Video Game Music
Alongside my work as a Musical Director for West End musicals, I’ve recently been exploring the world of video game music. If you’ve found your way to this page, thank you!
My goal as a composer is to create music that’s melodic and playful yet sophisticated. I love game soundtracks that are economical of gesture but full of character, and above all tell stories.
Some of my favourite games to draw inspiration from are modern indie games with striking and unique art styles such as Hollow Knight, Spiritfarer and Dredge. I also love epics like Mass Effect and Skyrim which weave music into the in-game world through lore, be it through balladeers or Salarians with a love for G&S.
Headshot by YellowBelly (2024)
In 2024, I completed Jason Graves’s Composing Music for Video Games course with Distinction. Some of the portfolio pieces below were developed through that class—huge thanks to Jason and my fellow students for their support, inspiration, and critique!
Image: Sega, Jet Set Radio Future (2002)
What I love about the original Jet Set Radio soundtrack is the simplicity of the vocal samples used to build its hooks. I also love the vibe of using an acoustic bass alongside electronic drums. Guitars are by the amazing Tom Strahle at www.tomstrahle.com.
I wanted this track to capture the character of the landscape, which feels to me like the alternate protagonist / antagonist of Red Dead Redemption. It's beautiful yet inhospitable, it's ancient but timeless. This is a moment of peace before diving in to play.
Image: RockstarGames, Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018)
Image: Team Cherry, Hollow Knight (2017)
The combination of mischief and majesty is my favourite thing about Hollow Knight, so tried to find space for both in this explore cue. I want the woodwinds to evoke the same blurry atmosphere as the beautifully drawn backdrops.
The Pokémon games were my first exposure to 8-bit soundtracks as a kid, and since then I’ve grown to appreciate the predecessors too (Zelda, Final Fantasy) so this cue is my tribute to that nostalgia. The synths in the first half are my own design.
Image: @seerlight (2024)
Gameplay - Read Dead Redemption 2
This video showcases a series of music cues with stingers, rescoring a pivotal passage in the early game of Red Dead Redemption 2. The cues are divided into a title sequence, low-stakes and high-stakes exploration, and interwoven with stingers.