Though his name may not be as much of a household staple as, say, Shigeru Miyamoto, Koji Kondo has done just as much to shape the atmosphere and mood of Nintendo games as the aforementioned designer. If you’ve ever found yourself humming the theme to Super Mario Bros. or beatboxing the overworld theme from The Legend of Zelda, then you owe a debt of thanks to Mr. Kondo.

1up sat down for an interview with Kondo, whose latest credits include the upcoming Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Mario Galaxy, to find out what makes the composer tick. They even asked the question many have been asking for decades: where did the Mario death music come from?

KK: It just kind of something we thought fit with that feeling of dying. But it wasn’t supposed to be superdepressing [sic], as you never really die. It was more whimsical — it was a way, through music, to say, “Hey, it’s time to try again.” It just kind of happened like that, I guess.

Interesting fact from the interview: the iconic Super Mario theme was originally a downbeat, laid back piece that eventually was scrapped in favor of the one we know and love today.

1up.com