SoundWorks Collection Interview Series - Composer Jason Graves

This week we spoke with Academy Award-winning (BAFTA) composer Jason Graves who has brought his passion for music to such game titles as THE ORDER: 1886 , EVOLVE, TOMB RAIDER and DEAD SPACE.

We discuss how his diverse musical background as a classically-trained composer, drummer, keyboardist, guitarist and world percussionist allow him to compose many different genres of music.

Jason recently finished work on THE ORDER: 1886 (SONY), EVOLVE (2k GAMES) and we talk about how he manages the long production timelines spanning several years and how both these games incorporate his music into the players experience.

ABOUT JASON GRAVES:

Jason Graves is an Academy Award-winning (BAFTA) composer who has brought his passion for music to projects such as THE ORDER: 1886 (SONY), EVOLVE (2k GAMES), TOMB RAIDER (SQUARE ENIX) and DEAD SPACE (EA). He is particularly enthusiastic about illustrating a project’s story and character arcs through the power of music. His sophisticated composition style has made his work synonymous with unique musical textures and cinematic orchestral writing.

Jason composed an experimental, non-orchestral score for 2k’s highly anticipated co-op shooter EVOLVE, enlisting his myriad of percussion instruments, guitar effects and found sound recordings to produce an atmospheric, edgy score that reflects team choice and gameplay states through music.

SONY called on Jason to score their biggest release of 2015 – THE ORDER: 1886. To musically illustrate Victorian London, Jason spent six days at Abbey Road Studios recording unusual ensembles (low woodwinds and low strings only, no violins or brass). A low men’s chorus, solostring instruments and experimental percussion round out what Sony hails as a “one of the most signature sounds and emotionally gripping scores we’ve heard in a game.”

Crystal Dynamics entrusted Jason with their innovative reboot of the iconic TOMB RAIDER franchise, giving him creative freedom to infuse atmosphere, emotion and authenticity to Lara’s origins story through his score. The end result combines found sounds, authentic percussion and a truly unique custom instrument interwoven with orchestral themes and textures.

Jason was solely responsible for creating an innovative, unique soundtrack for the DEAD SPACE franchise, which has become Electronic Arts’ best-selling original title and called “the scariest game ever made.” Jason’s groundbreaking score has been hailed by critics as a “truly original soundtrack” and “the best score of the year.” It was recognized with a myriad of worldwide nominations and won two BAFTA awards – one for Original Score and one for Use of Audio. For the latter, the Academy stated, “It’s the music soundtrack that boasts horror and tension.”

Jason’s diverse musical background as a classically-trained composer, drummer, keyboardist, guitarist and world percussionist allow him to expertly compose in many different genres of music. As a result, his game credits alone include more than one hundred titles, ranging from electronic and rock to full symphonic scores. He performs world percussion, drums and guitar on many of his own tracks and has conducted and recorded his live orchestral scores at Abbey Road Studios, Air Studios London, Capitol Records, FOX, Paramount Pictures and Skywalker Sound.

Jason also composes for film and television, including the 2015 feature films ADRENALINE and OPERATOR and the 2014 release UNKNOWN CALLER. His music has been licensed for television shows such as AMERICAN IDOL and THE AMAZING RACE.

Recently, Jason recorded an hour of all acoustic music for FAT CHICKEN (RELEVANT GAMES), including dobro, banjo, electric and acoustic guitars, percussion, bass and drums. He also contributed an haunting, atmospheric score for BREECH AND CLEAR: DEADLINE (MIGHTY RABBIT STUDIOS).

In addition to two BAFTA wins, Jason’s music has been honored with two BAFTA nominations for DEAD SPACE 2 and TOMB RAIDER, plus three Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Award (AIAS) nominations, winning “Outstanding Achievement in Audio” for DEAD SPACE. He has received twenty one G.A.N.G. nominations and four wins, including “Audio of the Year” for DEAD SPACE and DEAD SPACE 2, “Best Original Theme” nominations for DEAD SPACE 2, STAR TREK: LEGACY and BLAZING ANGELS 2 and “Music of the Year” nominations for DEAD SPACE and KING ARTHUR.

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