MUSIC
Heart strings
Academy Award winner Gustavo Santaolalla on composing the score for The Last Of Us
At 72, Argentinian musician A Gustavo Santaolalla can look across a remarkably varied career, from forming his first band at the age of 17 to producing alternative Latin music, then coming to prominence with his work in film, winning the Academy Award for Best Original Score with both 2005’s Brokeback Mountain and 2006’s Babel. To many, though, he is better known for his score for The Last Of Us, its sequel, and the HBO TV adaptation. Here, during a trip to the UK to perform the series’ music in concert, he tells us how he approaches his work.
What was your experience with videogames prior to The Last Of Us?
I’m a terrible gamer, but I’ve always enjoyed watching people play. I love watching the guys in my band, Bajofondo, playing FIFA like I’m watching a football match, and I have a son who was in his mid-teens when I started working on The Last Of Us, and he was a really good player. I always saw the killing, the fighting, and the surviving in games, but no really soulful connection. So I always thought, if somebody connects on an emotional level with a gamer, it’s going to be a revolution.