"Images tell the story but the music tells you how to feel": Grant Kirkhope on video game music, Yooka-Replaylee, and more (Exclusive)

Grant Kirkhope wrote the soundtrack for so many gamers in my age group, and while I didn’t get a chance to talk to him in person at GDC, I did have a chance to chat with him over email. He’s worked on so many truly incredible games — Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, GoldenEye 007, Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, and Yooka-Laylee. With the announcement of Yooka-Replaylee on the horizon, I wanted to chat with the master composer about his craft, favorite tracks, and, of course, the iconic GoldenEye pause music.

It was a real pleasure to chat with Grant Kirkhope about musical composition — one of my favorite parts of the whole game dev process. It’s interesting to hear how some of the more emotional, fiery parts of a game’s soundtrack come to life, and Grant Kirkhope is truly one of the best in the business.

---

Grant Kirkhope discusses Yooka-Replaylee, GoldenEye 007 being used in a rap track, and more

Q. First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to sit down and chat with us. You’ve been a composer in the world of video games since the mid-90s, creating some of the most memorable tracks of all time. How does it feel to know that you were the man behind many children’s fondest gaming memories?

Grant Kirkhope: I do get that quite a lot and it’s never lost on me, it’s really very humbling to be a part of anyone’s childhood. I think that between the ages of 5 and 12 (ish) we remember all the theme tunes and lyrics to TV shows, I remember all that stuff from my childhood to this day, like Thunderbirds and Scooby Doo. So kids that played those games back then are stuck with some of my music … haha … I do apologise!

Q. The gaming space has no shortage of amazing music, but it feels like when people talk about composers, RPG greats like Nobuo Uematsu or Yasunori Mitsuda take the lions share of the praise. What is your philosophy when it comes to composing music for games, and how has it helped put genres like platformers on the map musically?

Grant Kirkhope: They are great composers for sure, I’d throw Koji Kondo into that bracket too. I just try to make what I see into sound, I always think that the images tell the story but the music tells you how to feel. If it’s a frozen ice castle, I’m thinking about spiky sounds like using the celeste, glockenspiel, and pizzicato Strings.

If it’s a lush meadow or forest, I’m thinking about woodwinds and strings. I think platformers have a lot of different styles of music in them. There’s usually fun levels and also scary levels so I get to write lots of different kinds of music to match the area the gameplay is in.

Q. On the topic of classics, you also composed for Banjo-Kazooie, a real classic in the world of collect-a-thons. In the Nintendo Power Banjoo-Kazooie Demo tape, there was a track featured that wasn’t in the game that we’re aware of. Was that one of your pieces, and do you recall why it wasn’t included in the game?

Grant Kirkhope: All of the music in that demo is library music and not by me, it used to have me pulling my hair out as they always used music not from the game for the promos!

Q. Some of your most recent work is coming back again when Yooka-Replaylee hits shelves. A fully remastered, remade, and remixed version of the Playtonic platformer, what went into the game from your hands?

Grant Kirkhope: I went back and re-recorded the level music with live orchestra. I went to Prague and did the sessions with the City of Prague Philharmonic, who I’ve worked with a number of times. I’m really looking forward to everyone hearing the music, it turned out really well. There really is no better time for a composer than when real human beings are playing music that you’ve written, it’s just the best!

Q. I’ve always been fascinated to learn more about gaming composition, as a gamer, and someone who dabbled in musical composition in high school. What sort of reference materials or visual aids do you typically get, before putting a track together?

Grant Kirkhope: It really can be a lot or not very much at all, it just depends on what the developer gives you. When I worked with Ubisoft on the Mario + Rabbids games they gave me lots of info about what they wanted me to write. There would be art work and musical references to point me in the right direction.

When I was working on Yooka Laylee they really didn’t give me very much at all, apart from what kind of area the level was going to be, but I have worked with all of those guys for a long time so I think they trusted me to get it … haha!

Q. One of the most frustrating things, when creating — be it writing or musical composition — is being stuck in a rut. When you’re tapped out creatively, what do you do to get your head back in the right space to create?

Grant Kirkhope: Honestly I don’t get that too often. Because I was a staff composer for Rare for 13 years it was a normal 9-5 job. I’d go to work and start writing music at 9:00am and finish at 5:00pm. I’m really grateful for that time at Rare as it got me into a great habit. I think when you have a routine your brain gets used to doing that thing at that time every day.

It’s still the way I work today, I write music at the same time every day, seven days a week. I may not write something that’s great but I do it anyway. I don’t subscribe to the wait for the inspiration thing .…... sit in a darkened room and wait for the hand of the lord to give you a song, just write the next note, the next chord and keep chipping away.

Q. Can fans perhaps expect anything new, in terms of music in Yooka-Replaylee? Perhaps some bonus tracks that didn’t make their way into the first game?

Grant Kirkhope: There are new music tracks for the new Rextro Arcade Levels. As well as that, there are some extra pieces of music that are new to Replayee, but these are small editions that improve the experience rather than full tracks.

Q. You are responsible for arguably the most iconic pause music of all time — except maybe for Battletoads — in Goldeneye: 007 on the Nintendo 64. When that was created, was it intended for another part of the game, or was the intention always to create one of the hardest beats of all time?

Grant Kirkhope: Haha ….. thanks! That is the strangest thing. When I wrote that it really only took me 15 minutes or so, I always thought that no one listened to pause music, they’d pause the game and go to the bathroom or go eat dinner or something.

It’s been amazing that it’s taken on a life of its own! I recently got a call from BabyFace Ray, a prominent Detroit Rapper, asking me if he could use it for one of his tracks, I couldn’t believe it. I had to re-record it for licensing reasons but I got it sounding exactly like the original. I sent it to him and he use it in his track “Count Money” …… The Goldeneye Pause Music lives on!

Q. You've worked with, and learned from, some fantastic individuals in your time composing like David Wise. What lessons that you've learned from them are you carrying with you into your work on Yooka-Laylee?

Grant Kirkhope: There’s always things that I pick up from other composers. I was literally just at a fan convention with Dave a couple of weeks ago in Washington State and we were playing some of our music there. In one of Dave’s tracks I noticed a certain inversion of a chord and thought it was a great way to treat the music at that point in the track.

Plus there’s a never ending source of inspiration from the legend that is John Williams! I think my influences from other composers are all over the Yooka Laylee soundtrack but maybe I’m the only one that knows where they are … haha!

Q. I know it’s hard to pick a favorite track from a game, in many cases. As a musician and composer, you put so much effort into each one. But was there a track in Yooka-Replaylee that perhaps was more difficult to put together than the others?

Grant Kirkhope: I think maybe it was Glitter Glaze Glacier. I had written a piece for the Kickstarter without seeing the level, but Andy Robinson, who was writing the narrative, asked me to have another look at it as the look had changed a little bit. It was less like Freezeezy Peak from Banjo Kazooie and more magical looking.

Q. For those who want to enter the gaming composition space, there’s plenty of competition. For those would-be composers, do you have any advice for someone trying to grow or improve, and get their work out there?

Grant Kirkhope: I always say that being a good composer is only half the battle; the other half is the people that you know. Networking is crucial to getting jobs as a composer. Putting your music up on a website or YouTube isn’t enough. It’s unlikely anyone will ever hear it, as there’s so much noise out there on the internet. You need to get yourself into that space where people are doing the thing that you want to do and connect with them.

Game Jams are great ways to meet other games’ makers. People making their first game will be looking for composers. Going to GDC is another great way to meet games makers, but it’s expensive to go.

---

You can find Grant Kirkhope on Twitter, and you can hear a selection of some of his greatest hits on his Spotify and YouTube, including an album devoted to Donkey Kong 64. His musical talents will be on full display when Yooka-Replaylee launches this year.