Shoji Meguro

Shoji Meguro
Native name 目黒 将司
Born (1971-06-04) June 4, 1971
Tokyo, Japan
Genres
Occupation(s)
Instruments
Years active 1995—present

Shoji Meguro (目黒 将司 Meguro Shōji, born June 4, 1971) is a Japanese composer, guitarist, and video game director who works for video game company Atlus. Meguro joined the company in 1995, and has since composed for many of their games, mainly those in the Persona series.[1]

Career

Early life

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Meguro became familiar with technology from a young age, due to his parents running a factory.[2] As a child, Meguro did not take an interest in popular music, and instead listened to and enjoyed classical. In junior high, he became interested in the likes of jazz artists such as T-Square, Herb Alpert, and Casiopea. It was in junior high that he became particularly fond of writing and profiteering music.[2] He then majored in hydrodynamics at the College of Industrial Technology at Nihon University.[2]

Atlus

After sending a demo tape and attending two interviews, Meguro was hired by Atlus in 1995. He got his start in the company by working on Revelations: Persona for the PlayStation, for which he composed 16 tracks, including one that became a staple in the series: "Aria of the Soul". Meguro continued to work on several projects in the mid to late 1990s, including Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers on the Sega Saturn, composing around 50 pieces for the game, as well as Maken X on the Dreamcast.[2]

The first time he became a leading composer was on Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne in 2003, where he somewhat diverged from the music in the prior games for the Megami Tensei series, giving the game a more orchestral and fusion sound. A crucial point of his career was Digital Devil Saga; he had creative freedom that let him establish his own sound.[2] In 2005, Meguro took a break from the Shin Megami Tensei series to work on titles such as Trauma Center: Under the Knife, Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army, and Trauma Center: Second Opinion.

Meguro's career was propelled to international stardom in his craft with his work on Persona 3, where he used a pop-based vocal style, and the soundtrack to the game sold over 100,000 copies. In 2008, Meguro continued upon his success with Persona 4 where he blended genres to craft a unique sound. A concert at Akasaka Blitz was held to celebrate Meguro’s work on the Persona series, where Persona favorites were played. During this time, he also worked on the music on Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon.[2]

Meguro was promoted to game director for the PlayStation Portable remake of Persona. During this time he received some criticism from some fans for changing the soundtrack for the remake, but overall received a warm response. He later directed the PSP ports of both Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment. In the mid 2010s, Meguro served as the sound director for three spinoff Persona titles, as well as composing the soundtrack for Persona 5, along with Toshiki Konishi.

Musical style and influences

Although many of his works feature a signature rock style, Meguro experiments with different musical genres, such as orchestral, electronica, jazz, and hip hop from soundtrack to soundtrack. Meguro cites T-Square, Casiopea, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as some of his musical influences.[2]

Works

Video games
Year Title Role Co-worker
1996 Revelations: Persona Composition/arrangement Hidehito Aoki, Kenichi Tsuchiya, and Misaki Okibe
1997 Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers Composition/arrangement Toshiko Tasaki and Tsukasa Masuko
1999 Maken X Composition/arrangement Takahiro Ogata
2001 Maken Shao: Demon Sword Composition/arrangement
2003 Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Composition/arrangement Kenichi Tsuchiya and Toshiko Tasaki
2004 Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax Composition/arrangement Kenichi Tsuchiya and Toshiko Tasaki
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga Composition/arrangement Kenichi Tsuchiya
2005 Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 Composition/arrangement
Trauma Center: Under the Knife Composition/arrangement Kenichi Tsuchiya and Kenichi Kikkawa
2006 Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army Composition/arrangement
Persona 3 Composition/arrangement
Trauma Center: Second Opinion Composition/arrangement Kenichi Tsuchiya and Shingo Yasumoto
Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Composition/arrangement
("Opening")
2007 Persona 3 FES Composition/arrangement Kenichi Tsuchiya
2008 Persona 4 Composition/arrangement Atsushi Kitajoh
Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon Composition/arrangement
2009 Shin Megami Tensei: Persona Arrangement Ryota Koduka and Kenichi Tsuchiya
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Composition/arrangement
Persona 3 Portable Composition/arrangement
2010 Trauma Team Composition/arrangement Atsushi Kitajoh and Ryota Koduka
2011 Catherine Composition/arrangement Atsushi Kitajoh and Kenichi Tsuchiya
Persona 2: Innocent Sin Director
2012 Persona 4 Arena Composition/arrangement Atsushi Kitajoh
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment Director
Persona 4 Golden Composition/arrangement Atsushi Kitajoh
2013 Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Sound director
2014 Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth Sound director
2015 Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker Composition/arrangement
Persona 4: Dancing All Night Sound director Ryota Koduka
2016 Persona 5 Composition/arrangement Toshiki Konishi
Anime/drama/television
Year Title Role Co-worker
2008 Persona: Trinity Soul Arrangement Taku Iwasaki
2011 Persona 4: the Animation Composition/arrangement
2014 Persona 4: the Golden Animation Composition/arrangement Tetsuya Kobayashi
Film
Year Title Role Co-worker
2012 Persona 4: the Animation -The Factor of Hope- Composition (reprises)
2013 Persona 3 The Movie: #1 Spring of Birth Composition/arrangement
2014 Persona 3 The Movie: #2 Midsummer Knight's Dream Composition/arrangement
("Fate is In Our Hands")
2015 Persona 3 The Movie: #3 Falling Down Composition/arrangement Tetsuya Kobayashi
2016 Persona 3 The Movie: #4 Winter of Rebirth Composition/arrangement
("Boku no Akashi")

References

  1. "Shoji Meguro interview". RocketBaby. Archived from the original on August 26, 2002. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Greening, Chris. "Shoji Meguro Profile". Video Game Music Online.
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