Having a blast...

I didn't care much for cartoons when I grew up, except for that one japanese anime, called Grendizer. Not much of a success in Japan, nor in the US, but in France and in Quebec in particular, it broke records in terms of audience...

I was lucky enough to grab the first French DVD release a couple years ago before they had it pulled off the shelf after only a couple of weeks. 

I've always wanted to see the original japanese version, but it was very hard to find, most of what I could find online seemed fishy to say the least, and would have cost me an arm and a leg.  

But that dream finally came true when my best buddy in Quebec - who's a big anime buff and has tons of pals in Asia - offered the original version box set when I visited in January.

It's a bit silly for a 40 years old man, but, watching that stuff in japanese for the first time, it's almost like being 6 or 7 again. The french version was good, but a lot got lost in translation in terms of background story and characters' motivations. So I'm rediscovering the whole thing.


Anyway, all this to say that as I am listening to that stuff again, I realize just how much it totally influenced me musically and sound design-wise. Those sound effects - it's all synth stuff, probably Moogs and Arps and EMS - that's the soundtrack to my youth. That was my first contact with synths.

And that's just like the music itself - the composer was a huge fan of Morricone, and it shows. Not too surprisingly, I gravitated towards Morricone when I later discovered his work, and he remains a crucial influence today.

But in essence, that show had all the sonic ingredients which made me the musician I am today and I'd have to put it right up there w/ Elvis as one of my most fundamental influence.