Jon Batiste talks music with video game composer legend, Nobuo Uematsu

So, Universal Japan just randomly decided to upload a series of videos of Jon Batiste and Nobuo Uematsu just sitting and talking music. [In Kevin Jz Prodigy voice ] THIS IS WHAT I WANNA SEE.

Shout-outs to the YouTube algorithm actually coming through with some good shit.Jon Batiste has regularly shared his love of video game soundtracks, occasionally playing them as part of the band on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. So him sitting down with the video game composer legend that Nobuo Uematsu is not out of the blue and is a very on brand side quest for him.

ℹ️ Note: This video features YouTube subtitles in English, so be sure to switch them on if they are not on by default.

Jon Batiste is such a music nerd whose energy and disposition is completely different to that of Nobuo Uematsu. But them both having such a love and knowledge of music and the creation of it is what made them connect. It’s just unfortunate that there was a language barrier between them.

Final Fantasy VII truly was a [turns and looks into the camera] ✨ game changer ✨. It changed the company then known as SquareSoft. It changed the trajectory of JRPGs as a whole. It changed character designer Tetsuya Nomura’s career. Its release was a HUGE monocultural moment in gaming. Even if you didn’t own a PlayStation, you knew about Final Fantasy VII. And it created who I think could be considered one of the earliest instances of a video game composer becoming a known name and somewhat of a star in his own right — Nobuo Uematsu. And even now there is only a very small group of composers who I could say have become names and mini celebs in their own right. Koji Kondo of Nintendo fame and Kingdom Hearts composer Yoko Shimomura are the only other two which come to mind.

Nobuo Uematsu × Jon Batiste | Universal Music Japan

A good video game soundtrack is not just one which features good music, but pieces of music that you strongly identify with specific moments. Moments that just would not work without the music. In Final Fantasy VII, I vividly remember hearing “Tifa’s Theme” when Tifa and Cloud are at 7th Heaven reminiscing over their childhood. Hearing “J-E-N-O-V-A” for the first time when you fight that bitch. The music when I entered Cosmo Canyon for the first time. The music that plays when Cloud is at Don Corneo’s mansion in drag looking poussé. Hearing “Aerith’s Theme” when she died and having to sit through a boss battle with it playing in the background to fight that Jenova bitch AGAIN. Seeing Sephiroth descend with his titties out to “One Winged Angel”. Side note. Despite “One Winged Angel” being the popular piece, I’ve ALWAYS preferred “Birth of a God” which plays when you fight Bizarro Sephiroth. Nobuo Uematsu’s soundtrack played such a significant role in the world of Final Fantasy VII. It was a defining part of the experience of playing that game. And this was in 1997. So the music was some MIDI-ass sounding shit. And yet it still moved and amazed and remains one of the most memorable Final Fantasy soundtracks. Despite there being no limitations on fidelity in music these days, a lot of video game soundtracks just aren’t as memorable as they used to be when they were composed under system limitations. Even Final Fantasy soundtracks now suffer from the scale and scope of having to be super orchestral and broad in sound. So much so that melody lines don’t stick as much and composers chase grandiosity for everything, instead of what works best for specific moments within the game and the story. Sometimes less is more. And even when Nobuo was composing the soundtrack for Final Fantasy X, free from the limitations of the PlayStation 1 — he kept his pieces simple, instead of completely indulging in being able to use extra tracks or use orchestras.

Despite composing soundtracks for 6 other Final Fantasy games, and then working on the soundtracks for the next 3 games which came after Final Fantasy VII — that darned Final Fantasy VII soundtrack is the one he’d most be known for and be the soundtrack that cements his legacy. Final Fantasy VIII had a brilliant soundtrack. But much like Mariah Carey’s Glitter, the soundtrack got kinda smothered and tarnished by the reception to the thing it was for.

FFVIII quickly becoming the ugly duckling of the franchise, meant that the soundtrack as a whole was never held in mass reverence the way that Final Fantasy VII or even Final Fantasy X’s soundtracks were and continue to be. Everybody loves “Eyes on Me” and “Liberi Fatali”. But I’ve never felt that they’ve been held up and adored to the same levels as “One Winged Angel” or “Zanarkand” in Final Fantasy X. And I think Square Enix always doing some shit with Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X are huge reasons why. But FFVIII’s soundtrack is not completely disregarded. Pieces from it always pop up in Distant Worlds concerts, and I was fortunate to witness “Liberi Fatali” played by a live orchestra and “Eyes on Me” performed by Crystal Kay at the Royal Albert Hall, which knocked my wig sideways.

All of this to say, Nobuo Uematsu is a bad bitch. And whilst I’m sure Jon Batiste is a busy man, it’d be great to see him meeting video game composers be a thing that he does.

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