Granny Smith
I made the soundtrack and the sound design for the game Granny Smith, by Mediocre. Available for iOS and Android devices.
I had so much fun doing this one! Dennis and Henrik at Mediocre knew quite early on in the process that they wanted a jazz soundtrack for their new game. We started talking about a big band setting. I did some sketches that didn’t quite work out. I then tried a smaller, guitar based sound, but that didn’t fly either. I ended up talking to my good friend Petter Samuelsson who proposed putting together a trio with piano, upright bass and drums. We then added some soloists where needed and it hit the spot!
Dennis and Henrik suggested that I compose music that fit the different settings that Granny explores (countryside, city, factory and space) while still keeping it within a jazz context. I went for a country blues kind of jazz for the countryside world, with a little bit of harmonica and some non-blues melody lines and chords in the bridge to give it a bit of variation. A stripped down swing sound for the city-world, with a european/bohemia-style melody in the bridge, delightfully performed with a bit of arco playing on the upright bass by Robert Fuchs. For the factory world, I knew almost instantly that I wanted something modal, a bit more mysterious. I added some vibraphone and metal percussion to give it some momentum and industrial feel. And for the space level, I wanted it to feel just a like a classic 50’s sci-fi soundtrack so I used a theremin sounding moog melody, on top of a foundation that’s almost a straight up jazz song, but with lots of sci-fi/horror movie harmonies.
Personnel:
Petter Samuelsson: piano, trumpet
Gustav Nilsson Kotte: alto saxophone
John Haglund: drums
Robert Fuchs: double bass
Petter Herbertsson: harmonica
Douglas Holmquist: piano, moog, percussion, guitar, mandolin