Beto Ceba: “It all started with the Akatsuki remix. My younger brother was heavily into Naruto and the Final Fantasy franchise at the time. The remix was made as more of a challenge to see if it was possible. So for me and my bro it was for fun. I never intended to upload it to the internet but he was big into making AMV’s (Anime Music Videos) and uploading them to my youtube account. We generally share accounts so it was the next step in our eyes to upload the remix. After that we obtained a demo for FFXIII and that was when we heard the “Blinded by Light” (Although it had no name at the time) and I couldn’t resist the urge to start remixing because I was really in love with the original song.”

2. How long does the whole process take until you have all the arrangements, sounds and writings done for the remix?  

Beto Ceba: “That is hard to answer. No remix has been the same as far as duration of time. Generally I have gone months without remixing anything and at one point almost a year! This is due to the amount of other projects in the making and life outside music. However when the ball gets moving and I start to research my next track and what segments I want to use and all that fun stuff, It can take anywhere from a few days to a month.  Some remixes happen like butter because everything weaves together beautifully but others take time to get it to my liking. I have had projects sit for a year or two, and one or two of my Final Fantasy remixes has been subjected to that.”

3. How did you end up being a composer/producer/writer? I have heard you are also working as a DJ and hosting parties at times, but also created very own original music as well!

Beto Ceba: “The main reason for producing was basically to make music I liked. There were tracks I loved listening to and some that I loved but felt they could have been different so back in 2001-2002 when I fell for trance music I decided to give it a shot.

Me being a rookie, my main
concern was to come up with awesome productions with mind bending melodies! I thought I was making the next Ibiza club hit but looking back I needed much work to improve the overall quality of my music. A lot of work! I couldn’t say it was hard because I learned at my own pace and I really didn’t know otherwise but I can say it did take a long time to get where I am now. Before was just throwing ideas together. Now it’s about quality.

DJing kind of goes with the whole production life and also started around the same time. It was all vinyl back then so I never had a way to play my earlier tracks. Once CDJ’s came to the area I was eager to make, burn, and play my tracks as soon as possible. I spun quite a few times during the middle of all of this and had a lot of fun doing it with my crew Nomadic Beat Syndrome. However, nowadays I rarely spin. It’s almost non existent. Today I focus on producing music and spending time with family and friends.”

4. What’s your favorite thing about Final Fantasy/Square Enix games?

Beto Ceba: “Here is a story to go with this question. I never got to play Square games as a child because for one of my birthdays I had to choose between a Playstation or N64. It was a spur of the moment kind of decision and I knew I wanted Banjo & Kazooie and FFVII. All I could remember was B&K was on the N64 and so that was what I picked. It was only later that I found out I wouldn’t be getting any FF games. This saddened me because I was really drawn into the commercial for FFVII. I had always been in love with anything that took you on an adventure! I was big on imagination and leaned towards movies, TV shows, games, anything that took me to another world. It was only later that I was able to discover the wonders of Square games and it was like going back in time and choosing the Playstation instead. Although most of the games were more than just an adventure, that was the main purpose for me to become a fan of the company Square Enix.”

5. Anything else you would like to tell us about these remixes or your work in general?

Beto Ceba: “I wish it was easier to fulfill the requests from the fans. One reason is because some songs are really hard for me to “hear” a remix out of them. I have to feel it first or it won’t happen. It can be a huge gap in the tempo or a different time signature, many reasons can cause me to look towards another track. The other reason is because I do a lot of original music outside of Youtube. My style of music ranges very large and I have found that fans who know of me from my FF remixes become fans of my other work.

My music has different homes at the moment. There are tracks that gets released on places like iTunes and Beatport, Soundcloud is also another one to hear whats cooking, I have a Google Drive account that hosts a lot of unheard music all for free, and of course there is my Youtube account with all my FF remixes and now some original tracks and bootleg remixes. It’s always nice to get some love from the label releases but I also urge everyone to take a listen to everything else. There really is something for everyone. Google “Beto Ceba” to find out where you can link up with me and my music.

Also, thank you to Square Portal for interviewing me!!!”

Thank you Beto Ceba for giving us this awesome interview! We’re looking forward to hear your upcoming work in the future!

soundcloud.com/betoceba/ (Soundcloud)
facebook.com/yobetoceba/ (Facebook)
twitter.com/fenjixa/ (Twitter)
http://betoceba.tumblr.com/ (Tumblr)
http://goo.gl/k8Kapo (Google Drive)

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