Daniel Bärlin, alias GeckoYamori, is well-known around the interwebs. Whether it’s some old video game remixes of his or switching music from Super Nintendo games to Genesis instruments, he’s all over the place. He took some time out of his day earlier for a brief interview. This is the result.
M: What started your interest in video game music?
GY: Nodding my head to NES music I guess, I’ve been into it for as long as I’ve been into games.
M: I take it you’ve been into games for quite a while then?
GY: For as long as I can remember.
M: Nice. Same here! I honestly can’t recall a time when I wasn’t playing games. Hehe… Okay, next question. What started your interest in remixing?
GY: It just came sort of naturally since I’ve always had an interest in creating music, I had been into tracker music and such before I started remixing.
M: Makes sense; pretty much the same reason I started to make music. That and JH bugging me. Are there any tracks you’ve done that you’re more proud of than the others? Or that you like more?
GY: I am honestly not that fond of my early work in general, though I guess that applies to most musicians. I think Mega Man 2003 (really made at the end of 2002) has aged decently compared to the others, even if it might be a rather uninspired mix from a creative standpoint.
M: As I said in another interview, think it was sixto’s, a true artist is never satisfied with their work.Are there any remixers you haven’t collaborated with in the past that you’d like to collaborate with in the future?
GY: Nekofrog keeps bugging me to collab and I’d like to, but neither of us have really pushed it enough to make it happen so far.
M: That would be a great remix; I’d love to hear it myself. Any tracks you’d like to remix in the future?
GY: I always try to give undermixed games some more attention, I have tried several times to remix tracks from Unreal and Red Alert, but I never show anything publicly unless I think it sounds awesome.
M: That’s a good reason to show it off. Hehe… Do you have a favorite track from a game?
GY: I suck at naming all-time favorites, there’s always something I will prefer over something else at different times. But from the above mentioned games, in Unreal I keep coming back to the Sunspire song and another called Surfacing, and in Red Alert I am more partial to the downtempo tracks like Snake or Vector, rather than the more popular metal stuff.
M: Well I never play favorites. I have like a list of 5 all-time, no wait 10, or 15… See, it just keeps getting longer! I can never decide which ones. Hehe… Do you have a favorite video-game composer?
GY: Same as with songs, I can never pick a single favorite. So I will settle for three favorites from Japan, Europe and Emerica. Naofumi Hataya, Tim Follin and Alexander Brandon.
M: I feel dumb for not knowing who Naofumi Hataya is…
GY: He composed for Sonic CD, parts of Sonic 3D, and Golden Axe 2-3.
M: Ah, well that’s some good music then. Lastly, what do you enjoy most about remixing video game music?
GY: Oh, I actually hate remixing video game music. I’m just in it for the fame.
M: Well I guess fame could be enjoyable… Thanks for your time; this was a fun interview!
GY: You’re welcome.
You can find Gecko’s page on OCR here: Artist: Gecko Yamori (Daniel Bärlin). If you haven’t done so before, stay tuned to ThaSauce here for more articles and such from myself and others!! Until next time, game on!