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I
have always been interested in two things: computer games
and music. Having dabbled with basic programming as a kid
I was fairly certain it was not the thing for me. I have always
been a huge fan of electronic music and spent the bulk of
my youth listening to Electro, Kraftwerk and seminal British
acts like John Foxx. Unlike most people who were frustrated
by the lack of detail in computer games, I was inspired by
it.
I never really considered music as a possible career path
until the influx of House music from Chicago began making
its way into the UK in the late 80s. I went out and bought
these obscure records spurred by my amazement at the originality
and complexity of the sounds, which I later found to be produced
by machines like the TB303 and Juno 106 (both of which I am
proud to say, I now own in my analog keyboard collection).
It was around this time that I started writing my own music
at home. But it wasn't until I met my partner in music, Jonathon
Donaghy, that I found the perfect collaborator and what was
missing in my music.
With
Jonathon already having strong music industry connections,
we immediately started to record our tracks in the studio.
With the single ambition of aiming to hear our record in the
Hacienda (a local nightclub that helped shape the modern international
dance scene), we pressed our own records and distributed them
ourselves on a "white label", the name given to the type of
record that has no printed label or cover to minimize cost
(hence the name), something that was quite rare back then
in early 1990s.
Within a matter of weeks our dream came true; not only was
the Hacienda playing our record frequently, but also their
DJ, Mike Pickering, was trying to sign us to Deconstruction
Records, which had a very strong reputation for taking underground
records and putting them into the mainstream charts.
As
other labels got wind of the track, we found ourselves in
the middle of a virtual bidding war amongst the major record
companies. Mixmag the dance music magazine spread across
its front page "Together: signed at last! Or are they?" We
had to make the right choice for our careers to progress in
the direction we wanted and this wasn't about money but credibility.
Pete
Tong, now famous in the UK for his Radio 1 Essential Selection
show contacted us, claiming he knew of us before he heard
the record and wanted to sign us. His label FFRR was part
of Polygram and, therefore, had more muscle in the industry.
After weeks of protracted negotiations, FFRR won the bidding
and our single Hardcore Uproar was rushed into shops
where it ended up number 12 on the UK singles chart for eight
weeks despite no support from Radio 1, which is rather ironic
today as Pete Tong is now one of their main guys. It was the
2nd biggest dance record of the year and because of its lack
of availability just prior to its release it became the most
sought after dance record of the year. The original white
labels still change hands for silly figures.
There
were many more Together records and some rather minimal techno
tracks under the name of "The Ultimate Escape Project",
among other guises. I became involved in many live performances
and remixes, one of which was for a computer game called Inferno
on which I collaborated with Goth band, Alien Sex Fiend. Although,
strictly speaking, this was my first game project, it was
more music industry than game industry as I had no exposure
other than simply handing over the master track recordings
of Alien Sex Fiend's work.
Wanting
to further my knowledge in music and studio technology, I
joined a college called the School of Excellence. After completing
the course there I was offered a position teaching studio
technology. Always looking for new and interesting experiences,
I took the position while still managing to record dance records.
As
my career progressed I had almost forgotten my videogame roots
until the Art Director of Software Creations, Ste Pickford,
contacted me. We had met at the Hacienda and were good friends.
He wanted to speak to me about the possibility of scoring
the soundtrack to a game was working on called Venom Spirit.
It involved mapping rendered graphics onto sprites years before
the release of Rare's Donkey Kong Country on the Super
Nintendo.
After
meeting Ste's brother John Pickford, the creative director
the company, they explained that they felt the electronic
nature of my writing style fit perfect with their vision.
They showed me some of the ideas they'd put together for the
main character and as they explained the idea to me, I realized
that I absolutely had to take this opportunity.
I
was expected to learn how to program the sounds and sequences
using a language similar to Z80/assembly language. Although
the package called Creations Music Driver was very flexible,
it was a rather daunting experience that required months of
training. Eventually I finished the project, and after some
time passed, I began my first solo project called Spiderman
and Venom: Separation Anxiety, which, lucky for me, was
a dance project.
Incidentally,
Ste and John Pickford left Software Creations not very long
after I joined to set up the hugely successful development
studio Zed Two. Although I was working fulltime for Software
Creations, I was lucky enough to work with them again on their
first game Wetrix.
In
the eight solid years of work I did for Creations I worked
on no less than 21 titles. I am now specializing in sound
design at Warthog where I have been given the opportunity
to give games a new kind of realism. Coincidentally, Warthog
recently acquired Zed Two, so there may be new work for me
in the cards someday with my old friends.
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