In a sea of underrated monster-taming video games, game composer Joel Baylis seeks to breathe life into the genre with his tracks.
Composer Joel Baylis has done work for Bytten Studios, an indie video game studio well-known for Cassette Beasts. This monster-taming game has a robust 80’s-inspired soundtrack and some extremely interesting game mechanics. In a genre that is all but dominated by the Pokémon franchise, Joel, his brother Jay, and the rest of Bytten Studios seeks to breathe new life in the genre. We got a chance to interview Joel in anticipation for the downloadable content for Cassette Beasts, titled Pier of the Unknown. Here’s what he had to say!
The Interview With Joel Baylis
How did the style of music used in Cassette Beasts change over time during the production of the game?
Originally there was intended to be more of an emphasis on the whole 80s nostalgia thing. Though, since 80s nostalgia has been done to death over the last decade, we wanted to do it in a way that was a bit fresh. It inspired the choice of synth and drum sounds, but ultimately didn’t end up having much of a presence in the soundtrack beyond that. Though, I think that’s ultimately what gives the OST a unique, identifiable sound. We ended up with this strange modern-synth-rock-ballad-ass type of music that was a result of me doing my own thing writing with guitars and rock vocals, but then also remembering to jam in a bunch of retro synths as to still be able to vaguely point at that era of time.
What did it take to bring on talent like Shelby Harvey to provide vocals for the tracks? What was that process like?
Well for one it definitely helped that she was living with me and was my girlfriend at the time. We didn’t intend to use her originally, we had someone else lined up but it didn’t seem to work out, their vocal style didn’t really fit what I was going for. So when it came to the question of “okay well, who do we use then?” I had an easy solution. Shelby’s an incredible singer but most importantly her voice really seems to fit the over-the-top, video game rock style I was going for. We gave her a test run and the guys loved it so we just kept using her and it seemed to definitely pay off because we saw a great reaction to her voice from the fans of the game. People should definitely check out her music on Spotify because her own music is terrific. It’s also very helpful that we ended up getting married, no one has to worry about a break-up ruining the chances of her returning in the future!
How do you believe the music of Cassette Beasts adds to the overall enjoyment and energy of the game? What does it have that other games do not generally provide?
That’s a tough one. I think one of the things is that I tend to write game music in a very not game-music way. I tend to write them like a song, with verse-chorus structures, rather than loops; I think this is something that gives the OST an album feel to it. It also means there’s a butt tonne of content, musically. More so than a lot of indie games at our scale, I think. I do reckon the decision to use vocal tracks in the game is a big thing that makes it stand out. A lot of other games do it, but rarely games that look like ours. At first, I wasn’t too sure about the inclusion of vocals. Honestly, I tend to find them quite annoying in games, I think it’s very easy for them to feel out of place. But I think the implications that come with the name Cassette Beasts give players the assumption that there’s going to be a variety in music genres, so they’re more open-minded to it straight off the bat.
Were there any tracks that needed to be cut from the game? Will we hear any of them in the DLC or other projects?
There was never a track that was going to be used but then ended up being cut, but there’s an absolutely shite load of unused tracks and demos from production. A lot of them will very likely be recycled into future projects, which is kind of how I work. There are melodies in the Cassette Beasts soundtrack that I wrote like 10 years ago but have had no use for. So when I make things that I like but don’t have a place in the game for them, it’s cool because they’ll probably become a time where they could be reused in a different context down the line.
I do sometimes have the opposite problem where I use a cool little motif that’ll appear once in the second half of a track you hear like once in the game, that could absolutely be the focal point of its own track, but since I’ve already used it once I feel like I can’t. Like I’d be plagiarising myself. I’ve wasted a few potential killer riffs that way.
What bands inspired you growing up, and did any of their music influence your composing style? Did any inspire the music in Cassette Beasts?
I always loved any band that has cool guitar riffs. Growing up, “Does it have a cool riff?” was my only metric on whether I thought a song was good.
In terms of producing vocal rock music for a video game, Crush-40 of 3D Sonic game fame were a huge inspiration. I always thought the last bosses of those games were the pinnacle of video game hype, almost completely because of the music that would play during them. Crazy metal riffs with classic hard rock vocals matched with the cheesiest lyrics you’ve ever heard – perfection. One of my main goals was to create music that could match that level of “Awww yeah, here we go”.
Last week I went to the Sonic Symphony and they brought out Jun Senoue, the composer who started Crush-40 and wrote all the best Sonic rock music and hot damn was that a trip, man. I lost my shit, it was unbelievably good.
What is your favorite remaster line in Cassette Beasts (not counting the Pier of the Unknown DLC)?
Allseer – Triphinx.
Allseer is maybe my favourite beast, it’s so ominously simple I love it. And then Triphinx, who I think has one of the coolest designs and sorts me out in battle.
Without spoiling anything, what is your favorite part of the DLC?
The vibes. I love the subtle horror elements of the Cassette Beasts main game and we definitely lean into it a lot more with this DLC, it works very well I think. I’m excited for people to experience it.
What’s next on your itinerary in terms of future projects?
Nothing to report on that front! Gonna spend some time trying to get better at what I do for whatever comes next!
A huge thanks to Joel Baylis, Jay Baylis, Bytten Studios, and Raw Fury Games for facilitating this interview! We hope you’ll look into this remarkable indie monster-taming game soon, and play its DLC when it releases on October 4th!
You can find the Original Soundtrack for Cassette Beasts on Joel’s artist page on Spotify!
