Dear ---- ,
I know I already said it, but thank you for signing up for this newsletter! The last couple weeks since the release of Journey have been far beyond any of my wildest expectations. The reactions both to the game and my music have left me completely stunned. My most heartfelt thanks to all of you for playing it, commenting here, Facebook, Twitter, etc. It's been overwhelming in the best way.
So, first off, a little business. The free, bonus JOURNEY MUSIC BUNDLE is coming!! I will send out another (far less wordy) newsletter on Wednesday (March 28th) which will contain the download link. I am very excited about this! None of the music will ever be for sale and none of it is in the actual game itself. It was all done especially to send to you all, as my thank you for signing up. In other words, this is not the Journey soundtrack but more like a tangent to it.
Meanwhile, many of you have been generous with your time in asking me questions from the signup page. My HUGE apologies if I don't answer yours individually. I am still working through them and so if you check back periodically there will be more answers on there. But here are my answers to the ones that were asked the most often:
1) Will the Journey soundtrack be for sale (and in what format)?
Yes, yes and yes! The Journey soundtrack will definitely be for sale! I am not permitted quite yet to announce the details but they'll be forthcoming very, very soon! The most up-to-date information will get posted to my Twitter and Facebook pages (linked below) and I'll probably follow that up with another of these newsletters. Also, after over 5 years of waiting, the flOw soundtrack is coming soon too!! I prepared the album last year, and created a special bonus track for it with Tina Guo, my wonderful cellist on Journey. You can hear a taste of it here.
2) What was the process of collaborating with thatgamecompany?
Working on the music for this game was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had, and part of why that is because of how long I was able to work on it. TGC's previous game, Flower, came out in early 2009 and virtually the moment it came out they started work on Journey. I was hired at that point, before the game existed in any form. It was merely a concept. I started by writing this piece, on the first day, based on a conversation with Jenova Chen about what the spirit and tone of the game would be.
Shortly after that Sony gave me a PS3 test kit, which would let me run builds of the game as they were being generated each night. Then, for the next 3 years I worked very, very closely with both thatgamecompany and Sony to create the music and test it out in-game. My routine became to download the build first thing in the morning, identify an area that needed music (or current music that needed revising), and compose a sketch of the new track. I'd then send this to Jenova with detailed instructions on how to implement it, which he would do usually that same day. Then, that night the build would get made and the following morning I could play the game with my new music in there and test it. 99% of the time I immediately didn't like it and would scrap it and try again. Again and again and again!
In other words, I never had to rely on concept art, or video captures or any of that sort of thing. I didn't even have to drive to thatgamecompany or Sony's offices in order to test the game. I could do it all myself, any time I wanted. And in hindsight, I can't imagine how I would've done it without that.
I've done a fair number of press interviews lately, many of which get into even more detail on this subject. Feel free to check out my Press page if you're interested!
3) What are some of your inspirations?
This questions has been asked a bunch of different ways, but the answer is pretty simple. I am a great believer in Thomas Edison's famous quote that genius is "one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration." In my case, specifically with regard to Journey, the inspiration comes squarely from thatgamecompany. They are true geniuses and visionaries. They also happen to be really wonderful people and I consider myself lucky-beyond-words to call them my friends. To be able to collaborate with them goes even beyond that. So they are the inspiration. The rest is simply a matter of working really hard to try and make it better, all the time. I wish I had some romantic story of sitting on a mountain top or in an open desert and being struck by the muses, but honestly it really does just come down to elbow grease.
As for inspirations in the biggest sense, I have many. I come from a primarily classical background, so composers of that vein have had the biggest impact on me. Bela Bartok is probably my all-time favorite, and from the world of Hollywood Jerry Goldsmith is my ultimate hero. I would also put Leonard Bernstein and Gyogy Ligeti at the top of the list. Beyond those four, there are too many to name.
4) What are you working on next?
In terms of games, my next major release will be Pocket Watch Games' Monaco. You can hear a taste of my score here. I've been working on this game a while already and so for a while it was overlapping with Journey. But, as you can hear, the musical styles are very nearly the opposite of each other! Monaco is entirely solo piano, in a Ragtime / silent era style. Crazy fun!
Other than that I have a few game projects I can't quite talk about yet but will definitely be sending links and such about soon. I also have a few new films, including one I'm very excited about called Strangely in Love, directed by my old friend Amin Matalqa. Most of you probably haven't seen our first film, which was called Captain Abu Raed. You can see a scene of it here. And here is a cool Behind The Scenes look at our recording sessions. This film is very, very good and well worth seeking out on Netflix or Amazon. It was the world's first Jordanian feature film and it won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008. It was one of the most cherished professional experiences I've ever had, and so I am immensely excited to be working again with Amin on this new film.
My other major project is a new work for the Boulder Symphony, as a follow-up to our first collaboration called 'Gray Rain.' The new piece is called 'Inter' and it will be premiered May 18th and 19th.
Ok that's enough for now! Somewhere in the world, right as you opened this email someone started playing Journey and now as you finish reading it, they're probably watching the end credits! I promise to keep the next email a LOT shorter!
All the best,
Austin Wintory
