Thanks to Audun Sorlie (Sekai Project) we got the great opportunity to conduct an interview with Chris Huelsbeck. He was born in Kassel (Germany) and he lives now in Petaluma (California). His first success was the song „Shades“. With this composition he won first place in a music competition. Until now he has written soundtracks for more than 70 titles, which were mainly intended for the western market. Together with Sekai Project he worked on a new soundtrack for Narcissu. More information can be found in our interview.
About yourself:
1) Now that you’re living in the US, what connection do you still have to Germany?
CH: I visit Germany every year at least once for business and also to see my family and friends. This year alone I went 4 times and I still have many friends and clients in the German games industry. And of course I can’t live without Currywurst and Spaghetti Ice Cream every now and then!
2) When and how did you decide to turn your hobby into your job?
CH: I originally wanted to be a game designer and music was just a big hobby, but when I won a computer music contest in the 64’er magazine in 1986, I knew that game music could be my chance to get into the industry. After getting my foot in the door at Rainbow Arts, I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else but game music; I truly love this job.
3) If you had the chance to pick, what video game would you like to work on in the future?
CH: A new Turrican game would of course be the highest on my wish list or perhaps a futuristic racing game. I always enjoyed games like F-Zero and Wipeout, so I have many ideas for that style of music…
4) Can you name some of your favorite games for us?
CH: I have many, so this will be a tough one – but here are a few: Actraiser, Portal 1 & 2, Luigi’s Mansion, Impossible Mission (C64), Tetris, Pooyan (Classic Arcade), R-Type, Psycho Nic’s Oscar, Assassin’s Creed and the Uncharted series as well as Red Dead Redemption are all favorites of mine. I do a weekly game stream on Twitch nowadays where I play through my favorites and try out games I never played before, and through that I become a big fan of the Mega Man Series. That music is just fantastic. I guess I also have to mention the Turrican series because the fans of Turrican are so dedicated. Games with music by Yuzo Koshiro are always high on my list as well.
About your work:
1) Do you play the games you’re doing the music for?
CH: Yes, of course I play them to get familiar with the gameplay and atmosphere of the game, to check proper placement and mix of the music. And while my job as a game composer doesn’t leave me a lot of time to play other games for fun, I still consider myself a gamer, though I am definitely best at classic puzzle and arcade games.
2) What kind of information do you have before starting to work on the soundtrack of a game? A rough description? Character and scenery artworks? Or even some first scenes?
CH: It’s different from project to project, but I often receive early versions of the game to try out and to get a feel for the music. Sometimes I work from concept art and story as well. For Narcissu, I received the story, artworks and concepts.
About your work on Narcissu:
1) How did the cooperation between you and Sekai Project come to be?
CH: Well, I have worked extensively with some of the staff members at Sekai in the past, and also met with them at GDC for a dinner and discussion. When they began looking for guest contributors and composers for their future projects, I was approached with some ideas. I have always wanted to work on a true Japanese project, so for me it was very interesting to hear their suggestions. Basically we both had been waiting for a chance to work together and the timing was just right with Narcissu.
2) You have mostly written soundtracks for Western titles. Is Narcissu a new challenge for you?
CH: Western games are very action oriented and often require music that instantly reflects the on screen action. That can be really fun and bombastic, but in my experience with Japanese games and working with Kataoka-san, Japanese games tend to allow more ambience and subtleties, which in turn creates more atmosphere. I enjoy being able to create stories with my music.
3) What part about Narcissu made you want to write music for it?
CH: For me, the most attractive part as a musician is obviously the level of immersion that visual novels allow the music to have, with it being such an essential part of the overall composition to support how the story is told. Narcissu is special in terms of how it deals with such a tragic topic for us as human beings, the subject of loss of loved ones and dealing with illness and uncontrollable fate that awaits the terminally ill. It’s difficult and different work to compose music for such a title, but the challenge makes it very exciting and emotional as well.
4) Many different composers have contributed to the Narcissu soundtracks. There is a very unique calmness to be found in the music, sometimes paired with sadness and other emotions, but never too flashy or manipulative. How would you describe your approach to the music on an emotional level?
CH: I just sit on my Keyboard with a simple piano sound or strings and let the story and the visuals do the inspiration and guide me, then take to my favorite music sequencing software (Steinberg Cubase) and work further on the composition to flesh it out. I already have some really beautiful melodies and harmonies and everything is coming together very well.
5) It was recently announced that you will be working alongside Secret of Mana composer Hiroki Kikuta on this project. Are you familiar with his previous works?
CH: Yes I am, Kikuta-san’s music is excellent and truly inspirational. I first became aware of him through Thomas Böcker’s Symphonic Fantasies concert in Cologne, the year after Symphonic Shades, my very own symphonic tribute with the WDR. Since then, I’ve been listening to more of his works and when he came aboard Narcissu, I was very excited. I’m very much looking forward to see what we can do together for this project.
Many thanks to Chris Huelsbeck. You can find more information about the remake of Narcissu here.