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The [Crafty] Gamer: Team Teamwork (Vinyl Fantasy 7)
This week marks the 13th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII’s release. What better way to celebrate than with a musical tribute? Team Teamwork, the mastermind behind The Ocarina of Rhyme mixtape, has blended tracks from Nobuo Uematsu's score for FFVII with vocals from modern-day hip-hop artists including Jay-Z, Ghostface Killah, Clipse and more for an epic combination. Read on to learn more about Team Teamwork, and his incredible video game-themed remixes including his latest release: Vinyl Fantasy 7.
Full name: Tim Jacques a.k.a. Team Teamwork
Age: 24
Hometown: Windham, ME. But I currently live in Somerville, MA.
Occupation: Graphic designer
Tell us about your music. What’s the inspiration behind it?
My main inspiration that got me into this whole world of mashups/remixes is Danger Mouse's The Grey Album. When I discovered that, it really changed my expectations of what making music could mean.
I call my stuff remixes, others call it mashups. They're technically both. I just like to take things with which I'm familiar and mess around with it. I mainly make music for myself to listen to. It's a very fortunate byproduct that others also really enjoy my fun hobby.
How did you get started in music production?
I decided I wanted to learn how to make mashups, so I spent around five or six hours every night after work for about a year figuring out how to beatmap, find which software was most intuitive for me (it's Ableton Live 8), and just messing around until stuff started to sound good.
How much time did it take to put these tracks together?
Including mixing and mastering, each song takes about six to nine hours. First, I beatmap the vocal track. I'll see how it syncs up to a variety of samples, then pick which sample I think works best. Next, I create drums and a bass line, then I spend a really long time playing around with all of those elements until I think it sounds awesome. Finally, I listen to the song an extraordinary amount of times, checking the levels and making sure they sound right.
Where can we listen to/download the album?
The Team Teamwork Web site has all of my albums. You can download any of them for free if you put “0” in the payment box.
Any other information you’d like to share about yourself?
I don't have an extensive background in music. I played in a few metal, pop-punk and hardcore bands in college, but that's the extent of it.
My favorite video games: Tied for first are The Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy VII (shocking!). I also love Skies of Arcadia, Fallout 3, Borderlands, the Marios (especially 3 and World), and Guitar Hero 2.
I'm really not sure at this point what the future holds. Last time I was asked this, right after Ocarina came out, I said I wasn't going to make any more video game-based albums because I didn't want to be pegged as "that guy." But who knows where inspiration's going to hit? I think in the immediate future I'm going to try to make beats without making remixes out of them for a little while, just to see what I can do with that.
Any Web links to other work?
Listen: Vinyl Fantasy 7, The Ocarina of Rhyme, The Good-a** Remixes: Vol. 1
Twitter: @teamteamwork
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