Interview with a ReMixer: Sixto Sounds

Originally Posted at Feb 17, 2010 5:47PM PST, updated on November 3, 2010 10:41 PDT for ThaSauce

Juan P. Medrano, alias Sixto Sounds, is a man who lives by his state’s standard: Everything’s bigger in Texas. His remixes are big on the rock, heavy on the guitar, and huge on the quality. Whether it’s remixing a track from a classic Ninja Turtles game or from a recent entry in the Tales of series, he’s doing it, and doing it well. Being a contributor to OCR for 5 years, half the time it’s been around, he’s built up a stable of 20+ tracks, including one to the Dwelling of Duels that’s been accepted and updated over at OCR and a self-admitted ThaSauce exclusive. I recently interviewed him, and this is what he had to say.

Mirby: What started your interest in video game music?

Sixto: Hmmm… well, as a kid i didn’t play video games THAT much. I dabbled in a little Nintendo, little bit of Sega. But there were some games like Punch-Out!!, Afterburner, Sreet Fighter 2, [Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV] Turtles in Time where the music just kind of stuck with me. In my head I could always here the music being played by a live band.

M: I was the same way (just different games).

S: Anyway, once I picked up guitar at around 11-12 years of age, I pretty much forgot about video games; wasn’t till maybe 2004 that a friend shared some MP3s with me. Remixes from OCR; It was Prot’s Brainsick Metal and djp’s GerudoInterlude.

M: Two of my favorites! Nice!

S: Yeah, that really drew me into the site and that’s when I started listening to the music of all these older games I used to love…

M: And that’s what started your interest in remixing tracks yourself, I take it?

S: Yeah, exactly; I figured, why not?

M: Are there any tracks you’ve done that you’re more proud of, or like more, than the others?

S: Let’s see… Well, my favorite one might be my Super Hang-On remix “Burn, Baby, Burn.” I think I like it the most because, well, I went in with the idea of making it sound a certain way…

M: Actually, I haven’t heard that one. So I’m going to get it now. I actually have no idea how I missed it…

S: Hehe. I wanted to give it this 80s kind of feel. Not so much 80s metal or anything. Also, this was the first time I was able to get everything sounding just the way I wanted.

M: That’s pretty cool! To continue, which do you prefer; solo tracks, or collaborations?

S: I prefer the solo stuff. To be honest, i’ve never really collaborated, per se… Except for one time, with zircon, on the FF7 project [Voices of the Lifestream].

M: Lunatic Moon?

S: Yeah. In that track, zircon and I wrote together. In all of my other collabs the music had pretty much been written out already.

M: Great track, one of my favorites. Especially with your 45 second or so guitar solo type thing.

S: I do wish I could re-do it; it’s not one of my favorites.

M: Ah, well a true artist in never satisfied with their work, I suppose.

S: True that.

M: Any tracks you’d like to remix in the future?

S: Tons!

M: Such as?

S: Well, I’ve got about 23 project tracks i’m working on; stuff from Megaman X games, Final Fantasy 9, the Dragon Quest games… Lots of stuff. Plus, I’m going to be remixing another track from Turtles in Time, which is probably my favorite game soundtrack.

M: For the Boss Themes project?

S: Yeah.

M: And it is a fairly epic soundtrack.

S: That it is.

M: Fun game too, for that matter.

S: Definitely, even today. That re-shelled version is so great.

M: Re-shelled? Is that some sort of re-release for XBLA or something?

S: Yeah; a remake of the arcade game in 3D. It’s really fun when you play online with 3 friends.

M: That it would be.

M: Do you have a favorite track from a game?

S: Hmmm… That’s a tough one. It would be a toss up between Ken’s Theme in Street Fighter 2 or Sewer Surfing from Turtles in Time.

M: Both of which you’ve remixed.

S: Right!

M: Do you have a favorite video-game composer?

S: I’d probably have to say Motoi Sakuraba. I love Nobuo [Uematsu]’s Final Fantasy stuff, but I dunno…

M: He’s pretty cool. Tales games and Golden Sun, that’s all that really needs to be said

S: I’ve always liked how Motoi writes; more of a modern style. Yeah, I love the Tales soundtracks and the Star Ocean’s.

M: I always liked how there’s a Sakuraba (and Sakuraba III) in Tales of Phantasia. One last question. What do you enjoy most about remixing?

S: Well… I like recording and mixing music. Period. I just love doing it. It feels like it’s something that comes naturally to me. Remixing video game music, though… I guess I just love being part of such a big community, being able to make something that other people enjoy. I still haven’t met any of these people as I’ve never been to MAGFest or a meetup, but I’d like to some day.

M: Well you’re being interviewed by one right now. Thank you for your time. It has been an honor, Sixto.

S: Anytime.

You can find Sixto’s page on OCR here: Artist: Sixto Sounds (Juan P. Medrano), and his page here on ThaSauce at Artist: Sixto Sounds – ReMixer. I’ll keep interviewing them as they come, so stay tuned. Until next time, game on!

Interview with a ReMixer: Gecko Yamori

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!