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SEGA Fans Chronicles Vol. II: Chapter I - Cody Chavez

In the long awaited return of the SEGA Fans Chronicles, we talk to community musician Cody Chavez and we debut new art by Sofia "Ram the Dragon" Rey!

VOLUME II - CHAPTER I: CODY CHAVEZ

 

Who? Cody Chavez
Where?
    Twitter: @codychavezmusic
    Email: codycchavez [at] gmail [dot] com
Why? Musician who arranges video game music to be played by live orchestras.
SEGA Fan since… His childhood, when he got a Genesis with Sonic 2.
Favourite SEGA game: Sonic 2/Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
Favourite SEGA console: SEGA Genesis
 
 
KC: Hi there, Cody! Thanks for the chance to get to know you a bit better and for being the first guest on this new season of SEGA Fans Chronicles! Do you want to introduce yourself to our readers?
Cody Chavez: Well, I'm very honored to be the first guest of the new season!  My name is Cody Chavez. Video games have always been a passion of mine but after I saw my first Video Games Live performance in 2006 while I was in high school it became my passion and hobby to take the classic video game themes from my youth and arrange them for live instruments to be performed. At the time there wasn't much variety in terms of video game music being written for, say, a marching band to perform or a high school winds band.  The full suites and beautiful orchestrations seemed reserved for the larger institutions so I've taken it upon myself to arrange the themes of some of the most revered video games in history and make it available for people like me  who want to play their favorite themes in large ensembles. 
 
KC: I stumbled upon your work because of a Kickstarter campaign you launched a few months ago. Do you want to briefly tell us about that campaign?
CC: In all of my years of arranging I have had several ensembles perform my arrangements from the Animatissimo Chamber Orchestra in Peru to the Young Classic Sound Orchestra in Germany and while I have never been able to attend a performance of one of my arrangements, I have collected a small library of the recordings a few of the musical groups were able to record. While all of the performances were fantastic and nearly 7 years since I first started arranging video game music, I wanted to produce an album featuring all of my orchestral arrangements including Mario, Zelda, Sonic Halo, etc., recorded in studio with a 50 piece orchestra. The price to record my full works would have been pretty high to ask for, especially for someone running the project essentially on their own so I campaigned to fund a test album featuring themes from Sonic the Hedgehog and Halo, many of which have never been performed or recorded by a live orchestra.
 
KC: Although the Kickstarter campaign didn't reach its goal, how are your plans of making those orchestral tracks going? 
CC: After some saving I was able to afford at least one recording session for one song so I chose Sonic the Hedgehog which had many themes never performed by a full orchestra before. Unfortunately due to time constraints we were not able to complete the recording in it's entirety and I have not been able to collect funds for a second session however, I was able to salvage two themes that could be released as individuals, the Final Boss Theme from Sonic 3 and Sky Sanctuary Zone from Sonic and Knuckles. Sky Sanctuary is one of my favorite pieces so I was really happy we were able to finish that. That track is currently available via Loudr. Hopefully in the future I will be able to get the Sonic 3 Final Boss theme mixed and mastered to release it as well!
 
 
KC: What got you into music in the first place? 
CC: Listening to the Beatles in my first music appreciation class in my 7th grade year of Middle School is probably what opened me up to music. From there I learned the layout of a keyboard and how to read music, joined the band and haven't looked back!
 
KC: Do you play any live instruments yourself?
CC: I do! I love playing the alto sax. It was the first instrument I learned after keyboard. In high school I learned a couple of others including Tenor Sax, Bass Clarinet and French Horn. 
 
KC: Besides this orchestral arrangements of video game music, do you compose your own original pieces?
CC: I love composing original work, and much of it comes out somber haha. Most of what I have written is in fragments I need to work on patching together but I do have a few favorites I have posted online the past few years like a theme I wrote inspired by the X-Box Live Arcade game, Limbo.
 
KC: Who are your main influences when writing music? 
CC: Two of my biggest influences in writing are Danny Elfman, Elliot Goldenthal. Elfman's film scores have some of my favorite orchestrations and I absolutely love his choice of instruments when working with large ensembles and Goldenthal (Interview With The Vampire, Batman Forever) has created some of the most haunting yet beautiful and emotional melodies I have heard. 
 
KC: What music genres do you enjoy listening to the most and who is/are your favourite artists/bands?
CC: I love swing music, especially 40's big band music as well as rock and indie music, not to mention film and video game scores. My all time favorite band since really started listening to music has been Muse. I'm really loving the last albums from The Strokes, Queens of the Stone Age and Everest.
 
 
KC: When did your love for SEGA begin and why? 
CC: Early childhood. I grew up with a Sega Genesis that came with a Sonic 2 Cartridge. My brother still has the original box and got it signed by Takashi Iizuka!
 
KC: What is your favourite SEGA game ever and why? 
CC: Tie between Sonic 2 and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. So many memories!
 
KC: What about your favourite SEGA console? 
CC: Genesis!!!
 
KC: We usually do a question here on SEGA Fans Chronicles: If you were going to a deserted island and could only take the soundtrack to one SEGA game with you, what would it be and why? 
CC: I would probably take the soundtrack to OutRun, remixed by Richard Jaques (Sonic 3D Blast). There are a lot of good tunes on there perfect for a beach-drive feel, of course being deserted, maybe just the beach feel.
 
KC: We also do QUICKSHOTS (again, this is not a drinking game!):
            Sonic or Mario? Sonic
            PS4 or Xbox One? PS4
            Wii U or Dreamcast 2? Dreamcast 2
            Platformers or FPS? FPS
            Orchestral music or pop music? Orchestra
            Video games or music? Video games 
 
KC: Are you planning on doing more of these arrangements but with music from modern games?
CC: I do plan so for the future! I have been releasing a series of "play-along" albums that allow people to play their favorites video game themes on their own instrument such as a flute or violin over pre-recorded piano accompaniment and I hope to include some modern games. With these albums, anyone can play something such as the Sonic the Hedgehog - Staff Credits or the Mega Man 2 Intro theme, record it with the piano accompaniment and produce their own solo video to show off on youtube!
 
KC: What games have you been playing recently, by the way? 
CC: In a few weeks I am going to see a screening of James Cameron's Aliens so I am taking an extremely fun take at the Colonial Marines game. Extremely fun.
 
 
KC: If you could add blast processing to anything in the world what would it be and why? 
CC: Video game marching bands! Those things are most excellent. 
 
KC: Last question: I'd love for RadioSEGA to release an album with remixes and reimaginings of Ristar music. When can we expect a Ristar orchestral medley? :)
CC: Sega has always produced excellent soundtracks and I love the tunes from that game so that is definitely a possibility ;)
 
KC: Thanks once again for the interview, Cody! We hope to hear more from you and your music in the future. Keep the tunes coming and we'll definitely play them on air!
 
And this is all for the return of the SEGA Fans Chronicles. This new volume won't be a weekly feature but it'll be fairly regular. So give Cody some love using the aforementioned outlets and keep an eye on RadioSEGA for the next time we write a new chapter in the SEGA Fans Chronicles.

17th January, 2014 - 22:48 GMT KC Article viewed 1478 times 0 Comments

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