Entrevista a Junkie XL; la música en los videojuegos (y el cine)

Interesante (pero aviso que en inglés) entrevista a Junkie XL, DJ que seguro que os sonará, al menos indirectamente, de juegos y películas (como en la trilogía Matrix). Pronto sacará su quinto disco.

A grandes rasgos, expone que la principal diferencia de crear música para un juego frente a una película se encuentra en que el juego es impredecible, debes capturar las emociones, pero no es algo cerrado como una grabación, donde ves lo que se verá, en cada momento exacto.



PALGN: To start off with, can you tell us a little about yourself?

Junkie XL :I’m 39 and I come from a music family, everybody played 3-4 instruments in my family. I started playing my first instrument at the age of 8 and continued adding 3-4 more instruments a few years later.

When I was 16 I started working in a music store where they sold music computers so I got really into that and from that point my music style became a combination of electronic and organic punk/rock music.

The eighties really shaped me as a musician and I was in my first band called Nerve in the late eighties early nighties. Then I worked as a producer for a few years for metal bands who wanted the electronic elements in their music.

94-95 I started Junkie XL and I’ve been doing that now for the last 12 years. In addition to that I’ve done music for movies, video games and remixes. I’ve released 4 artist albums so far and will release my 5th soon.

PALGN: How did you first become involved with the videogame industry?

JX: One of my tracks got licensed in 97 and I started to realize that my music was a bit underground and hard to market the normal traditional way so I saw a great opportunity to get my music out in a different way. Plus I happened to be a big gamer myself…

PALGN: You’ve had the privilege of working with many different artists and music companies throughout your career. In your experience, has there been any particular company or person you’ve preferred working with, or have you enjoyed everyone you’ve worked with?

JX: Well that’s very hard to say, different companies and different artists have unique ways of working. I’ve worked with people that worked with recording techniques that were not good, but then the result was totally mind blowing. I have worked with companies where you become very good friends with everyone which makes that a great experience.

Certain companies push you in a certain direction and in the end it can be so amazing how it turns out.
But I can say that I’m not a big fan of repeating myself. I always strive to re-invent myself and I want to do new things.

I love working with EA games, they are very easy going.

PALGN: One of the first videogames you were involved in was EA Games’ Need for Speed, which was release back in 1995. Since then, how has music recording changed?

JX: Obviously a lot. I come from a time when we recorded demos on a 4 track cassette player. In those days you had to play a part over and over again until you got it right. Now you can do so much on the computer. So the landscape has changed a lot. It’s a different world today.

The music has changed completely, everything has stepped up! The amount of hard drive space, the possibilities with sounds on computers, I mean the only limit is your fantasy. I think that’s the beauty of the time period right now.

Colossus Remix de God of War 2. Desactivad la música de la cabecera, o sonarán ambas.

PALGN: Are there any major differences between recording for a videogame soundtrack and recording for a film score? Likewise, do companies tend to have the same recording methods / policies or are they different from one another?

JX: It’s completely different actually, a movie is a linear medium whilst a video game is an interactive medium. That means that a movie starts and ends two hours later. Whatever happens in the movie is “locked”, you can go back and forth until you get it right in the studio.

When you work on music for a game you first need to nail the tone of the game. After that you break down the musical elements and try to match those up with different emotions that happen in the game.

It’s different for every game but just to take one example. In one race in Need For Speed, 15-25 different things can happen. All those different things trigger an emotion and the music needs to underscore that emotion. The music needs to follow all the different emotions and you need to find the exact right mood of music.

Like I said, it’s hard to explain. If you drive a car that’s washed and clean and then you crash it into a pool of mud and you drive off without a scratch on your car, that would be hard to explain right? Kind of like that. It doesn’t make sense all the time.

PALGN: Would you agree that music has become an important part of the videogame industry?

JX: Yes, absolutely! Most game publishers don’t realise how important it is.

PALGN: When writing music, do you have a general idea on how you want it to sound or do you experiment and mess around until you find something you like?

JX: When making music for a video game it’s about working in a team spirit. I usually play around in the studio until I nail the tone in the game, then I get that approved and then I get an OK to create more of that type of music.

I get approached because of my sounds and specialties, people know what I do well. I won’t be approached by a company that is looking for music for a romantic comedy. This means the process of finding the right tone for the game usually does not take long.

PALGN: Have you ever looked back at a soundtrack you’ve created and wished you had done it differently?

JX: All the time! The level that I want to achieve and always strive for is very high and I am usually happy with my music in the beginning but then a few months later I start thinking about what I could or should have done different. That is good thing though, keeps me sharp and going.

SSX

PALGN: Outside the games we’ve discussed, what other titles have you worked on?

JX: We should split it up in licensing and worked on so I worked on games like Need For Speed, SSX Blur, Forza, God Of War, Sims, Matrix, Destroy All Humans and there are too many games to name where existing Junkie XL music got licensed.

PALGN: What projects are you currently working on?

JX: I am finishing up my new album, the 5th already, called “Booming Back At You” which will be released in March 2008. Working on some new remixes and probably starting on a new game in January. Then I am preparing my new live show. I will be coming to you supporting my new album, make you dance.