“In February of ’21 I just randomly started. I just filmed a video, and I was like, ‘Okay, whatever.’ Well, it was February 11th, and then February 15th we were on our way to pick up my dog, my puppy at the time – she was you know, nine weeks old – and I started getting notifications on my phone and I was like, ‘Oh, weird, I must have left some somebody, like, a comment on YouTube or something.’ And all of a sudden, I look and I’m like, ‘Whoa, my video is popping off.’ I was like, ‘What do I do with this?’ And so I just, like, doubled down.” – Marco Cammarota

This week’s guest is a professional opera singer turned voice actor turned YouTuber. He grew up loving video games and video-game music after first discovering them when he was seven years old, and since then he’s lived and breathed all things video games. He has a YouTube channel all about video game music – the beauty of modern composition, how it allows us to connect deeper to the games we love, and how we can better learn to understand ourselves through it and the experiences it provides.

His name is Marco Cammarota – sometimes known as “Marco Meatball” – and I’ve been looking forward to hearing about his musical influences and his love of sound, particularly when it comes to video games, for a while now. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!

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(0:00:00) - From Opera to YouTube

We start things off with Marco’s early memories of sound, particularly the songs his Italian grandmother used to play when he was a child. “Even the sound of the accordion triggers like a deep sense of nostalgia for me,” he recalls. “When it comes to music like that, that soundscape is really, really poignant to me.” He tells us more about how his childhood led him to opera, voice work, and even YouTube. “The desire to communicate and express,” Marco explains, “was the thing that awakened through this, like summer camp, and then I think that that’s what led me down the path of musical theater and eventually opera, and, then voiceover and now this current career.”

(0:16:30) - Video Game Music’s Healing Power

Marco discusses the impact of his father’s passing and the solace he found both in grief counseling and through video game music. “Grief counseling is something everyone should do if possible,” he shares, “just because grief is such a powerful and painful feeling. There are really no words to describe how bad it feels.” He talks about some of the game soundtracks that helped him process those emotions, from Outer Wilds to Disco Elysium, and one particularly timeless classic. “Final Fantasy is really based around classical and prog rock,” he explains, “and sometimes integrating the two in one setting. It’s an incredible thing that most of my childhood was based around Final Fantasy’s sound, and I think, like, largely that’s why I also gravitated towards being sensitive to sound and music.”

(0:24:21) - The Impact of Video Game Music

As we wrap up the first half of our conversation, we talk about what sets video game music apart from traditional film soundtracks, and how he approaches the topic on his YouTube channel. “The question to me, that’s the most important part,” he says, “is what is active listening? Okay, and how do we listen with intention? And, furthermore, how do we decipher what a composer wants us to feel?” He tells us more about the unique role music plays in such an immersive storytelling genre as video games, and how he’s helping bridge gaming and music for fans of both. “My regulars that come to the channel,” Marco says, “I think, really understand what I’m trying to do, and I think really appreciate it and it’s been incredible. I mean, like, people tell me they’ve gone to music school because of me.”

Episode Summary

• Marco Cammarota’s journey from professional opera singer to popular YouTuber
• The distinctive fusion of genres, melody, and ambiance that sets video game music apart
• How video games helped pioneer audio branding, from title tracks to leitmotifs

Tune in for next week’s episode as Marco shares his surprising advice for anyone looking to get into voiceover and content creation, his experience with AI in video game music and where it might lead, and how his listeners have helped him learn to keep an open mind about music.

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