Interview with Noriyuki Iwadare (April 2003)

We recently got to conduct an interview with Noriyuki Iwadare, who is famous for composing the soundtracks for the LUNAR and GRANDIA series, among other games and anime.

LunarNET: What kind of music do you like?

Noriyuki Iwadare: I'm interested in all kinds of music. I listen to different music everyday, and it also depends on the day. I'm fond of listening to Bax's orchestra music recently.

LunarNET: Besides composing music, is there anything else you'd like to do in producing a game?

Iwadare: I'd like to direct if the game is a music game.

LunarNET: You are about to release a new album called "Ingmar -for the beginning-" What can your fans expect from it?

Iwadare: What you can expect from it is "A New Encounter". It will give you a different point of view to my music compared to Lunar or Grandia.

Ingmar [is] based on a story, and the album contains a concept of it, as each track reflects a scene from the story.

It's like a movie (or similar to RPG) but without any pictures, with only with music tracks and vocal tracks. I think this inspire your imagination more. Please listen to it and feel it, it will give you a new encounter of music.

LunarNET: How do you feel about how your music can inspire people all around the world?

Iwadare: I try to imagine the scenes and become the character. I'm very happy and surprised to know that my music is enjoyed and accepted by many people and from different generations with different cultural backgrounds all over the world, and I think this means that my music and the way of composing it is enjoyed by all age groups, and I'm very happy to hear about it.

LunarNET: Much of the story in Lunar is emphasized by the music. What do you think about the effect of music in Lunar games? Does this affect your composition of the music?

Iwadare: I spoke to Mr. Kubooka about "How we should set the music" for the animation scenes and I composed the music for each of the scenes. I think my music is applauded by the "spectacular direction" of the director.

It is very important to adjust the timing of the interval, when the music starts and ends.

When it comes to this "Interval", Lunar has this perfect timing.

LunarNET: Within the LUNAR series, which of the soundtracks you did was your favorite and why?

Iwadare: This is a difficult question to answer because I liked every track. If I pick one track, I like 'Eternal Blue ~ Everlasting Love~' because I like the scene of Lucia crying and smiling at the same time. The music is for this scene.

LunarNET: You've probably got a number of other upcoming projects. Any word on a new Lunar or Grandia game, or is there any news yet on a Lunar 3?

Iwadare: I'm sorry I can't say anything about my current work, however I'm working on a new game now.

Information about the game will be announced when the time comes, please look out for upcoming news.

LunarNET: Any possibility of a "Greatest Hits" type project in the future?

Iwadare: I have received some requests for a "Greatest Hits Album", but no plans have been made as yet. I hope I can make it happen in the near future.

LunarNET: In the vocal tracks of LUNAR, do the lyrics affect the feeling of the songs? What were your thoughts on the translations of Tsubasa and Wind's Nocture?

Iwadare: About these tracks, I composed them first and the lyrics were written after. But we had spoke about the images of these tracks in great detail, so I didn't feel any sense of incompatibilities.

LunarNET: Any last words for your fans around the globe?

Iwadare: Thank you very much to all of you for your continuing support in my music!

People all over the world live in dangerous times, but I believe music can heal and strengthen the mind.

I'm honored that my music gives people hope. I strongly wish to continue creating music for years to come.

We would like to thank Mr. Iwadare for graciously doing this interview with us. If you want any more information on his other works, feel free to check out his personal website or Two-Five. Also, Ingmar -for the beginning- is now available from cocoebiz.com. It's a great album if you're looking for something new from Mr. Iwadare!