Interview: David Javelosa (2023-11-12) by Alexander Rojas

This is an unaltered copy of an interview of David Javelosa, for use as a primary source on Sega Retro. Please do not edit the contents below. Language: English Original source: Alexander Rojas at Sega Retro

Hello Mr. Javelosa! I’ve been working to expand your Sega Retro entry, and I wanted to reach out and ask a few quick questions, if you have the time.

1. Your 1993 piece “Loving U Remix” is marked as being composed for something called “Sega Network”. I had assumed this meant the Sega Channel, and combed through promotional material for the song, but couldn't find it. What was this song intended for? Do you remember where it was used, if at all?

The original melody was from a song called "Whats That Got To Do With Loving You" and has been recorded a few times by my 80s band Los Microwaves. It has also been covered by another punk band recently.

2. Was the name “Sega Network” used as the in-development name for the Sega Channel?

Yes, that eventually became the Sega Channel.

3. Is everything on your Sega Retro page correct? Are we missing any of your work? Would you like to add anything?

I have been doing an independent vinyl label as well as had my game music being released on vinyl by others.

4. How did you first get in touch with Sega of America? Did you have any previous history in the video game industry?

I was first approached by my friend LX RUDIS who had worked with Atari, Epyx and Sega. He was overwhelmed with projects and could not find other that had the cross section of skills for then game audio. He knew that I could program FM synths and edit Midi in a command line editor, so he called me in to help.

5. What responsibilities did your initial consulting role (1990-1996) entail? Do you remember any specific/notable consulting work you provided?

Our first job was to prove feasibility of an early tool for the Genesis. We actually prototyped the demo but the tool was found to be too inconvenient to be widely used. After that I was asked to support a few games, which Ed Annunziata flew me up from LA on the weekends to work with him. I was still doing my MFA at CalArts at the time. I was hired full-time at Sega as I was finishing my last semester.

6. Can you describe your audio directing duties (1992-1994) in more detail? What was your daily in-office workflow at Sega of America during this time?

I was responsible for supporting internal production and third party developers with tools and talent. I hired Brian Coburn (sfx), Thomas Miley (programming), Spencer Nielsen (composition) and Bary Blum (audio engineer). Everyone worked on composing music except Tom who wrote drivers and tools. Sometimes I would help find outside talent from my contacts. Sometimes producers would find their own and we would support them on the tools.

7. A good number of your Sega-relevant credits are for sound programming. What is your history with programming?

It's only because the producers looked at our sound tools as middle-ware for the programmers. We had to make music and implement with the engineers. Some tools were barely better than programming.

8. What was it like working with the GEMS sound driver?

GEMS was the first widely used tool for the Genesis after the above mentioned prototype and the SOJ tool which was not provided to us. It would take Midi files and also allow streaming directly from a sequencer to the Genesis audio chip. It was not perfect and there were a number of revisions. Midi data had to be scrubbed down to no more than 6 notes at a time, or it would crash the dev system. But it could also play samples and had the Master System audio chip supported.

9. Do you feel your experience in electronic music made the transition to the Genesis sound an easier one? Is there any kind of crossover between creating music for the two?

As I said above, my experience with early Midi and FM synth programming were the skills needed for the job. My focus and expertise has always been in music technology; from being in a band, recording and producing in studios, or doing current computer based composition.

10. Any recollections about working on the Sega Channel? How much sound did you end up creating for the project?

The producer first approached me when I was still on staff at SOA. I composed an initial set of songs in GEMS for the Genesis. After I had left SOA and moved back to Santa Monica, they contracted me to do a few more and finish the initial interface and intro screens. I think most of the versions were about 90% my music from what I can tell from Youtube! They have also recently been release on vinyl by a fan label.

11. Was “Loving U Remix” a studio demo intended for eventual conversion to FM synth on the Genesis? What is its association with the Sega Channel?

The song started as "Whats That Got To Do With Loving You" by my 80s band Los Microwaves. The original was on our LP Life After Breakfast. There is another instrumental version called "Whats To Do" on our second LP The Birth Of Techno. When I was asked to do the Sega Channel, I had to deliver a lot of music, so I dug into my catalog and repurposed the song as "Loving U Remix". It's pretty easy to identify all three versions as similar material.

12. We know extremely little about Baby Boom. Literally anything you can remember from the project would be massive for us. People, dates, design ideas, development problems, musical themes/inspirations, etc.

Another Ed Annunziatta project. He had ask me to research cartoon music from Warner Bros. when I found that they had licensed a couple tunes from Raymond Scott, a jazz band leader and synth inventor. I contacted him through his publisher and got to meet him and his wife in his LA home studio. By then he was too old to really talk. I arranged the sheet music for GEMS and it was used in the prototype of Baby Boom along with a few of my original tunes and a custom set of sample SFX. Sega had paid for the license even though the game never officially released.

13. We know even less about Iron Hammer. Like Baby Boom, anything at all would be a godsend.

This was a Max Talor production. Originally designed to feature the Sega VR goggles! It was a first person shooter with scaling sprites (like Atari Battle Tank). By the time I worked on it, there were already a few tunes in the GEMS engine by somebody else, so I had to work with the same instruments, finish a couple of songs, and write a number of levels myself. I also scored the closing animation scene and credits.

GEMS was not an easy tool, so a lot of musicians would quit before finishing a project. It all fell back to staff audio, who by that time we were re-orged into the Creative Support team.

14. Any interesting anecdotes from your Sega days?

Being a creative, like a musician, is hard in a corporate environment. I realized my job was mostly managing which was frustrating. The Creative Support team was just that; supporting outside developers as well as inside projects. Many felt that composition should have all been freelance. Spencer ended up getting corporate to support his idea of Sega Music, a record label for the game soundtracks. It never found a US market. The original audio team ended up going off to other outside developers; or switch to more technical positions. But the original product development team was a great group. We had lots of fun and partied hard!! Some came from Atari, and that stuff was legendary! But now, I post copies of my demos on Youtube for fans, and have some stuff released on vinyl for collectors. I'm also running my own vinyl label, and will be doing that more as I retire from teaching next year.

Hope this helps!
I will have to include this bio on my own wikipedia page when I get around to it!

=dj=