With millions of streams across all platforms, the track "The Red Strings Club" from Deconstructeam's eponymous game stands as a true indie anomaly. It’s a long, introspective piano piece, veiled under layers of falling rain. It sets the mood, but it also opens a door into a whole universe: that of composer Fingerspit, who returned last year with Deconstructeam’s latest title, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood.
I’ve been following Paula’s work closely since the Spanish studio's breakout in 2018, and I’ve been itching to finally sit down with one of my idols to talk about her creative process.
(Interview originally published on October 2, 2023)
There aren't many in-house composers these days in the gaming industry, and that's also what makes Deconstructeam special. I know a few people who genuinely waited for The Cosmic Wheel soundtrack as if it were a highly anticipated album from their favorite pop artist (I am one of them). Do you involve music right from the beginning of each game you folks develop?
Fingerspit: That makes me feel so honored, hahaha. Yes, music is involved from the very beginning. When we start development on a new game, the first thing we do is try to see what works and what doesn't, which art style fits the game better, and how the game could sound. I personally try to define a sound palette and different moods to try to understand how the game sounds.
The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood soundtrack is over 3 hours long. It's the longest album you've ever released, with some tracks exceeding 10 minutes. You must have been truly inspired by this story. Could you share more about your creative process?
F: Whenever I arrive at a defined sound palette that we all like, it's just about making music for really specific contexts. In this case, since half the soundtrack is just character tracks, I needed to make music that fit their personalities, but still could work with the complex range of emotions they could show in all their appearances, since those can change depending on the player's decisions.
Eventually, I just internalized the sound of the game and could make music that touched other sounds and styles and still managed to sound like The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood. I ended up loving the universe we created and I learned so much during its development that I always had more ideas. It was also a rough time personally, and some of the tracks were more inspired by my feelings and experiences rather than the game. (I wrote about this on the Bandcamp page of the soundtrack, in case you want to check it out.)
I composed and produced this soundtrack during a period of almost five years intermittently.
It wasn't easy.
I've always struggled with my mental health for as long as I can remember, and that has been a significant influence in my music.
I have been really lost, and thought everything was worthless. I’ve felt left adrift with crushing emptiness.
Yet I also had times in which I’ve been happier than anyone else, felt the most intense beauty, and I’ve been inspired beyond control.
Making music was the only thing that made it all feel worth it, because even if I wasn’t able to manage my feelings, I could still try my best at putting them to use.
This work isn’t about me or my feelings though. It’s about Fortuna, Ábramar, about every single Witch and their complexities. It’s a journey defined by your decisions and the mysterious randomness of life.
But it's impossible to separate myself from my work, and how everything I’ve been through has reflected on this soundtrack.
I tried my best, but there were many times in which that wasn’t enough. I always felt like it just wasn’t enough. But it truly was all I could give.
And all of it would’ve been impossible without the endless support of those close to me, because without them this wouldn’t exist.
So, I hope that in the end, all of this was for the good, and that you can enjoy its flawed nature.
Thank you.
- Fingerspit, Bandcamp
I have a feeling that you somehow found "the sound" of The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood while composing for Essays of Empathy / Sounds of Sympathy. I also suspect that you've been listening to A LOT of post-rock music during the process. Am I mistaken?
F: Essays of Empathy and Sounds of Sympathy are compilations that cover ten years of making games, so it would be impossible not to be defined by it. Post-rock was always an influence, but not a late one, as it inspired my music directly right at the very beginning when I started music. I spent most of my teenage years listening to post-rock bands like Mogwai, and expanded that to some other genres like shoegaze, ambient bands, idm artists... I've always been a huge Radiohead fan, hahaha. It was impossible not to be influenced by that. It made me learn and understand that music could be different and more experimental; it gave me the strength and inspiration to try on my own and find my sound.
"The Sister" is undoubtedly my favorite track from the album. I'm always curious to hear about how my most cherished piece of music was created. Without giving away spoilers about the game, could you provide more details about this specific track?
F: This has a deep influence rooted in my latest obsession with math rock, midwest emo, and post-hardcore music, which was almost everything I listened to in the last couple of years (with some exceptions, of course).
I loved those twinkly, bright, over-compressed tones of clean guitars in some of those genres and wanted to try something like that. But it also has a sweet, but worried piano underneath. An ocean of synth pads that try to hug the listener. And drums that hit really hard even if they're really just... so soft. And it all explodes eventually. It's a representation of "The Sister" character. And that's how most of the music of the game works. I thought, "Who's this character? How do they work? What's the relationship between them and the player?" and all those questions. And then I tried to put that into music.
You're making deeply introspective, eerie music. Would you like to be able to compose for more action-oriented games someday? You mentioned J-RPGs. What would a combat theme by Fingerspit sound like?
F: I guess the most intense stuff I have done is usually something like the late-game tracks of our games, like "Face of Genocide" in GWBW or "Sisterhood" in TCWS. Yeah, I would love to work in other genres, though I'm also kind of scared of it, but I love challenges.
We spoke a little bit about composing, but not so much about arranging, mixing and integrating. How do you deal with that part of the job? Is it something you enjoy doing, or really just some task that has to be done?
F: Production goes hand in hand with composing. I cannot just... compose as a separate aspect; in the end, what you perceive is just sound. It wouldn't make sense. Mixing is something that gives me lots of trouble because I struggle a lot with it, but I couldn't give that away to someone else because I feel like it's part of my sound too. Integrating is part of the pre-production of our games, and everything I make always needs to take that into consideration.
Now, I'd like to learn more about you! Who are your favorite video game music composers these days? Do you even listen to a lot of VGM yourself?
F: Sometimes, but not so much lately to be honest. I'm mostly a fan of Japanese composers, because I love how dramatic and intense they can get while also being very melodic. I love how JRPGs got so inspired by progressive rock bands. This isn't a complaint on "cinematic soundtracks" anyway—I actually love that, I just think that it's really hard to nail.
Last year, I finally played through both Xenoblade Chronicles 1 & 2 and I was shocked at how good their soundtracks are.
I'd say Disasterpeace truly was something else—both Fez and Hyper Light Drifter were really impressive soundtracks.
Lena Raine's melodies are super good and I really like how happy her tracks can get (Chicory was lovely!).
Amos Roddy is great and I want to think we both share really close views on what we like and what we try to do.
Do you have any artists to recommend to my readers? What are you currently listening to on repeat?
F: I've had on loop Six Gallery's Breakthroughs in Modern Arts for a really long while. I thought they were a big band because I got their album more than ten years ago, only to look for it again and discover they never were really big, and felt sad about it. It's a really, really good album. For the biggest inspirations of my music and what defined my philosophy on creating music... I would recommend:
- Bark Psychosis - Hex: This album is so stupidly good it makes no sense, and it's where I got my name when I was 16 and couldn't ever think making music would end up being my job half a life later, hahaha.
- Mogwai - Mr. Beast: It's the one that got me into the band; watched them live back in my hometown and was blown away.
- Radiohead - Kid A: I don't think I have to explain this one, right? Huge and unique sound palette, and deep feelings. You just know it's an all-timer when you realize those songs still make you feel half a life later.
I mentioned in my first email that you make the kind of music I'd like to compose myself. What about you? Is there any album that you wish you composed?
F: If I had to say one... I would say Industries of the Blind's Chapter 1. It reminds me of some stuff I've done and I guess that's a really good thing. I make what I make because I like it, and I'm happy about that. Having like-minded music inspire me while also making me feel good about what I make is pretty awesome.
Support independent VGM journalism
NOWPLAYING is a publication dedicated to video game music news and the people who make it. If you enjoy my work, consider making a donation — it makes a real difference.
