Meet the lead composer behind Promise Mascot Agency a brand-new game by Kaizen Game Works, the creator of Paradise Killer, coming out on April 10. Alpha Chrome Yayo, or ACY for short, is not only a soundtrack composer but also a musician famous for experimenting with modern and traditional sounds. For this game ACY has crafted an eclectic mix of music, from 1970's influenced crime thriller tracks, to upbeat music of friendship and triumph, to haunting urban legend inspired ambience. There’s also screaming heavy metal to play as you rage against the injustices of a 9-5 job!

Hey, thank you so much! I’m absolutely delighted about it. I’ve lived with these songs for a long time now, and to know that my work on Promise Mascot Agency will be in the hands (and ears) of cool people in the near future is awesome. This music is so dear to me, as is the game and all involved in creating it.

Even better is seeing it so lovingly put together by Black Screen Records, and wrapped in ludicrously gorgeous artwork by exceptionally talented dude, José Salot. I’ve been a fan of his work for a long time and in my view there is simply no better fit.

I’ve been a huge fan of Kaizen Game Works since Paradise Killer came out, so I was exceptionally jazzed (pun fully intended) when they reached out to me about being lead composer on Promise Mascot Agency. 

Hearing about this wild vision of sentient mascots, a hot yakuza crime story and a cursed rural Japanese town - man, I felt like this game was just made for me. Honestly though I think a lot of people probably feel like this when they first hear about it, and that’s a kind of magic in and of itself.

I love how the cool people at Kaizen had this crystal clear vision of something seemingly indescribable and just went at it with everything they’ve got; it’s an honour to be part of that.

I didn’t have any direct collaboration with Ryo, but I’m so happy that he has been a big part of the game - I love his work on the Ninja Gaiden series and I knew it would be excellent on Promise Mascot Agency, but it still somehow managed to exceed my wildest expectations.

I did, however, work closely with a Japanese singer called NOZ for a special vocal track, “Promises Lost (Promises Found)”, which I really loved doing. NOZ is incredible. “Spine-tingling” is an overused descriptor but honestly, there’s no better phrase here - just beautiful, shiver-inducing lullaby vocals with lush stacked harmonies. Every time I hear her sing I’m amazed.

I love that the game showcases so much extraordinary talent from around the world, so to be part of that delicious stew is incredible.

Promise Mascot Agency is full of characters that I love, and there’s this major thread of sticking it to the powers that be and achieving dreams through the power of friendship and raw defiance. But it’s also set against this backdrop of curses and heartache in a strange, deteriorating old town.

A big part of my job was working out how that should sound, this town rife with malignant forces but a beating heart of beauty and determination.

So there’s a LOT of jazz on there - some of it sounds dangerous, or sad, or sexy, or silly, depending on what’s going on in the game. Something important that I kept in mind though was that jazz started as protest music and I wanted to keep that spirit of defiance running throughout. Even if it’s a crazy, kinda horny sounding track for a repurposed love hotel.

Something else really important to me is respecting and shouting out exactly where my influences came from, celebrating them. Which I think we’re gonna talk about now!

It really helped me that the Kaizen bunch were so clear and assured in what they wanted Promise Mascot Agency to feel like, and they were quick to share a bunch of the movies, games and albums that influenced them. Even better, most of these were already major favourites of mine - stuff like Battles Without Honor And Humanity, Sonatine, Yakuza Apocalypse, Twin Peaks and a truckload of Showa era music.

I’ve always been a huge fan of jazz fusion, enka and traditional Japanese music, so it was a great excuse to spend countless hours listening to those records and considering it homework! Artists like Tatsuro Yamashita, Hidefumi Toki, Meiko Kaji, Sayuri Ishikawa… I could go on all day.

In my music studio I also have a little CRT monitor that’s right in my eyeline while I work, which I use to run movies or game footage with the sound off. It really helps me get the vibe right and that visual inspiration is invaluable to me.

It’s an ephemeral quality, but having the right vibes in the studio is almost as important as audio gear as far as I’m concerned, and I’m surrounded by art and treasured objects that get me where I need to be.

Oh there are a LOT of instruments on this one for sure. Loads of arcane synthesizers, guitars, piano, sax and, totally, a bunch of traditional Japanese instruments. There’s shamisen, shakuhachi, taishōgoto and a delightfully bizarre little koto synth originally designed to teach scales and soundtrack shigin (a type of poetry reading).

These are all instruments I already owned and appear on some other soundtracks I’m working on, as well as my own albums like “Home For Hitodama”.

So while I didn’t start learning them for Promise Mascot Agency, it sure as hell made me get a lot better at ‘em! I don’t like putting my name to anything unless I’m absolutely confident that it rules, so that was a great motivator.

It also helps that the game rocks incredibly hard. 

Playing the shakuhachi was a big one! If anybody isn’t familiar, it’s a traditional Japanese flute, with origins in zen practices. There are loads of flutes on the soundtrack, real ones and weird synth ones, but it was important to me to get some real shakuhachi on there.

It’s hard to say this without sounding like I’m tooting my own horn (flute?) but I’m generally pretty decent at picking up new instruments pretty quickly. Shakuhachi though? A different story altogether. It is HARD. You have to position your mouth (and the instrument) just perfectly otherwise no sound is going to come out, let alone a good sound.

Some days I would be flying with it, then I’d get up in the morning to finish recording something and I’d just get… air.

I did a lot of reading, and a lot of listening, especially to masters like Masayuki Koga. I also got heavily into the zen side of shakuhachi, which emphasises the importance of doing and breathing, even when the sound isn’t flowing.

Not only did this help, but I grew to actively like the sound of air just blowing through the shakuhachi, and ended up using this sound on one of the tracks as well. Nothing like turning a negative into a positive!

Aw it’s so hard to pick! There’s one bit in the game where a certain track of mine plays and it makes me feel like I could punch a hole in the fabric of time and space, but I can’t really talk about it as it’s spoilery. There’s also a bit in “Scrubbing Time (Dirty Sheets)”, the music that plays in the agency, that feels like pure joy to me.

But all in all, I think I’d have to say my favourite of my own tracks is “Kaso-Machi Nights”. It’s this sultry, kinda dangerous, slightly creepy jazz number that you can listen to in the kei truck and for me it really sums up the feel of the town.

It’s one of the first tracks I wrote for the game. Because ideas were flying thick and fast between myself and the Kaizen team, we used a lot of working titles but I settled on the official name for this one very quickly. This is what Kaso-Machi nights sound like and, even though it’s not always a happy town, it’s one I love spending time in.

It’s also immensely difficult to pick a favourite out of Ryo’s music - he’s nailed so many moods and they’re all awesome. If I’m gonna have to choose though, it’ll be “Gamazumi”, the track that plays in Bar Itai, run by Mama-San.

It’s mysterious and playful, big enka vibes. Cosy but with a slight hint of danger, just like the best bars. I love listening to it with a little cocktail myself, although I wish Mama-San would make me one. I love him.

If I’m not busy making music, there’s a pretty good chance I’m listening to it, and a LOT of the time it’s on vinyl. It’s my favourite format - big, tangible and beautiful. I love the anticipatory crackle at the start of a record and the fleeting silence at the end. Just enough time to gather your thoughts and put on another.

I’ve got so many favourites! I mentioned earlier a bunch of the records that inspired Promise Mascot Agency and they’re all on vinyl. I also listen to a whole load of soundtracks and there’s no shortage of Black Screen Records releases on my shelves. It’s gonna be real nice slipping the Promise Mascot Agency soundtrack next to Paradise Killer, which I absolutely adore. I’m a mega-fan of the game and the soundtrack.

One of my favourites that is resolutely unrelated to Promise Mascot Agency is the soundtrack to “Notam of Wind”, a beautifully strange PS1 hot air balloon game that was only released in Japan. The game, and the LP, are wrapped in beautiful Hiroshi Nagai artwork and it’s this incredible collection of bizarre and appropriately breezy electronica.

A favourite that definitely is related to Promise Mascot Agency has to be “Spacy” by Tats Yamashita. His album “For You” gets a lot of attention in jazz fusion and city pop circles (and quite right too, it rules), but I find myself playing “Spacy” more often. It’s got banger tracks like “Love Space”, and the list of musicians on it is insane. Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto AND Tats all on one record? I mean come on.

I also spend a lot of time in jazz clubs and, again, working on Promise Mascot Agency made this feel like I was being good and doing my homework while sipping cocktails and listening to great music.

I love the kissa culture of Japan, jazz cafes where you can go and have a drink, sit quietly and listen to records. Sometimes there’s a shaberenai (no talking) rule; the focus is on simply enjoying the music to its fullest.

There’s a club here in Belfast that operates similarly to a kissa, run by the Tokyo Jazz Joints project. I love it to bits; maybe if I’m extra nice they would spin a track or two from Promise Mascot Agency.

Aw I’m so excited for both the game release and the soundtrack. In my view, everyone involved with Promise Mascot Agency has pulled out all the stops to make something really special and I love it dearly.

So please enjoy this music! It means so much to me and I hope you enjoy your time spent with the sounds of Kaso-Machi as much as I have. I’d love it if you keep in mind that spirit of defiance, of banding together, taking no shit and achieving your dreams.

And hey, if you’ve got a cool project that requires some exciting sounds, give me a shout!

The game releases on the April 10th 2025. Wishlist here.