ReMix:Chrono Cross "FATE has no forgiveness for those who dare stand against it..." 4:05

Resident king-of-collaboration Lucas Guimaraes is definitely in his pocket on this one, bringing us a stellar psychedelic-tinged prog rock take on "FATES" from Chrono Cross. I'll let him shout out the band first:

• Lucas Guimaraes - Arrangement, Saxes, Mix
• Mattmatatt - Guitars
• ImAFutureGuitarHero - Drums
• jnWake - Keys
• Ivan Hakštok - Bass

If I had to summarize Lucas's musical contributions to the videogame music community in one word, it would have to be "eclectic." I have a great deal of respect for artists who are willing to experiment in unfamiliar styles and submit that work to OC ReMix, because they are effectively laying their work out for criticism in an area they couldn't possibly be proficient in, sharing a learning process that is often kept private with the whole world. Lucas has done this countless times, in styles ranging from synthwave to bluegrass to hip-hop to vocal indie alternative to… viola quartet? Sure, why not? It's one of the things I admire most about him as a musician. All that to say, it's also really cool to see Lucas in his bag in a genre he's intimately familiar with, and this track is exactly that. Here's what he had to say:

"Once upon a time, Larry told me I needed to take more time cooking my tracks. Well, the early bones of this work-in-progress happened the same month I did "Tyrano's Stash" and only 10 months later I revisited it for Dwelling of Duels Free Month (Placed 10th!). How do you like that Larry?! HUH?! HUH?!

Jokes aside (especially since it was some early bones), one thing that really has helped my process is separating each part of the process into a different chunk. I spent a good deal of time cooking up the arrangement, then working with performers/my own part, then mixing it at the end.

But let's start back at the beginning...

I knew I wanted to cover some Chrono Cross for Free Month. I think I had some other ideas, but something was really tackling me to do a song in the style of the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. This arrangement is pretty inspired by their song, "Surf's Up". I roped ImAFutureGuitarHero and Cory Johnson from "Tyrano's Stash". I wanted to get Mattmatatt handling some of the guitars both 'cause he's an awesome friend, and he rips as a guitar player AND does a lot of psychedelic/weird sound design-y stuff. jnWake and Hakštok had to be there because they love Chrono Cross, but I also know jnWake was going to be on "Tyrano's Stash" (there was some miscommunication), so I had to make up for that. Cory had to drop out, but we still had a blast putting this together.

After all the instruments came through, I got to mixing. I could've settled for not making it very loud, but this was the first track I really got into the weaves of it with mastering and loudness. I remember I got some feedback for "Cucco's Feathers" about mastering and didn't really understand it at the time (and to think that was just 2 months ago...). It was frustrating to not really get it at the time, but taking some time away from that project and focusing on another one (Yes, I'll get the resub soon!) has REALLY helped me.

Me going into the group chat with the first version of the master saying "I might've made this track too loud" and my friends reassuring me that -13 LUFS wasn't that loud, followed by showing how my reference track ("Surf's Up") was -7.8 LUFS sent me down a whole rabbit hole. I think this track is around -8-9 LUFS? Oh, the pursuit of making more psychedelic rock.

Before I forget, I must explain funny lengthy title. "FATE has no forgiveness for those who dare stand against it..." is from the game over screen of Chrono Cross. I love this quote because it's a double entendre. It talks about how both FATE (the character) and Fate (development of a person's events being beyond their control). This might be my favorite game over screen. Definitely in my top 5.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy. Both judges and listeners. We poured a lot of chaos and love into this one!"

I had the pleasure of seeing Lucas perform a set with his band The Dunites at VGM Con 2024, and the level of confidence on display was impressive. It was a set full of songs like this - eclectic, trippy, proggy, and full of energy and unexpected turns, featuring a wide cast of characters. Lucas's strong arranging acumen lays a foundation for his talented collaborators to shine, knowing when to delegate the spotlight and when to flex. It was a well-choreographed performance that was unabashedly quirky and brimming with talent. Collaboration is what creates soaring moments like the ripping solo at 2:36, just to name an example, but Lucas's bandleading and sense of good taste is the glue that holds it all together. Ape alone… weak. Apes together… strong. Judge prophetik music extolled the success of Lucas's genre adaptation in his vote:

"this is a solid adaptation of the fates theme! it's kind of a spacey theme with a lot of disparate parts, and i think this is a similar remix in that you've got several different pieces that all come together to make a decent whole. i definitely think you nailed the style, and while there's a few times where instruments get buried, overall i think it sounds like what you'd expect for the style. nice job. this is fun."

If that all sounds compelling to you, this remix should give just a taste of the kind of insanity present in a Lucas Guimaraes and the Dunites set, and showcase how tight of a product he can deliver when he's playing with home court advantage.