Akari Kaida: I’m Akari Kaida. I joined Capcom in
1994 and have written for a variety of projects, but as far as Mega Man
is concerned, I wrote songs for Mega Man and Bass, Mega Man ZX Advent,
and Mega Man Battle Network 1 & 5. I went freelance in 2005, and
joined the arrange soundtrack for Mega Man 9 this year.
GSW: You are often credited as Akari Kaida Groves. Is this your formal name?
Kaida: Yes, my husband is Australian, so I compose music under the Western surname of Groves.
GSW:
Mega Man & Bass is one of the few early Mega Man titles not to be
localized for English-language territories, only receiving a release
years later for the Game Boy Advance. There were various musicians who
contributed to the soundtrack. Which songs were yours?
Kaida:
Let´s see, I think they were Cloud Man, Ground Man... and Tengu Man,
I´d say. There may have been others, but it´s hard to remember.
GSW: What was your contribution to the arrange soundtrack?
Kaida:
For the arranged album, Yamada-san suggested I write something stylish
and easygoing... a kind of European, French-style scat vocal. The state
I was looking to capture was laid back and untroubled. Because quite a
few of the other arrangements involved electronic instruments, I was
going for a more acoustic sound by comparison. There’s an acoustic
guitar in there if you listen closely. It was fun to write.
