Level With Emily Reese

Peter McConnell is such a master of cinematic music. He recently scored Psychonauts 2, a game released by Double Fine Productions. At the time I interviewed Peter, I had only gotten a few hours into the game and the soundtrack wasn’t out yet, so I hadn’t even heard all of the music. I finished the game, and now that I’ve heard all of the music in Psychonauts 2, I can tell you that it’s so fantastic. I wish I could put it all in this episode. And the game is great too. The game is a breath of fresh air in its treatment of dark issues in a light way. Please consider supporting Level with Emily on Patreon!    

Joel Corelitz composed more than 70 tracks for the game Eastward, scheduled for release later in 2021. The music, like the game, pays tribute to the 8-bit and 16-bit era of games, with Joel's musical voice and a modern twist at times. It's colorful, nostalgic, creative and enjoyable. Here's a link to the soundtrack! You can support Level with Emily on Patreon.

This is music by Sergio Ronchetti for Eldest Souls, a boss rush souls-like game with beautiful pixel art and a fun battle style. So you’ll die a lot!! But the music is great incentive to keep slashing away at oversized, overpowered bosses. Please consider supporting us on Patreon!

We love getting caught up with Jason Graves to hear what he's composed lately! He's been working on The Dark Pictures Anthology, composing for the first chapter, "Man of Medan" and now for "Little Hope." It was fun to speak with him about the stark differences in those 2 soundtracks, and how he created the spooky soundtrack for "Little Hope." Support Level with Emily and see a playlist on Patreon!

Composer Kenny Young talks about his music for Astro's Playroom, which comes on all PlayStation 5 consoles. It's a sequel to Astro Bot Rescue Mission, which was for PlayStation VR. Learn more and support Level with Emily on Patreon.

Oleksa Lozowchuk composed music for Horizon Forbidden West. The game isn’t out yet, nor is the soundtrack, but Sony Classical - the label for the soundtrack - released a 4-track EP of music from Forbidden West, including one of Oleksa’s tracks, “Eyes Open.” So Oleksa and I had a chance to talk about that. But also, Sony released a State of Play video with about 20 minutes of gameplay, including a battle with a machine animal called a tremortusk. Oleksa wrote the music for that battle, and we chat about that track too. Support Level with Emily on Patreon.

The Soundlings, a composition duo of Sonny Rey and Matt Naylor, just did the music for Knockout City, which is, at its essence, multiplayer dodgeball, just out at the end of May. The music is energetic and colorful, with a lot of great live musicians and the three of us had a great time talking about their music! You can support Level with Emily on Patreon.

League of Legends is an institution! And there are so many avenues within the League universe for music and fun. I spoke with Kole Hicks, Brendon Williams and Jason Walsh, all of whom write music for League or one of its many offshoots. It was a pleasure to speak with them! Find a playlist and support Level with Emily on Patreon.

I stumbled across Kyle Athayde and his band in a unique way. I first discovered Kyle as a jazz vibraphonist while listening to one of my current favorite jazz pianists, a guy named Sullivan Fortner. Sullivan’s newest album is a duo album with Kyle on vibes (called Tea For Two). I hadn’t heard of Kyle, so I went to YouTube and typed in Kyle Athayde. His band, the Kyle Athayde Dance Party,  came up with a bunch of video game covers, and there were also links to videos of his days as a professional Smash Bros player. So I immediately emailed him and scheduled an interview. It was great fun talking with Kyle about games and jazz! You can support Level with Emily on Patreon.

Tom Salta is a composer I’ve interviewed many times for Level about his music for the Halo series, our first interview was for a game called From Dust, we’ve talked about PUBG before, and we’ve been together on panels and such. Rather than talk about his music today, we’ll talk about a series of classes he has online about writing music for games. You can see a playlist and support Level on Patreon.

Enjoy a deep dive into music from No Way Home by composer Brad Gentle. I loved the variety in the music and I was drawn to the ambient tracks where Brad used recordings of planets from NASA. No Way Home is a space shooter on Apple Arcade by SMG Studio out of Australia. Support Level with Emily on Patreon.

This episode features a chat with Jack Wall about his music for Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War. The score features live orchestra and live choir, which posed quite a challenge during the pandemic, but you wouldn’t know it because it all sounds great. The score is a bit of a family affair for Jack, with lyrics written by his wife, Cindy Shapiro, and vocals by their daughter, Gracie. Jack also wrote lyrics for the soundtrack. It is always a pleasure to have Jack on Level and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the music he wrote for Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War.

Gordy Haab's music in the Star Wars gaming universe is fantastic. His new addition is Star Wars: Squadrons, a space combat game that fulfills most Star Wars fans' dream of flying X-wings and TIE Fighters. The music is so great. Enjoy! Support Level with Emily Reese on Patreon.

Composers Mikolai Stroinski (The Witcher 3) and Garry Schyman (BioShock series, Torn) teamed up to write music for Metamorphosis, a 3D platformer based on Franz Kafka's 1915 novella. Find a playlist and support Level with Emily on Patreon.

Pianist Rob Kovacs talks about his amazing and difficult arrangements of 8-bit music for piano! See a playlist and support Level with Emily on Patreon.

Nicole Zalles is in her final year of medical school, she's a gamer, and she's a patron of Level. I talk with her about some of her favorite game music. See a playlist and support Level with Emily on Patreon.

Here are two tracks from Inon Zur's upcoming score to Syberia: The World Before. The music is performed by the Budapest Film Orchestra and I can't wait to hear the rest of the soundtrack! You can support Level with Emily on Patreon.

Signs of the Sojourner is a narrative deck-building card game about communication. This is easily one of my favorite soundtracks of 2020 and one I know I’ll return to for years to come. It was a suuuuuuuch a pleasure to talk with Steve about his music!! You can support Level with Emily Reese on Patreon.

Tim Wright -- aka CoLD SToRAGE -- composed music for the game Pacer, which is an anti-gravity racing game with elements of combat. It’s a spiritual successor to the Wipeout series which started in the mid-90s, and Tim wrote the music for 3 of the Wipeout games. It was a pleasure to speak with Tim! He has an extensive catalog available on Bandcamp that includes his Wipeout music, be sure to check it out. You can support Level with Emily on Patreon.

Hear composer Jesse Harlin talk about his music for Mafia: Definitive Edition. The game is a remake of the first Mafia game, which came out in 2002, but with completely new music written by Jesse. We’ve had Jesse on the show twice before; once was for Yoku’s Island Express in 2018 and in 2016, Jesse was on Level to talk about his work on Mafia 3. That was mostly a blues score, but the score for Mafia: Definitive Edition is entirely orchestral. Support Level with Emily Reese and see a playlist on Patreon.