GDC 2023 Recap
Man, what a trip this has been. A lot of times, these conventions and conferences just feel like a whirlwind in the best way and this one was no different. Well, except that there was one day literally with hurricane-force winds.
In short, I got to reconnect with friends (Sydney, Jesse, Bert Chang, Mason, Nate, Grant, Danimal, Jillian, and so many more), got to meet people in real life for the first time like Cody Mathew Johnson, Alec Shea, Jeff Rona, Emanuel Lagumbay, Noa Beasley, Joel Santos, met new friends (Rotem, Min He, Kt, Andy Jacobs), and even got to meet game industry folk I’d known about and looked up to Garry Schyman, Andrew (outer wilds), Morla, Double Fine Guy. And so many more.
There were multiple highlights for me. One was getting to participate in the music Demo Derby for the first time. I’d watched a bunch of youtube videos of past events where a panel of industry game composers review 1-minute snippets of music and give comments. I submitted a 1-minute edit of Star Forge from STRAYLIGHT and got great positive and insightful feedback from the panel (Jason Graves, Jason Hayes, Will Roget II, Paul Lipson) as well as members of the audience. They really seemed to like it and I felt submission stood out. It was also great to hear what other composers were doing too.
Another huge highlight was getting to perform at the Game Audio Network Guild awards in front of an audience of the best composers and audio folk in the industry. As people found their seats I played my arrangements of video game music, setting an upbeat mood and hopefully making people turn their heads thinking things like “Oh, he’s playing Mega Man 2! Wait, is that from Rygar?” Additionally, the week prior I was asked to create an original arrangement from the music of Moss: Book II which was the winner of Best Audio for an Indie Game. I performed that as well in the middle of the ceremony.
I almost didn’t go to GDC. It’s expensive - the pass, the flight, hotels (especially when you book only a month in advance). I’d already taken three trips this year. No one else from the STRAYLIGHT team was going and initially, I wasn’t booked to perform or present (which is my usual impetus for going to a con.) But with the release of the game and the soundtrack, and with having been nominated for my first G.A.N.G. award, I thought this was as good a time as any to go.
Well, I’m extremely glad I did! Not only did I have a great time, I wouldn’t have gotten booked to perform if I hadn’t reached out saying I would be there. And Save Point and I ended up tying with ROZEN + REVEN for the award that we were nominated for - Best Game Music Cover! This was totally unexpected. Earlier in the day I did entertain the thought of what would I say if I had to give a thank-you speech. Well, I’d certainly thank my collaborator Save Point who asked me to be a part of his Super Mario 64 lo-fi album concept. I’d certainly acknowledge Koji Kondo, the composer of the original soundtrack. And considering the audience in the room, I’d thank all game composers for supporting and encouraging us in the VGM cover scene to continue to perform and recreate the music we love and to do a small part in helping their music live on. I was nervous but that’s pretty much how it went! :)
The final day was more relaxed. And I got to check out a bit more of the expo floor. Afterwards I got to meet up with fellow music streamer, JoyceLeeMusic who was working at GDC! We had lovely chat and it was great to meet up. Later on I met up with my friend and Twitch mod GipsonLens for the Double Fine Studios bar crawl. I got to meet and hang with several game devs there and just had a great time.
And top it all off, I had an overnight layover in Seattle. I made the most of that by meeting up with two other music streamers SarahMahoneyMusic and TrevorOwensMusic and we did a joint stream on Saturday night. That was a blast. They gave me a place to crash and a ride to the airport in the morning.
This was such a fun and inspiring trip. I very much look forward to coming back next year!