Composer Lennie Moore wrote such gorgeous music for Outcast - A New Beginning that it made me mad, no exaggeration. It's so pleasing harmonically with fantastic melodies and transitions, and outstanding musicianship from the soloists and performers. Live choir, live soloists, live orchestra - and you can tell. The music has breath and life. Come ch…

We're so happy to have Zac Tiessen back on Level to talk about a new project he worked on with his fine artist brother, Josh Tiessen! Zac wrote music for a series of paintings called Vanitas + Viriditas. You can hear the music here (and elsewhere). It's really gorgeous music, with outstanding live performers like singer Julie Elven, the Budapest Sc…

We loved having bandleader and drummer/percussionist Dom Palombi back to talk about his new album, Dom Palombi's Game Night! Vol. 2. There are about twice as many musicians on this album than on Vol. 1, with what Dom describes as more personal track choices than before. The musicianship is just beyond measure, and it's a fun, adventurous, delightfu…

Composer Chase Bethea talks about his music for Stardander: School for Witches, a Harry potter-esque narrative turn-based battle adventure game where you learn spells and solve mysteries. The music is mysterious at times, with winding melodies and unexpected instrumentation. His mom sings too, which is great! You can support Level with Emily on Pat…

Composer Thomas Brunet talks about his absolutely stunning music for Chants of Sennaar in this episode.We love how spontaneous the music sounds, and the colorful, creative instrument palette.In addition to the wonderful music, Thomas and I talk about a new graduate program he's created for music and sound design in Bordeaux, France, as well as his …

A little more than two years ago, Erik Desiderio was on Level to talk about music he'd written for Last Epoch, which was in early access at the time.Erik is back to talk about all of the music he's written for the game since we spoke in 2022. Also, Last Epoch is about to get its official release, and the Game Music Ensemble of UCLA is going to play…

This is such gorgeous music by Dale North for Astral Ascent. Fully orchestral (a mix of real and samples), lush and full - and sometimes it ascends! Like the game! Definitely check out the conversation Sam and I had about it on Next Level. Come chat with us on Discord about game music, and see the video of my conversation with Dale North on the Lev…

I loved talking with Terence and Janice so much about their wonderful music for such a fabulous game. The music for Tunic is a glorious blend of synths and acoustic piano, with waves of (often) consonant sound. Plus, you get to play as an adorable fox!Terence and Janice live in Taiwan so I got to learn a bit about that tropical island too, and got …

Composer Jon Everist's music for The Lamplighters League is a great blend of noir and adventure. The soundtrack paints such a perfect picture of the vibe of the game (which is a turn-based tactics game).So many wonderful solos and soloists, with an orchestra recorded live at Abbey Road Studios, and they all sound fantastic! Also, I swear I know wha…

It's always a joy catching up with composer Cris Velasco! This time around, we chat about his epic music for Lords of the Fallen, a souls-like action RPG with plenty of boss battles. He also clues me into another one of his recent scores, for a game called Fae Farm, He and I will talk more about that in a future episode, because it's delightful. Al…

Composer Tom Salta talks about his extremely frightening music for The Outlast Trials, the third installment of the Outlast series. It's always a joy to have Tom on, and I manage to learn something new every time we talk!You can support Level with Emily on Patreon. Join us on Discord for free. Find this conversation on YouTube and Twitter. Patrons …

During our Next Level discussion about this very episode, our friend Sacha counted up how many times we've had Jason Graves on an episode of Level, and Level's friend, Top Score. Six times on Top Score, six times on Level, and this marks the 13th ep dedicated to his music. Best part is, we know there will be many more!This time, it's all about batt…

Composer Steve Pardo got to write music for one of the most musically famous franchises of all time in Cypher 007, the newest game from James Bond. And it's great! I love how the soundtrack fits seamlessly into the fabric of the stealthy Apple Arcade game. Steve and I talk about how neat that is, how great John Barry's original music is and a lot m…

Composer Ross Tregenza is back for a deep dive into the music and sound he created and composed for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.We also talk about his music for Deathloop, which earned him a BAFTA nomination, and his ubiquitous music in Cyberpunk 2077. I love every minute of all of it. And I loved talking with Ross about these projects, including …

Voice actor Morla Gorrondona has created some iconic characters in games, from Eris Morn in Destiny 2 to Naafiri in League of Legends. It's such a pleasure to hear her talk about her process of creating a new person or creature for a game. You'll hear samples of her acting in the show. Yay! You can support Level with Emily on Patreon. Join us on Di…

Composer Darren Korb's music for Hades properly beloved. It's a great blend of metal with acoustic Mediterranean instruments to take you through the deep story of the game. Darren adds his voice acting talents to the game as well, voicing the main character, Zagreus, and the training dummy, Skelly. Hades is one of my favorite rogue-lite dungeon cra…

The original Xbox launched on November 15, 2001. The person largely responsible for how audio worked in that original Xbox and what the Xbox would “sound” like was Brian Schmidt. We’ve had Brian on the show in the past, most recently to talk about Game Sound Con, which he runs in LA every October.In the late 1990s, Brian was working for Microsoft a…

It's always a fascinating discussion with composer Maclaine Diemer. In this episode, we talk about Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure, the newest expansion in the MMORPG.The last time he was on Level to talk about Guild Wars 2, we spoke of the End of Dragons expansion. Maclaine's music for End of Dragons was heavily influenced by Korean tradition…

It's been far too long since we had composer David Housden on the show. Last time, we talked about Thomas Was Alone and Volume.David's music for Disney Illusion Island is quite different from those scores, as you'd expect. Complete with cartoon humor and sweeping melodies, it fits perfectly.The game is a multiplayer platformer/Metroidvania and it i…

This is Part Two of my chat with scntfc / Andy Rohrmann about his music for Oxenfree and Oxenfree II: Lost Signals.And it's another episode packed with music and back stories. We can't wait to have Andy on the show to talk about more music in the future!You can support Level with Emily on Patreon. Join us on Discord for free. Find this conversation…

Oxenfree and Oxenfree II: Lost Signals are fantastic games with phenomenal music. The games are scored by scntfc, a.k.a. Andy Rohrmann. And I can't ever get enough of Andy's music.I love these games so very much, from the art and story to the music. If you haven't spent time listening to these scores, treat yourself.You can support Level with Emily…

Composer Doyle Donehoo wrote a fantastic score for the newest game in the Alien franchise, called Aliens: Dark Descent. His music shares several hallmarks but is uniquely his music, and his fandom for this franchise runs so deep it comes off as a gorgeous, if not appropriately creepy, love letter.Doyle saw the first film, Alien, in the theater in 1…

Composer Wilson Brown is part of an audio studio called Antfood, and the studio is responsible for the delightfully chill soundtrack for the Minecraft-esque roguelite, Let's! Revolution!One of my favorite parts of the soundtrack is the percussion - a lot of organic sounds, like body percussion, Latin, South American and other world instruments, mix…

It's always a delight having Oleksa Lozowchuk on Level. This time, we're talking about his music for Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores.I love hearing him dig into his process for composing. We talk about the important soloists on the soundtrack: singers Julie Elven and Melissa Kaplan, along with cellist Blair Lofgren.Quick ask: we're getting c…

Composer Vinicius Barbosa Pippa has held many jobs as a musician working in media. In addition to his work in games and film, he garnered an Emmy nomination for his work as a music editor on an animated show called Go! Go! Cory Carson. And he was the music supervisor on a different animated show that aims to introduce Star Wars to kids called Star …

Composer Brent Meyer talks about his music for Katoa, a mobile game where you build and manage an underwater ecosystem. A portion of the money spent through microtransactions goes toward charities that support the climate.The main theme Brent wrote is a sweeping, melodic orchestral romp. Once you begin gameplay, the texture simplifies and the music…

It's always a great time having John Robert Matz on to talk about his music. This time, we discuss Tchia, an open-world adventure of a young girl on tropical islands inspired by the real location, New Caledonia. The music is such a joy. John Robert captured a colorful, simple and memorable island vibe with his soundtrack.The game is fantastic too. …

I love these games! And Sander van Zanten's music does a fantastic job capturing the wonder, loneliness and splendor of being in space. If you haven't played Deliver Us the Moon, I highly recommend it. And then play Deliver Us Mars! The gameplay is so engaging and Sander's music is a great part of it all.You can support Level with Emily on Patreon.…

Grant "Stemage" Henry is a composer, a session guitarist and a remixer. In 2003, Grant created Metroid Metal (you can still download all the tracks, just follow the link), and so began his lengthy career in the VGM remix community.Grant and I don't talk too much about remixing, but we focus on a couple of original projects: his original soundtrack …

Mustin's remixes and albums lift my spirits, and I hope they do for you too!Mustin has an ability to capture juuuuust the right sound to make a track pop and nail the nostalgia.His latest album, Mario Mixtape, resulted from a challenge issued by his son: to create a Mario remix album within a matter of months (about 4 months). Mustin delivered, wit…

Joe Newman is a saxophonist who remixes and covers video game music. He's been a regular participant in Dwelling of Duels and recently released an album of some of his favorite submissions.By day, Joe is a lawyer in the video game industry (in consumer protection, if memory serves, he explains it in the chat). We talk about his music, playing the E…

It's another delightful chat with composer Maclaine Diemer about Firmament from Cyan Worlds, the creators of Myst and Riven. The score is entirely synth with the exception of two or three other instruments, including an esraj and a Fender IV (technically a Squire, which only matters to people who know the difference). It's atmospheric, ambient and …

Composer Peter Chapman talks about his music for the Netflix comedy Workin' Moms, which just aired its 7th and final season in April. Peter worked with composer/singer Maylee Todd to create music for the series. The music has this energetically fresh, crisp and clean vibe, although there are many examples of grit and grime as well. We chat about th…

I stumbled across Logan "Biggoron" Tucker's music in early April ahead of VGM Con (which would be worth your time if you can attend next year!). He regularly participates in the monthly video game music cover contest held at Dwelling of Duels. Cover artists submit their piece anonymously and winners are chosen by the community. For TWENTY years, Dw…

Composer Lennie Moore talks about his newest passion project, a big band album called Mentors that pays tribute to his musical mentors, like record producer Arif Mardin, pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi and drummer Peter Erskine (who plays on the album).While we do briefly discuss the upcoming Outcast 2 (Lennie scored the first Outcast in 1999), most of th…

Wes Keltner is the CEO of Gun Interactive, creators of the upcoming game The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Ross Tregenza composed the music and worked on sound.The game is in the canon of the original film from 1974. We talk about how they pieced together a handful of working chain saws to get the perfect sound from the machine, the same models used in…

Composer Chris Rickwood gets to write in the style of some of the most famous franchises in games and other media like TV, anime and more for Brawlhalla, the free-to-play platform brawler from Blue Mammoth Games and Ubisoft.In this episode, Chris and I talk about what it's like to take the Brawlhalla main theme and rework it in the style of other c…

** The soundtrack to The Red Lantern is getting a vinyl release. Anyone who is a patron of Level with Emily by midnight (12:00 AM CDT) on April 17, 2023, will be eligible to win one of 5 records. ** Hrishikesh Hirway is a composer, a recording artist, a podcaster (Song Exploder, Home Cooking, The West Wing Weekly) and all-around busy creator. He wr…

We've had composer Rob Kovacs on Level in the past to talk about his alter ego, 88bit.This time, he's here to discuss his Prophet 5 modern 80s soundtrack for the VR game Straylight, and I love every minute of it.The music is fantastic, and Rob sits at his piano during our chat to demonstrate some of the musical choices he made. It was so much fun!Y…

Greg Nicolett's music for Potionomics is as colorful as the game, weaving in and out of various styles and palettes depending on characters and locations. The game is a 3D deck builder/management sim, where you (as Sylvia) brew and sell potions out of your own shop. And go on dates :)Much of the score was recorded with live orchestra, and there are…

Pentiment is a 2D narrative adventure murder mystery set in the early part of the 16th century. Director/desinger Josh Sawyer dreamed of making a historically accurate game set pre-Renaissance, and he asked Alkemie Early Music Ensemble to create a faithful musical score for the game. "Early music" at its simplest definition consists of music before…

The music Amos Roddy wrote for Citizen Sleeper is too good for words. I love the music, I loved our conversation about it, and I've loved the game (not finished yet). I'm not alone - players raved about the entire package of gameplay, narrative, music, visuals and all the things that make it Citizen Sleeper.To list my favorite tracks would comprise…

Composer Jason Graves has a new score out, and it's flipping scary.The fourth installment of The Dark Pictures Anthology, The Devil In Me follows a film crew trapped within a replica of H.H. Holmes's infamous Murder Castle, where he tortured and murdered more than two dozen unsuspecting tourists in town for the Chicago World's Fair in 1893.The anta…

Composer Trevor Gureckis scored about two hours of new music (not all of which is on the soundtrack) for the Dead Space remake. EA kept Jason Graves's original score intact, and Trevor scored the new cutscenes, battles and other content added to the game to fill out the story.And it's great. It's very Dead Space, and is unique to Trevor's style. At…

French composer Nicolas de Ferran talks about his groovy music for Scrap Riders, a point-and-click adventure/beat-em-up about a biker gang in the 80s. The last time we had Nicolas on Level, he went by the nickname of Nicolas Diteriks, and we spoke about an orchestral score he composed for the game We Are Billions. The Scrap Riders score is very dif…

We always love having composer Garry Schyman on the show. His music is so darn great. This time, we talk about his gorgeous orchestral score for Forspoken, the new RPG from Luminous and Square Enix. Recorded live in Nashville, the music is full of energy slathered in soaring melodies that take you somewhere with each new phrase. It's so fantastic.Y…

Composer Jonah Senzel talks about his music for Inscryption. He wrote in a handful of different styles, from music heavy with sound effects to the simplest, slow chip-tune chords. The game also is a bit of a mash-up of styles - a deckbuilder with escape room elements and a bit of horror. It was great chatting with Jonah about his music!You can find…

Composer Ego Plum writes such fantastic music for The Cuphead Show (on Netflix). The show itself is an absolute delight and it's almost inexcusable if you don't watch it (the episodes are brief enough that you could binge all 3 seasons in a day). And with comedic animation like this, the music is intertwined with the visuals that you really need to…

I met video essayist Jacob Geller during my occasional appearances on The MinnMax Show to discuss the best game music of a given year. Meeting him led me on a journey through his videos, and I absolutely adore his videos. We talk about why in this conversation!In addition to YouTube, you can find Jacob on Patreon.You can find a playlist and support…

Composer Thomas Cipollone writes 8-bit scores for games that release on NES cartridges. He has to adhere to all the rules composers followed in the 80s, constricted heavily by the size of his audio files and the voicings he can compose.And he does so brilliantly, with creative textures, great grooves and fulfilling melodies. We spoke about four of …