ReMix:Mega Man X5 "Never Gonna Give (Up the Funk)" 3:36

Jorito (Jorrith Schaap) continues his Rick Astley-infused series of mixes with this funky synth pop-rock vocal take on MMX5's "Zero Stage 2" & MMX3's "Gravity Beetle" themes, with some talented collaborators:

• Composition, arrangement: Jorito
• Vocals: Tuberz McGee, Jorito
• Saxophones: Anton Corazza
• Lyrics: Jorito, Eino Keskitalo

"This is another entry that I did with help from my teammates from Maverick Astley for the Sigma Fortress Remix Gauntlet 2015, and of course that means it features a few obligatory references to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" again (there's at least 3!).

When it was my turn to create a track in the 6th compo round, my only plan was "let's try something funky." Guess I was lucky that the source for that compo round had a lot of melodic material to play with, as that makes remixing a lot easier and a lot more fun! I was able to quickly cook up a WIP (not really funk, in hindsight), got the crazy idea halfway to do a vocal track and dragged my teammates Eino and Callum into it.

Of course, a crazy idea in a compo where you have one week to finish an entire track, but me and Eino had a blast in a nightly co-writing session of lyrics writing in Google Docs. Callum managed to record some awesome vocals and his signature harmonies despite being plagued by lack of recording gear. As usual, it was in the big rush towards the end before it finally all came together, but I guess it was worth it because it actually got the most votes in that compo round. :)

Even though people remarked that the MIDI sax I had in the compo submission sounded pretty good, I really wanted to try and get a live recording because I felt a live sax would really make a big difference. So, after compo, I asked Anton to record the sax solo, and, oh boy, did he deliver! While he was at it, he also wrote & recorded some new material for the background saxes to fill out the arrangement even more. After compo was also a good time to tweak the mixing and overall production some more, and re-record some of the vocoded vocals.

Anton only has to add: "Jorito made me do it." I leave it upon the reader as to decipher what that means.

Again, many thanks to my awesome teammates and collaborators!

Source breakdown:

• 0:04-0:18 - intro arp from "Cyber Maze Core" (:02-:15)
• 0:18-0:47 - lead from "Cyber Maze Core" (:18-:43)
• 0:48-1:03 - lead from "Cyber Maze Core" (:47-:59)
• 1:03-1:18 - lead from "Gravity Beetle" (:26-:50)
• 1:18-1:32 - as above, but also with "Gravity Beetle" (:01-:07)
• 1:33-2:02 - see :18-:47
• 2:02-2:31 - lead from "Cyber Maze Core" (1:01-1:26)
• 2:31-3:01 - see 1:03-1:32
• 3:01-3:30 - see :18-:47

Imagine this dystopian society led by evil overlords X and Zero, where everybody is turned into unemotional robots. Our protagonist, Gravity Beetle, is a renegade who still believes in the power of funk to set you free."

Really cool narrative concept on the lyrics, Anton elevates the sax solo and brings the heat, and Tuberz sells it on the vocal, even throwing in a "baby" that Spears herself would approve. Vocoder because it makes robo-sense, contextually, but also (let's be honest) because... it's Jorito. The sequence of events that led Rick Astley to inject himself into so many audacious & triumphant VGM arrangement jams is bewildering; we live on a strange, beautiful planet. This is a dense mix w/ a lot going on, and while it gets a little busy at times, the ingredients are discernible & form a cohesive, epically funkdafied whole. Gario evaluated:

"Very nice! Great singing, pristine production and a solid arrangement to boot. I can't see this going anywhere but the front page. Great work!"

The fun that the artists involved had in making this mix comes through in spades, but even if it was all facade and they were somehow secretly miserable the whole time, the end result is undeniably infectious, creative, & enjoyable. Never give up, never surrender!