Nostalgic yet entirely unique, GIANTS brings together iconic composers from legendary video games, each creating new tracks inspired by the classic game soundtracks we all came to love. This ambitious concept album was meticulously crafted over six years by Tokyo-based record label Brave Wave Productions, under the visionary direction of Mohammed Taher.

We spoke with Mohammed to gain insight into his creative process and the intricate behind-the-scenes journey of bringing this album to life.

 

 

What was your vision for GIANTS?

At Brave Wave, we are fortunate to work with legendary composers like Mega Man’s Manami Matsumae and Harumi Fujita, Panzer Dragoon Saga’s Saori Kobayashi, and Ninja Gaiden’s Keiji Yamagishi, among others. Over the past ten years, we’ve been releasing their original albums and game soundtracks. I wanted to create an album that honors their immense contributions to video game history in a fresh and exciting way.

I envisioned a concept where these Giants collaborate with their contemporary peers. The headlining Giants created new original tracks, followed by remixes from their extensive game music libraries. The result is an eclectic mix of original game-inspired tracks and new remixes by some of gaming’s greatest musicians and performers, bringing together a staggering total of 26 artists.

Six years in the making! What were some of the key moments that made this album special?

I’ve been asking Mega Man 2 composer Takashi Tateishi-san to create a track for Brave Wave for as long as I can remember. In 2019, when Brave Wave attended the GX gaming event in Kuwait, Tateishi-san was at the booth across from us, and I would beg him multiple times a day to make a track for us. [laughs] I would even shout “もう一曲ください！” from a distance, which means “one more track, please!”

By 2020, I enlisted the help of Mega Man 3 composer Harumi Fujita to aid in this mission. As Tateishi-san’s senior back in their Capcom days, she finally convinced him to contribute. Afterward, we took the demo track to Sonic Mania composer Tee Lopes, and we spent a month developing it. We brought in a guitarist and a saxophone player, and Brave Wave’s very own sound engineer Marco Guardia handled the mixing. Every track on the album has its own story, but the journey to bringing Tateishi-san’s music back to life in ‘ULTRAMARINE’ remains my favorite.

 

How did the composers work together to bring this project to life?

Creating an album of collaborations was a challenging task, especially in connecting this intricate web of musicians and performers. For each track, I would start with one main composer, and as the track developed, new sonic visions would emerge. This often led to contacting additional musicians to feature or perform on the track. For example, Akari Kaida’s arrangement of Shovel Knight began with her writing the composition by herself, but she later decided to bring in several experienced performers – a violinist, a guitarist, and a bandoneon player – who elevated her arrangement to new heights.

Were there parts of the production process that surprised you?

One of the most surprising aspects for me was how we transitioned from a dark and solemn visual theme to the bright and exciting one that is now on display. Initially, I brought in British designer Caspian Whistler to help with the album’s art direction. Around the same time, mixing engineer Marco Guardia came up with the album name, and I began developing imagery of a desolate land inhabited by solitary giants who are discovered by a group of adventurers. Instead of battles, I envisioned kinship and connection between them. My mood board included various fantasy-like scenes, reminiscent of Shadow of the Colossus. Caspian took this concept and transformed it into its final form—a blend of kaiju drama and slice-of-life anime with influences from My Summer Holiday (僕の夏休み) and Attack of the Friday Monsters, infused with elements of Japanese summer imagery. Caspian worked with Canadian illustrator Matt ‘EiffelArt’ Cummings, whose lush and vivid coloring brought the project to life. I’m truly thankful for both of them, and I can’t imagine the album looking any other way now!

 

What challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them?

Bringing together 26 different musicians and arrangers, all experimenting with wildly different genres and styles, and making them sound cohesive under one album was a significant challenge. I enlisted Brave Wave’s mixing engineer Marco Guardia, who had previously worked on our restorative soundtracks for Street Fighter II and Ninja Gaiden, to handle the mixing of this massive production. With his decades-long experience as a sound and mixing engineer, Marco had also mixed the solo album of Ninja Gaiden composer Keiji Yamagishi, The Retro-Active Experience, for us. He gave it a luxurious soundscape that elevated its mix of chiptunes and guitars. Yamagishi-san was so impressed by Marco’s work that he requested him as his mixing engineer for all future albums. Marco extracted the full potential from every track, resulting in a diverse and stunning album with a unified sound, thanks to the guidance of one dedicated mixing engineer.

 

How, if at all, does working with Japanese composers differ from working with composers overseas?

When I first started, my inability to speak Japanese meant I was limited to giving instructions and waiting for results, whereas working with composers like Tee Lopes involved a lot of back-and-forth over chat, discussing every detail. While it’s possible to communicate with Japanese musicians by email, it often required interpretation and leaps of faith from both sides. Despite these challenges, I’m proud of what we achieved. I was especially proud of collaborations that involved both Japanese and Western composers working together on one track—these were challenging to facilitate while respecting everyone’s sensibilities and methods of music-making. Now that I’m more proficient in Japanese, I’m excited to see how this will impact our future collaborations.

 

What do you hope listeners take away from this album?

I want to overwhelm people with the incredible music we’ve assembled here. [laughs] My goal has always been to touch people’s hearts and minds, just as my favorite artists captivated me when I was an adolescent, lost between schoolwork and self-doubt. The vast world of video game music has always inspired me, ever since I was a kid with a Famicom and a Japanese copy of Rockman. It’s a privilege and an honor to work with the musicians who inspired me from childhood and to create this album of greatest hits with them. If just one person listens to the album, truly connects with it, and exclaims in amazement, I’d consider it a job well done.

Which track is your personal favorite?

‘Mission,’ a remix of SNK’s Pulstar, arranged by Tokyo-based British composer Smoke Thief in collaboration with the original composer Harumi Fujita, who also composed for Mega Man 3, Final Fight, Tomba!, and more.

When I chose ‘Mission’ to be included in GIANTS, I knew it would be a challenge; after all, the original track is just a 30-second intro to SNK’s shooter. Yet, I was utterly captivated by those thirty seconds, replaying the track on YouTube countless times. So it’s a bit ironic that Smoke Thief and Harumi-san managed to expand it into a 7-minute opus from those energetic thirty seconds. I’m especially in love with Harumi-san’s solo in the middle of the track. It blends seamlessly with Smoke Thief’s improvisation, and she takes his melodies to incredible heights. I’ve listened to the album religiously throughout its development stages, and I think ‘Mission’ has the highest replay numbers for me. It’s an impossibly gorgeous and lush track, reminiscent of Vangelis at his best. I hope that even those unfamiliar with Pulstar will give it a chance, just as I did.

 

Will there be a part 2?

When I started developing the concept of GIANTS back in 2017, I intended it to be a series of albums. I can easily envision GIANTS 2—in fact, I already have a list of new musicians I’d like to include. Whether it happens will depend on the financial success of this album. It’s a labor of love, and it cost me personally a lot to develop. So my focus right now is on promoting it everywhere, talking about it non-stop, performing live shows of the music, and hoping that enough people will find incredible value in it.

What I can say, however, is that releasing GIANTS has opened a lot of creative doors in my mind. It’s the foundation for what’s coming next at Brave Wave over the next few years. Once we start announcing our new projects, those who love GIANTS will immediately see its influence on our upcoming line of albums, which are currently under extensive planning.

 

Check out the soundtrack in store: