This was awesome. Of all the 8-bit composers, Tim’s music is my favorite. I would pay for a new 8-bit album by him in a heartbeat. How do we get Fox/Marvel to let him score the Silver Surfer movie in the works?
I really hope Tim will make a 8-bit album one day. The man was able to have his “own” sound with a 2a03 soundchip and pretty much every soundchips he touched. Its already amazing when you find your own sound as a composer. But to do it with 2 square waves , 1 triangle and a noise channel is beyond amazing.
This guy has made music that has touched my soul. Songs I’m even discovering today! With his Gambit theme in Arcade’s Revenge being a long time favorite of mine for decades now. SNES was my first console, and I was a generation behind other kids for a while. That song is arguably 80% why Gambit is my favorite X-Man
Kind of a silly question, but does TIm ever talk about his later works. I know hes a big 8 bit fan but... some of his later works (ecco the dolphin comes to mind) is bloody fantastic !
The best from my youth -- Tim Follin ))) Also in ~90s there was a game Ecco The Dolfin on Sega and we very love it. So when i get know that next part on Sony Playstation would be with TF music i was dreamly shocked -- so long there were no news about Tims production. And yesss -- the master has not disappointed with this -- Eccos soundtrack is the huge ambient rock on the shore of minds. Thank you, Tim, for all the fish from ~80 to now!
Wow guys, that was the highlight of my month! So many people have been waiting for this interview and you guys nailed it! Great questions, and great answers! You asked almost all the questions I've been wondering about for years and I congratulate you. I hope this marks the beginning of more Tim Follin in the industry! I've gotta say though, although I'd pay for a new Tim Follin joint in a heartbeat, I think you guys are thinking too small. How cool would it be if Follin teamed up with one of the hot indie developers like Yacht Club Games or Inti Creates for a retro game with a new OST? Lastly, a correction and a comment: According to most sources, Tim Follin didn't create/use his own drivers for Time Trax. Those drivers were created by Dean Belfield, and I would have loved to have heard Tim's comments about those. The comment: After the interview, you mentioned Tim's retrospective subjectivity and contrasted it with your objectivity. I'm not sure you get to claim any kind of objectivity, do you? I mean, you guys posted that PCE episode, blasting most of the tracks you selected......and then posted a subsequent episode, praising the EXACT SAME TRACKS. I don't think it gets less objective than that. In any case guys, this is definitely my favorite Mercato Bros. episode, and it was executed just about flawlessly. Excellent coup, excellent questions, excellent track selections......well done!
Thanks Nathan- glad it made your month. It was a surreal and awesome experience that we're honored to have had. As far as your comment, you missed the point we were trying to make. Obviously objectivity when it comes to music is on a spectrum. It's impossible to be wholly objective about music, but we were just saying we have less baggage and bias approaching it from only a listener's perspective than Tim would have. We know first hand that when you work on music, you're so close to it that it's hard to have an unbiased view of it. So that's what we were saying. And the PCE is a silly example of anything. We were just tired and in a bad mood when we recorded that, which is one reason we did the redo of it.
OK, now I'm really curious to hear what Tim could put down in Famitracker. I feel like the more traditional notation it presents would result in a totally different sound than the "pairs of numbers" stuff he (and everyone, really) was doing in the 90's!
I know nobody will ever read this, but if you ever get the chance to interview him again, PLEASE ask him if we'll ever see the music of Ecco: Defender of The Future on CD. It's such a shame that an amazing soundtrack like that was never released!
How did you manage to secure this interview?! One of the 64 scene's most brilliant and elusive composers. Great interview lads and I am so glad that Tim is finally waking up to the fact that people (young and old) absolutely love his music. And it was always some of the best music on any console - Bionic Commando, GnG (C64 & Amiga), TimeTrax, Plok.....the list goes on. If he ever did that SID album, it would be a case of TAKE MY MONEY!!
No kidding! Thanks! We're very lucky for the rare opportunity, and still in disbelief. I think it happened partly due to us having done many successful previous interviews, so Tim felt in good hands after checking those out. But definitely also a bit of luck and good timing! :)
Hearing the whole story from the man himself, truly amazing. I wonder if you guys have heard his music from the lemmings? also a great chiptune artist I never hear get talked about is blitz lunar and his album triptunes. maybe you guys should check him out and feature his music on the podcast if you do that thing. great episode by the way.
This was awesome. Of all the 8-bit composers, Tim’s music is my favorite. I would pay for a new 8-bit album by him in a heartbeat.
How do we get Fox/Marvel to let him score the Silver Surfer movie in the works?
Maaaan, him talking about looping around 8:50 is so spot on. I deal with this all the time.
Haha so true
Ghouls n Ghosts on C64 is one of the best and unique OSTs I have heard!
Great interview. The US perspective on chip music is very different to the UK's, but we can all agree on the genius of Tim.
thank you for this interview.
I really hope Tim will make a 8-bit album one day. The man was able to have his “own” sound with a 2a03 soundchip and pretty much every soundchips he touched. Its already amazing when you find your own sound as a composer. But to do it with 2 square waves , 1 triangle and a noise channel is beyond amazing.
This guy has made music that has touched my soul. Songs I’m even discovering today! With his Gambit theme in Arcade’s Revenge being a long time favorite of mine for decades now. SNES was my first console, and I was a generation behind other kids for a while. That song is arguably 80% why Gambit is my favorite X-Man
Kind of a silly question, but does TIm ever talk about his later works. I know hes a big 8 bit fan but... some of his later works (ecco the dolphin comes to mind) is bloody fantastic !
I really hope they make a sequel to Contradiction. I’d buy it instantly.
GREAT interview
The best from my youth -- Tim Follin ))) Also in ~90s there was a game Ecco The Dolfin on Sega and we very love it. So when i get know that next part on Sony Playstation would be with TF music i was dreamly shocked -- so long there were no news about Tims production. And yesss -- the master has not disappointed with this -- Eccos soundtrack is the huge ambient rock on the shore of minds. Thank you, Tim, for all the fish from ~80 to now!
Great inspiration and from the style alone you can guess a mile away if it's a Follin soundtrack.
Wow guys, that was the highlight of my month! So many people have been waiting for this interview and you guys nailed it! Great questions, and great answers! You asked almost all the questions I've been wondering about for years and I congratulate you. I hope this marks the beginning of more Tim Follin in the industry!
I've gotta say though, although I'd pay for a new Tim Follin joint in a heartbeat, I think you guys are thinking too small. How cool would it be if Follin teamed up with one of the hot indie developers like Yacht Club Games or Inti Creates for a retro game with a new OST?
Lastly, a correction and a comment: According to most sources, Tim Follin didn't create/use his own drivers for Time Trax. Those drivers were created by Dean Belfield, and I would have loved to have heard Tim's comments about those. The comment: After the interview, you mentioned Tim's retrospective subjectivity and contrasted it with your objectivity. I'm not sure you get to claim any kind of objectivity, do you? I mean, you guys posted that PCE episode, blasting most of the tracks you selected......and then posted a subsequent episode, praising the EXACT SAME TRACKS. I don't think it gets less objective than that. In any case guys, this is definitely my favorite Mercato Bros. episode, and it was executed just about flawlessly. Excellent coup, excellent questions, excellent track selections......well done!
Thanks Nathan- glad it made your month. It was a surreal and awesome experience that we're honored to have had. As far as your comment, you missed the point we were trying to make. Obviously objectivity when it comes to music is on a spectrum. It's impossible to be wholly objective about music, but we were just saying we have less baggage and bias approaching it from only a listener's perspective than Tim would have. We know first hand that when you work on music, you're so close to it that it's hard to have an unbiased view of it. So that's what we were saying. And the PCE is a silly example of anything. We were just tired and in a bad mood when we recorded that, which is one reason we did the redo of it.
Well said!
OK, now I'm really curious to hear what Tim could put down in Famitracker. I feel like the more traditional notation it presents would result in a totally different sound than the "pairs of numbers" stuff he (and everyone, really) was doing in the 90's!
I know nobody will ever read this, but if you ever get the chance to interview him again, PLEASE ask him if we'll ever see the music of Ecco: Defender of The Future on CD. It's such a shame that an amazing soundtrack like that was never released!
THIS !
Especially when something like Silver Surfer is on vinyl!
how does this only have 626 views?
How did you manage to secure this interview?! One of the 64 scene's most brilliant and elusive composers. Great interview lads and I am so glad that Tim is finally waking up to the fact that people (young and old) absolutely love his music. And it was always some of the best music on any console - Bionic Commando, GnG (C64 & Amiga), TimeTrax, Plok.....the list goes on. If he ever did that SID album, it would be a case of TAKE MY MONEY!!
No kidding! Thanks! We're very lucky for the rare opportunity, and still in disbelief. I think it happened partly due to us having done many successful previous interviews, so Tim felt in good hands after checking those out. But definitely also a bit of luck and good timing! :)
Hearing the whole story from the man himself, truly amazing. I wonder if you guys have heard his music from the lemmings? also a great chiptune artist I never hear get talked about is blitz lunar and his album triptunes. maybe you guys should check him out and feature his music on the podcast if you do that thing. great episode by the way.
Let him hear Xeno Crisis with pure Sega music - 8-16bit music is still very needed
Music made by Savaged Regime by DefleMask Tracker
Straight from the horse's mouth - well done
Hm. Maybe I can hire this guy as my composer for one of my feature films.
so this guy basically American Zun
British*
*British