Interview with Mona Mur - Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days soundtrack composer
Interview with Mona Mur - Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days soundtrack composer
Mona Mur
Photo by Lucie Jansch
How did you get this Kane & Lynch 2 job? Did IO Interactive already created conception for soundtrack or you were able to participate in its creation?
IO had the conception perfectly ready. The directives they gave me were absolutely clear, and I was hired because of my experience and expertise in the realm of ambient soundscapes.
What references did the IO Interactive give you and what was your approach to this soundtrack? Was it different for Kane & Lynch 2 than any other your ordinal game?
I was introduced to a dark, gritty Shanghai that looked like the megalopolis in "Blade Runner". This classic dark SciFi-Epos was indeed on the top list of the designers. For the suspense layers, I was asked to think "eerie", for the action layers, I should go for "suspense". Atributes like "bleak" and "un-staged" were topped by the slogan that the gamer should receive the whole thing as a "game without music" but with a very strong sense of environment.
I think we were successfull.
Where did you get inspirations while working on this soundtrack? Books, music, movies or, maybe, another games?
There are no other games which use soundscapes in the way KL2 does, and I wonder why, as there is no method more immersive than this. Maybe Manhunt is the only game that comes into my mind.
It was not difficult to get inspired by KL2's highly intoxicating, phantastic setting which i could enjoy on the gameplay videos during my work. Generally, I did research and experiments in this realm during my whole professional life as a musician. I am inspired by travel, by films, like "Eraserhead", the first David Lynch movie, or of course "Blade Runner" providing a soundtrack consisting of multiple noise layers, atmos and music that I would still call "state of the art". I do not recall how many times I have enjoyed this marvel.
My vocals will be in there but in a totally different way...you will find out about it in the game!
As we got right, compositions for which En Esch wrote guitar parties would be used in these action-packed scenes, did we?
Mona Mur
Photo by Ilse Ruppert
No, he did not play any guitar parts in the conventional sense and not especially for "action-packed" scenes. Although we did use electric guitars and bass guitars, among other tools, for a certain part of the sound layers, I am sure you will not recognize any of these instruments. You have to forget all your ideas about "normal" ingame music.
Do you make field recordings? If yes, maybe you could remember some unusual places where recordings were made?
Did you write only city ambience themes?
There is nothing but the city - the Moloch - and the panic and hysteria two "most revolting characters ever to disgrace a game console" generate.
Can we hear your vocal in game as one of sound design elements? Maybe you were asked to write a song for opening or ending titles?
Yes, I do field recordings, for instance when I travel, and I draw from these sources ever since. For KL2 I used a lot the recordings the IO team did in Shanghai, in the streets, markets, on the roofs and in the basements.
Sound-designers are great guys. They can extract sounds from any piece of material on the Earth. Even from the bricks or trees. Do you use in your recording sessions household items?
No, not in this one.
All modern games use interactive music but looks like Kane & Lynch 2 will receive different approach to audio and visual style. Do you know how music will react on player's actions? Will it be location or event-based (like in actions scenes, for example)?
It is both location- and action-based.
How much music did you write for the game? And what time did it take you to do this? Were there any difficulties, nuances or limitations which were due to the game's unusual approach to visual and audio components?
I wrote about 100 minutes of ambient tracks plus numerous shorter "moments" and "extras". The whole process took about 5 months. Difficulties, limitations – on the contrary, I felt like totally in my element.
IO Interactive said they don't plan to release soundtrack separately from the game. And, though the music for Kane & Lynch 2 will be very experimental, we are sure gamers and your fans would like to hear it anyway. Did you discuss possibility to release soundtrack on third-party label with IOI?
Yes, indeed we do discuss this just now. We have an offer from a very respectable label, and I hope I will get the opportunity to mix the unique and, in fact, in parts very musical tracks of each level into 10 different 4 -minute- pieces of abysmal beauty.
You wrote Russian version of 120 Tage for game Culpa Innata 2: Chaos Rising. It is, hm, unusual. Especially music video for it. Tell us how did you decide to sing it in Russian?
MOMENTUM DMT, the turkish developers of CULPA INNATA, came up with the suggestion. They were seeking a song for a special location in the game, a rogue bar in a future Odessa. A huge part of the sequel takes place in a devastated Russia, also Russian adventure gamers loved the first part of the game. Then MOMENTUM asked me to eventually do the soundtrack for CULPA INNATA 2 – Chaos Rising, and they had fallen in love with our song "120 Tage". It works so well in Russian I think! What a beautiful and deep language. Also from my family roots, there is an affinity to it, as my mother speaks some Russian and she sang Russian songs the whole day. At the moment the game seems to be on hold unfortuantely, and there is only the demo with our scene in the bar in 3D. We really hope they will carry on.
Seems like you were in Russia with concert, were you? Maybe you know somebody from Russian musicians?
We, "MONA MUR & EN ESCH", had the pleasure to play in St. Petersburgh and Moscow end of January this year. We met some really sweet and enthusiastic people during our stay, for instance from the St. Pete Club "ZOCCOLO". It was an impressive experience, and we hope to come back in summer or fall when it is a little warmer.
Thanks for your time!
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