Early life Matsuo's mother was a
piano and
electone teacher, and she inspired him to enjoy classical music. She also organized concerts for local children to compose and perform music in, which he took part in. While in school, he was inspired by
Yellow Magic Orchestra and
Rick Wakeman. He eventually attended
Tokyo University of the Arts, where he focused on classical music. While in school, however, he also was involved in more popular music, and was involved with the progressive rock band G-Clef, filling in sometimes for members of the band, many of whom he was friends with. He also provided some music for the band. When he was near graduation, Matsuo was introduced to
Koichi Sugiyama, the composer for the
Dragon Quest franchise. Upon graduating, he went to work with Sugiyama. While Matsuo has never released an album of original works himself, he has released numerous original tracks on six albums released on
Shinji Hosoe's Troubadour Records label. ==Works==