The S+V Interview: Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD Soundtrack Revealed Page 4

Ken: A lot of these songs I'd never heard of when the game came out. This song was kind of cool because I loved that song at the time. What was cool was a lot of my friends that and this goes for Bad Religion, as well - when the game came out, they got turned on by it from hearing it in the game. That's one that whenever I hear that now, I actually still relate it to the game.

Lateef the Truthspeaker: "We the People"

Patrick: We were looking at a lot of different hip-hop groups and someone wanted him because he's done a lot of stuff with Gift of Gab, the guy from Blackalicious, and Del tha Funkee Homo Sapien who was on the soundtrack for Tony Hawk 3. We listened to a bunch of his stuff and "We the People" stood out because it starts with this weird Eurythmics kind of vibe. I don't know, it's not like a traditional hip-hop song, but it was a song you listen to and say, "Oh, that was pretty good." And then you listen to it again and it starts getting in your head. You want to get sick of it but you can't. Some songs you listen to and the first item you think it's the best song ever. Then you listen to it more and that wears off and you never want to listen to it again. The ones that grow on you are the best; this was one of those songs.

Apex Manor: "Teenage Blood"

Ken: That was our first song we got. That song I had on my phone and I'd listen to it on the bus, on the train on the way to work. I think there was a week where listened to that song nonstop not because I had to, but because I wanted to.

Telekinesis: "Please Ask for Help"

Ken: When Patrick first sent this to me, I wasn't digging the song, but it had this New Order vibe to it. That song was the only song I didn't jump to immediately. I kept listening to it and listening to it and then we got it in the game and I'm bobbing my head to it in the office. Then I watched the video and it was basically all their friends hanging out and getting drunk at an apartment. Now I love the song and I can listen to it all day.

Patrick: Tony Hawk 1 was all punk songs and rock songs, the same sounding stuff. Tony Hawk 2 incorporated some rap metal, some hip-hop and all these different genres. The one thing we noticed that was missing was post new-wave stuff. We thought if we were to bring it in, this was a song that fit our game. It rounded out the soundtrack, where people that aren't into New Order can listen to the soundtrack and say "that song's interesting," and might dive into that genre a little bit.

El-P featuring Trent Reznor: "Flyentology (Cassettes Won't Listen remix)

Patrick: We absolutely had to get Trent Reznor in the game and this was one way to do it, we're all big fans of Nine Inch Nails. I remember listening to the original song over and over and I always just enjoyed it. This remix is really driving all the way through. It hits you hard and has a really cool bass beat behind it. Trent Reznor's in the game, it's my dream come true. It wasn't a contest to bring Nine Inch Nails into the soundtrack, it's one of those things where would you associate those other songs to our game if you listen to them? We wanted songs you'd listen to a month from now and they would bring you right back to our game.

Ken: One good thing about that is Tony and Trent are friends. It was one of those things where if it wasn't going to work out we could always go lean on Tony, but it did and we didn't have to.

Middle Class Rut: "USA"

Patrick: They have a lot of good songs on the album that comes from. The really hard part about this was trying to figure out which song we were going to pull from that album. We went to their set list and looked at what they opened with and what they closed with. They closed with "USA." Since we loved that song so much, if we're having trouble picking from the three we had selected, then "USA" had to be it because that's the one they close with and it's driving all the way through.

 

Ben: I came in late on the game and not to kiss Patrick's ass too much, I knew nothing about the game and nothing about the soundtrack because I only started a month ago or so. After I finally got to play through it after meeting after meeting with Josh, this was the first song that came through. It sold me on working on the project, not knowing anything about the project. I thought, "Okay, these guys are doing it right. I'm not signing a contract to work on another shitty game."

(Laughs all around)

Pegasuses-XL: "Marathon Mansion"

Patrick: On our first sampling of songs from Bank Robber, there was a song by the Pegasuses-XL. The song was all over the place but it had a 25-second segment that was amazing. I pinged our contact to send more from them just to see if they had something else that would work. He sent them over and then I created a playlist, loaded up THPS-2, and listened to the songs. "Marathon Mansion" came on and I thought it was crazy that our contact would send this song over. I couldn't understand why he thought it would work in the game. But, immediately after it ended I wanted to hear it again. Then I started singing to it. "Don't come around here talking about you got the skills to be the man…" It is the best song that the Beastie Boys never did.

 

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