A sort of joke idea that snowballs into something wonderful and unique, Limit Breaker: A Ska Tribute to Final Fantasy VII is a new album conceived by GameGrooves and brought to life by the Ska Punk International family. The album features the work of many great ska musicians and consists of 14 of his songs inspired by the Final Fantasy VII soundtrack.
Pure Nintendo interviewed Allen of GameGrooves and Chris of Ska Punk International to learn more about the album and collaboration.
Pure Nintendo: Tell us about the ska album inspired by Final Fantasy VII.
GameGrooves (Allen): rear Scario Kart (Mario Kart 64’s ska album) was well received, so I jokingly posted about another ska album on Twitter, and Chris (Ska Punk International) sent me a DM offering to collaborate on the next ska project. rice field. From there we hit it off and it was a long road to release the album, but it was a lot of fun.
Skapunk International (Chris): It’s basically 14 ska covers from the Final Fantasy 7 soundtrack. Not only bands from the ska community, but also composers and arrangers from the gaming community. The album also features covers of various types of ska, from more traditional ska to ska punk and even ska core. We are very proud that both communities work seamlessly together.
Pure Nintendo: How did the idea for the album come about?
GameGrooves (Allen): After Ska Punk International (SPI) reached out to me, I was convinced that we would do some kind of follow-up. Scario Kart. I think we both had some ideas about which game soundtracks to cover, but we both decided on the following: final fantasy VII I felt a good fit. After all, who doesn’t think of ska when they hear “one-winged angel”?
Skapunk International (Chris): I got into ska in 1997, the same year Final Fantasy 7 first came out. In my head they are always linked. I was literally looking for materia for Knights of the Round while listening to his CDs of Less Than Jake, Skankin Pickle, and Kemuri. So when Allen and I started talking about collaborating, this was one of the first ideas I had with her. We discussed that other games would be interesting, but I’m very happy that we settled on this game. 15-year-old Chris is very excited about this.
Pure Nintendo: How did you decide which elements of the original soundtrack to use for the album?
GameGrooves (Allen): All arrangements are left up to each artist. Of course, artists are expected to keep the main melody intact, but genre/style wise, anything goes with most albums. I asked him to arrange the ska for this album, and that was the only guidance I needed.
Skapunk International (Chris): Exactly so. We asked the artists to feel free to showcase their interpretation of ska and the tracks of their choice. Allen and her work with GameGrooves has also been great overall.
Pure Nintendo: What is the process of switching musical genres while retaining a recognizable core?
GameGrooves (Allen): In some cases, the combination of soundtrack and genre makes sense or has been done well before (e.g. Zelda metal arrangements or orchestral Final Fantasy arrangements), but sometimes it’s time to throw a curveball. I think it’s fun. GameGrooves has done this several times before. Scario Kartprevious ska albums, and Link-182a pop-punk tribute to Ocarina of Time.
Skapunk International (Chris): I can only speak from the perspective of ska and punk, but ska is a very danceable and groovy genre, so finding a groove and going from there becomes important. That’s why you can hear so many of these songs feature morbid solos while keeping the groove alive. Also, there are so many different types of ska, it’s a very flexible and fluid genre, and I think you can see that from the different types of covers on this album. Deciding what direction to take the ska rhythm is one of the important and most fun parts of a ska-her cover.
Pure Nintendo: What’s your personal favorite song on the album?
GameGrooves (Allen): Like any good parent, I can’t pick a favourite, but I never thought I’d hear “One-Winged Angel” as a ska arrangement, so let’s go with that (laughs).
Skapunk International (Chris): Well, it wouldn’t be fair to tell me to pick a favorite lol. I’m definitely a big fan of the Flying Raccoon Suit “These Who Fight” It’s the heaviest, most skacore song on the album, so of course I love it. I have to mention “Under The Rotting Pizza” by Simple Minded Symphony, but the solo on this song is great. oh! The solo of “Mako Reactor” by Flip and the Combined Effort is also disgusting. You can’t choose, but you can list them all!!!
Pure Nintendo: This was a very different kind of project from a normal release. Was there anything in particular that surprised you compared to the process so far?
GameGrooves (Allen): For me, GameGrooves had never done a physical release before this album, so I was really lucky to work with SPI. Chris helped me every step of the way and he welcomed new artists so without him this wouldn’t have been possible.
Skapunk International (Chris): Well, it’s certainly changed a bit. I’ve made compilations before, but nothing like this. The most amazing thing is how receptive the gaming community is to this idea and the ska community. Artists and composers from the game field put their heart and soul into their tracks, and I love that. I’ve also seen how much the gaming community at large enjoys Scario Kart, and the support has been even more enthusiastic than I could have imagined. It’s been a great experience so far.
Pure Nintendo: Do you have plans to do more releases like this in the future?
GameGrooves (Allen): We will definitely be releasing more video game covers albums and maybe another ska album in the future (Super Mario 64?). Of course, I would love to work with SPI again, and when it comes to collaborating with other labels, I would love to find more inclusive, diverse and passionate communities like the Ska community.
Skapunk International (Chris): Well, I would like to do something like this in the future. A dream come true. I have a lot of ‘regular’ ska releases ready for the next few years, but if (well) someone (nudge) asks me to find the time to make another one like this Sure.
Pure Nintendo: What other games with soundtracks would you like to play together?
GameGrooves (Allen): There are too many to count. Majora’s Mask, undertale, Okami, super mario galaxy, Chrono Trigger, pizza tower. The list goes on and on.
Skapunk International (Chris): Yes I have a huge list too. Earthbound, Persona 5, Link to the Past, Ninja Gaiden, Super Mario 64, Splatoon, basically any other Final Fantasy. So many!
Pure Nintendo: What do you want people to take away from this album?
GameGrooves (Allen): I hope people realize just how great creative artists there are in both the ska and video game music communities.
Skapunk International (Chris): The game’s soundtrack and ska are very similar in many ways. Neither are taken as seriously as the community would like, but when you really dig into them, they’re both incredibly deep and diverse.
We want people on the gaming side to listen to this album, dig deeper into the bands they listen to, and go the extra mile and check out other bands they’ve played with or are labelmates with. There are a lot of chic ska bands active right now, and together we hope to get more people interested in these bands.
I also hope that people on the ska side will dig deeper into these composers and arrangers. Their work is great and deserves more attention.
Pure Nintendo: Do you have any advice for people looking to try a similar creative project?
GameGrooves (Allen): Flexible. The album was delayed by almost six months and had to make some adjustments along the way. Luckily Chris and I are on the same wavelength, but collaboration requires us to communicate often and be as flexible as possible.
Skapunk International (Chris): I’m telling you to give it a try. Whatever your idea, let’s get started anyway. As Allen said, you’re definitely going to be flexible, but it’s never going to happen if you don’t start.
Limit Breaker: A Ska Tribute to Final Fantasy VII is available to stream and purchase now.Links to all platforms can be found here.go for it Click here for Bandcamp.you can Click here to pre-order CDs and cassettes.
If you want to know more about Ska Punk International, check here. here is their website.
Learn more about GameGrooves below. here is their website.
