Tag: Lyndon Holland

Interview with Lyndon Holland

One of my favourite soundtracks, and a recent obsession of mine, has been the soundtrack to the game Virginia by Lyndon Holland. His soundtrack has had such a great affect on me, and no doubt many others.

Lyndon recently agreed to answer some questions of mine so that we can get more of an understanding of the man behind the music.

The Interview

Please tell us about yourself in as many or as little words as you like.
I’m a pretty normal guy with geeky interests and a strange job, working out of my bedroom in West London.
Growing up, who were your heroes in music?
John Williams, Danny Elfman, Alan Silvestri, Jerry Goldsmith, Nobuo Uematsu
Growing up, who were your heroes outside of music?
Not sure I really had many ‘heroes’ to be honest, but I remember Spielberg movies having a huge affect on me.
What was the first album you remember buying?
Ha, I distinctively remember it being Metallica – …And Justice for All
Was there any defining moment in your life when you knew that you wanted to write music?
I remember being in love with the music to Final Fantasy VIII as a 13 year old. As a result, I started playing around with midi in a basic software package called Noteworthy composer.
Who is your biggest influence in how you approach what you do today?
The way I think about music in relation to narrative developed a lot whilst I attended The National Film and Television School. I couldn’t choose a single individual, but the process of working with like minded people in such a heightened and condensed way for 2 years was as influential as anything else.
What is the proudest moment of your career so far?
Probably all the positive the feedback I have received from people after playing Virginia.
What is your favourite Book?
To Kill a Mockingbird
What is your favourite Album?
Tough one. In terms of music that I keep coming back to, I suppose it could be something like The Beatles – Abbey Road. But ask me another day and it would probably be something different.
What is your favourite Film?
Again, very difficult. I could pick something obscure and meaningful, but instead I will choose something I have watched a million times and never fails to work it’s magic; E.T.
What is your favourite TV Show?
Something like Breaking Bad or House of Cards probably deserves this, but for all it’s faults, I still have a huge place in my heart for Lost.
Do you have a favourite film/tv/game/musical soundtrack?
For the way it works with the picture, I love stuff like Howard Shore’s score to Crash or Jonny Greenwood’s score to There will be blood. But then for listening purposes outside of the film, I dunno, I love The Lion King, and the recent arrangements of Final Fantasy VII in the Final Symphony album.
Are there any new albums you are binge listening to at the moment?
For no real reason in particular, I’ve been listening to The Nightmare Before Christmas a lot recently, ha.
You’re walking somewhere and your mp3 player has only a little battery left; You’ve only got time for one more song. What song do you play?
Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb
What advice would you give to your younger self?
I’d tell younger self to concentrate on understanding form and structure before attempting any complex orchestration.
If you could ask any person – living or passed – any question, who would it be and what would you ask them?
I’m definitely throwing this question away, but I’d ask Stanley Kubrick if Eyes Wide Shut was his final cut
Do you have any exciting new projects you are working on that you can tell us about?
There are some things in the pipeline, but it’s too early to say anything at this time!
Could you tell us a joke?
“I’ve decided to sell my Hoover… well, it was just collecting dust.”

A big thank you to Lyndon

Thank you, Lyndon for taking the time to answer these questions.

If any of you need convincing to listen to his awesome music, then please do read my write up of the Virginia soundtrack. Or just go and buy it right now.

Virginia Soundtrack by Lyndon Holland

In Virginia the soundtrack is a first-class citizen. It’s not simply just a well-written collection of pieces made for each scene, but additionally is a living, breathing creature itself. It weaves its way through you when listening, conjuring images either from the rural Virginia of the game’s setting, or any other place you care to find your mind wandering through.

Even playing the demo, the title screen alone has such a beautiful score that I was instantly hooked.

Virginia – A brief description of the game

Just to give you some context, the game has absolutely no talking in it whatsoever. You progress the story by investigating the current area, essentially playing through an interactive film. All conversations between characters are handled by well designed scenes; expertly-timed reactions and shows of emotions; and the score which seamlessly takes you by the hand.

The story is about an investigation into a boy’s disappearance, which soon leads to a bigger conspiracy overall. The two protagonists find themselves in a town very similar to Twin Peaks. In fact the aesthetic that the developers went for was Twin Peaks / X-Files / Outer Limits. And they nailed it with both setting and characters. The soundtrack for me however, is the real main character in Virginia.

Also worth mentioning is that this was recorded live by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. It was recorded in the same location as both the ‘Lost Highway’ and ‘Mulholland Drive’ film soundtracks were. ‘Lost Highway’ and ‘Mulholland Drive’, in case you didn’t know, where both made by David Lynch, as was Twin Peaks.

Soundtrack as a character

Like any great character, the soundtrack to Virginia is consistent whilst remaining varied enough to stay interesting throughout. Even though the soundtrack blends seamlessly together, much of it is still distinctive enough to be able to pinpoint the scene of the game I remember it from.

A number of key pieces stand out for me as being particularly memorable. The first piece I remember loving, I actually heard from the demo I played before. This is called “In Dreams” and, as the title suggests, accompanies a dream sequence had by our heroine. It ends in a unique, abrupt way that brings back the feelings of its creepy scene instantly.

“Little Thugs” is different in that it’s probably the most frantic sounding, which fits its scene very well. It’s also one of the few pieces to be diegetic, meaning it is music whose source is actually shown in the film (in this case from a portable stereo owned by some thugs).

One other stand out piece, also seen within the game, is called “Sojourner’s Truth”. I truly don’t know how to emphasise the power of this song within the scene, and indeed in its own right. This piece of music is absolutely dripping with that ‘Twin Peaks Vibe’. If you hadn’t seen Twin Peaks for a few years you could be forgiven for thinking that this is from it. But please don’t think that it’s a poor-person’s Twin Peaks. This song, and indeed the whole soundtrack, comes from a place of huge admiration and respect for those influences, and stands high as the best homage to the previously-mentioned shows I have ever seen or heard.

Debriefing

In short, the soundtrack to Virginia is one of the best I’ve ever heard – and I mean out of all soundtracks; not just games. I have included my favourite scene from the game below, with “Sojourner’s Truth”, but I highly recommend actually playing the game through yourself to experience the whole package first-hand. It’s a short game, clocking in at about and hour and a half for me, but it is one of the best games I’ve ever played.