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[Interview] Jeff Broadbent Talks Composing ‘I Am Alive’

Published

14 years ago

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JeffBroadbent

Tomorrow sees the release of Ubisoft’s downloadable game I Am Alive and BD Music wants to hype it up just a little bit more by bringing you an exclusive interview with composer Jeff Broadbent. Check it out below!
Don’t forget to download the official I Am Alive app on iTunes. It gives you exclusive hints, a list of all the resources and achievements, and also the O.S.T. including six tracks composed exclusively for the app. 


Bloody-Disgusting: I Am Alive has been in production for almost four years now. At what point did you become attached to the project?
Jeff Broadbent: I began working on I Am Alive in the winter of 2011.  I was in touch with the audio director, Zhang Lei, a couple of months prior to that, and had an opportunity to demo on the game music.  They enjoyed the demo I prepared, and in March of last year I began composing for the game.
BD: If you were to describe I Am Alive as an instrument or specific tone, which would you choose?
JB: That’s a tough one!  But if I had to choose, I would describe it as a heavily-reverberated ambience.  One of the goals when composing was to create subtle, almost atmospheric colors and tones that blend well with the visual scenery and environments.  As such, long, drawn-out, reverb-washed ambient tones would be a fitting description.
BD: I noticed that often times the music reflected the environment. For instance, in the subway, there was a sound of a train horn that bled into the music. Can you tell me a bit more about that?
JB: Sure – in that segment of the game, the player is navigating through subway tunnels to reach his destination.  It’s an environment that is very tense, unpredictable, and unknown.  For the ambient/exploration layer of the music, some of the instruments I used were sounds of metal objects being bowed with a double bass (stringed orchestral instrument) bow.  By adding a good amount of reverb and stretching these elements out, interesting sustained tones are created, that in this case sound similar to a distant train horn.  
BD: I Am Alive is the first game in a long time to actually give me a strong feeling of suspense and apprehension. One of the reasons was that as the stamina level burned down, the music became a warning, increasingly more and more frantic. It made the return to full stamina that much more of a relief because the music seriously abated. This, in turn, made the music itself something to fear. Was that your intention or simply a fortuitous by-product?
JB: The use of tense, disturbing music for when stamina is critically low was definitely a purposeful choice.  The audio director wanted me to compose music for this situation that would create a sense of urgency, and feelings of agitation and apprehension.  In composing this music I used some string techniques in which the performers are plucking or bowing their strings in a variety of rapid and random ways.  This random, unstructured musical approach gives a feeling of tension and unrest, which worked very well in this situation.  
iamalivecover
BD: Did you find that scoring for a downloadable title versus a disc-based release limited you in any way? Or, for that matter, do you feel that it gave you some creative freedom?
JB: In the case of I Am Alive, it was such a high-quality downloadable game that I didn’t feel limited at all.  In addition, the developers were very keen for the game to push creative and gameplay boundaries, so I had a lot of musical freedom while composing.  I believe that the fundamental basis of a great game is its conception, the initial idea from which it evolves.  If this creativity is nurtured, then it will result in a great finished work.
BD: I felt that this game pushed the player to explore, to get to know their surroundings. How do you think that the music worked with that sense of exploration?
JB: I gave a lot of care in composing music that would support the environments of the game, as well as the emotional state of the protagonist as he struggles to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.  The music is intended to blend well with the visuals to create a unified experience.  Though some distinct themes and melodies are present, the score is largely ambient, and is based upon sound textures and rhythms.  This musical approach allows the score to interact with the visuals and environment in a close relationship, with the two working together to create the overall experience.  That was my goal when composing – to support the game, its scenarios, and emotions through the music.
BD: What do you have planned next?
JB: Very soon I’ll begin composing a score for an upcoming game by a major publisher/developer (I can’t say more at this time, but it’s a thrilling project!)  I’m also slated to compose for another undisclosed title later this year, and am in demo process for a couple of other very exciting video games.  In addition to video game scoring, I’m working on some high-energy trailer and action music for a couple of music production companies.



Got any thoughts/questions/concerns for Jonny B.? Shoot him a message on Twitter!
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GUNSHIP Debuts ‘Time After Time’ Music Video Featuring Unseen ‘Whistle’ Footage

Published

2 days ago

on

July 29, 2026

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Whistle Gunship video "Time After Time"

Synthwave outfit GUNSHIP has released a new official music video this morning for their cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” featured on the soundtrack to Corin Hardy’s (The Nun, The Hallow) supernatural horror film Whistle.

To bring it full circle, Corin Hardy directs the music video himself, incorporating previously unseen footage from Whistle. More specifically, the new music video features an extended sequence from the film.

This collaboration builds on GUNSHIP’s longstanding relationship with Hardy, who previously contributed vocals to the band’s track “Cthulhu.”

“Working with Corin is a total dream,” said GUNSHIP. “He’s an old friend who we bonded with over our love for cinema and music, and we were honored to have our song featured in the film. After the Whistle premiere, we were chatting over a pint, and he told us about a beautiful pseudo ‘one shot’ sequence he was heartbroken to lose in the final film. We suggested resurrecting it and using it as a music video. Corin got it immediately, and the result is perfect. It’s heartbreaking, haunting and pure 80s noir soaked.”

Corin Hardy added: “I wanted Whistle to feel like a horror movie I might have watched around the late 1980s, alongside films like A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Lost Boys, and The Breakfast Club. Films steeped in teen-angst and heightened feelings. Music was such a huge part of creating the romance of those cinematic worlds. Gunship’s synth-drenched cover of Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Time After Time’ was always top of my list. Their unique heart-on-your-sleeve sound was the perfect choice for a key moment in the movie. To come together post-release and create this extended music video is simply the cherry on top. Dan, Al & Al (Gunship) have provided the film a real companion piece in the world of Whistle… it makes me want my MTV again!”

It’s a fitting collaboration, as music serves a narrative purpose in Whistle. Music, the director told Bloody Disgusting, was a means of immersing viewers in this world and its characters’ perspectives. Hardy even touched on this particular track: “So in a way, the music you’ll listen to is effectively what Chrys is listening to, which is her dad’s record collection. Then there are other songs like the Gunship track, which is a Cyndi Lauper cover, which is more like Rel’s [Sky Yang] music. It comes in when we have a sequence in Rel’s romantic heartbreak moment. So yeah, I made a character list of who might be listening to what.”

Whistle sees a misfit group of unwitting high school students confronted with mortality when they blow a cursed Aztec Death Whistle, setting a terrifying chain of events in motion.

Dafne Keen (Logan, “The Acolyte“), Sophie Nélisse (“Yellowjackets”), Sky Yang (Rebel Moon), Jhaleil Swaby (“Supergirl”), Ali Skovbye (Grizzly Night, “Firefly Lane”), Percy Hynes White (“Wednesday”), Michelle Fairley (“Game of Thrones”), and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead).

The supernatural teen horror movie is available to stream on Shudder now.

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