Rare Gamer Interviews Rare Musician, Graeme Norgate
If you’re a fan of Rare‘s classic tunes found in GoldenEye: 007, Blast Corps., Donkey Kong Land, Killer Instinct or even of Free Radicals‘ TimeSplitters series, you have Graeme Norgate to thank for composing some of the most memorable (and industrial) beats to ever come out of Twycross and beyond!
In a noisy pub in Ultimate: Play the Games birthplace, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, our staff writer, Eddy, was fortunate enough to get a chance to speak with Graeme Norgate about his work as a musician through the years, getting an inside look at his inspiration, creative process along with his favorite boffo tracks! The entire interview can be found below, with audio transcription just underneath — time to get moving!
RareGamer: Do you have a personal favourite game that you’ve composed for, and if so, what made arranging the music for it so special?
Graeme: Um. So. [pauses] I guess it’s Timesplitters or the Timesplitters series. Timesplitters 1 was probably my favourite I’ve composed for because I felt like I had something to prove because it was a new company when we set up Free Radical, and we were like, ‘We better not muck this one up!’
[Both Laugh]
Graeme: … So there was a lot riding on it… listening back now that the years have gone I wouldn’t say it was my favourite, but it was the one that I had the most good feelings doing.
‘Cos if I listen back to it now I’d probably say, ‘Aw, Timesplitters 2 was better’ and Timesplitters 3, I enjoyed doing that – even though I didn’t… no, I didn’t enjoy doing that.
[Both Laugh]
Graeme: I enjoyed the music I wrote, but at the time when I was doing TS2 [TimeSplitters 2], I thought I was done. [It was like,] ‘These songs are rubbish, what’s going on?!’ but that’s just the way things happen at times so.. from an experience, I really enjoyed doing Timesplitters 1.
RareGamer: Timesplitters 1 is the soundtrack I always listen to.
[Both Laugh]
Graeme: Right.
RareGamer: Since the days of chiptunes, a lot has changed in the way the music is developed for video games – what do you feel has been the biggest shift?
Graeme: Oh blimey… I suppose, to my mind the biggest change is there’s no limitations anymore; with chiptunes you were constricted by memory – very much so – and also, depending on the hardware you were working with you had channel restrictions. The classic is the ‘Spectrum 1’ to start with and then going up to… I think, three when the ‘Spectrum Plus’ came out, and Commodore 64 obviously three, maybe four if you could squeeze a sample into it. Etcetera, etcetera, you know where I’m going.
You had to find tricks to try and get the best out of what you had, which was very limited. Now with there being hardly any limitations, you have to almost create your own – otherwise you’ll go crazy.
[Both Laugh]
Graeme: Because you can have everything, so you to have almost a set of rules! Well, that’s how I go about it: Create a sound palette that you’re going to go back to for a game, so it has a sound. You know has its own sort of signature, otherwise it’s too easy just to go off in all kinds of directions.
RareGamer: Yeah, How much did the Super Nintendo have for total memory, something like a kilobyte maybe?
Graeme: Yeah it was about 40Kb and eight sound channels, so yes, not very much at all.
RareGamer: If you could go back and recompose any score you’ve worked on, which one would it be?
Graeme: Any score… with modern day technology or…
RareGamer: Of course, yeah.
Graeme: Of course [Laughs] Blast Corps. because I had that idea… crickey, probably about five or six years ago to do that, but time is not permitting these days so I think I’ve done about five tracks in total.
But I was so restricted with what I had to play with back in those days that it wasn’t how I wanted it to be. So if I had the time… I’ve got the inclination…
[Both Laugh]
Graeme: But if I had the time, that’s what I’d love to do; recompose all that with modern technology.
RareGamer: Okay, which is your favourite track from Blast Corps.?
Graeme: Blimey.. it’s really cheesy but I do like Simian Acres because of the…
RareGamer: The Banjo?
Graeme: The Banjo! Yes, that is what I would call the breakthrough of that project because the game suddenly was coming together, whereas before I was writing music on spec. I.e., you know, ‘You think it’s going to be this,’ ‘You think it’s going to be that,’ so I was writing tunes and not seeing the game – so I didn’t really know what it was going to be like. And that one just writing like a few bars and putting it into the N64 and playing the game with it. And I know Robin [Beanland] came in and he said, ‘That’s my favourite track of yours!’ [Laughs] so [I thought], ‘Right, I’d better carry on with it then’. That was good fun!
RareGamer: And a great track. Which bands or artists inspired you, or [influenced] your mind process?
Graeme: Back in the day.. I don’t know if it shows through, but I loved Orbital…
Rare Gamer: Oh, Yes!
Graeme: …And it was something about them that used to make me want to write music, which I don’t know if I inadvertently copied them [Laughs] I mean I’ve obviously done that for many, many things in the past. I mean, I love Industrial music and Goth music and stuff and obviously tipped my hat to that kind of stuff wherever I could… much to Rare’s annoyance…
[Both Laugh]
Graeme: I remember once, it was before Grant [Kirkhope] took over Donkey Kong 64, I think I was going to do it for some reason, and I remember Simon Farmer at the time said, ‘We can’t have any of your Depeche Mode beats in it, Graeme!’
[Both Laugh]
Graeme: So it’s a very funny thing to say. [Pauses] I’m trying to think who else, it varies based on who I used to listen to at the time, and Orbital is quite an old reference, but…
RareGamer: I really liked their Doctor Who remix, that was an excellent track.
Graeme: Yeah, there’s something very atmospheric about it, even though it’s instrumental and electronic.
RareGamer: Can you describe your process for writing music? Has it had much change since you began?
Graeme: I wish I could, because if I knew what it was I could sit down everyday and write music!
[Both Laugh]
Graeme: I don’t have a process. It’s a case of either staring at a screen long enough until something happens, which is usually at 4:30 at night, having spent all day avoiding doing anything. [I’ll] have little fits and starts where I get to write stuff, and that would usually be first thing in the morning before anyone’s got hold of me or bothering me about stuff, or last thing at night when everyone’s buggered off home. [Laughs]
No, it’s.. I wish I knew. I mean, a lot of ideas I get when I’m not writing music as opposed to if I sat down to write it… nothing. If I’m doing something else like Hoovering, or walking or…
RareGamer: Suddenly struck by lightning?
Graeme: Yeah! [Laughs] and suddenly I’ll have an idea and think, ‘Yes, Yes! Yeah, that’ll do!’ I’ll write it down quickly and then go back to the office the next day and work on that.
RareGamer: That’s a good way to do it, that’s how I used to do it when I was a traveling musician. King K. Rools theme in Donkey Kong Land [reappeared] in Simian Acres in Blast Corps., are there any tunes that you’ve made in previous games that never came to light but finally got a chance to appear in other titles?
Graeme: Oh, right – so is that the one that was in Donkey Kong Land? Right. Okay. Hang on, let me backtrack… so…
[Both laugh]
Graeme: Yeah – that’s a good question, I’ll need to ask Robin [Beanland] about that, because I think they removed it when they did the Rare Replay. I think they had to take that tune out because it was in DK Land.
I think Robin knows; when I asked him he said he’d find out what happened.
So [pauses] before I answer the question, I’m going to have to ask him about it again. I did that through laziness. [laughs] I can’t remember why I did it either, because I wrote DK Land first and then for whatever reason — I think what it was… sorry I’m just rambling now, it’s like Grandpa Simpson. [laughs]
Blast Corps. went through a period where the Stampers didn’t like it, they didn’t think it was ‘cute enough’… It was always Chris Stamper’s idea – his idea was to do Blast Corps. years and years before we did it. I don’t think it was [turning into] what he wanted. So we went through this period of, ‘it’s too dark’, ‘it’s not cute enough’ and I thought, alright… [laughing] ‘I’ll show you cute!’
[RareGamer laughs]
Graeme: So I took a tune from DK Land and turned it into… whatever it’s called in Blast Corps. [laughs] I probably just called it, ‘Graeme’s level’, something like that. What was the question?
[Both laugh]
RareGamer: From the King K. Rool tune in Donkey Kong Land to Simian Acres in Blast Corps.-
Graeme: That is!
RareGamer: – Are there any tunes you’ve made for a previous game that never came to light, but finally got a chance to appear-
Graeme: Oh I see! Right, well going back to ‘Scotland the Brave’ – which I probably shouldn’t… people have found out about it anyways because it was in an E3 video or something. Yeah, originally I wrote it for Perfect Dark but we didn’t use it, and I just forgot about it all but then when it came to Time Splitters: Future Perfect it struck me that one time I was on holiday in Cologne, I thought, ‘Actually, that would suit it really well.’ And yeah, resurrected that and I was really happy with it, and so far haven’t been sued by Microsoft. [laughs]
There’s quite a lot for Jet Force [Gemini] I worry that just got dumped, which I would have loved to have used. I don’t know if you know, it’s one of those things where there’s a lot of stuff I’ve written that has not seen the light of day – but it’s just waiting for that situation where it suits the project and stuff – whether that ever happens you never know.
But sometimes I listen back to stuff I’ve done that was finished and for whatever reason wasn’t used, or maybe the game was canned, and it’s like, ‘Oh no, that’s a shame…’ but, at the same time when you’re writing on a new project you’ve got a whole load of new ideas, and a new direction and stuff and it’s not always suiting to go back and say, ‘Well, you know we can take that from 10 years ago and do it again.’ But in that one particular case for ‘Scotland the Brave’ it just struck me that it was a good one to use.
RareGamer: Given the chance, which gaming series would you love to compose for?
Graeme: That’s a good question. [Pauses] I’d love to do… I don’t know if I can do it because it’s pretty freakin’ jazzy, but I’d love to do an OutRun game – and when I say OutRun, I mean the original one with ‘Magical Sound Shower’ and all of those other things because I just love that soundtrack. Yeah, if I could do that, that would be…
RareGamer: That would be amazing!
Graeme: Right.
RareGamer: So, over the course of your career you’ve worked on a lot of games and have gained a lot of experience in doing so – are there any songs you’ve made from your earlier days that you cringe on hearing now?
[Graeme laughs]
Graeme: No, they’re all brilliant, what are you talking about? Oh, loads! [Laughing] Absolutely loads – and if I didn’t, I think that would be something wrong with my brain because the idea is that you improve as you go along. I’ve definitely said this before – I don’t know if it was in an interview or not – but there was a piece in Blast Corps. which was the Shuttle Launch which I absolutely cringe whenever I hear it. Even when I wrote it I thought, ‘What am I doing’, you know? Stuck it in anyway.
I don’t know, I’d have to re-listen to a lot of stuff – there’s a lot of stuff that didn’t make Killer Instinct, which I’m glad didn’t make Killer Instinct. I wrote about 70 pieces for that first game, and four of which were used [laughing] in the final game. But, some of those are stinkers – too many to mention I think. And some worthy that they shouldn’t ever be heard again, but others just because you learn as you go along, and also your tastes change.
Although one of your previous questions about redoing Blast Corps. I’d love to redo it but I’d never write music like that again – that’s not to say I don’t like it – but it’s just that you change all the time.
RareGamer: If you could pick one song that you want your fans to identify with you, which one would it be?
Graeme: ‘Remember me this way!’ [Laughs] Oh God, I don’t know. If anyone knows a composer they always have their favorites and whatever – I wouldn’t want to impose that on anyone but… Corr blimey, that’s a tricky one. [Laughs] Possibly ‘Siberia’ from ‘TimeSplitters 2’.
RareGamer: Oh, good track!
Graeme: But I don’t know… that’s a really contentious one and it’s really tricky to answer. Yeah, I don’t know – I can’t do that one.
RareGamer: Okay then, what’s an important bit of advice for any aspiring composers that are trying to get into the industry?
Graeme: Wait until I’m dead! [Laughing] Then you can have your time! Get off my back.
RareGamer: [Laughing] It’s the same every time.
Graeme: Alright, this is not meant to sound cliché, but… it will. [laughs] Don’t be too precious about your work, because what you think is ace, someone else might think is garbage. You can’t please everyone, you know?
There’s always going to be some people that like what you do and some people that don’t and think it’s rubbish.
But yeah, if you’re not too precious and someone says, ‘Well that’s not what we’re looking for, can you do this?’ then if you’re flexible, you’ve got a lot more chance to get on in this industry.
If you say for instance, ‘Oh, I only like doing this one style of music’ then you’re going to starve. You have to be pretty open, even to doing stuff that you might not like that much.
Like it might be a style that really isn’t ‘you’, but if you’re willing to study that style, and absorb it, and write for it, then I think the doors will be opening more than they would be if you were just steadfast.
‘Well, I do this – I do all Country, so that’s what this game should have.’
[Both laugh]
RareGamer: Actually, one more question which I forgot to write down – I think I sent it to you in an email, but I don’t know if you saw or not. I remember reading something ages ago in a Nintendo magazine that there was, I think it was TimeSplitters 2 on the Game Boy?
Graeme: Oh, Gameboy Advance.
RareGamer: Yeah!
Graeme: Yes, there was – and all of those tracks were converted to track channels – I think we had eight channels, I forget, we’re back to the SNES again.
But we had to squeeze everything right down, and it sounded… terrible. [laughs] It was the Gameboy Advance.
And we had the finished game and it was a sideways scroller – it was pretty far removed from the TimeSplitters game – it was at the time when you’d get your console version and then you’d get the GBA version.
We were in talks with Midway who were kind of, next to Nintendo, they were sort of the guys who were publishing a lot of GBA games – it just didn’t come to anything.
I think the time had passed, kind of thing, so it was put on the shelf and forgotten about.
RareGamer: Yeah, I just remember reading it and I just had to clarify, was I ‘imagining reading it’.
Graeme: No, no no…
RareGamer: [Laughing] Is it real?
Graeme: It’s out there somewhere…
We’d like to extend our thanks to Graeme Norgate for his time and all of the years we’ve spent jamming along to the games he’s worked on. Call us crazy, but we think “Donkey Kong Depeche Mode 64” would have gone over a storm! You can hear more of Graeme’s work at his Bandcamp site and treat your ears to a bit of nostalgic reverb with Blast Corps Re:Constructed!
Categories: Interviews
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