The Sound Architect speaks with fantastic composers John Broomhall and James Hannigan, following their highly successful event Game Music Connect 2013 in London. You can read our interview with them before hand here, Game Music Connect: Interview with John Broomhall and James Hannigan, as well as our article on the event here, Game Music Connect 2013 Article, in case you missed anything.
Firstly, thanks for speaking with us again, we thoroughly enjoyed Game Music Connect and feel it was definitely a huge success from our point of view.
Do you feel Game Music Connect 2013 was a success?
John: It’s great to hook up with you again Sam and let me start by saying thank you – we appreciate your support very much. We’re really glad you were able to attend and delighted to hear you enjoyed it. The flood of positive reaction we’ve received from our brilliant audience has been somewhat overwhelming – and it tells us Game Music Connect is a success… We’re very thankful for all the kind comments and general goodwill. Above all, perhaps, we want to express our profound thanks to all of the amazing guest speakers who did such an excellent job – we’re very conscious how busy they are – and some of them travelled across the world to take part.
Have you had much feedback from the speakers?
James: We had a lot of great feedback from them and it really seems like they had a really good time coming to London to talk about their favourite subject, plus being actually able to connect with some of their European audience. It was wonderful that those who could stayed around after the show to chat with delegates. One thing that came across from the speakers, and in fact from everybody, is that the venue was first-rate, both in terms of suitability for such an event, and technical facilities, so our thanks go to the Southbank Centre crew.
Have you had feedback from many attendees?
John: We’ve had a deluge of lovely feedback and this has been really encouraging. It covers all aspects of the day – from Richard Jacques’ showing his original Bond music idea (written on the back of a bank statement envelope on a bus), to Jason Graves’ demonstrations of interactive music techniques – from Stephen Deutch’s compelling, entertaining and thought-provoking opening address, to Paul Lipson on ‘Quad-A’ games and Downton Abbey – Jesper Kyd observing, ‘You can’t give a computer a rough childhood’, through to Marty O’Donnell on writing music with British pop legend, Sir Paul McCartney. Delegates have also given great feedback on the venue – and the lengthy meet and greet session after the show. I think quite a few of the audience enjoyed continuing the discussion with several of the guest speakers over a beer – that’s really connecting!
James: It’s been very, very positive. It seems there’s really an appetite for this kind of gathering and when you stop to reflect, it is pretty amazing to have such a dazzling array of videogame music talent present in one room, talking together.
Will it definitely happen again?
James: Certainly in principle, yes. We conceived Game Music Connect as an event series – to celebrate and explore the art and business of music for games. So yes, we’re planning future events.
With it being the first Game Music Connect, have you learnt a lot to carry forward to following years?
James: Setting something up like this from scratch, involves quite a steep learning curve but we now have an infrastructure in place to carry forward and develop. We learned a lot through that process. Meanwhile, as to the actual event itself, whilst we are extremely grateful for the positive reaction, we’re not complacent and will be looking carefully at how we can improve things further to give future attendees of Game Music Connect an even better experience.
How was it sharing the space with so many great composers and audio professionals?
John: It was like having a great conversation with a bunch of good friends – lots of camaraderie and mutual respect. James has recently been working with Stephen Lord on new Runescape music and I was at Skywalker Sound not long ago with Paul Lipson who supervised the orchestral recording of music I wrote for the upcoming Forza Motorsport 5 release – but it’s not often we all get together in the same room.
James: Composing for games can be a solitary business so it’s really nice for us to hang out together and chat before, during and after the show. It’s interesting – a lot of the after-hours conversation back at the hotel could have slotted right into Game Music Connect!
Has it influenced your professional methods?
John: It’s always great to share professional experiences – however much you think you know, there’s always something new to learn. It’s fantastic that there’s such a spirit of openness and friendship – people are willing to share their knowledge – a very collegiate vibe.
What is your dream of the future for Game Music Connect?
James: Fundamentally, it’s to continue to celebrate the amazing music of games and the extraordinary talent behind it; to inform and educate people who are interested in writing music for games and to entertain fans of game music generally. We want to provide a platform for videogame music talent to be recognized on a wider stage in Europe and we envisage this happening in various formats, both old and new, in the years to come.
The Sound Architect thoroughly enjoys speaking with John and James, we look forward to speaking to them again and hopefully continuing to attend Game Music Connect and watching it flourish! IF you weren’t there, we HIGHLY recommend that you go, especially if you want to learn more about video-game composition and the game music industry.
Interview by Sam Hughes
Uploaded 18/10/13