Entertainment
Bring the Payne
Noise rock unit Health kicks up the pulse for the soundtrack for Max Payne 3
Rockstar Games knows that good stories and immersive music are important ingredients to make a successful game. In Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) players enjoy a mix of hilarious radio stations to accompany gamers on destructive adventures. Red Dead Redemption (2010) used harmonica and whistling tunes to match wide open ranges and the life of John Marston, your typical cowboy traveling with his
Noise rock unit Health kicks up the pulse for the soundtrack for Max Payne 3
Rockstar Games knows that good stories and immersive music are important ingredients to make a successful game. In Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) players enjoy a mix of hilarious radio stations to accompany gamers on destructive adventures. Red Dead Redemption (2010) used harmonica and whistling tunes to match wide open ranges and the life of John Marston, your typical cowboy traveling with his trusty horse. More recently, LA Noire (2011) paired 1947 jazz and blues with the internal struggle of Detective Cole Phelps in the bustling young town of “Hollywoodland.” But in Max Payne 3 you’re not just jumping into the role of gangster, cowboy or detective. Max is older but still quite the badass employed as a personal bodyguard in Brazil, even if in his spare time he’s sinking into the bottom of a bottle. In this chapter comes new musical inspiration from noise-rock band Health, which has nailed the emotional instability that Max is encountering in his mid-life. Health bassist John Famiglietti recently shared his experience and inspirations for the Max Payne 3 soundtrack with CULTURE mere days before the May 23 release of the MP3 soundtrack.
Tell us more about Health. What have you done in the past and how did you end up working on Max Payne 3?
Rockstar simply cold called us, came to see us play live and took us out to lunch, seeing if we’d be interested in scoring Max Payne 3 . . . we jumped at the chance.
What’s it like to create music for a publisher like Rockstar Games, renowned for unique soundtracks in Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption and [my personal favorite] LA Noire?
We’ve nothing but respect for Rockstar, I was a big fan of titles you mentioned (especially Red Dead), and I was seriously impressed with the music and aesthetic of their games. The really amazing thing about working with Rockstar is they wanted us to really do our thing, our sound, and were really supportive if we wanted to try something interesting with the game. We really connected with the music team, both of us really wanted to push things farther and do something unique and special.
What inspirations did you look for when creating the game trailer’s song, “Tears”? Poor Max has been consumed in quite a downward spiral since Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne.
Max’s personal story was a huge influence on the whole score (we envisioned the score as a reflection of Max’s mental and emotional state that would change and evolve level to level). As for “Tears” it was mostly about the balance of having an original Health song (not score), that would get you amped and could also accompany the visual world of the game and not clash.
Do you all plan to play the game when it releases?
Oh, most definitely. I got to play through an early version at the Rockstar offices. It’s amazing.
Considering that there are gamers that consume marijuana and the fact that cannabis is legal for medicinal use in 16 states (soon to be 17—hello, Connecticut!), what is your view on using marijuana for medical use or otherwise?
Legalize it for all use across the board. I can’t imagine it being any more mainstream than it is now—it’s insane it’s still illegal.
Anything else you would like to mention that we haven’t covered?
I think if you had a chart of the rise of the cultural prominence of video games and marijuana, the two progress lines would be parallel.
