(Originally published Winter 2020)
I interviewed Alex Moukala back in winter of 2020 for Aetherflow Media, back when his reaction videos to Soken’s best themes from Shadowbringers were starting to garner attention in the Final Fantasy XIV community. Since then, he has become a true legend amongst both the XIV development team as well as the players. Long before becoming known to the FFXIV community, however, Alex was already an accomplished musician and composer working relentlessly at what he loves most: video game music. Look no further for encouragement to never give up on your dreams, as Alex Moukala shared in our interview his untiring pursuit of the knowledge and skills needed to create the music he loves.
What drew your musical interest to focus on strong thematic tracks in video game music? Was that an interest that started when you were young, or did it develop later when you started learning music production yourself?
It definitely started when I was young, specifically when I was six and played FF7 for the first time. The music stuck with me for reasons I couldn’t understand, and ever since my childhood Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts were the spark that kindled the huge fire which is my passion for music these days.
When you were learning music production, did you see yourself producing the kind of music you are today? Or were you interested in other genres as well?
In the beginning, I didn’t think it would be possible for me to write the genre of music I’m doing now unless I went to a conservatory for many years, which I didn’t want to do.
I wanted to start making music right away and figure it out on the fly, so I started from the most accessible genre I knew of the ones I liked: EDM. All the tracks I wrote ended up sounding like soundtracks rather than club bangers, however, so then I then inevitably transitioned to my true love, which is soundtrack music.
My interests don’t stop there though. I still love EDM, as well as funk, rock, metal, jazz. and ambient music. I kinda like to do a bit of everything, but since I see music as a job more than just a hobby, I can’t always give myself the freedom to experiment with anything that comes to mind and I have to think strategically instead.
If I could though, I’d try literally everything.
I read in an interview that Zircon, Varien and SeamlessR on Youtube inspired you to pursue music production on your own, particularly using FL Studio, even with little previous music experience. How did you keep yourself motivated to continually grind and learn music production in the years before you made it professionally in the industry?
Great question! When I failed to find inspiration or support in the people in my life, I would find it in non-fictional books written by people I admired, biographies, or studies of people who did amazing things in life and made their dreams come true.
Two of my favorite books in this matter are Mastery by Robert Greene and The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday. I would recommend anyone who’s chasing their dream in life to read those books multiple times, they’re like super food for your brain and soul!
What resources did you use to learn music theory and composition? Did you take any classes or courses to further your studies?
Even despite my professional successes such as writing music for Triple-A Hollywood movie trailers, I’m not truly great at music theory! Truth is, music can be learned and created in many different ways; knowing the standard music theory is just one of the many.
Personally, I learned a lot through consuming tutorials and practicing everything I saw straight after, reading articles, getting a few online music production courses, paying my idols for private Skype lessons with them, and mostly, I spent thousands of hours composing music.
Given the many avenues you pursued to improve your music skill and experience, from private lessons to online courses to Youtube videos, what resource would be your first recommendation for someone who wants to get started learning music composition?
I actually have been running another YouTube channel since 2015 where I personally make tutorials to teach people how to compose professional orchestral music by ear. It’s called “Alex Moukala Tutorials”. It has a few playlists for whatever questions people have, the one I’d recommend to start with is this one: Orchestral Music Course for Beginners – Zero to Hero
I’d also recommend Andrew Huang’s “Learn Music Theory in Half an Hour” video. That guy is as great as he is hilarious–[a] great source to learn! Also Evenant is another great source for online courses; it’s a website run by some of my best friends. The courses aren’t free but they’re so good!
After that, get a DAW like Cubase / FL Studio / Studio One and sink in the fun of writing music that sounds fun to you, keep on studying [with] YouTube tutorials or courses and practice what you see. Eventually you’ll write something that you’re REALLY proud of.
Could you see yourself stepping into a teaching role professionally in the future, or do you prefer to keep your tutorials as a side project? Was music mentorship always something you were interested in?
Considering that I’ve done close to a hundred private lessons for students, and that those tutorials made some careers possible, I think I’m already doing that professionally! Teaching what I learned and inspiring people to chase their dreams is my one goal in life; it was and still definitely is one of the things I like to do the most.
I’m not sure if I would like to teach in a physical music school, however. Life is long, though, so who knows! 🙂
For the first several months on your Youtube channel, you were pretty prolific with publishing orchestral covers of well-known video game themes, as well as some original works. What made you shift your focus to reaction videos on your main channel?
It’s a bit of a long story, but to make it short, I first started doing those as a fun experiment suggested by a friend of mine.
After doing a few, I noticed how those videos were resonating with people, bringing a small community together while also educating them about the basics of music theory. This is because I’m doing them from a perspective of being a music composer myself and am teaching things other than just reacting, sometimes going as far as remixing the songs to show how funky or cool they are.
In that sense, I feel those videos also made a lot more people aware of my musical skills, so they’re also good from a professional standpoint, on top of everything else.
I think as long as they’ll keep being fun for my audience and me, I’ll keep on doing those! It fills me with pride to help promote the work of the composers whose music I analyze, too.
Your reaction videos sink their teeth into musical foundations that make songs really click for the listener. Did you make a conscious decision to dissect the musical theory behind the songs you react to, or does that deeper analysis come out naturally?
It depends.
Quite a few times it comes out naturally, and even I am surprised at some of the things I notice when I sit down to listen to a song critically like that. For some other songs that I know by heart instead, like “Rules of Nature,” I make some mental notes of some of the stuff I want to talk about and then shoot the video!
I’m a total nerd for music, though, so those are essentially my reactions whenever I listen to those tracks, be it that it’s the first or 200th time.
Your enjoyment of the characters and their motivations in the game doesn’t surprise me, given how you much emphasize the themes woven heavily in XIV’s story that are supported in its music (I’m thinking in particular of your video reacting to “Eden’s Refulgence,” where you focus on the interplay of Shiva and Ryne’s emotions: their sorrow, their desire, their conflict, which the players feel and experience through the vocals).
I’m reminded also of your interview with Jason Charles Miller, where you talk a lot about the importance of music being a force of empathy and positivity. When you compose music, is that a perspective that drives your composition, and if so, was that perspective on how music can affect its listeners always important to you?
That’s a good question; you’re a great observer!
And I have to say you hit the nail on the head. The one reason that got me started and that pushes me to make music, or teach people about music, is to affect the world positively. I think music is a language we all natively understand, and that we can all learn to speak. As such, it’s the strongest language in the world to communicate ideas, thoughts, emotions, and mostly a great tool to make people feel less alone and part of something bigger.
I’m a person who reflects a lot, and in so doing I stumble upon beautiful truths I feel like I need to share with the world. So one day I chose to learn to speak the language, so that I may have a positive influence on the world at large by hiding empowering messages behind musical notes and enthusiasm.
That is still the main drive for me today! Thanks for bringing that out of this interview.
Your recent FFXIV videos are reactions to the latest Shadowbringers themes, but what are some other themes from previous expansions that stand out to you, and why? Do you think you ever might tackle reaction videos for these older themes?
Due to YouTube being YouTube, I have to be very strategic with what songs I choose to react to on my channel.
However, if that wasn’t the case, there are plenty of older tracks I’d love to talk about. Tsukuyomi is one, Heavensward and Stormblood’s title tracks are others. I think one of my absolute favorite FFXIV tracks is the one that plays during the Omega vs. Shinryu cutscene.
What inspired you to compose a funk remix of “To the Edge”? Were you excited to bring the bass into the spotlight?
Bass is my favorite instrument, so when a bassline is really good I just notice that. I feel that Soken’s basslines in general are VERY funky, but the vocals or melodies often steal the show. In the case of “To The Edge,” I really wanted people to notice that.
In the uncut version of the reaction video (which is where the bass remix initially came from), I also planned to make an Epic Orchestral version and a Metal Version because that song is so universal, but due to the fact I wanted to release it ASAP, I only did a short funky remix.
The rest is history!
Soken incorporates all sorts of styles and genres in his music for FFXIV. What musical influence has he not borrowed from yet that you would love to see him inspired by for future XIV tracks?
Wow, that’s a great question.
I don’t think we heard a drum & bass FFXIV track yet (kinda like “Worlds Collide” from FFXIII-2). Otherwise, I’d love to hear a nu-disco track (128BPM EDM music with a lot of dirty and funky bass). I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear some of that in [the] Pulse [album]! If we do, I hope they put some of those in the game.
If you could compose a theme for FFXIV, what sort of project would you love to be given? What kind of musical style would you like to bring to the table, or would you have to see what material you were working with first before answering that?
I consider myself quite a versatile composer, however, if I had to choose I’d definitely love to do a boss theme OR some upbeat remix like the “Amaurot Funk” I made, simply because I think my core strengths are either epic orchestral music or very rhythmic, yet melodic music. Alternatively, a theme for an epic game trailer would be great as I’m experienced with that professionally, having written trailer music for Triple-A movies in the past.
Maybe I could do an emotional field track, then do an epic boss version of it and a remixed, high-energy version of it, too. That would be fun!
Generally speaking, if I was asked to work on Final Fantasy (my dream project), I’d want to be sure I’m giving them my personal best.
As a bass player, who are some of your influences?
Definitely Jamiroquai’s bass player, Shook, Chris Wolstenholme from Muse, Joe Dart from Vulfpeck, [and] Shoji Meguro.
How has your experience with the FFXIV fandom been since you’ve been creating more FFXIV content in recent months?
I’m very surprised at how much more engagement and love FFXIV gets compared to other FF [game]s like, say, FFVII Remake. Maybe it’s because it’s a smaller community. There’s no outsiders in FFXIV; either you’re into it, or you’re not. And people who are into this game TRULY love every aspect about it to death.
I feel that love whenever I make content about FFXIV, and it makes me happy to be part of this community. It may feel selfish, but I’m glad FFXIV has a barrier to entry. If it was too mainstream, maybe the wrong people would get invited to the community, leading it to lose its face.
I like the smaller, more wholesome FFXIV gang we have.
Tell us a bit about your experience playing FFXIV! When did you start, and what job do you main? Other than admiring the outstanding music, what is your favorite activity in-game?
I bought the dreaded FFXIV 1.0 back in 2010, but just could not get into it at all. When they announced ARR, I was hyped to try it again, and did since the very first beta in 2013.
I didn’t stop playing ever since, but I’m so busy all the time that I have to limit my FFXIV activities to merely keeping up with the main story like a casual player! Lack of time also led me to choose a class that was ideal for duty-finder waiting times: Warrior. My favorite classes, though, are Bard, Monk, and Red Mage.
As for my favorite activity: I’d say it’s pondering endlessly about the psychology of the characters. Also exploring the beautiful worlds and locations in the game, sometimes indulging in-game photography.
Make sure to follow Alex Moukala on Twitter and his Youtube channels to keep up with his latest videos and compositions!
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