You’re probably wondering whom this bio is about. Of course you are, that’s why you’re reading it. My name is James Varidel. But you may know me as Fuzzy Hermit. I am an aspiring sound engineer and video game composer studying at SAE Institute in Brisbane. I am also starting to do freelance composing and sound engineering as a job.

Having grown up with my mother who was a singer and sister who was a singer/guitarist, I naturally had an interest in music. I can’t actually play an instrument myself, and my singing is capable of causing hearing damage, but I’ve been attempting to learn the piano and violin for a few years now. I’m also an avid gamer. I’ve been playing video games since I was 8 and have always been fascinated by them and how well they blend story, audio and visuals together to make a virtual world. When I think about the games I’ve played, what I always remember first is the soundtrack, like the Hyrule field theme from Ocarina of Time, The End of a Thought from Tales of Symphonia or the Saturos battle from Golden Sun. Growing up listening to music from composers like Motoi Sakuraba, Koji Kondo and Shinji Tamura, combined with my family’s love for music inspired me to try and become a composer myself.

As for the sound engineering stuff, I had started to play around with MIDI sequencers and programs to try and make my music (because I couldn’t play any instruments) when I was 19 and just wasn’t getting anywhere, which is when my sister stumbled across SAE and found the sound engineering course. I signed up for it and found out that there was a lot more to music making than just putting a mic in front of an instrument. I ended up enjoying the stuff I was doing and decided to be both a sound engineer and composer.

I pretty much like music from all genres, but prefer Classical, Metal and electronica depending on my mood. I’m also a fan of composers and bands like Motoi Sakuraba, Eluveite, Nightwish, Beethoven and Mozart.

Naturally, I’m still learning studio production, but from what I’ve observed do so far my specialty happens to be mixing songs but I’m also skilled at mastering songs. I’m also capable of recording artists and bands when necessary. On the composing side of things I’m still a novice, but have some talent. I’ve mainly composed silly and somewhat surreal Midi tracks which you can see at my Soundcloud page.