It\u2019s one of the most iconic musical themes in pop culture history: a plucky guitar riff that explodes into a symphony of brass. You probably know it well, even if you\u2019ve never seen a James Bond movie or played a 007 game. And now the iconic Bond theme is back in the spotlight thanks in no small part to video game music veterans The Flight. I spoke with the duo, composed of bandmates Alexis Smith and Joe Henson, ahead of the release of IO Interactive’s 007 First Light to talk about the challenges of building a new score around such a classic theme and the surprising lack of rules they encountered while scoring the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main thing from IO Interactive was to hold back those [big orchestral] moments to give it to the player when he’s earned it,\u201d Henson says. \u201cOther than that, we weren’t being pushed into any boxes. There definitely wasn’t a style guide that came in from outside saying, \u2018This is how you should use this.\u2019 Sonically, how we used that main theme, there weren’t really any rules.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe game is split into different locations, and we gave each of these locations a sound,\u201d Smith says. \u201cBond is brass, Bond is strings. But we, being The Flight, are always trying to push modernity as well because this is a modern take on Bond. So we’ve got to use electronics, use synths and stuff like that in a tasteful way. I feel that is kind of our specialty.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n007 First Light screenshots<\/h3>\n