Whatever the cause, every single artist gave their absolute best for Balance and Ruin - with the calibre of musicians involved, both established and newcomers, that is saying quite a bit! Maybe it was the success of the Kickstarter that motivated people, the collaboration which we constantly encouraged between artists, our shared love for the game and original soundtrack, or some combination of these things. But the sum of the project goes far beyond that. Of course, we had personally invited many talented arrangers at the outset, opening it up to the greater community via two remix contests. The sheer level of musicianship on this project is something I never expected when we first started out. When we started talking about the album project, it was clear we were on the same page musically, and thus Balance and Ruin was born! Mike was truly one of my biggest inspirations as an aspiring musician and remixer - I remember listening to his huge catalog of arranged and original music and being awed by his technique and range of styles. When I heard that McVaffe was also interested in such an endeavor, I knew it was time to make it happen. We had talked about an FF6 remix project among site staff for some time, and we all agreed that given how legendary the game and soundtrack are, it had to be done right.

I’ve wanted to direct this album since before I even started the 2007 Final Fantasy VII: Voices of the Lifestream project, but it was not until 2011 that the decision was made to finally do it. Listening to the original soundtrack and this remix album calls up those nostalgic feelings once more. The game was so captivating that playing the first few hours over and over was worth it. It might be hard for anyone to imagine in this modern age of gaming, but each time I rented it I would often have to start from scratch, since people would overwrite my save on the cartridge. I soon discovered Final Fantasy III, and after taking it home once, I was hooked. Being only about 9 at the time, it was just the right thing to get me into RPGs and the Final Fantasy series. The very first time I went, my mom picked out Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. One of my fondest memories as a kid was going to the video store on weekends to rent (yes, rent!) an SNES with one game.

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