Blue Prince caught me completely off guard. I wasn’t expecting it in the slightest, and I even found its name a bit annoying (??). However, once I realized that Dogubomb’s debut game could make for a great couch-co-op project, I jumped in with both feet. Since then? I breathe Blue Prince, I live Blue Prince.
Is this a cry for help? Some obscure manifestation of Stockholm Syndrome? Who’s to say. Regardless, one of the reasons for my obsession with this game is—as you well know—its soundtrack. So, let’s find out together what the Dutch duo Trigg & Gusset has to say in their defense!
I know next to nothing about you! Can you tell me about your background, and in particular your musical background?
Bart Knol : Hello Pierre! My name is Bart Knol and I live in the Netherlands. My musical background is very diverse, ranging from (alternative) dance to pop, jazz, and classical piano music. Around 2010, I met Erik van Geer (Gusset) at jam sessions in Delft, and we shared a passion for dark jazz and atmospheric music. Together we started Trigg & Gusset and released our first record in 2013.
Blue Prince was completely off my radar, and since its release, it's all I can think about. I've already played over 80 hours, and there's still so much to discover in Mount Holly. Do you have any advice to help me get my life back?
BK : Haha, good question! I’ve heard similar stories from other players. The only thing I can tell you is that the music only gets better toward the end, so I wouldn’t stop playing :)
I've been following video game music news for four years now, and this is the first time I've seen your name appear. Is this your first collaboration on a video game?
BK : Yes, it is! It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time (along with film music), and I finally got the chance to work on a game soundtrack. I created the Blue Prince soundtrack together with Gusset. He plays the bass clarinet, which you can hear in many of the pieces.
Are you familiar with the world of video games and the specific characteristics of its music?
BK : I used to play games when I was younger, so I’m not unfamiliar with the world of video games. However, making music for a game is a different process than creating regular albums or singles. One major difference is that, for atmospheric game music, you have to make sure that no sound interferes with the gameplay; otherwise, players might think something is happening in the game when it’s just part of the background music. One thing that was particularly tricky was removing the "clang" noises from Gusset’s bass clarinet recordings.
How did your meeting with Tonda Ros go? In an interview, he explained that he fell in love with your music and instantly perceived the kind of sound he imagined for his game. Did that flatter you?
BK : Yes, of course! Tonda had already listened to Trigg & Gusset on Spotify and reached out to us by email about a year and a half ago. From there, we started a fruitful collaboration that led to this beautiful release.
My friend Tom from Laced Records sent me the link to the Blue Prince soundtrack the other day, which he says supports a hypothesis he has: 2025 would be the year of "sad ambient" music in video games. Do you see yourself in this description? How would you describe the music you composed for Blue Prince?
BK : I can understand why people would call the music “sad”; I think I’d describe it more as “melancholic.” But the soundtrack has different shades. For instance, "Mortua" is a very dark track, while "Westwardly Winds" is more comforting. I wouldn’t mind 2025 being the year of sad ambient music, though!
What is your view on the music composed for Blue Prince? Are you proud of it? Do you consider the original soundtrack to be an integral part of your discography?
BK : Yes, it’s definitely an integral part of our discography. I do think the context matters, because the music belongs to the game and works best while playing it. However, I get a lot of positive responses from people all over the world who also enjoy listening to the music outside of the game.
How did you start producing the game's soundtrack? Were you able to play preliminary versions that guided your inspiration, or was everything done with a brief provided by Tonda Ros?
BK : Good question! The truth is, I only saw a few fragments of the game—mostly some screenshots. Once Tonda and I figured out the vibe we were aiming for, I just created a lot of sketches and ideas, and Tonda found the right places for each composition in the game. I only started playing the game myself recently, after the public release (and I haven’t gotten that far yet :)).
What makes your music even more exceptional is that it is sparse. A large part of exploring the mansion is done in silence; your music only appears at key moments, when you arrive in very particular rooms. I still get shivers hearing "Simon's Theme" start when I enter the Music Room. A piece that also sounds very "Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross," if I may make the comparison.
BK : Thanks! I’m not very familiar with Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, but I’ll definitely check them out. "Simon’s Theme" is one of the compositions I wrote purely on the piano. The music being sparse was also a deliberate choice by Dogubomb (Tonda). If you listen to other works by Trigg & Gusset, you’ll notice more rhythmic elements and other textures. But I think the music works well here because it’s sparse—so credit to Tonda for that as well!
The track "Ovinn Nevarei," which starts when you finally manage to pass through the door of room 46, is I think my favorite track. It marks a very melancholic form of apotheosis and combines wonderfully with the text read to us in the background. I'm curious to know how you approached the composition of this track!
BK : "Ovinn Nevarei" was one of the tracks I made during the sketch phase. I remember I had just created "In Fog We’re Lost" (also on the OST), and we wanted to explore some more ideas with bell sounds. The first sketch was called "Bells of Eternity." Then Tonda and I agreed that the bells didn’t quite work in this piece, so I replaced them with piano chords and synths and made a new version called "Bells of Eternity 2 with No Bells." 😀 From there, we continued refining the track, but that second version is pretty close to what "Ovinn Nevarei" still sounds like today.
Could you tell me about your personal favorite track on the soundtrack? How it came to be, and why it is so special to you?
BK : Well, that's pretty hard to answer, since there are so many tracks to choose from. I can think of three favourites though; "Stories of all Manor" because it's a very nice chord scheme with beautiful playing by Erik. Then there's "Departure" which has this kind of melancholic haunting mood that I really like—it builds up very nicely as well, again also with bass clarinet. The third one would be "Simon's Theme" which I wrote on the piano.
It's pretty hard to remember exactly how these tracks came to be, because we recorded a lot and things got shuffled and edited during the last year and a half. There's one sound which I can tell you a bit more about, though. Close to my studio, there's a metal fence which at some point made a strange squeaky noise when opened very slowly. At one point, I took a very long cable from my studio and brought a mic close to that fence to record the sound. You can hear it at the end of "Lessons of the Past" (at 2:33).
Did you enjoy the experience of composing for a video game? Would you be willing to do it again?
BK : Absolutely! It was a great experience, and I think it worked out really well—so yes, let’s do another one!
Finally, the recommendations section! Can you share 3 important albums for you?
BK : Here you go.
- Phy-Phonics – Octava: A great atmospheric jazz record with beautiful melodies.
- Vassilis Tsabropoulos – The Promise: A beautiful solo piano album.
- Trigg & Gusset – "Sea & Wind," "Ominous Clouds," "Dim," "Dark Matter": These aren’t albums but songs. I included them because they were the starting points for the Blue Prince soundtrack.
