SDCC: Star Wars Battlefront I & II - Gordy Haab Interview

Photo Content from Gordy Haab

Gordy Haab is a multi award-winning film, video game and television composer who has written music for many well-known titles, including most recently: Microsoft’s “Halo Wars 2, and EA’s “Star Wars: Battlefront II”, and “Star Wars Battlefront I”, which won Music of the Year, Best Interactive Score, and Best Instrumental Score at the 2016 GDC G.A.N.G. Awards, and was nominated for a BAFTA for Excellence in Audio Achievement. Haab also recently scored Activision/AMC's "The Walking Dead", based on the #1 hit TV series and Microsoft's "Kinect: Star Wars", which won "Best Music" at the Hollywood Music In Media Awards. Haab continues to compose the music for EA and Bioware’s "Star Wars: The Old Republic," for which he was awarded "Best Original Soundtrack" and "Best Instrumental Music" at the 10th Annual GDC G.A.N.G. Awards.

Haab’s music has received the highest praise from numerous industry publications and many of the world’s leading media outlets, including the Huffington Post, who said, “Star Wars Battlefront is sounding better and better everyday...this new Star Wars music will light your saber”. Hardcore Gamer said, “Star Wars Battlefront features the best game score John Williams never wrote”. And the Los Angeles Times said Haab created “the B-side to John Williams’ score”.

Haab is known for his unsurpassed understanding of the orchestra as well as his unique ability to blend contemporary and traditional sounds into one – often times conceiving and creating brand new musical instruments to feature in his scores. He has recorded and conducted his music with orchestras from all around the world, including The London Symphony Orchestra, The San Francisco Symphony, The Nashville Symphony and the Hollywood Studio Orchestra.

A few of Haab's other film, television and video game credits include: Anchor Bay's "Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon"; MTV's "The Truth Below"; Dave Barry's "Guide to Guys"; Lionsgate's "War"; The Oprah Network’s “The Judds”; Roadside Attractions' "Shrink"; TLC's "Little People Big World"; ABC's "Greek"; NBC's "Kath and Kim"; VH-1's "Scream Queens"; Endeavor's "At the Edge of the World"; LucasArts' "Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings", and many others.

Haab is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where he received his master's in Scoring For Motion Pictures, Television and Other Media. Prior, he received a bachelor's degree in Music Composition at Virginia Commonwealth University. While he learned from many composers in university and conservatory settings, Haab says that most of his music education comes simply from, "Playing in 100's of rock bands and being an avid fan of Hitchcock, Kubrick, Lucas and Spielberg films . . . "B" Horror Movies of the 70's and 80's . . . and all of their great scores."

        

Star Wars Battlefront II is an action shooter video game based on the Star Wars film franchise. It is the fourth major installment of the Star Wars: Battlefront series and seventh overall, and a sequel to the 2015 reboot of the series. It was developed by EA DICE, in collaboration with Criterion Games and Motive Studios, and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released worldwide on November 17, 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows.

JBN Journalist, Erik Werlin interviews the team of amazing composers at SDCC.

Nick Soole, Joshua Mosley, Gordy Haab, Selina Wilken, Adam Lastiwka, Tree Adams and Gregory King.
From Left to Right

THE JBN TEAM INTERVIEW WITH GORDY HAAB
JOURNALIST: ERIK WERLIN
LOCATION: COMIC CON, SAN DIEGO, CA

Video: Erik Werlin. Audio/Edit: James Vallesteros (@jamesvallesteros)

Upon release, Battlefront II received mixed reviews from critics. The game was also subject to widespread criticism regarding the status of loot boxes, which could give players substantial gameplay advantages if purchased with real money. A response from EA's community team on Reddit on the topic became the single most downvoted comment in the site's history – and in response, EA decided to temporarily remove microtransactions from the game until a later date. In January 2018, EA announced that the micro-transactions would return "in the next few months". These returning microtransactions are purely cosmetic, do not affect gameplay, and are purchased directly through in-game currency rather than through loot crates.

jbnfilms, jbnmediainterviews, jbnconventions, jbnpastinterviews