Image credit: Christo Herriot
Artist Luminist released his newest album Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree (Original Soundtrack) under Infinite Hex on the 27th of January. Luminist’s music has enjoyed a spot on the YouTube channel Summoning Salt. Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree (Original Soundtrack) is saturated in melodies that speak directly to the soul. Every track flows effortlessly into each other, bubbling gently with respective subtleties to establish song differences but adhering to the melodic orientation that appears to originate from the soul of the world and tells a story about wisdom and courage that was kept a secret for thousands of years by nature. Read the full interview with Luminist below.
Stream/ buy: Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree (Original Soundtrack)
What did you learn as a musician during the making of Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree (Original Soundtrack)?
I learned that making music for a video game is quite different to making music for a regular album. The player will hear the same thing looped over and over again, sometimes for more than 10 or 20 minutes!
To that end, I learned to make music that didn’t get in the way of the player’s concentration while solving a puzzle or walking through a town – but still included a little something special to immerse them in the space, and catch their ear every now and again.
Boss battles were a different story – I went all out with those, to make things as intense as possible!
What inspired the title of the song?
If we’re talking about “A Horrible Secret”, I can’t reveal the exact inspiration as it’s a story spoiler for the game.
However, let’s say somebody hasn’t been exactly truthful about why they need your help – and if you make the right choice in a certain moment of the game, you’ll uncover this horrible secret.
Tell us about the first time you decided to become a musician
I kind of fell into it, being in a choir as a kid – but I remember begging my mum for a guitar after listening to The Strokes as a teenager! That was definitely a turning point – I used to spend up to 5 hours a day practising guitar in my later teens. My poor hands!
When performing a live set, do you allow your music to change to the tone of the room or do you rather use your music as a tool to change the tone?
I’m definitely more of a studio musician – at least at the moment!
If you were told that today was your last day on earth, what would you do?
Pat all the dogs, and eat too much peanut butter chocolate
Describe a typical day in your studio space.
Usually, looking for that one specific cable that I can’t find, but it’s somewhere! Where did I put that old dynamic microphone? The order of instruments on this shelf looks weird!
It’s usually kind of haphazard – I’ll start the day with a coffee, looking at Twitter for interesting game projects that might need a composer, listening to some new music to get my brain going, or messing around with my recently acquired Moog DFAM. Lately, I’ve been recording sample libraries to use in tracks later on, when I just want some good sounds ready to go.
How do you find inspiration for your sound?
All sorts of ways! The biggest of course is just consuming new music as much as possible, as well as other art forms. Though, even something seemingly unconnected like walking through nature can play a part – we live close to a public garden full of huge old trees and tropical flowers, and you can see the Sydney Harbour from most of the vantage points. That kind of thing really inspires me lately.
What is your favourite part of being a musician?
The fact that I can take people on an emotional journey with my music. I occasionally get messages from people saying how my music has impacted their day or week, and it’s really heartening and humbling.
What can we expect from you in the near future?
I’m working on some new tracks at the moment that will surely become an EP or album – but I’m also on the lookout for the next game soundtrack project!
Follow Luminist:
Twitter – Soundcloud – Youtube – Instagram – Spotify
