" composed by Kenji Ito and myself. As Ito-Ken was responsible for the theme song, only both of our compositions together made the music complete. For that reason, I felt my pieces alone were not enough for this soundtrack album and would not encapsulate a fully formed concept with a beginning and an end. It was very difficult for me to come up with two new pieces to make the soundtrack complete. I put a lot of effort into "Overture," and it's now my favorite track.

RPGFan: Your arrange album Secret of Mana+ is an example of your choosing art for your album covers from outside the domain of videogames.

Hiroki Kikuta: That's a photograph by Joyce Tenneson. I love photographs and have many favorite photographers.

RPGFan: What is the current status of Angel's Ware, the t-shirts shop that you've been advertising on your website?

Hiroki Kikuta: I like the idea of wearing what you want to express. I'm interested in making t-shirts, but I have no intention of using my own illustrations. I've asked a few people to draw designs for clothing, but it didn't turn out right.

RPGFan: That's too bad--I want an Angel's Wear t-shirt. I take it you are still looking for illustrators?

Hiroki Kikuta: Yes, but as you know, I'm very strict about my work. An illustrator can work with all their might, but it still may not be enough. By the way, I'm a pretty good instructor. I've instructed several people who have gone on to become professional artists. When I was making Koudelka, I invited this one person from Hokkaido to move to Tokyo to work. Then, when I was working on Cho Bukyo Taisen, I found this one person who was working in a bookstore in Kyushu, and I got him to move to Tokyo to do illustration full-time. Both of them are now working as character designers in animation and video games. I'm pretty good at finding people's hidden talents and helping them express their gifts.

RPGFan: I've heard you also do work in other areas for massively multiplayer games.

Hiroki Kikuta: Yes, I've helped out as a consultant at Daletto, Capcom's online portal site, handling Street Fighter Online. A number of companies try to make online games, but they face problems due to lack of experience. They may know what they're doing when it comes to console games, but online games are a different story. Since I have experience in online games, I can point out the problems just listening to their issues.

RPGFan: Are you working on any music projects at the moment?

Hiroki Kikuta: Yes, a visual novel. I like it because I can work freely. At the same time, I'd like to make more CDs of music that I've composed in the past.

RPGFan: Did you confer with Kenji Ito during the making of Concerto Gate?

Hiroki Kikuta: Not at all. (laughs) He wasn't listening to my music, and I wasn't listening to his. Nevertheless, when the album was completed, there wasn't any overlap.

RPGFan: The cover of Concerto is another example of your bringing an art concept to your soundtrack album that is an unexpected turn from the style of the game. Why include Alma Tadema's art?

Hiroki Kikuta: "Concerto Gate" derives many of its ideas from the game "Cross Gate." I was thinking that "Concerto" was a meaningful word by itself, in that it implied harmony. I wanted the concept of my album to be something like "harmony among many people".

Then I saw this drawing by Lawrence Alma Tadama, an English artist of the 19th century. Many Hollywood movie producers, such as D.W. Griffith, were inspired by his drawings. Tadema created art in the 19th century, and Hollywood movies didn't get their start until the 20th century. While Tadema never could have realized it, he was a pioneer of conceptual design in film.

I think it's sad that very few know about his influence. I wanted the world to be aware that there were great concept designs hundreds of years ago. This is a foundation of Hollywood movies today. You see it very clearly in the Babylon scene in Griffith's movie "Intolerance," for instance.

RPGFan: Have you seen Tadema's Spring in person?

Hiroki Kikuta: No, I haven't. It's huge, you know. I was attracted by this drawing because there was no information about what these people were doing. There is tremendous energy in this composition. I have no idea why they're all there in this procession, what they're thinking about, or where they're going. They neither look happy nor unhappy. It's very interesting that this drawing has this tremendous energy while standing still, hardly conveying any information at all.

Hiroki Kikuta's official website is Angel's Fear. The musician's videogame soundtracks and original albums are available for import at Amazon.co.jp and other online retailers. Images courtesy of Norstrilia. Photo by Jeriaska.