26-03-2025
Gordy Haab: 'Soundtrack Festivals Are A Chance For People To Step Into A World Previously Held By The Classical Elite'
Gordy Haab photographed at the LSF Games Day as part of the London Soundtrack Festival on Sunday 23 ... More March 2025 at The Roundhouse, . . Photo by Tina Korhonen / Juile Edwards / London Soundtrack Festival © 2025
Gordy Haab is sitting at a desk in his dimly lit Los Angeles-based studio. Behind him, a picture of an Imperial Star Destroyer from Star Wars looms. It's a symbol of inspiration for him, having grown up with George Lucas's influential space opera. But the image also represents the weight of expectation the 49-year-old composer feels; after all, he's built a career writing music for video games based on film franchises like Star Wars and Indiana Jones, both of which feature iconic soundtracks composed by his musical hero, John Williams.
'So many people love the music from those original films. I have to deliver something with the same level of quality [as those movies when writing for the games] or I'll upset billions of fans' Haab says frankly, adding that stepping into the shoes of Williams - who also worked on films like Jaws and Jurassic Park - is a daunting prospect.'One might think it'd get easier, but it never does. It's still just as overwhelming now as it was on the first project I worked on' he explains.
That debut project was 2009's Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, an adventure game that saw Indy flying across the globe to scupper the Nazi's nefarious plans. Riddled with anxiety and concerned the pressure of reinventing a score made famous by his idol would hamper his own creativity, Haab needed to find a mindset to alleviate the pressure. 'John's music inspired me to become a composer in the first place. I just had to remind myself that writing music like that is natural to me because it's what I love' he says.
Composer John Williams is one of Haab's musical heroes.
It'd be easy to just make a pastiche to John Williams on the franchises he's worked on, Haab ponders, but instead he explains that borrowing elements of his music and adding a unique spin to it has worked best. 'As a fan of those franchises myself, I imagined listening to the scores of these games and if I just heard a John Williams soundalike, I'd be disappointed' he says.
Haab's commitment to retaining his own style has worked as he's gone on to write music for myriad games in the 16 years since, from the likes of Halo Wars 2 and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor to 2024's Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. The latter celebrated the world premiere of its live rendition at last Sunday's inaugural London Soundtrack Festival, where it closed the show dedicated to gaming music to rapturous applause.
The festival may have been a first for England's capital city, but it's emblematic of a wider trend occurring across the country. Orchestral concerts featuring soundtracks from either films, television shows or video games make up more than 50% of all gigs in the UK since 2018, according to a 2024 report by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Audiences at orchestral concerts are more diverse, according to Haab. Photo by Tina Korhonen / Juile ... More Edwards / London Soundtrack Festival © 2025
Haab isn't surprised by those statistics. 'There's so much artistry and craftsmanship going into music in games' he says. 'Soundtrack festivals are a unique chance for people to step into a world that used to be held explicitly by the classical elite' Haab continues, adding that audiences at orchestral concerts are now more diverse, featuring not just those interested in classical music, but more generalised fans of things like Star Wars and horror movies.
The composer believes that the rise is also caused by the deep connection people form with video games. 'People invest so much time into games. Some of these experiences are 50 hours long and that's quite a commitment; it becomes a part of your life. Going to a concert and hearing music from the game brings back all of the fun you had playing it' he says.
