Staff Members :: Shota Nakama

Biography

Since I was a child, I have always loved both playing video games. I guess I am a RPG guy who grew up with Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. I happened to like music as well, and my childhood classical piano training led me to pick up a guitar somehow. I went through all the 70s and 80s rock while playing with all kinds of bands. Later I came to the United States when I was 19 to study music seriously.

While I was in Seattle, I studied music and math. Of course my focus was on music, but I did the latter for getting tutoring works. Long story short, after living in Seattle for five years, I ended up coming to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music, where I have received a degree in Film Scoring.

Now I am a graduate student at The Boston Conservatory pursuing a Master's Degree in classical guitar performance. Other than schooling, I do freelance gigs as a guitarist, composer, arranger, copyist, and, as you know, as a translator. I also run an orchestra that is entirely dedicated to game music, called the Video Game Orchestra (VGO).

Site Role

My role on the site is primarily translating Japanese to English, and vice-versa. Pretty simple. I have handled most interviews that needed translation. My contributions so far are listed below and many other interviews are in progress.

Contributed Interviews

	Oct. 2009: Yuji Takenouchi Konami Kukeiha Club veteran discusses Demon's Souls and his giant VGM alliance
	Oct. 2009: Yasunori Mitsuda Revisited The composer recollects his Chrono works and discusses present projects
	Jan. 2010: Noriyuki Iwadare A musical insight into Grandia Online, Lunar PSP, Gyakuten Kenji, and Amagami
	Jan. 2010: Shinji Hosoe Electronic mastermind discusses career highlights and record label
	Feb. 2010: Kinuyo Yamashita The original Castlevania composer discusses Konami and her numerous works beyond
	Feb. 2010: Michiru Yamane Castlevania's main composer recollects her works and discusses life as a freelancer
	Dec. 2009: Producer's Season - Shota Nakama Founder of the Video Game Orchestra on their history and the upcoming Awakening