Words by Joe Williams

Back in 2013, The Last of Us was released on the PS3, and the very concept of what gaming could be was completely redefined by a single title.

Groundbreaking and dynamic gameplay, a unique post-apocalyptic setting, a rich ensemble of three-dimensional characters and a profoundly moving tale of loss, love and violence — The Last of Us offered us more than a video game had any right to. But it boasted one more thing still, an element of the game that would become synonymous with the game itself; Gustavo Santaolalla’s score mesmerised millions of gamers, winning universal acclaim, a BAFTA nomination and ‘Excellence in Musical Score’ at the 2014 SXSW Gaming Awards.

Choosing to evoke genuine emotion rather than the simple response of fear — a significant and bold artistic choice for what was, on paper, a survival-horror game — Santaolalla’s soundtrack was a thing of sparse, haunting, melancholic beauty, which both perfectly captured and perfectly set the atmosphere for a broken world and the tale of Joel and Ellie.

Ten years (and a video-game sequel) later, Gustavo Santaolalla’s iconic music has been introduced to millions more thanks to Craig Mazin & Neil Druckmann’s much-lauded adaptation for HBO. We spoke to him about the process of shifting from game to TV, why the franchise resonated with him in the first place and the everlasting, medium-spanning power of the story of The Last of Us.

First of all, congratulations — it’s an incredible score, and it’s so exciting that millions of people get to hear it on TV.

Gustavo: Thank you so much. It’s been an amazing ride – a journey that started more than ten years ago. The game came out nearly a decade ago, and I started working on it two years prior, so that’s around twelve years I’ve been involved with the project and I’ve certainly seen it grow and expand… and all because of the power of the story, you know? The story is fantastic and the music really was inspired by that - the story and the characters.

Did you know you’d be involved with the TV Show from the start?

I would have thought so! Because the music is part of the DNA of The Last of Us. If you didn’t have the same music, there’d be at least a hundred million people that would be super upset because the relationship that they have with the music of the game is like something I’ve never experienced before. I’ve been in this world of music since I was a kid, and I’ve been lucky and blessed to collect fans along the way for all the different things that I did in my career, but the kind of appreciation that the fans of the game have for the music is truly something different… It's very, very strong. I think if you didn’t have this music, it would have been like taking Joel or Ellie out of the story! People would have complained, I think. The first thing that happened, when they announced the show, was a lot of people messaged me saying “I hope they still use your music”. It was amazing!

Do you have a particular creative process?

There are many things that I do — I produce other artists, I have several projects on my own — but in the movies, I work in an unusual way compared to the ‘industry standards’: I write a lot of music before anything gets filmed, just by inspiration from the story and characters. I always like to tell the story about Brokeback Mountain because it’s the biggest example. All of the score for Brokeback Mountain — all of it — was composed before anything was filmed.

That’s really interesting because lots of composers will not touch an instrument until they’ve got the image on screen.

Well, Ang Lee [director of Brokeback Mountain] actually told me he used to listen prior to going and shooting in the day, and he’d play it to the actors too. When I saw the first rough cut of the film, it was spooky because the music was just perfect, it just fit in so well… and Ang, he said he had used the music to help build up the narrative, used it as a tool to build the movie in the edit. 

That must be nice for you to watch the rough cut and not have to listen to temp music.

Oh, I hate temp music! First of all, there’ll be music that the directors or producers are just so in love with that it’ll be impossible to reach the same emotion. Second, you find yourself just trying to imitate, without copying completely — it’s awful, I don’t like to work that way. Most of the films I’ve worked with, if not all, have had a big percentage of the music composed before filming. When I came to work on the game, it was the protocol: the images and stuff — you get it at the very end of the process when they render everything. So, I gave Neil batches of themes and music for almost three years. Something really nice happened, when Neil came in one day and said “You know, I wrote a new scene in the game, entirely inspired by your music.” So that was very much like how I work with movies. The themes of the music are already there, the colour, the instrumentation, the fabric — all of it’s there by the time you start to edit. Then when we got to the show, it was the same thing, because the music had already been created for the game! How could you change the main theme of The Last of Us? It would have been ridiculous because it is a part of the story. 

Did you record any new compositions for the show?

Of course – we recorded some new stuff and some revisitions of those classic themes.

How did you approach adapting such a singular score for a live-action, TV adaptation?

Well, some pieces really just worked perfectly from the game. They were created for that story. But some things you always need to trim and edit for a particular scene. So, when I write music, I do it in an abstract way, based on inspiration – I haven’t yet seen the characters or the casting — so I’m just writing the motifs, the melodies, the harmonies, the ambience. Then, when you get to a scene, you have to make a certain sound happen when let’s say, a character opens a door, or gets in a car — you have to turn that into a cue. Although there’s always an art form behind it, there’s some stuff that’s more a craft than an art thing. There’s an element of that when you score. At least in my case, the way I see it — once you’re putting the music together with the scene, it’s like ‘now you have to build a chair, now you have to build a table’. 

I don’t think it’s very often that you’d hear an artist being so honest about how part of the creative process is a lot like labour.

It’s labour, exactly. I think in that case, at least for me, it’s very important you have the creation of a team: I don’t do that only by myself. One of the things I really love about the film universe is that it’s such a collective effort. When you look at the end of the movie, and all those credits come by, you see all the things that could have gone wrong! There are so many things involved and I think in a score like this, the team that I work with is so important.

How did you find collaborating with David Fleming on the TV Show?

That was a great collaboration. Even though we didn’t work in the same room, there was a huge exchange of data. He worked a lot with samples, using specific sounds and things that I think made the music for the show really coherent. I think the work that David has done is really, really good. It’s hard to come to The Last of Us universe and try to do something that’s not going to sound totally out of place, you know? Collaborating with David was a really unique experience for me.

On the topic of sampling, is that a technique you’re particularly interested in working with for your compositions?

I’m interested in everything, there could be a moment for every tool – I don’t discard any techniques, but usually, when I’m approached to do a score, the director is after something more organic. So even if I use sampling, or sometimes when I use electronic stuff, I do it in such a way that it’s organic and it flows, and you’re never going to say “Oh, that’s electronic music”. However, now I’m doing a score for a German series for Netflix, called Liebes Kind, and in that there’s a very clear combination of electronic music and classical stuff. But up until now, even though there’s obviously been sampling and stuff, or electronic grooves, it’s always very organic and would be probably hard to tell.

What was it like having the additional creative input of Craig Mazin when working on the score for The Last of Us show?

It was great. One of the things I liked about The Last of Us show was that it reinforced the importance of the story. It wasn’t a ‘remake’. It was a re-telling of a great tale, like a Shakespeare play — you can do it in animation, you can do it on stage, you can do it with puppets — it’s always gonna be that great story. One of the great things Craig did with the TV series was the expansion of the characters, particularly in the case of Bill and Frank. Then with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, they are faces for The Last of Us that we are not used to, and yet you don’t miss it! Obviously, it’s because they’re super well cast, but again, it’s the power of the story and the characters. Another great thing about the collaboration with Craig was the writing - having these characters developed and moving in a medium that flows in a different way from the video game. To distil that story into an episodic narrative, yet also bring in new elements that have shocked people around the world! It’s amazing because, thanks to Craig and Neil, now we have an audience that loves the series but maybe hates video games, a portion of people who are really into the story but who would have never touched a game.

Do you play video games?

No, I don’t know how to play, but I always loved to watch! I love to watch people playing. Especially when we started on The Last of Us, and my son was in the middle of his teen years, so he was really into it and was a very good player. And my buddies in the band, Bajofondo, all play Fifa on PlayStation, and I used to watch them play just as if I was watching a football match on TV! I could never play, I’m terrible, but watching my son, it always came to mind the idea of connecting to a player on an emotional level.

I used to think “Man, the moment somebody connects to a player on an emotional level, that’s going to be really special.” So this is something I already had in my mind. After that incredible blessing, which I still can’t fully believe, of winning two Oscars in a row, I was approached by several video game companies. But I knew what I wanted. I’m very picky about the stuff that I get involved with and none of those projects reverberated with me. But then I met Neil, and it was exactly what I wanted -  not necessarily the story, but that pure idea of connecting with a player on that emotional level. Then the game came out and we learned people were crying!

What was the experience like of jumping into the video game space? Were there any differences to scoring film?

Not really. The part that has to do with the action and all that, I really didn’t do that. I did the music that had to do with the spirit of the story and the characters - which is just the same as how I approach film music. It was the craftsmen doing the other stuff. Actually – there were some people at PlayStation, programmers, who did some incredible stuff with that first game. They created this way of using stems of the music;  a programme which actually moved the stems of the music around in the game depending on how long you stayed in a certain area. You could be somewhere on the map for three hours, or however long, but the music is never going to repeat! So there was great work from the programming people too, which you didn’t get working on movies.

When you get a new project to work on, how do you approach the composition? Do you have an ideal environment for creativity?

Basically, I want a peaceful place where I can work, that’s all I need. Some people work with things that are more powerful or epic, or some people work with some great kinetic stuff, but usually my forté I think resides in the emotion my music can create. So I need to be in a good place internally. After taking a break, perhaps after doing a small meditation or something, I like to help create my own world too. Also having some instrument at hand - one that I know how to play, and hopefully one or two that I don’t know how to play, because I love to get my hands on things that I don’t know how to play because they take me to other places. And then there is silence, which is another incredibly important component of my compositions. I do believe in this theory of art being 80% preparation and 20% inspiration. I always like to quote Picasso, he said “I hope inspiration finds me working.” I don’t believe in being laid down in bed, waiting until some genius idea comes to mind. I believe in just working and working, and eventually, that special something you’ve been looking for will come to you. Sometimes I can just wake up and there’s something in my head ready to put down, and other times I’m working for a long time until I get that inspiration. But it always happens! Sooner or later, it always happens.