![]() Think of it like a translation effort from what you see visually to how it can be represented through sound,” continues Penkin. “I try to sonically identify the anime or the game. Often it begins with Penkin receiving the source material or any relevant imagery. The process of composing music for an anime or a video game is a unique and involved one. “Making music for a v ideo game or anime is an interesting way to express yourself through contributing to something that is inherently greater than yourself,” he says. Some VGM composers that Penkin admires are the likes of Darren Korb who composed the tracks behind the games Bastion and Transistor, and Ludvig Forssell who composed the soundtrack for Death Stranding. The commonality between them all is that they rely on a harmonious and symbiotic relationship between music and the media. Penkin cites Early Romantic Era plays and tone poems as examples of this form of music. It refers to music that one produces for another medium. Video game music might seem like a left-of-field genre of music to specialize in, but media composition has been around for a very long time. Sometimes silence can be the perfect setting to write music.” But step further into the countryside and there’s nowhere else in the world that captures the feeling ‘middle of nowhere’. “There are places like Melbourne and Hobart which provide wonderful settings to feel inspired. “I’ve never been happier to be writing music in Australia,” he says. While much of his work does originate from Japan, Penkin loves having his base of operations in Australia. While studying music, he also studied Japanese, which he notes has been exceptionally helpful, especially when working with Japanese industries. The transition to becoming a professional video game and anime music composer was just something that developed with time and perseverance,” says Penkin.įrom the age of 18 onwards, the composer would spend an entire year saving up money to visit Japan during the Australian summer vacation period purely to network and to expose his compositions to the right individuals. Growing up, I knew this was what I wanted to do but there was no self-awareness of the financial consequences of pursuing such a specific genre. “It’s been a combination of pure luck and a lot of hard hours to get to where I am today. His career led him to become a BAFTA-nominated and award-winning video game and anime composer who can proudly etch his name on the musical scores of world-renowned titles such as Made in Abyss and Tower of God. Today, Penkin’s name reverberates throughout the VGM and anime industry, just as much as his music does. Penkin quickly realized the kind of music he wanted to play and it matched that of the classical greats. It wasn’t until he received his first home console, a Game Cube, along with Metroid Prime that he became exposed to video game music (VGM). ![]() Born in the UK but raised in Australia, he started off his musical journey as a flutist around the age of 7 and played classical pieces. It was always music or nothing for Kevin Penkin. ![]()
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