EarthBound Composer Keiichi Suzuki Scores US Film, Crowdfunds Vinyl Release

Posted by Cap on August 29, 2016

EarthBound is the biggest cult hit in video game history for a great many reasons and we’ve extolled those reasons myriad times in the past here on The Nerdy Show Network. Without question, one of the most celebrated aspects of the game’s awesomeness is its score, created by Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu “Hip” Tanaka. The score’s avant-garde genre fusion has topped game music lists, and influenced a whole generation of musicians following its release. (In fact, this past month I hosted a panel of musicians Camp Fangamer celebrating the music of EarthBound – you can hear it as a perk on our Patreon). Suzuki’s influence doesn’t just reach to a revered game series, he founded the new wave bands Hachimitsupai and the Moonriders and composed for revered Japanese films like Tokyo Godfathers and the 2003 revival of Zatoichi. Now he’s scoring his first US film and is crowdfunding a vinyl release.

For The Plasma is an indie comedy film with vaguely sci-fi twists currently enjoying a limited theatrical and video-on-demand release. Meanwhile, Factory 25 has launched an Indiegogo campaign to release Suzuki’s soundtrack for the film. They’re crowd funding to pre-order the soundtrack in black or colored vinyl, as well as offering digital and Blu-ray versions of the film, even an original Moonriders or Suzuki LP from the directors’ personal collection. You can hear some of Suzuki’s score from the film here:

The campaign is in its final days, and is perhaps too off the beaten path to get the traction it deserves: it’s clocking just over 10% of its final goal. But this isn’t Kickstarter; on Indiegogo the goal is flexible and Matt Grady, founder of the venerable Factory 25, has some words of encouragement to quell any hesitation: “if the money isn’t met, we will likely either adjust to release the vinyl in different packaging, or a smaller amount, or refund the money.” It certainly would be a nice addition to the recently-pressed Mother and Mother 2 vinyl reissues.

Head to the Indiegogo campaign while there’s still time, and if you’re curious about the visual component to For The Plasma, check out this trailer to see if it’s your cup of tea:

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About Cap

Cap is Executive Producer of The Nerdy Show Network as well as Lead Host of the titular Nerdy Show podcast and one of the site's founders. Her illustration, graphic design, and writing both journalistic and fictitious have appeared in various publications and public spaces.