Devolver Digital’s 2019 Press Conference and Phase 1 Soundtrack!

Hi all!
Some exciting news for you all.
Devolver Digital’s 2019 press event is live.

Picking up from the cliffhanger ending of last year’s Devolver press event, I’m proud to be part of the conclusion of our epic, Phase 1 arc.

Starting out with the inaugural fever-dream of a press conference in 2017, I had the pleasure to work with Don Thacker and Imagos Films to develop a musical palate with which to paint a portrait of Devolver’s fictional corporate persona: one with lavish production values and absolutely zero taste.  Featuring an ensemble of singers and instrumentalists, we crafted a jazz-tinged score that felt corporate and expensive, yet hopelessly out of step with the times – the perfect accompaniment to a wondrous satire of traditional video game press events. In 2018 we evolved those themes into something that took inspiration from classic science fiction films of the 1980’s, edging us into far darker musical territory, and giving me a chance to grow the motifs surrounding chief synergy officer Nina Struthers (Mahria Zook) into something suitably epic. When 2019 came, with it came the chance to work with the support of Materia Collective to pull out all the stops and bring our biggest musical effort yet to your ears.  

YES, THAT’S RIGHT. The first ever* video game press conference official soundtrack album ever has just been released.

Featuring 34 tracks of music from all three years of groundbreaking E3-adjacent conferences, Devolver Digital® Cinematic Universe: Phase 1 will take you on a musical journey of commercialism, hype, and purchase intent, culminating in the final installment of Phase 1.

I could not have done this without the wonderful musicians, friends, and colleagues who helped me realize this dream, and without the (warped) creative vision of Don Thacker to come up with a universe so wild and groundbreaking to play in.

Thank you all.

Here’s to Phase 2.

– John Robert Matz

 

 

*Unverifiable.  I mean, I checked Google for like, 10 minutes.

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GDC 2019 – A Plethora of Panels!

Hello, friends!
This year’s GDC is going to be keeping me quite busy.
First, I’m proud to announce “Relative Perfection: Finding the Balance Between Flawed and Flawless“, a fantastic GDC panel with Neal Acree, Guy Whitmore, Austin Wintory, and Penka Kouneva on a panel moderated by me as they discuss finding a balance between perfection and imperfection, and why allowing some imperfection in your work is not only healthy, but can result in better art.

We’re on Friday, March 22nd at 10am in Room 3002 in West Hall!

All the info for Relative Perfection is here:
https://schedule.gdconf.com/session/relative-perfection-finding-the-balance-between-flawed-and-flawless/860707

 

Earlier in the week, I’ll be a part of a new version of “From Trumpets to Transients” a series of micro-talks with Emmanuel Lagumbay, Bonnie Bogovich, Matthew Martiensson, Penka Kouneva, and Erika Escamez, focused on approaching and interacting with sound design and sound designers as a composer.
I’ll be giving a talk about inter-team and interdisciplinary communication, entitled “Music and Sound: A Match Made in Slack”.

That’s scheduled for Thursday, March 21st at 4pm in Room 3002 in West Hall!
https://schedule.gdconf.com/session/from-trumpets-to-transients-a-composers-guide-to-sound-design/861175

 

Finally, in my first talk of the week, (yes, I know this is backwards) I’m thrilled to present a lecture about interactive score design and techniques as part of the Game Audio Boot Camp program.  “Theatrical Interactivity in Video Game Music” will delve into several techniques for designing, structuring, and crafting dramatically effective interactive scores.  We’ll be going in-depth into three very different projects, “RODINA“, “Fossil Echo” and “For The King“, breaking open their music systems, (including their accompanying FMod and Wwise project files) and seeing what makes them tick, and how to take lessons from them for your own works.

That’ll happen during the Audio Boot Camp sessions on Tuesday, March 19th, at 11:20am in Room 3002 in West Hall.

More info here:
https://schedule.gdconf.com/session/audio-bootcamp-xviii-theatrical-interactivity-in-video-game-music/864729

And that’s (*phew*) it!
Hope to see you all there!

– John Robert

Project ESPER becomes ESPER: A Final Fantasy VI Musical – Kickstarting next month!

So, as some of you may know, I’ve been working on a bit of a mad project for the last couple years: a musical theatre reimagining of Final Fantasy VI, co-arranged/composed with my friend Jeff Swingle. We’ve assembled a fantastic team of writers and musicians, produced more than a half-hour of music already, and we’re going to be sharing it leading up to our Kickstarter next month.

We’ve got two beautiful songs released so far, from our Celes (Jillian Aversa) and Locke (Mike Axtell, and both can be heard on our project’s site at http://espermusical.com, along with more project info and a lengthy secret preview for newsletter subscribers.
(Consider signing up! The Impresario will get off our backs about it at last!) 😉

It’d mean a MASSIVE amount to me if you’d check it out, and if you, or anyone you care about loves Final Fantasy, musical theatre, opera, audio drama, or reimaginings of classic video game scores, I’d be so happy if you shared it with them.
Thanks. ❤

For The King – “Into The Deep” Soundtrack Preview!

“For The King” has been steadily expanding since it’s launch back in April, and I’ve had the pleasure of writing a boatload (ha!) of additional music for it.

Our latest expansion, “Into The Deep” afforded me a chance to write not only swashbuckling pirate music suitable for naval combat and getting inebriated at the local tavern, but also a suite of tracks for the new island archipelagos you’d encounter on your quest. Check out the new music here, along with music from the previous expansions, and if you own the game, give the new adventure a go when it launches tomorrow!

Two New Interviews!

Over the last few months I sat down for two neat interviews, one with Kate Remington of the fantastic game music podcast, “Music Respawn”, where we discussed the score for For The King (and more!), and one with Karl Magi, a writer who delved into how I got into composing, my history, background, and musical influences!

You can find the Music Respawn episode here:
http://www.wshu.org/post/john-robert-matz-leaving-room-unexpected-king#stream/0

And you can stream it directly here:

Karl’s written interview is here:

https://hubpages.com/entertainment/An-Interview-with-Video-Game-Composer-John-Robert-Matz

I had a great time talking with both of them, and I hope you enjoy the results!

For The King Launches on April 19th – Soundtrack Preorders Open!

After a year in Early Access, honing and fine-tuning the game, For The King is launching on Steam in full on April 19th!To accompany our launch, I’ve carefully assembled the For The King Original Game Soundtrack, 30 tracks and over an hour of music for adventuring across Fahrul’s sprawling countryside, fighting evil and vanquishing chaos. (And, invariably, dying repeatedly.)  It’s available for pre-order on Bandcamp now!

Thank you all for supporting me along the way; I’m thrilled to share this with you.
For The King was an absolute joy to work on. Getting the chance to pull inspiration from some of my favorite eras of music history and write a sprawling fantasy score around them was a dream come true. This was also a wonderful opportunity to stretch myself as a performer, and my studio is now cluttered with recorders, flutes, hand drums, dulcimers, and other assorted and sundry ancient and folk instruments as a result.
Send help.

“Ambition: A Minuet in Power” – Kickstarter Launched!

I’m absolutely thrilled to announce that the Kickstarter for “Ambition: A Minuet in Power” is LIVE!

If you’ve ever wanted to seduce, scheme, blackmail, and backstab your way through the French Revolution, this is your moment.

I’m particularly excited to get the opportunity to embrace the sounds of the period, and to do so with the aid of some truly fantastic musicians. (Andrew Steffen and Andrew Stern of the ETHEReal String Orchestra and the transcendent oboe of Kristin Naigus grace my story trailer score, “So Much More”.)

 

Please check out the campaign and share it with your friends!

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joymanufacturingco/ambition-a-minuet-in-power