Hi Marc ! It’s far from being the first time Nimrod Productions and yourself have been involved in the audio for a Driver game. Can you tell us a bit more about your history with the series?

Marc Canham: Hi... We started many moons ago with Driver 2. Before our work in video games took off, we were busy in bands and having fun in studios. We were very much all about doing things live - that’s all we really knew about to be honest. So as games became able to ship higher quality audio on the disc it opened the door to people like us really.

Driver 2 needed a load of live style tracks for cutscenes and trailers and we were in the right place at the right time. We were friends with the script writer on the Driver games (Maurice Suckling), and he got us onboard. I had been a gamer before then, and did have the idea about doing soundtracks for games way before Driver 2 - but I didn’t really like the sonic quality of music up to that point in games so this idea took a while to come to fruition... and thankfully the PS2 really opened things up for me.

Since Driver 2, I’ve scored over 50 games, and produced or chosen music for way over 100 games now... and I’m really pleased to include in that list all the Drivers since Driver 2. I think I understand the swagger of Driver by now... and what’s really nice is that lots of the fans appreciate my original music for the Driver games as much as the other bands music that I select for the games. 

 
The main theme for the latest Driver game is also going back to the roots, offering a new interpretation of the original score. How did you approach the modernization of such an iconic track?

MC: This was a fun track to do... I tried to convey the feel of the original track more than actually copying ideas directly, but you can definitely tell I was influenced.  It was great to really orchestrate some great parts for the brass and strings to play - having those live musicians really breathes life in to the track - and I love that dirty bass guitar sound - it modernises the track ensuring it isn’t just a retro work-out!

The sound of the original theme just doesn’t stand up to what we demand to hear in video games now - and seeing as the game was a bit of a reboot of Driver it was a nice touch to revisit the original vibe - I think it was originally Martin Edmondson’s idea to be honest. I like to think I added a bit more style to the track... but that isn’t ultimately for me to decide - I’ll leave that to the fans.
 

MC: I’ve recorded pretty much all my orchestral/live scores at Abbey Rd. Primarily the team at Abbey Rd are fantastic and the job gets done. Then there’s the sound of the room we used, which was studio 2. This is the room that Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Rolling Stones and many many more bands have used - this room has an amazing ambience, both in sound and in being a special place to work considering its history.

At the end of the session I was tinkling on the same piano John Lennon played Lady Madonna on - that’s a fun way to end any day. Technically Studio 2 just works for the size of band we were recording - it gels the punchy drum sounds and the funky brass so well giving the recording a real detail and life to it. This makes our life easier when we are doing the mix back at our studio.
 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
For Driver San Francisco, you also collaborated with UNKLE on an alternative, darker version of the theme. Can you tell us more about how this came to be and what the experience was like?

MC: There were a few artists shortlisted to collaborate with and the original plan was to get several artists to do their own interpretation and use this throughout the game - but then we decided we wanted a definitive track - and UNKLE have a great knack of combining the live and programmed elements so we asked the band and they loved the idea.

James Lavelle (of UNKLE) popped in to Abbey Rd when we were recording the theme and totally understood what I wanted this collaboration to achieve - I didn’t want a remix, I wanted UNKLE to dissect what I had done and have a lot of fun with it... this would emphasise the later stages of the story in the game. Once I had got my theme to a workable state, I sent it to UNKLE with some notes and waited for the magic. We had a few chats with Pedro (of UNKLE) over the next few weeks but I really didn’t want to interfere too much as I wanted UNKLE’s take on it.

And they nailed it!
 
 
The game soundtrack has been highly praised by the press and players alike. As Music Supervisor, what was your main guiding principle when you started your hunt for cool tracks to bring into the game?

MC: Like I said above, I think I understand the swagger of Driver. It’s a great position to be in really - writing a score then choosing great music that wraps around it all. I think that really helps the cohesiveness of the soundtrack - I would like to be asked to do more of this style of composing and music selecting as it creates 2 things that work together, rather than just having a bolted on soundtrack that can have varying music tastes affecting it. Driver’s music may not be to everyone’s tastes - but you can’t deny that as a body of work it works well in context and adds to the emotional experience that everyone making the game wants to deliver. 
How do I find the music? I get sent lots of music every week... I listen to very random music anyway and therefore stumble across things... and I always keep my ears open. Then I burn it on to a disc - pop it in my car and go and drive very fast somewhere far away. If I get there faster than I should have - it probably gets in to the game. 

 
Are there any specific challenges when composing and selecting music for a driving game compared to other types of games?

MC: Avoiding speed cameras!

He he. Thank you for your time, Marc! And drive safe with that car :)

http://www.nimrodproductions.com/
http://www.marccanham.com/