Hot on the heels of Insaneintherainmusic, String Player Gamer has raised the bar for “K.K. Cruisin’” covers by inviting 47 other musicians to his mega collaboration. This 18-minute cover features multiple sections and sounds like an extended jam session, featuring some of your favorite VGM artists. I was fortunate enough to hear the track before the video released, but watching it premiere last night on YouTube was an experience in and of itself. In this age of social distancing and stay-at-home orders, tracks like this bring us together, not only to marvel at the musicianship on display, but also to laugh, joke, and share Animal Crossing memes.

After the video premiered, I asked String Player Gamer to share some his thoughts on the creative process for “K.K. Cruisin’”, and this is what he had to say:

I attribute the video's birth to the unprecedented timing of the most hyped Animal Crossing game of recent time, being released amidst a global crisis in which everyone I invited suddenly had 24/7 vicinity to their recording rigs. I invited a lot more than these 40+ peeps, (I think I reached out to 70+ musicians), but everyone's schedules work differently so I took what I have in stride and maximized for full potential. Also, before releasing, I approached a handful of peeps to give me feedback for the audio and video (Editor’s note: I was fortunate enough to be one of those peeps!). I even made a twitter thread asking for instrument puns to help me with some of the "punny" quips that I would make K.K. Slider say on video.

All in all, it took a good three to four weeks to put everything together. I spent two weeks following up with everyone involved, one week producing the audio, and three days editing the video. Spreadsheets galore really helped me, haha. The part I enjoyed the most in the process is when I was arranging the custom backtracks for each musician's style. I used to do a lot of genre-bending composition back when I was still active as a film composer, but with YouTube now my main focus, it was a nice mental exercise to return to that part of my musical life once again. One might say, it was a nostalgic process.

If you’re interested in a glimpse of what producing a track like this takes, enjoy these behind-the-scenes photos provided by String Player Gamer!