Jamming in the Post Apocalyptic Waste land: A Musical Interview w/Austin AKA Dingaling
- Joō-Neko
- Oct 21, 2015
- 5 min read
I'm happy that Austin Jorgensen, AKA Dingaling, AKA Widdly2Diddy, AKA Lord of hin......wait nevermind. Eh, Anyways, I'm gald he agreed to answer some question about the music side of his Lisa games. All over the interwebs you only see interviews focused on Lisa's gameplay and story. So with Austin's help, lets put some spotlight on his soundtrack which you can listen to or purchase on his bandcamp for Lisa: The Painful and you can purchase Lisa: The Joyful's OST on Stream.
If you don't know, Austin Jorgensen is also Lisa: The First, Painful, and Joyful's game dev. The soundtrack has the creepy and quirkiness, like the gameplay, as "Earthbound". Austin uses all kinds of sounds and loops that you wouldn't think would sound great together. He blends them so well, that in a battle you can't help but sit there an listen to the music before defeating your enemy. If the gameplay and story didn't make you feel anything while playing. The music WILL help you transition! Now that that's out of the way, let's move on to the Interview.
*In a youtube video, I asked some of my fellow video game enuthises what they wanted to ask Austin, So the first five is from them. Please also note that this is a E-mail Interview. Thank You and I hope you enjoy!*
Joō-Neko/Fellow Fan: What is your favorite music genre?
Austin: That's a hard question, I really love everything. except reggae... I think it's smart to be open minded with your taste, that way you aren't limited to making the same old bland genres. BUT if i have to answer, right now im listening to trap, edm, and american folk.
Joō-Neko/Fellow Fan: Which do you prefer, making games or making music? Which came first for you?
Austin: Music is overall easier, therefore I like it better, but making a full game has a bigger pay off if people enjoy it, especially if they like it alot because of the music.
Joō-Neko/Fellow Fan: What program did you compose everything in? (I'm an indie dev myself and aspire to create a soundtrack as evocative as LISA's.)
Austin: I used a trial version of FL Studio, for the Joyful I bought the full FL Studio.
Joō-Neko/Fellow Fan: Did you use any plugins, if so what were they? Can you give us a website where you got some of them from?
Austin: Sytrus, some samples for looperman.com and Nexus for the joyful stuff.
Joō-Neko/Fellow Fan: Were there any unfinished tracks created for the games that you did not use? If so, do you have any plans for that material?
Austin: I made a few, no real plans, just didn't think the music was catchy enough or good enough.
Joō-Neko: What Inspired you to create Lisa's soundtrack to make it sound the way it does? I know earthbound played a big role in this, was there another game that you drew inspiration from?
Austin: Every song has it's own inspiration. I took from other games, rap, music soundtracks, anytime a song made me feel something and I thought it fit the LISA world I would draw huge inspiration from it, it didn't matter where it came from. But most of the really weird songs are just me screwing around. no direction.
Joō-Neko: It was surprising that most of the sounds and loops you used can be found in FL Studios (Fruity Loops), for Lisa the Painful. Lisa the Joyful, you were able to get a singer to sing on one of your tracks called "Voices". Who was that? How did that idea come along?
Austin: Yes, I consider myself a very basic music artist. I just try my best with the tools I have. That person that sang is Marina Voruz, a friend of mine, so I was lucky she could do it. The idea came from The Walking Dead game, I thought it was really nice how they had a fully voiced song for the ending credits.
Joō-Neko: In LISA: The Painful, most of the tracks uses horns and trumpets. Was this foreshadowing on how yado uses his trumpet to control the joy mutants?
Austin: Kind of... Not really tho... I just really love trumpets :P
Joō-Neko: I love the fact that in LISA:The Joyful you can find a band singing the main theme of the second game (LISA:The Painful). Also The tribute to W2D ( Widdly 2 Diddly) was awesome as well! How did you come up with the name Widdly 2 Diddly? Most people didn't know that W2D was the same person!
Austin: I wanted a really bad rapper name, so It's base off of Shaggy 2 Dope from the hated American rap group ICP.
Joō-Neko: There were a lot of tragic/feely parts in LISA: The Painful and Joyful. Without music to intensify the moment, it wouldn't have impacted us like it did. For instance, the music flowed from determination,to discomfort,to wtf, when Brad fought alone against Rando's army (LISA: The Painful). Then in a hidden area, with no one to be found. Only scarecrow dressed terrys and little hints scattered everywhere. With the music combined with searching the area, you come to realize how tragic of a character Terry really is (LISA:The Joyful). Another one was when, "He's My Dad" plays while Buddy fights her inner feels/memories of Brad while tripping off of joy. There are so many I can name! But, What was going through you mind when coming up with the "feel" in the music for each critical moments for your games? how long did it take you?
Austin: That's a tough question. I think for stuff like that it's trail and error. I just keep listening to others music, then try to create my own. alot of times I just keep trying melodies and instruments until I "feel" it. Because if it doesn't make me smile, laugh, or cry. I really doubt it will make anyone else. So if I dont feel it, then I dont expect anyone else to. and When I dont feel it, then I'll keep working until I do.
I hope you enjoyed learning more about the creative process that was put into the game. I was able to take a good bit of this to be able to improve my own music. Those who make music as well, I hope seeing someone elses creative process helps hone your own skills for in the future.If you haven't heard the soundtrack or played the games I strongly suggested you do! Let me know how your exprenices with the gameplay combined with the music impacted you while you played.leave a comment on here or on my twitter! I would love to hear your thoughts! Until next time!!
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