Easy Delivery Co. had completely slipped under my radar back in September, but since then, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it—or its absolutely insane jungle OST. It was a total surprise that has since become my go-to answer whenever someone asks for a breakbeat recommendation that's off the beaten path. So, I wasted no time in reaching out to Tore "pr0te" Lehmann, the young composer behind (part of) the game's music, to go behind the scenes!
I’ve been following VGM news for a long time, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen your name on a soundtrack before! Could you start by introducing yourself a bit? What’s your background, especially in music production?
Tore : Sure thing! This is always the hardest question for me, as I feel like I either give too little or too much. Here's... probably too much! My name is Tore and I'm from Aarhus, Denmark. My big passion ever since I was very young has been game development, but I'm also an avid music lover which drew me into production as well. I was born in 95 and, perhaps a little late to the party, started with the NES and Super Mario Bros. 3. Later on I got my little hands on a Game Boy and a PlayStation 1, all of which I have very fond memories with, and definitely played a big part in shaping me into who I am today. I've always had a drive for learning to make things myself, so during my childhood and young teen years, I explored not only game development but also music production, video making amongst other digital things.
In terms of music, I started when I was 11-12 with a really shitty piece of software called Magix Music Maker. It was very limiting and only really let you drop in finished loops. I did figure out how to chop the loops up and do my own melodies and slightly reordered drum patterns, but I quickly hit a wall in terms of being able to progress, even back then. I then stumbled upon FL Studio which I still use today. Because I started playing with music production while I was still exploring and discovering my musical taste, I naturally got to (attempt to) produce a whole bunch of genres. In the very beginning it was dance, trance and hardstyle but as time went on, I've covered a host of genres like classic dubstep, future garage, boom bap, dnb and finally jungle. Don't know what took me so long! I discovered jungle in 2012 and it was kind of the peak of a curve I was always on the trajectory of. Especially atmospheric and ambient jungle hit the spot as I've been drawn to deep and melancholic stuff as long as I can remember. The contrast between the deep, soft atmosphere and the hard crispy breaks created something that was unmatched for me.
I've been working on music as a passionate hobby for many years, but I haven't released much professionally. That counts for games too. I've had a life long battle with my own mind in terms of staying active and committed on projects over long periods of time and actually getting stuff over the finish line. I've been doing a lot of work with that over the past couple of years, and especially during my current, on-going game project 'Bobls'. I haven't overcome it completely, but I feel like I've finally come to a point where I have much more control over it, and can actually manage to work with and around it to get shit done! This could explain if some people feel like I popped out of nowhere. I didn't! I just lived in the depths of the shadows of my mom's basement for a decade or two ;)
Easy Delivery Co. is a very intriguing game. How did you end up getting involved in the project?
Tore : A bit of a lucky one I'd say. One of my very good friends is part of the publishing team that works with the game, and he introduced me to the project and Sam C, the developer.
The game’s soundtrack was co-composed with Sohaoying. How did you split the work between the two of you? Was it the developer’s idea to commission multiple artists for the music?
Tore : It was a fight to the death. No one died, so we both got to make the music! Hehe, well, splitting the work was actually really simple with this game, as the music plays on in-game radio channels and doesn't have to be all that similar. Yeah, it was Sam's idea to have more than one artist on the OST and to have some different styles of music in the game.
Your tracks, in particular, lean heavily into jungle — a genre that was hugely popular in the late ’90s and fits Easy Delivery Co.’s aesthetic perfectly. Why did you go for that approach? Was it part of the brief, or simply what inspired you?
Tore : When I first saw the game I immediately wanted to do music for it as the dark, depressive and mysterious vibe I got from it was right up my alley. I wasn't actually thinking about jungle at first, but after chatting with them I learned that Sam had been listening to atmospheric jungle and dnb throughout development and wanted something like that in the game. It is by no means a secret that I love jungle to death and consider it one of my main genres, as touched upon in the introduction, so that's kinda how I got involved in making jungle for the game.
I have to say — your album is already one of the most memorable ones I’ve listened to this year. There’s a real sense of love for jungle in your music. Who are your key influences?
Tore : Thanks a lot man I really appreciate that! If you mean my jungle influences in general, I'd have to mention names like Source Direct, Photek, Omni Trio, Intense, Peshay and Paradox, but I'm bound to forget some! At the very beginning of my jungle journey I was also inspired by classics from DJ SS, Higher Sense, Ellis Dee, Dillinja, Bay B Kane and the likes, but I quickly found that the more atmospheric, emotive stuff was where it was really at for me. I guess for breakbeat in general, I must also mention The Prodigy here. Been listening to them since I was but a wee boy!
Breakbeat music isn’t necessarily what one might expect from the game’s visuals. Weren’t you worried about creating some dissonance between the game design and the music you were composing?
Tore : This is interesting because as I mentioned further up above, jungle or breaks wasn't the first thing that came to my mind with this project. I was a bit surprised when I was told that Sam was looking for dnb and I heard some references that had atmospheric jungle in them. However, this is the kicker for me. My personal, humble opinion is that in very broad strokes, you can approach a soundtrack in two different ways. This counts for games as much as it counts for movies and other forms of media. You can either try to make something that inherently fits into the game expectedly really well and make a good soundtrack. Or you can try to make something with edge that shapes the game, takes it further and make a great soundtrack. I always try my very best to give the latter an honest shot. To give an example, think of David Wise's Donkey Kong Country compositions. You wouldn't initially expect a tune like Aquatic Ambience for a game about monkeys collecting bananas, but here we are! Whether I or any other artist who takes a similar approach succeeds will obviously be up to the individual listener. In a way you can also view it a little bit as a slight gamble. A risk-reward scenario. You know you may be turning up the valves past the factory recommended max, but it may just be what sets it apart. But there is of course a margin to this. Putting a high octane synthwave track into a medieval RPG may be straying a bit too far (unless you're really going for shaping something different here!) In the case of Easy Delivery Co., as you mentioned earlier, I think jungle still fits the PS1 aesthetic quite well as the genre was very popular back when the PS1 was fresh out the oven. I'll also add that other than just the base genre, I think the atmosphere and vibe of the tunes are just as important for creating a cohesive experience.
My favorite question: what’s your favorite track from the OST, and why?
Tore : I feel like this is the sort of question where the artist always somehow prefers the least popular tune themselves, but you tell me haha. My own favourite would probably be Freight Across The Galaxy. I think I got really lucky with it because in this one, the overall atmosphere just feels grand and expansive to me in a certain hard-to-explain (GALACTIC ;-)) way. Sometimes you're just lucky that all the individual elements come together and spawn some higher, emergent feeling. After having put some time between me and the production of the tune, it gives me the curious feeling of: "how did I even manage to make it sound exactly like that?" - I don't know, I'm just happy with how it turned out!
As for me, I immediately fell in love with Track & Trace. It’s got such an incredible energy, with ultra-syncopated beats and a lead that gives me chills. Could you tell me the story behind that track?
Tore : I was actually trying to stay closer to the slightly softer end of jungle, but this one happened on accident. I had worked out the main melodic motif and general soundscape and the time had now come to pop some drums on that sucka, and the rest is a blur!! - Just kidding, but I honestly didn't intend to add hard breaks to this one, I just couldn't stop myself. I reached out to Sam and kind of apologised for accidentally turning this into a more intense amen roller, but luckily he thought it was awesome.
The soundtrack seems to be doing really well on streaming platforms. Even though the game itself appears to have sold nicely, it’s still pretty rare to see that kind of buzz around the music of a “small” indie game. Were you expecting that?
Tore : It's pretty wild! We've recently passed 100k streams on Spotify which is just incredible. No, I did not expect any of this! I was actually kinda anxious about whether players would even dig it at all. I did get a little bit of feedback through the comments on the game trailers and they put me slightly at ease, but still! Overall it seems like jungle is having a resurgence and is no longer bound to the shadows of its past (#deep) and I'm all here for it!
It might be a bit early to tell, but has this project already opened any doors for you in terms of future collaborations?
Tore : It has in a more general/indirect sense, but I've yet to specifically receive any offers for future musical collaborations, but my inbox is wide open! I've mostly just been producing the music for my own games, but for a long time I've been thinking about working with others and doing music for their projects, so getting to work on Easy Delivery Co. was a blast.
Back to jungle — would you say it’s your signature sound, the genre you want to be known for and get commissioned for, or do you see yourself exploring other musical worlds in your next projects?
Tore : Having chopped breaks for so many years I'd say they have become part of my signature sound definitely and I'll very happily do more jungle commissions, but I can work with and love working with lots of different genres. I do really love deep atmospheric stuff though and while that may come more naturally for me, doing new things or stuff you rarely get to do can be such a fun challenge. I have an unfinished Game Boy-styled game project that I did some semi-authentic GB chiptunes for which was so much fun. As most creatives know, working with strict limitations will almost always push you in new exciting directions.
This is your moment: is there an artist who inspires you, a fellow composer whose work you’d like to recommend, or anything else you’d like to add?
Tore : I would like to mention an artist whose work touches me deeply and transports my mind to a completely different realm. It's a, regrettably, lesser known gem that has inspired me over the years and continues to do so. It's an artist who went by the name Manu Shrine. Sadly passed back in 2015, but he left us with a big backlog of absolutely timeless atmospheric masterpieces. Not a single tune I don't love. I'd also love to recommend one of my great friends from Canada who masters the art of creating deep, organic, captivating percussion-driven tunes. Both downtempo and jungle. He goes by Mellonius One and just reached a major milestone of getting his first vinyl LP release here in november. Can't recommend his music enough.
At the end I'll just say a huge thank you to everyone who played Easy Delivery Co. and enjoyed the music! It's been an incredible experience and I'm so happy and honoured by all the positive feedback I've received. That counts for you too, Pierre. Thanks for having me on here as well.
