Cry of the Planet Interview: Express Yourself
Just a few weeks ago, GameGrooves released its second charity album, Cry of the Planet, which benefited the Minnesota Freedom Fund. For this article, I caught up with seven musicians from Cry of the Planet to ask about their experiences with the album, video game music, and social injustice.
Does video game music speak to you in a way that other forms of media can't?
Gunderslam: Video game music definitely speaks to me differently than contemporary music. With contemporary music, you have a lyricist or a vocalist giving meaning to a song, but with video game music, the meaning(s) come from the game. Songs from video games reflect their environment, the state in which the game is in, and any storyline importance if that’s relevant. Video game music ultimately reminds me of where I was in a game and my own mood, thoughts, and emotions, depending on the tune.
Xnarky: Yes, it does. I feel like game soundtracks are unique in that they are connected to an interactive medium. For instance, when you watch Star Wars and hear the soundtrack, although it is amazing, you still feel like you’re on the outside looking in. With a game soundtrack, since you’re interacting with the world of the game (essentially living another life through the game) the soundtrack becomes more personal. It’s almost as if it is scoring YOUR life rather than setting the stage for someone else’s experiences.
Yes, there are many great movie soundtracks that come out every year, but how many of them can you confidently say you remember in detail? With games, I can remember countless individual tracks, whereas with a movie soundtrack, I usually listen to it and say “yeah it’s really good”, but it never goes deeper than that, again, because I’m not interacting with it like I am with a game.
Steven Morris: For me personally, video games were something I invested time in when I was younger, so I feel more connected to VGM than most other music.
Saiyapimp: Yes, I feel that video game music as a medium was historically rooted in creating with an incredibly limited palette for a once-niche audience, giving composers both the challenge of conveying moods with a limited toolset and the freedom of conveying such a message without feeling the need to appeal to the lowest common denominators compared to other more mainstream forms of audible media. While the tools and scope have increased over time, that spirit persists through some of the most absolutely beautiful, intense, and memorable video game soundtracks.
Catboss.: The history of video game music has generally been one of working with technical limitations. The beloved NES had (I’m going to get this wrong) five sound channels, and so composers were forced to take what they had and make something beautiful, even spectacular, out of it. I think that spirit—having to deal with the cards that you’re dealt, working within and maybe exploiting your limitations to bring a world to life—that’s what really speaks to me.
How does video game music allow you to express yourself?
FirahFabe: When it comes to instrumental tracks, they can convey my feelings based on the theme whether it is the feeling of music or the context that the track is based on. There are many ways a track can be interpreted when there are no words included. I like the freedom of that because it allows me to express myself with the same track but in different portrayals.
Chernabogue: One of my main goals when covering VGM is to stay as original as possible, but to add a little personal touch as well. This way, I can tell some stories my way.
Gunderslam: Video game music allows me to bridge the gap between the original sound (and function of the track) and the heavy metal universe. It’s fun and exciting to be able to take a track that was made on synthesizer and make it analog and heavy or take an orchestral piece and add blast beats and trem picking to create an even more intense version. I really enjoy opening that mystery box of “I wonder what this would sound like metal”. Even when the song is already a metal song, I still love being able to replicate it and test my recording and mixing abilities to pay homage to the original.
Xnarky: Oh, that's easy! I find video game music to be really malleable and open to interpretation. I’ve always told myself I have very few original ideas, but I have a lot of interpretive ones. I'm not sure what exactly makes video game music this way, but every time I hear a track I like I always have at least 2 or 3 ideas of different styles I think it would sound cool as. I think that is really what I find really fun about making video game covers. I like to reinterpret classic songs and view them in a light that myself or others haven’t seen them in yet.
Steven Morris: VGM allows me to take a tune I am familiar with and explore it via an arrangement or see what I can add or subtract by using different sounds.
Saiyapimp: I tend to associate more video game songs with specific memories and feelings throughout my life than I have with movie or other licensed music. As such, I’ve found that video game music tends to influence how I approach composing.
Catboss.: Video game music is inextricably linked with its context (i.e., video games), and video games are the rare medium that actually require you to work, or to do something, and interact with the world in order to experience it. It’s a strange sort of work, but the end result is that the experience that you have—whether it’s creating a place of refuge or weaving a tale of triumph—is yours and yours alone. Everyone will engage with a game in different ways. Tthe developers simply provide the building blocks for you to do so. Sure, some will argue that this is merely the illusion of choice, but to be frank, so’s everything else.
If you could describe your current emotional state in one word, what would it be?
Catboss.: Exhausted. Just really, really tired with all the injustice in the world. It’s not just the police brutality in the States, although that is the focus of this album. It’s the rollback of LGBTQ+ rights in Poland, the conflict between Israel and Palestine, the crisis in Yemen, the terror bill in the Philippines…it’s all so tiring. That doesn’t even count places and people who don’t have the right to speak at all. And there’s not much I can do from a small island country besides, I suppose, do things like this and try to give money where I can. But it never feels like enough. (To be clear: in the face of everything going on, being simply tired, instead of being actively under oppression, is a privilege.)
Sometimes I just want to lie down and stop existing, but I guess there’s nothing much to do then to get up and keep trying.
FirahFabe: Frustration.
Chernabogue: Optimistic (for change, of course).
Gunderslam: My current mood is angry but hopeful and optimistic that a bright future is ahead of us to crush injustices around the world. I’m doing what I can between donating and demonstrating and learning so everybody can have a better tomorrow.
Steven Morris: [not really something that I can describe in a word, especially since it’s often in flux]
Saiyapimp: Ready.
Xnarky: I’ve gone through a ton of different emotions in the past few weeks as I’m sure many others have. However, if I were to pick one I’d say I’m just sad. I’m sad that the world feels more fractured than ever because not only has the pandemic made things we took for granted before like traveling and seeing friends more out of reach, but I feel like people are more divided now than ever. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad people are standing up to the systematic racism that has plagued our society for far too long, and I’m so happy that I can see it working and bringing about change, but seeing as how John Lennon is one of my heroes, I can’t help but feel the same sadness he felt and the same longing for a world where being kind and loving to one another regardless of race, gender, sexuality, or any background is the norm. Although, I guess it's our responsibility to bring about such a world, isn’t it? Hopefully these steps, although saddening, are the first steps towards that world.