Shoji Meguro
| Shoji Meguro | |
|---|---|
| Native name | 目黒 将司 |
| Born |
June 4, 1971 Tokyo, Japan |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | |
| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1995—present |
Shoji Meguro (目黒 将司 Meguro Shōji, born June 4, 1971) is a Japanese composer, guitarist, and video game director who works for video game company Atlus. Meguro joined the company in 1995, and has since composed for many of their games, mainly those in the Persona series.[1]
Career
Early life
Born in Tokyo, Japan, Meguro became familiar with technology from a young age, due to his parents running a factory.[2] As a child, Meguro did not take an interest in popular music, and instead listened to and enjoyed classical. In junior high, he became interested in the likes of jazz artists such as T-Square, Herb Alpert, and Casiopea. It was in junior high that he became particularly fond of writing and profiteering music.[2] He then majored in hydrodynamics at the College of Industrial Technology at Nihon University.[2]
Atlus
After sending a demo tape and attending two interviews, Meguro was hired by Atlus in 1995. He got his start in the company by working on Revelations: Persona for the PlayStation, for which he composed 16 tracks, including one that became a staple in the series: "Aria of the Soul". Meguro continued to work on several projects in the mid to late 1990s, including Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers on the Sega Saturn, composing around 50 pieces for the game, as well as Maken X on the Dreamcast.[2]
The first time he became a leading composer was on Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne in 2003, where he somewhat diverged from the music in the prior games for the Megami Tensei series, giving the game a more orchestral and fusion sound. A crucial point of his career was Digital Devil Saga; he had creative freedom that let him establish his own sound.[2] In 2005, Meguro took a break from the Shin Megami Tensei series to work on titles such as Trauma Center: Under the Knife, Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army, and Trauma Center: Second Opinion.
Meguro's career was propelled to international stardom in his craft with his work on Persona 3, where he used a pop-based vocal style, and the soundtrack to the game sold over 100,000 copies. In 2008, Meguro continued upon his success with Persona 4 where he blended genres to craft a unique sound. A concert at Akasaka Blitz was held to celebrate Meguro’s work on the Persona series, where Persona favorites were played. During this time, he also worked on the music on Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon.[2]
Meguro was promoted to game director for the PlayStation Portable remake of Persona. During this time he received some criticism from some fans for changing the soundtrack for the remake, but overall received a warm response. He later directed the PSP ports of both Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment. In the mid 2010s, Meguro served as the sound director for three spinoff Persona titles, as well as composing the soundtrack for Persona 5, along with Toshiki Konishi.
Musical style and influences
Although many of his works feature a signature rock style, Meguro experiments with different musical genres, such as orchestral, electronica, jazz, and hip hop from soundtrack to soundtrack. Meguro cites T-Square, Casiopea, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as some of his musical influences.[2]
Works
| Video games | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Co-worker |
| 1996 | Revelations: Persona | Composition/arrangement | Hidehito Aoki, Kenichi Tsuchiya, and Misaki Okibe |
| 1997 | Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers | Composition/arrangement | Toshiko Tasaki and Tsukasa Masuko |
| 1999 | Maken X | Composition/arrangement | Takahiro Ogata |
| 2001 | Maken Shao: Demon Sword | Composition/arrangement | |
| 2003 | Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne | Composition/arrangement | Kenichi Tsuchiya and Toshiko Tasaki |
| 2004 | Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax | Composition/arrangement | Kenichi Tsuchiya and Toshiko Tasaki |
| Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga | Composition/arrangement | Kenichi Tsuchiya | |
| 2005 | Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 | Composition/arrangement | |
| Trauma Center: Under the Knife | Composition/arrangement | Kenichi Tsuchiya and Kenichi Kikkawa | |
| 2006 | Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army | Composition/arrangement | |
| Persona 3 | Composition/arrangement | ||
| Trauma Center: Second Opinion | Composition/arrangement | Kenichi Tsuchiya and Shingo Yasumoto | |
| Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine | Composition/arrangement ("Opening") | ||
| 2007 | Persona 3 FES | Composition/arrangement | Kenichi Tsuchiya |
| 2008 | Persona 4 | Composition/arrangement | Atsushi Kitajoh |
| Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon | Composition/arrangement | ||
| 2009 | Shin Megami Tensei: Persona | Arrangement | Ryota Koduka and Kenichi Tsuchiya |
| Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey | Composition/arrangement | ||
| Persona 3 Portable | Composition/arrangement | ||
| 2010 | Trauma Team | Composition/arrangement | Atsushi Kitajoh and Ryota Koduka |
| 2011 | Catherine | Composition/arrangement | Atsushi Kitajoh and Kenichi Tsuchiya |
| Persona 2: Innocent Sin | Director | ||
| 2012 | Persona 4 Arena | Composition/arrangement | Atsushi Kitajoh |
| Persona 2: Eternal Punishment | Director | ||
| Persona 4 Golden | Composition/arrangement | Atsushi Kitajoh | |
| 2013 | Persona 4 Arena Ultimax | Sound director | |
| 2014 | Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth | Sound director | |
| 2015 | Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker | Composition/arrangement | |
| Persona 4: Dancing All Night | Sound director | Ryota Koduka | |
| 2016 | Persona 5 | Composition/arrangement | Toshiki Konishi |
| Anime/drama/television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Co-worker |
| 2008 | Persona: Trinity Soul | Arrangement | Taku Iwasaki |
| 2011 | Persona 4: the Animation | Composition/arrangement | |
| 2014 | Persona 4: the Golden Animation | Composition/arrangement | Tetsuya Kobayashi |
| Film | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Co-worker |
| 2012 | Persona 4: the Animation -The Factor of Hope- | Composition (reprises) | |
| 2013 | Persona 3 The Movie: #1 Spring of Birth | Composition/arrangement | |
| 2014 | Persona 3 The Movie: #2 Midsummer Knight's Dream | Composition/arrangement ("Fate is In Our Hands") | |
| 2015 | Persona 3 The Movie: #3 Falling Down | Composition/arrangement | Tetsuya Kobayashi |
| 2016 | Persona 3 The Movie: #4 Winter of Rebirth | Composition/arrangement ("Boku no Akashi") | |
References
- ↑ "Shoji Meguro interview". RocketBaby. Archived from the original on August 26, 2002. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Greening, Chris. "Shoji Meguro Profile". Video Game Music Online.