Golden Idol Interview: Andrejs & Kyle Chat..

I can already foresee the reminder of this post that "x amount of years ago you shared this" and being all nostalgic and reminiscent of my very first interview to go live, as well as the debut of my new project where I'll be talking with people from the industry that I've worked with over the years and discuss many cool topics.

And my very first guest is Andrejs Kļaviņš!! Co-founder of Color Gray Games and co-creator of The Case of Golden Idol video game! Which just shipped its 2nd DLC "The Lemurian Vampire" and I had the huge honor composing music for.

Andrejs is one of the coolest, humble, and hard-working people in the industry, a rising star in game dev arena in my opinion, and that I had the pleasure to record this interview with back in November of 2022. (yes... it took me almost a year to put it together, due to my ever-changing living situation, but I am so happy and excited to finally share this with you!)

We talked about my process of music production, the relationship between game developer and composer, shared thoughts on favorite tracks from the Golden Idol, many behind the scenes & stories behind the production of the game, and lots of other cool stuff!

Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/fYSFZwP2zh8

Golden Idol Mysteries: The Lemurian Vampire Soundtrack

Very grateful to Color Gray Games for allowing me to become part of the unique journey they're creating for fellow detective gamers and mystery solving appreciators out there.. the 2nd DLC for 'The Case of the Golden Idol' just came out last Thursday on 31st of August, and I am excited to share this soundtrack with you!

After an overwhelmingly positive feedback of the music from the previous Golden Idol DLC "The Spider of Lanka" (which took a darker tone and introduced a heavy Asian inspiration) I felt a wave of inspiration alongside the feeling of being completely on the same page with Color Gray in terms of sound and the boundaries we can push music-wise in this new adventure that players will experience.

Monkey Paw Island, which (without spoilers) sheds more light on the mystery of the Golden Idol, heavily reminded me of Myst island. There is something ethereal, distant and at the same time nostalgic about this place.. that inspiration along a strong drive to continue evolving the soundtrack, rather than "locking / bounding" it to a certain genre, gave space for new creative ideas such as introducing tribal elements, more experimentation with ambience, more pronounced guitar sections, and sprinkling it all with some really cool dark & cinematic vibes.

And of course huge thanks to our publisher Playstack for making our ideas, vision, passion, aspirations and dreams come true!!

Honored and excited to share this soundtrack!

#gamedev #gamemusic #indiegame #composer

Gamescom 2023!

Dear Gamescom friends Thank you so much to everyone for showcasing your brilliant games, with many innovative concepts & ideas, for having such humble and hardworking crew on your teams, and enormous gratitude to everyone else that put so much energy & effort into being displayed at such an iconic & world-renown event

You opened up my mind to the game industry in such a wonderful and inspiring way.. I feel.. in these past few days I’ve learnt more about the industry than I’ve ever learned in the past 3 years of working full time here… sooo many incredibly talented studios and publishers that have incredible people from all over the world…

Getting the chance to meet Playstack in person, my beloved publisher for The Case of the Golden Idol game, was unforgettable - you guys rock, are an inspiration, you illuminate success, hard work, professionalism, wonderful positivity and I hope we collaborate with you more in the future

Hanging out with 3D Realms, with some of the best action-packed games, and meeting such talented, unique and humble crew that are so kind and open minded, loved my passion and heard out my story, as well as helped me understand the game industry so much more.. particular shot out to Ty Brannan, Ben Reichstein and Philip Nymann for being so kind and sharing sooo many cool stories with me, you're my dear friends

Toplitz Productions - your games are absolutely amazing, and your crew is so welcoming, kind and open to networking.. some of the sweetest and nicest people I’ve ever met that publish such great games that I resonate with on so many levels.. So genuinely excited to contribute to the awesome projects you’re working with!

And countless other incredible games, developers, publishers, PR & HR, marketing, game scouts, game designers and many others of you I’ve got to connect with on such a unique level

Big thanks to everyone for a warm welcome into the game industry family, for being inspiring and ambitious leaders that you are, or being game-veterans who’ve walked it all, and I sincerely hope we will see each other soon and get to work on music for some of the most insane good games in the near future!!!

Finally, I wanted to thank the crew of Gamescom for organizing such a fantastic event, connecting unique people from all over the world and making other people’s dreams come true… as well as the city of Köln, Germany!! For even though you are slightly confusing for foreigners who just arrived xD (in terms of understanding navigation and its complicated train system xD) Somehow as time passes - Cologne draws you more and opens up its beautiful colors, opportunities and possibilities .. and German people - so social, friendly and always willing to help - greatly contribute to the awesomeness of this amazing city

Loved Gamescom! Loved Cologne! Loved my first time in Germany! You're my second home

Looking forward to come back next year!!! #gamescom2023 #gamescom #gamedev