This is the first interview I've ever conducted. I hope to be able to do this on a fairly regular basis. This is my first in a three band series of interviews. I hope you enjoy it! This interview is with David Wilson, better known as The Flight Orchestra. You can hear his music and check him out at his myspace. Name: My name is David Wilson.
Band Name: I make music under the name: The Flight Orchestra.
Where did you get the idea for your band name? Every band I've ever been in, the name had something to do with flight. And, I make a little joke about calling this, The Flight Orchestra, as I make the music myself, and usually perform as one person. I am scared to death of airplanes, but after touring a few times these past few years, I am somewhat cool with flight per se. Pills and Booze do the trick.
Where do you currently reside? Los Angeles, but soon, Portland, Oregon.
What was the first video game console you ever owned? What memories do you have with it? Hmmm, going way back...... maybe Commodore 64? An Atari, then Turbo-Grafx 16. Then of course NES. Everyone in the 'hood had one and I would be damned to be the exception.
I think I wore a couple of NES' out. ;) I remember fondly, as a kid, playing and getting into fist fights about NES Baseball and Tecmo Bowl tourneys that got way out of hand. I learned from a very young age that it was not a good ideato take other people's money, kid's money that was given to them by their parents. [You couldn't take kids money] and not expect there to be some kind of fight about it.
I learned to run swiftly from several neighborhood parents, but I spent that hard earned money wisely. On what? I can't remember. The arcades maybe? And I remember that Goonies was the best game ever! But I never beat it. Did anyone? I also really liked Baseball Stars, Kung Fu, Mike Tyson's Punch Out, and RBI Baseball.
What is your favorite console? Why? Tough question, at the moment I would say it's a tie between the PS2 and the Nintendo DS. PS2 for obvious reasons...games, games, games. And the Nintendo DS for being so progressive in it's interfacing and game designs. Go Nintendo! I might make some enemies here, but I am not terribly interested in the Xbox, too much blood.
What is your favorite video game soundtrack? Why? Katamari Damacy! And We Love Katamari! Two excellent soundtracks to couple two wonderful games.
What is your favorite video game? Why? Tough one, so many wonderful games.... The Katamari Damacy series is wonderful. All-Star Baseball 2005, I played along with the real Dodgers for an entire season (yikes, not proud of that)! Metropolismania, excellent quirky little game that I still play every once in a while. I must say my favorite developers are Namco, Square-Enix, Konami, Natsume, and of course, Nintendo.
Do you still play a lot of video games? Which ones have you been playing most lately? Yes, I play games frequently, my girlfriend and I are hardcore, avid gamers! At the moment she is really into Kingdom Hearts 2 and Animal Crossing for the Nintendo DS. Myself, I am splitting time between MLB 2K6 (though not too satisfied with it), Winning Eleven 9 (come on arsenal, go on England!), and Animal Crossing for the DS.
What type of music besides video game music is most influental to you? Music that inspires me is anything from The Band, to A Tribe Called Quest, to Elbow, to The Turtles, to The Kinks, to Then or Daedelus...on and on and on...
When did you first start making video game related music? I can say that I was exposed to video game style music through my club Dataage in Los Angeles. (I manage the club along with my friend Octavius). At dataage, people like 11Hz Robot, 8-bit Weapon, 2 Playa Game, and 8 Bit would use video game sounds to compose songs and it has been very inspirational to me in creating my own music.
What instruments and electronics do you use to make your music? I play all the "rock" instruments; drums, guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, sampler. I'm also proficient with software like Reason, Ableton Live, etc. etc. And I sing but do not dance;] . I do a lot of sampling, but you have to be careful these days, usually I sample myself, but...
Any advice to other people trying to make it in this genre of music? Stretch your sound as much as possible! If you recognize a sound, chances are someone else has made it first. So go that extra step to make your own sound! Be fearless, create out of love for art and never let a cynic's opinion damage your desire! Also, You don't need a "band" to deliver a powerful live performance! Get your laptop, scratch up a live set with Ableton Live and get your ass out there!!! No excuses! I'll see you at the club.
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Thank you to The Flight Orchestra for his time!