
Crimzon Clover – 2011 Composer Interview
This very short Crimzon Clover interview with composer potechi was originally featured in volume 3 of the always excellent publication STG Gameside. I mainly translated it as a little nod to the newly released Crimzon Clover DLC which just came out (that I translated the voluminous superplay interviews for, actually).
—How does it feel having finished the compositions for Crimzon Clover?
potechi: I’m a STG fan to the core, so I was able to testplay Crimzon Clover at the same time I composed the music for it. I was deeply involved in the development process and it was very fun. Yotsubane recommended me because he felt that “STG music should be made by a person who knows STG.”

I had messed around in RPG Maker type tools before, so I had a certain level of knowledge, but the project really started for me once I purchased some proper DAW software.
—Did you know Yotsubane before this project?
potechi: We’ve known each other a long time. In high school he could get 20m points on the stage 4 course of Radiant Silvergun, and he had reached 2-7 on the Dodonpachi Special Version (blue rom version). I struck up a conversation with him about STG and that was how we first met. After that, we formed a doujin circle focused on arcade games.
—What mindset did you bring to the composition of Crimzon Clover?
potechi: It was really a lot of pressure. When I played the demo version, I thought to myself, “this game is going to be a hit, there’s no doubt about it.” I also feel that a game’s rating can rise or fall depending on how good the music is. As such, I kept asking Yotsubane “am I really the right guy for this job? I don’t know about this!” But he would always tell me “don’t worry about it, just take your time.” I also saw this as a good opportunity to learn to use a DAW, and the work looked fun, so I decided to give it my best shot.
—Were there any things you paid particular attention to when composing? Also, are there any individual songs you’re really fond of?
potechi: One of Crimzon Clover’s selling points is its sense of power, and I tried to write music for the boss fights that would give you a feeling of fighting power welling up down in the pit of your stomach. The music I really like personally is the Mode Select theme, “Brave Soul.” I think it conveyed the excitement and nerves of being inside a hangar just before take off, and I like the cold, icy feel. For the title theme, my image was of a pilot flying his ship into the wide sky and not being able to see anything as he ascends. Yotsubane didn’t have many requests for the songs; he would say “the next stage feels like this”, and after that I’d be free to do what I liked.
—I understand that the soundtrack features the songs from the game in unaltered form.
potechi: Yeah, the feeling was that we’d spent so much effort on this, let’s memorialize it as-is. At Comiket, about 1 out of 5 people who bought the game also bought the soundtrack, so that made me very happy. There’s also an 8-bit famicom remix appended to the end of the soundtrack, but that was mostly just done as a little experiment for fun.
I was saying we should use it on the official blog as part of an April Fools joke for an 8-bit Crimzon Clover. (laughs)
—Please give a final message to those who purchased the Crimzon Clover soundtrack.
potechi: Thank you for picking up this OST. I’ll be working hard to refine my skills and bring you even better music in the future!

If you've enjoyed reading this interview and would like to be able to vote each month on what I translate, please consider supporting me on Patreon! I can't do it without your help!