Quick Beats: Grant Kirkhope on How Batman Inspired Banjo-Kazooie
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Throughout the Nintendo Life Video Game Music Festival, we spoke with a variety of songwriters and musicians for a mix of in-depth interviews and shorter, sharper (and perhaps a little dumber) Q&A in which we just do ten quick personal questions; We call these shorter functions “Quick Beats.”
Today we speak with a musical teacher and personal hero, Mr. Grant Kirkhope from Banjo-Kazooie, GoldenEye 007, Viva Piñata and Mario + Rabbids, and much more, of course. This Rare veteran during his golden years of N64 has an enviable back catalog, but began his career at VGM after several years playing in bands and touring with some of the biggest names in rock history.
You may notice that this Quick Beats is a bit longer than average, that’s because it’s taken from a longer conversation we had with Grant a few weeks ago. We go a bit off track here discussing movie soundtracks and more, but Grant is such good company that we think you will enjoy a bit of this in particular. longest heartbeat.
And you can expect even more from our conversation soon. In the meantime, let’s find out which precious object Kirkhope would save from his home, and much more …
What was the first song or album you remember buying?
What was the last music you listened to?
It was yesterday and it was John Williams Jurassic Park. [laughs]
What was the first video game you wrote music for and how do you feel listening to it now?
It was GoldenEye, the first game I ever worked on. And I like. The quality of the sample is a bit rough and all that because I had a short memory. But considering that I’d only been at Rare for two or three months to get to work on the Bond game, and that it was so ridiculously successful, it’s an absolute fluke. I count my lucky stars!
Which piece of yours are you most proud of?
I always change my mind. I always used to say Bedtime Story from Viva Piñata 2, because that’s the last piece the orchestra played when we did the recording session. I knew I was going to leave Rare. It was super sad. It is a sad melody. I poured my heart into it Long live Piñata games, especially the last one because he was going to leave Rare. I remember coming out of the recording studio, I tried to go thank the orchestra and I remember saying, and they are all Czechs, from Prague, “I just want to say thank you” and I burst into tears. How do you know, [blubbers] Kind of thing.
But things like Mid Boss Mayhem from Rabbids Kingdom Battle – that’s always the first on my Spotify playlist when I look at my results. I remember him because he is very Banjo-Kazooie and Davide [Soliani] He is a huge Banjo fan. I wanted to write something that was pretty much Banjo-Kazooie style.
There are many others I could choose from, I’ll say those two for now.
What piece by someone else would you have liked to have written?
Probably anything from John Williams, because he would be an absolute legend. But I guess something like … I love all Harry Potter soundtracks, those three soundtracks. They are way above anyone else for such things.
Yes. I’d say probably Harry Potter, the first. The music is just awesome, fantastic. When I was making Kingdom of Amalur, I listened to those three soundtracks in my car, I’m not lying, every day for four years making that game. Every morning, going to work in the morning, leaving work at night, I listened to those soundtracks. My wife was pulling her hair out and saying, “Turn off the damn Harry Potter, will you? I’m sick of listening.” I was trying to learn how to incorporate the magic of John Williams into the music of Amalur. Because for the pieces of the big boss They are quite elaborate, I was trying to work out … I’m not saying I did it, but I did the best I could.
What do you listen to while driving?
I just bought a Tesla Model 3, finally bought a new car! – and it has Spotify, so I have a little playlist there. It’s kind of a mix of metal, pop and orchestral soundtracks. That’s what I listen to most of the time. I love AC / DC. As I say, the first AC / DC album. Queen, pure heart attack it’s a great album for me. Judas Priest. All of that is there. John Williams. Alan Silvestri’s Avengers Stuff, I like the Avengers stuff. Return to the future – fantastic. That kind of things.
You reach a certain age and your taste for music does not grow any more … I am very bad at liking new music. I will hate it almost on principle
That’s kind of my playlist. I think we are all the same. You reach a certain age and your taste in music doesn’t grow any more. I feel like most people are the same. You stay in your teens, early 20s in some ways. I’m very bad at liking new music. I will hate it almost on principle and I will like it five years later. A friend of mine used to love [Queen] and i used to go shit shit. s ***! ‘, but I love them. Same with Night wish; Ah, garbage! Love them now. It takes five years later before I hear it and say, ‘Oh yeah, it’s good.’ I’m always like this.
And my daughter is 15 years old. He listens to pop music, but he’s definitely on the alt side because my wife and I are like that. She likes Tyler the creator. He’s a rapper, but I have no idea what he sounds like. But he also likes 80s rock. [laughs] That is our fault. He likes heavy metal. She likes Billie eilish. I think Billie Eilish is talented, she writes different music, she’s different.
But your more pop stuff, I feel like the chorus just died. There are no choruses anymore. It’s kind of like a meandering track with a beat, but there’s no real ‘here comes the chorus’. I am known for writing melodies because I like to write catchy choruses. That is what I like to do. It’s weird, I feel like it just faded away. It just doesn’t happen anymore. Where have the hooks gone?
Do you have a musical hero?
I remember when I first went to Rare, I was so massively on Elfman’s kick that it bled into Banjo.
John Williams for definitive. Danny Elfman. I feel like over the years I’ve had … that Eddie Van Halen is a musical hero of mine, and then meeting him, which was fantastic … When he died it was super sad. I really felt it because in those six weeks that we spent [on tour with Van Halen] made a difference in my life. He changed my life in those six weeks just talking to me, acknowledging that I existed.
I saw something on Twitter that Wolf, his son, was saying something. Eddie gave guitars to a lot of people, because he was a super nice man. It really was. And a lot of people sold their guitars to make money [following his death in October 2020] because they had gone up like $ 10,000 almost instantly. I just provoked him and I tweeted him saying, ‘Hey Wolf, you don’t know who I am. Your father made a big difference in my life. ‘ [see tweets below]… and he responded by saying, ‘I had no idea. You made a big difference in me life!’
I almost burst into tears. I could not believe it. His son, little Wolf Van Halen, played my things while I loved his father! I just felt like it has perfect symmetry. I just thought, Eddie Van Halen must have heard Wolf play the game from time to time. Maybe some of the music I wrote reached Eddie’s ears. It’s just brilliant for me.
Which decade had the best music?
I feel like movie soundtracks, probably from the eighties and nineties. Because you have all the works of John Williams in Star Wars, Back to the Future by Alan Silvestri, Rambo, Rocky. All those massive scenes that we can’t forget. Look at the time we are in now, which of the themes from the movie can you remember? Probably none. I can remember the Avengers because Alan Silvestri is an old school songwriter who writes a melody. I can’t remember any of the other Marvel stuff.
[NL blabbers about admiring Batman Begins but not being able to remember any theme from it.] I think Hans Zimmer did … did Nolan Batman?
Yes, he did all three.
It’s Hans Zimmer, it’s huge! But I just … I just miss something about that Elfman like …
The first orchestral score I bought was a Batman soundtrack. When I went to see the first Batman movie with Michael Keaton, when that movie starts and the camera turns around the logo, you get it. durrr-duh-duh-durrrrr-duh [hums the 1989 Batman theme], I just shit. Like, ‘Damn hell!’ It blew my balls, that. I went to see that movie five times in the theater because I loved it. His score was unbelievably shockingly brilliant.
when that movie starts and the camera rotates around the logo, and you get that durrr-duh-duh-durrrrr-duh [hums the 1989 Batman theme], I just shit …
I remember when I first went to Rare, I was so massively on Elfman’s kick that it bled into Banjo. As the Mad monster mansion chord sequence, I took it from Danny Elfman because I loved it. It’s the moment in the first Batman movie when the Batwing crashes and slides up the steps of the cathedral. There’s a little chord sequence, it only happens twice in that movie, I’ve never heard him use it anymore, I was like, ‘This is a fantastic chord sequence!’ He touches it while walking towards the cathedral and he touches it when he is inside going up the stairs. The chords, I just thought ‘OMG!’ and I’ve used them a trillion times. It’s in everything I write, that little chord sequence.
For me, there is only one Batman theme and that’s it. Apart from the 60’s. ‘Batmaaan el-el-el’ [sings].
The one that surpasses them all! Yes … in the last 20 years, scores sometimes seem simply functional rather than memorable.
They are gigantic, massive and epic, right? But nothing remarkable. That is what I find. You go into the theater, it’s exciting. And when you go out, you don’t remember a note. When i’m awake looking pirates of the CaribbeanAh fantastic! There are a billion songs on Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s big and punchy, but there are tons of tunes you can remember. Why isn’t that happening anymore? You have this Marvel franchise. Should be bleeding topics you can remember. It really should be …
Anyone can sing Back to the Future – these are fitting tunes that will last forever. Why don’t we have it now? the [soundtrack] Not only does it have to contain wall-to-wall melodies, but at the key moments, let’s do it! Let’s have that triumphant thing when it happens.
Ocarina, harp or bongos: what magical instrument do you embark on an epic adventure?
Do I have to choose one of those three or something?
You are Grant Kirkhope; If you want something else I’m sure we can accommodate you.
It would have to be a harp because you can play more notes on it. You can do more with it. Bongos, you have to hit them. Ocarina doesn’t have many notes, but a harp has many notes so you can write more things.
If your house caught fire and you only had time to grab a memory before fleeing to safety with your family, what would you take with you?
I think I should take my Eddie guitar. That would be the one I take. Also, I want the family photos and such, but now I have them all online. I have endorsed them all. But I think Eddie’s guitar would be my pride and joy.
Many thanks to Grant for speaking with us. You can expect more from our interview soon. In the meantime, follow him on Twitter. @grantkirkhope.
Be sure to check out our other Quick Beats interviews with people like fellow Rare Legend David Wise, Austin Wintory, Yuzo Koshiro, Darren Korb, Manami Matsumae, Jake Kaufman, Lena Raine, Harumi Fujita and more, and be sure to read more interviews and reports that have been part of the Nintendo Life VGM Fest.
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