SIDNEY EXCLUSIVE:
Interview with ROBERT HOLMES, composer of the GABRIEL KNIGHT SERIES.


Nico: Robert, first of all many thanks for doing this interview with me.
I do not think it is necessary to repeat how much your music contributed to the succes of the Gabriel Knight Series.
Can you tell us a little bit about your background in music?

Robert: I grew up in Los Angeles and spent most of my (misguided) youth playing in many pop bands and working as a studio musician.(Guitars, Keys, and Vocals)
In later years I studied alot of film scoring and musical theatre, writing shows and doing music and post production for television etc.
I had always been mainly a singer and songwriter until I got the chance to join Sierra and work on some of the early games



Nico: How did you become the composer for the GK-Series in the first place

Robert: By the time GK1 came along, I had been with Sierra for a few years as a Producer and Composer.
The first game I did music for was Hoyle Classic Cards, and then I was working on a few others when I got assigned to a game called "Twisted History" as a Producer.
The Designer on that was a young upstart named Jane Jensen.
We seemed to hit it off well, but I got pulled onto another project.
Then, months later Jane asked if I would have any interest in beng Producer and Composer for GK1 and I jumped at the chance!



Nico: You were not only the GKcomposer, but also the producer of "Sins of the Fathers".
How was the experience?

Robert: It was pretty crazy! I was set up with all my keyboards right next to Jane's desk.
I would spend half the day being "Mr Producer" and taking care of the team, and the other half in my headphones doing tunes.

It was great though to work with Jane that closely and be in on the development of the series from the ground up!
Overall, I remember it as a really great and vibrant time with a team that knew it was building something vey special.



Nico: Can you enlighten us a bit on the way a composer works for a series like Gabriel Knight?

Robert: Well, I'm a bit out of the norm I'm afraid.
Most guys who do game music sit with the game for hours on end and write to the rooms. I can't do that.
I basically have Jane identify the most dramatic parts of the story for me and give me insights into the characters and the events.
I then work in my home studio and just write and record the peices on samplers and keyboards until I like them.
Then I send them off to Jane and say "This might work here, or try this there, etc" We're usually pretty lucky, and when we put the music into the scene they seem to match up really well.

The one real departure from this was the Opera in GK2.
I was working on a project with the musician Sting in England at the time and was traveling alot, while being headquartered in Seattle.
Jane and the team were shooting down in California.
So I mainly had about 2 weeks in between trips to do all the music for GK2 and the Opera combined.
With the help of my good friend and very talented Jay Usher, we wrote and produced the Opera in about 3 days (with no sleep), took it into a recording studio here in Seattle and brought in the Opera singers. It was a real hoot!
Months later Jane and the actors came up to Seattle to film the Opera in a local Theater,
when I stopped by to see how it was going- I barely remembered writing any of it!



Nico: Now that your third GKtitle featuring your music is about to hit the shelves in Spring 1999,
how do you look back at the past years?

Robert: I am so proud to be a part of the GK series.
It's been a real challenge to stay involved as I have a completely different career that takes most of my time and energy, but I am always glad to do it.
It's great for Jane and I as well as it gives us a chance to still work together occasionally even though I am no longer at Sierra.
There's always stuff I wish I had done better or spent more time on, but overall I am very proud of the music and it's part in the games.



Nico: Did you have any sources of inspiration while working on the music for GK3?

Robert: I always go back to my major influences which are pretty standard.
People like Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lennon-McCartney, early Genesis and Yes,
Bernard Herman (The Hitchcok film scores), Max Steiner who did the great Warners and MGM scores, and of course many more contemporaries.



Nico: Have you seen actual gamefootage combined with your music?
Do you like it so far?

Robert: I haven't seen any yet.
I have supplied major themes and now I'm going back and working on final versions for certain segments and a main theme etc..



Nico: How is the experience of working with David Henry, co-composer and sound-engineer?

Robert: David has been great!
He is incredibly versatile, and has sometimes done a better job of sounding like me than I do!
It's been a pleasure.



Nico: How much themes did you have to compose for GK3?

Robert: I think I've done about 15 main themes, and we'll do a bunch of variations from those.
I'm pretty fond of using recurring themes in several ways- as I'm sure you know.
When I think of the great film scores, there's always 3 or 4 thems and that's it!
They just get manipulated in great ways. I enjoy beating a theme into the ground!!




Nico: Can you tell us how the music will work in GK3?
Is it similar to the previous GK-installments?

Robert: We're still tweaking a bit, and I don't want to give stuff away,
but it will definately have that GK gothicness to it!
We want to take advantage of some new capabilities this time.
I hope the players will like it!



Nico: Would you like to work on the music for future GK's?

Robert: Absolutely.
I get downright protective and territorial about it sometimes.
I guess I just feel like I couldn't imagine a GK without my sappy heavyhanded melodies in there.
It just wouldn't be the same to me!
Besides, no one ever hires me but Jane!!






MANY MANY THANKS TO ROBERT HOLMES FOR THIS INTERVIEW,
I WISH HIM ALL THE LUCK IN HIS FUTURE CAREER!