Overgrowth Rock Song by Jonathan Lewis

This is a guest post from Jonathan Lewis. He is a talented musician and an accomplished satirical video game song-writer. His most well known piece is probably the Half-Life themed "G-Man's Last Breath" which was featured on Kotaku. However, today it is my pleasure to present to you an awesome original tune he put together for our very own ninja rabbit fighter Overgrowth. I did my best to accent it with concept art and screenshots so be sure to check it out in HD.

Below are a few words Jonathan was kind enough to share with us about how he became interested in music and how his awesome Overgrowth song came to be.

The Beginnings

The creative process is a really tricky thing, but one of the most rewarding in my life. I began writing music to impress girls. I'm sure this is a sterotype by now, but I can seriously remember writing little songs and poems for my crushes in elementary school. I think this tends to be a common story because people use creativity for things they are passionate about. I wrote humorous songs in high school and college mainly to entartain friends and girls, and it didn't really turn into anything formal (or "work" as some call it) until I decided to take my love for writing music online.

The Blog

Right out of college I decided to start a blog in which I wrote and recorded a new song for a different friend each week and post it online. After 5 months and 17 songs, what started as a fun experiement turned into an important learning experience for me. Suddenly I was aware that I was capable of writing and recording entire songs in quick progression. I started learning the ins and outs of actually producing music, which is so much different from writing, and I realized that I really enjoyed the whole process. I then challenged myself to write, record and release a new 5-song EP every 3 months. This was hard, but took me into the world of music distribution, social media and Creative Commons, not to mention the actual music part. The results are on my website for all to enjoy.

Music in Video Games

I've always been an avid gamer and intenstly interested in the musical possibilities that games provide. For anyone who has played Splosion Man on XBLA, I'm sure you can remember the first time you picked up a fat scientist only to find the music dramatically change to "Everybody Loves Donuts". This is a great example of what's possible in games, and only scratches the surface of ways we can incoporate music into the experience. I started making different contacts along the way and decided to apply my musical abilities to an industry I love. One thing led to another and I began receiving opportunities to write music for interesting video game titles. I'll never forget the contacts I've made along the way. This is partly why I always do my best to respond to emails and questions. I always respond because I wish everyone would have responded to me.

The Overgrowth Song

Overgrowth was a really fun project for me as the Wolfire team already had a great sense of humor. At the beginning of any creative project there is always the Discovery Phase in which I immerse myself into the world in which I am writing. Overgrowth was easy to get lost in given the huge amount of material available; from concept art, to the fantastic music by Mikko Tarmia, to the web comic and more. Writing the Overgrowth song actually happened pretty quickly. This happens to me a lot. I'll spend 20 minutes writing 90% of a song, then 2 hours finishing it. The recording and mixing stage is where I spent most of my time on the project. I really love watching great projects come together like what Wolfire is doing with Overgrowth, and can't wait to actually sit down and wield some ninja rabbit action.

Thanks again Jonathan. This is unbelievably cool. If any game developers out there are looking for a credit song or a great way to add some humor to their game they should defintely contact him. What do you guys think -- did he beat the Overgrowth Rap?