Biography

Shariq Ansari, better known as DarkeSword, got started with music in public school, where he played trumpet for 8 years. In high school, he was heavily involved in his marching, concert, and jazz bands. In order to improve his trumpet playing and musical knowledge, he took music theory courses being offered at his high school. After learning basic music theory and composition techniques, he started composing and arranging his own music using a MIDI sequencer called MusicTime Deluxe and the MIDI driver called WinGroove. Some of his earliest arrangements were of video game music, from such series as Final Fantasy and Sonic the Hedgehog.

He eventually switched to FLStudio (which was known as FruityLoops at the time). With better software, he began learning more about producing music, rather than simply composing it. His first remix, HeavyArms(LetMeLiftThisLoad), from Gundam Wing Endless Duel, was posted to OverClocked ReMix, a website dedicated to reinterpreting video game music, in August of 2002. Shariq continued to submit arrangements to OCR, and enjoyed having seven more of his arrangements posted to the site in the following year.

In 2004, Shariq headed up Rise of the Star, a collaborative effort that arranged different songs from the Kirby’s Adventure soundtrack. The project enjoyed moderate success, and Shariq took the reins of the Site Projects section of OverClocked ReMix, acting as an administrative liason between project coordinators and OCR staff.

Shariq continues to write and produce original music and video game arrangements.