Undertale Symphony Interview – A World Tour DETERMINATION Symphony!

Filling us with DETERMINATION, Lambert Jackson Productions, Materia Music, and SOHO Live have kicked off their Undertale Symphony World Tour.

Catching their (sold out!) opening night at the San Jose Civic, we spoke with Gaetano Fazio, Jahslyn Takano, and Robert Luke Martin about the Undertale Symphony – learn more with our interview…

Undertale Symphony Interview – A World Tour DETERMINATION Symphony!

Gamers Heroes 

Thank you for the time!

First things first – I’m a huge Undertale fan, and I love that you’re doing this.

What inspired you to be part of the Undertale Symphony in the first place?

Gaetano Fazio 

Our company specializes in creating live concerts, official concerts, and video game music! 

We work with a lot of game companies – from indie developers and big companies – to create their shows. It’s a very exciting world to be a part of, specifically for Undertale! 

This show has been performed before in London, produced by Lambert Jackson Productions in collaboration with Materia Music. 

We connected with the company and presented the opportunity of taking that show on a World Tour of almost 30 countries. 

There’s a huge Undertale audience worldwide, and it was a shame the only show had only been performed in London. 

That’s where we came in! Now we’re taking it to all these different places worldwide for fans all over!

Gamers Heroes 

Absolutely! 

What’s interesting about Undertale is there’s so many unique songs. 

Death by Glamour is different than Spider Dance, which is different than Bonetrousle.

What’s part of your own unique approach you hope people will notice?

Gaetano Fazio 

While not a show we created ourselves, the Undertale Symphony features an orchestra with a rhythm section, complete with guitars, drums, bass, and a synth-y keyboard. 

It makes it sound quite different from a typical orchestra, but I think it fits very well with the sound of Undertale! 

There’s so much energy that sometimes it’s hard to capture with only a symphony orchestra, so it’s good to have these more punchy elements. 

Gamers Heroes 

I like that punchy element!

You’re talking about doing previous events – and I saw all the cosplays outside too!

Whether Undertale or any other performances, what are your favorite community stories regarding this pro level-work entertaining fans like us?

Jahslyn Takano 

I can answer that! 

One of my main roles is social media manager – we all pitch in, of course! 

I spend a lot of time interacting with our audience, seeing what people want, hearing their feedback, and bringing that back into the company.

We reflect that not only in our tours, but also in our merchandise and other elements. 

I absolutely love seeing the cosplays from fans – I’m a cosplayer myself!

When I see people going all out, it brings me so much joy – because that’s what I do in my own time. 

One day, I may be cosplaying at our own concert! Right now I’m purple and white in Toriel fashion.

Then, when you go online, I love how kind so many fans are! They’ll reach out and show their excitement at all times.

There are those that say:

“I don’t know if I’m going to be able to make it.”

And then a few weeks later, you’ll hear:

“I’m coming to the show – we’re here!” 

I’ve even met fans that have been very active on our social media channels! Not just this tour, but other tours as well. 

Sometimes there are people who are very present from the beginning of the tour, showing their excitement. I like to respond to those people and show that we’re gamers and fans ourselves.

I’ve also gone out to meet some of these people in real life – and some are even my friends now! It’s very cool to connect with like-minded people and fans in general. 

It’s by fans, for fans!

Gamers Heroes 

There you go!

On that same note, talking about working with the community, I interviewed the Sixth Station Trio a few weeks ago. Katelyn, Anju, and Federico are amazing as well! 

What’s it like working with all this amazing talent leading up to the performance? 

I know you just did the 3pm show, but what are some of your favorite moments working with these talented musicians? 

Jahslyn Takano 

Every single stop has us meeting so many talented individuals! Everyone contributes something unique, and I think that’s what’s really fun. 

For the Sixth Station Trio, we’ve worked with them for Stardew Valley as well! It’s really nice to see returning musicians on future tours. 

For them specifically, they’re fans of the game – and you know when you’re a fan of something. It reflects in their performances, and I feel like they have a lot of heart. It’s really great to see those musicians on this tour and others. 

I think everyone contributes something unique to the tour. Everyone has their own sound, and their own way of contributing to the colors of this show. 

No matter where you go, everyone just produces such amazing talent.

Gaetano Fazio 

That’s one thing we love about working with them! 

These are people very used to the classical world; they’re used to playing in classical halls for classical audiences that are usually a little older than this.

Playing video game shows for them is a very different experience – that’s where you really hear the fan’s reaction. If you’re doing a classical concert, you don’t hear a lot of shouting and yelling…but as you’ll hear later, this is a very loud audience!

For musicians to get that experience and that feedback live from the audience, it’s very special to them!

We’re happy to bring them into this world they may not be super familiar with.

Robert Luke Martin 

The team dynamic is great! 

These guys have been doing this for a very long time – they have a system that works well. It’s great to be able to watch them do their thing – we obviously have plans to do future shows with this team.

It really puts you at ease to know your IP – one one that you work with, that you care about – is in the hands of people who also care about it.

Even though I’ve been part of the tour build-up over the last few months in my role at Materia Music, I really got to know the SOHO Live team this weekend when we came in Friday for rehearsals on Saturday.

Then there’s the shows today on Sunday!

It has just been absolutely insane – in a good way!

Gamers Heroes 

In a great way!

Robert Luke Martin 

Yeah, there are hiccups, but these guys have been doing shows for years.

They know what they’re doing, and the best part is like nothing surprises them anymore. It’s to the point where something pops up, and you’re like:

“Okay, great – let’s fix it! We’ll talk about it later in the week.”

On that note, I get put into the group chat for the weekend. A text comes through this morning, half an hour before the show opens from the conductor Jeff:

“Has anybody seen my pants?” 

He has seemingly lost his dress pants somewhere between his hotel – which is across the street! – and the venue. 

I ended up meeting him next to the venue on the way in this morning – he’s bogged down with all his stuff. He has all the scores for the orchestra, and then he has his clothes on a hanger. 

I come up to him and tell him the entrance is on the other side – we have to go around. Can I take something off your hands?

So he hands me the hanger with his jacket and dress shirt – no pants. 

Unfortunately the pants were not found – as Jeff announced today. He traded his jeans for the much smaller drummer’s pants in the back who was like:

“Man, I got you – here’s some pants.” 

It shows the community of both the orchestra and the musicians – we will do whatever it takes to make the show happen!

Gamers Heroes 

It’s all good! 

You’ve got to “be like water,” Bruce Lee-style.

“Whatever happens, happens” – Spike Spiegel-style! 

What piece of advice would you give to those inspired by your work; the loud parts of this audience that want to follow in your footsteps and be a part of the Undertale Symphony themselves?

Jahslyn Takano

I personally started out as a fan of SOHO Live concerts! 

I attended Festival of Seasons in Tokyo a few years ago, and I absolutely loved what they did. By chance of fate, I met Gaetano, and here I am working with everybody! 

I think for people aspiring to get into music or entertainment, or work in the game industry in any form, should continue to be their authentic self.

Show up for what you love, put yourself out there. There’s no harm in just saying hi, even when you don’t know who that person is. Show your passion – and just continue to be yourself. There are so many opportunities waiting for people like that!

Be genuine and keep an open mind – you never know what’s coming down your path!

Gamers Heroes 

Agreed – and here we are talking right now! So glad you get it.

Robert Luke Martin 

I get a lot of emails from friends and other musicians who want to get to come play these shows at the tour – even my orchestra in Ireland is having people asking!

Honestly, it’s about networking – and it’s about being the best at what you do.

When I say networking, we work with different contractors around the country that contact their musicians. They bring them in and have worked with them many, many times – over and over.

These musicians have been vetted show, after show, after show to come play. These are not just random people we find on the street.

They know they can get the music less than a week in advance – and there’s some really hard stuff in this show! We know you will show up to that one rehearsal – which may be the day of the concert! – prepared and ready to go. 

That’s what it takes, and that’s what’s really important to think about. You need to be at the top of your game; you need to know what you’re doing; you need to be able to perform at that level. 

However, you also need to play nice with others and be a member of your local musician community! 

Frankly, musicians talk – we talk about everybody! It’s what we do, but that’s also how we also know. 

Gamers Heroes 

It’s that genuine nature! You don’t want to “fellow kids” it, 30 Rock-style. Preparation meets opportunity!

A light, poppy question…

If you can narrow it down to one character, which Undertale (or Deltarune) character is your favorite?

Gaetano Fazio 

I’m going to stick to Undertale…

I’m going to be boring and say Sans, just because I love boss fights.

That was my favorite moment of the game, and like the way the music plays to that. The music fits so well into that battle – it’s amazing how it was put together! 

Both the battle itself and the music of the Sans battle is the highlight of the game for me.

Jahslyn Takano 

And for me, my favorite is Asriel!

I love morally gray characters, and I love a good comfort story, and just that hug at the end. I love the goat boys, so when it comes to Asriel’s design…oh my gosh, chef’s kiss! 

I hope to have an Asriel-themed outfit in LA!

Gamers Heroes

Finally, I have to ask – what’s your favorite Undertale song? 

Robert Luke Martin 

I used to run a music school for elementary school kids and middle school kids. MEGALOVANIA is their Stairway to Heaven, but I got sick of that song quickly. 

However, the arrangement for this show is great – it’s phenomenal!

The one I really like is Asgore’s theme/Bergentrückung! The brass intro to that beautiful, and it’s just so tight. There’s some really shiny pieces in this tour that hit just right.

I’m sitting there going:

“I would love to do this.” 

With this tour, we’re doing a 25-piece ensemble; it’s a small orchestra.

It’s not a full symphony; I would compare it to a very large musical pit orchestra. We’re kind of set up in the same way – and it works great for this!

But for some of these, I would love to see with an 80-piece orchestra. Let’ see what happens; I’ve got plans – I have some ideas. 

I look forward to it!

Gamers Heroes 

I’m sure everybody else on the tour is going to look forward to it too – thank you so much!

Learn more about the Undertale Symphony via its official website, along with its Tour Dates via its respective page.

Official Undertale Symphony merchandise is also available – one can get items at each tour stop, or online via its official website. 

For those feeling social, make sure to follow the official Twitter/X and Instagram social media channels.

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