Last Updated on August 9, 2024
Electronic music has been an integral part of the video game industry since its inception. With the advancement of technology, video game music has evolved into a complex and nuanced genre, with electronic music playing a pivotal role in creating immersive and captivating game soundtracks.
We are thrilled to be speaking with Antonio Ibrahine, a celebrated composer originally from Rio de Janeiro and now based in Los Angeles. With over 10 years of international experience in composing music for various media, including film, games, theater, and video art, Antonio’s career has been nothing short of explosive. In particular, Antonio’s role as the lead composer for Kimeric Labs’ ambitious project, Satellite Rush, allowed him to showcase a more electronic-focused style that reinvigorated classic games with a modern production touch. Since then, Antonio’s success and achievements have only continued to soar.
Can you tell us about your experience as the Lead Composer for Satellite Rush?
Composing the music of Satellite Rush was invaluable for my development as a composer. Having Kimeric Labs Team’s instant feedback as I was composing the score made me understand music with the mind of game designers and programmers and less as a musician. That’s really important, since a common issue for media composers is to focus solely on the music and forget the most important part of a project which, in this case, is the game’s immersive experience.
How did you approach creating the music for Satellite Rush, and what were some of the challenges you faced?
The main idea behind Satellite Rush’s score is that the gamer needs to feel constant threat inside an arena full of aliens without being overwhelmed. I believe the main challenge for the score was to find the point where one feels this constant “drive” and simulation without reaching a point where it starts being annoying. Besides that, because of the nature of the name, which recalls classic games, it was also a challenge to find a perfect tone that mixes the sound of SNES shooter game scores with a more modern approach.
Can you discuss the impact that Satellite Rush had on your career as a composer?
Satellite Rush was pivotal in presenting me to the industry as a classically trained composer who could also work with more electronic based genres. This great contrast with what I had previously composed definitely opened lots of doors for me.
How did the use of electronic music influence the overall sound of Satellite Rush?
Electronic music is the essence of Satellite Rush’s tone. In fact, it’s really interesting that if one changes the synthesizers in the score by electric guitars, you would have a sound that resembles a power rock trio. The Sci-Fi ambience and SNES games influences make the use of electronic instruments indispensable.
Can you talk about the reception of Satellite Rush and its acceptance at the important Brazilian SBGames festival and on the Steam-powered platform?
The acceptance in both SBGames and Steam-powered platform was the best thing to ever happen. SBGames was a more local success case. In the case of Steam-powered, it’s a joy to see people from all over the world playing and engaging with a game that required so much dedication and teamwork to be produced.
Can you share how your collaboration with Kimeric Labs helped shape your career as a composer?
The collaboration with Kimeric Labs was one of the experiences that made me understand how much I love working with games and other media in general. It was also a great opportunity to learn and understand how important teamwork is. Having clear communication, being proactive, and committing to deadlines are professional qualities that I developed mainly during that period and that I brought with me over the past 10 years in any project I join as a composer.
In what ways did working on Satellite Rush differ from your previous projects?
My previous projects were very classically influenced, and the instrumentalization was essentially acoustic. Satellite Rush was the first project I did that opened so much space for me to develop electronic music.
How has your involvement in Satellite Rush contributed to your recognition in the video game industry?
Satellite Rush contributed a lot to my recognition in the video game industry since it was a unique game produced by a Brazilian game developer that had a very talented team. The positive reception of the game as well as the score made a great impact in my career.
We’d like to credit Kateryna Kurganska for this article’s headline image.
