I recently had an
opportunity to interview Jonathan Gamra of The Consouls, a video game cover
band from Australia. Earlier this month, they posted a
version of “Imakuni?’s
Theme” from the Pokémon Trading Card Game for Game Boy, and I wanted to learn
more about it.
Where are you from, and how did the band get started?
We're based in Sydney. Our keyboard player Zorsy had his own
channel about a decade ago where he uploaded solo piano covers of VGM on
YouTube. Eventually he found me and the other members and we started the
Consouls project in 2014.
How would you describe the overall style of the band?
What are your musical influences?
We consider our genre “video game jazz”, but we dabble in
other genres too. We’re heavily influenced by a lot of soul, R’n’B, and fusion.
How do you pick which songs to arrange/cover?
We have a monthly show called “Consouls Radio” where we pick
a theme and Patrons vote on tunes they would like to see within that theme.
Past examples have included JRPGs, SEGA music, vocal anime covers, etc. That
accounts for about half of what we cover, the other half we pick ourselves.
Why did you choose to cover "Imakuni?'s Theme"
from the Pokemon TCG game?
June was our birthday month and for Consouls Radio the theme
was “anything goes”. Our guitarist Jono really liked the tune so we picked it.
Was there a specific philosophy or methodology for how
the song was arranged?
Often times we’ll take inspiration from other tunes that we
like or think will work over a video game tune, but this was more about
expanding on the parts of the original that sound good and would be fun to play
over.
How did you get from that to the final product?
Once Jono finished the arrangement, the band got a lead
sheet, which is essentially a reduced version of the melody and chords. At that
point, we played through it many times to decide how we wanted the whole
arrangement to sound.
Are there any specific parts of the song that you wanted
to point out?
The solo section follows a 12-bar blues form under the riff
which akes it a little easier to play while still holding the core of the
arrangement. You’ll see that a lot in a of jazz arrangements, even if the tunes
aren’t 12-bar blues, because it’s just a progression to solo over with plenty
of room for the band to react to the soloist and build from.
What are some other songs you've covered recently?
Some highlights include a lo-fi cover of “Zanarkand”
from Final Fantasy X and a funky
take on “Life Will Change” from Persona 5.
How has the pandemic affected the band?
We're working completely remotely at the moment as we’re in
lockdown. Since we can’t record as a full band we're experimenting in other
genres like the aforementioned lo-fi and soon, chiptune!
Where can you be found online?
Despite the pandemic we're still pumping out uploads every
week on our
channel and almost as frequently on music services like Spotify, Apple
Music, and YouTube Music. You can find us on social networks under @theconsoulsband.
