Shoji Meguro

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

Biography

Early life

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Meguro became familiar with technology from a young age due to his parents running a factory.^[2] When Meguro was a child, he didn't like popular music and he listened to more classical music. In junior high, he became interested in the likes of T-Square, Herb Alpert, and Casiopea. It was in junior high that he became particularly fond of playing music.^[2] He then majored in hydrodynamics at the College of Industrial Technology at Nihon University.^[2]

Atlus (1995–present)

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 on the PlayStation, for which he composed 16 tracks, including one that became a staple in the series: the Velvet Room theme. Meguro continued to work on several projects, notably Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers on the Sega Saturn (composing around 50 songs for the game) as well as Maken X on the Dreamcast.^[2]

The first time he became a leading composer was on the PlayStation 2 game Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne where he somewhat diverged from the music in the prior games for the Shin 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 on Nintendo DS, Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army on PlayStation 2, Trauma Center: Second Opinion, a Trauma Center remake for the Nintendo Wii, and the MMORPG Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine.

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 100,000 copies.

In 2008, Meguro continued upon his success with Persona 3 by following up with the soundtrack to Persona 4 where he incorporated the same approach he did with Persona and also 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 favourites 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 Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment. More recently, Meguro served as the sound director for three spinoff Persona titles, and is currently working on the sound direction and music of Persona 5.

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

References