Harnessing sounds wrangled from a bespoke, hand-crafted sculpture, alongside a legendary synth and a deft mastery of software-shaping tools, composer Jason Graves further justifies his position of the world’s most in-demand score providers with his latest project – the oil rig-set horror Still Wakes the Deep…

Photo: © Xxxxxxxxxxx

As one of the industry’s most sought-after composers, Jason Graves’ music has won plaudits across the twin worlds of gaming and music production. A quick glance at his impressive body of work soon reveals just why that is. From the hailed score for 2013’s Tomb Raider remake, to the sublime BAFTAwinning musical universe of the beloved (and utterly terrifying!) Dead Space trilogy, and the action-packed intensity of his recent Call of Duty franchise contributions, Graves is rightly one of game music’s most respected figures. Beyond gaming, you might have heard Jason’s music for Predator prequel Prey, while his idiosyncratic approach to composition has made his creative workflow an interesting point of conversation for many a music production magazine over the years.

On that front, and ahead of the release of the incredible-looking (and sounding) Still Wakes the Deep – a new narrative-driven horror experience from the Brighton-based developer, The Chinese Room – we caught up with Jason and started by asking why the North Carolinabased composer, who has scored some of the gaming world’s biggest titles, decided to take on this most British of projects, set on an oil rig off the coast of Scotland?

“The Chinese Room has been on my radar ever since their first horror title came out,” Jason explains. “I love the narrative style of The Chinese Room’s games. How unique and specifically ‘Chinese Room’ their games are. I’ve been doing interviews for 15 years, and there’s always the inevitable ‘if there’s a developer you could work with?’ question. The two I always mention are Naughty Dog and The Chinese Room. I love the narrative arc of their games. They’re not just a ‘shooter’ or ‘platformer’ – there’s real characters and development.”

After receiving an email from The Chinese Room’s Audio Director, Daan Hendriks, asking if Jason was interested in the project, Graves sent back an enthusiastic ‘yes’. “I didn’t even care what the game was, I just said ‘Count me in’. It just sort of steamrolled from there.”

The gig on the rig

Jason tells us that the company gave him a general idea of the game: “They’ve done more in the way of open-ended kinds of games. I was kind of hoping I’d be able to lean more towards the kind of music that previous composer Jessica [Curry] had made in the past. Then as Daan explained it to me, I realised that beyond the horror, it’s really about a man trying to get home to his estranged family – that’s the narrative thread. It just happens to be set on an oil rig with monsters.”