Creator Spotlight: Laura Shigihara

            Confession time.  I got the idea for the Creator Spotlight section of this blog almost entirely due to one person.  I rediscovered her work just a little while ago, and I'd been a huge fan for years before...not really sure how or why I forgot about it.  She reminded me of other great game creators that I respected...and I wanted to pay my dues to them.

Too often people get angry at developers and creators who don't deserve it.  I want to pay respects to people rather than getting angry at them.

            From the title, it ought to be obvious who I'm talking about, but let me just give a brief introduction.  A fantastic pianist and vocalist, capable of singing both in English and Japanese, and a member of the prestigious club of 3 composers who have actually made me break down and cry from playing a video game.  This is Laura Shigihara.

Talented to a fault, but also very humble, enthusiastic, and adorable, Laura Shigihara is one of a kind.

 

Laura on Youtube.  Check her out.  CHECK HER OUT NOW!!!

            While not nearly as obscure as Amon26, I don't believe Shigihara gets nearly enough credit.  True, she has had some mainstream recognition from her work on Plants Vs Zombies, Plants Vs Zombies 2, and thanks to Kotaku spotlighting her collaborations and covers of other video game music.  However, she's not a household name when...really, I believe she should be.  Shigihara may be relatively new to the composing scene compared to Uematsu, Mitsuda, Talarico, or Yamaoka, but that doesn't make her any less talented or worthy of praise.

Shigihara has also worked on this charity album with such great composers as Uematsu, Mitsuda,a nd Yamaoka...eerie, isn't it?

            There's something undeniably charming about Laura Shigihara that is apparent anytime she creates her music and talks to the audience.  She appears to be both humble and enthusiastic about her work, showing a true reverence and respect for gaming as a whole.  Her first soundtrack composition was for the small casual game Wobbly Bobbly, which she offered to do for free just because she was so excited to be working on a video game.  Such dedication shines through all her work and it has gained her employment on a number of games, including Minecraft, World of Warcraft, Basement Collection, and my personal favorite, To The Moon.

Wobbly Bobbly, the debut of a great composer.

            I first came across Shigihara's work when I played Plant's Vs Zombies.  She not only composed the entire sound track and was the sound designer on the game, but was also the vocalist, in English and Japanese, for the end theme, Zombie on your Lawn.  The song and music video were featured on Steam and the deciding factor in my purchase of the game.  However, I only really took notice of Laura Shigihara while playing the indie game, To The Moon.

            In To The Moon, Shigihara's music made for a fantastic emotional rollercoaster.  It could be quiet and somber, a little manic or silly for the lighter moments, or even bombastic in places.  What got me, though, was the song Everything's Alright.  This is sung at a key moment in To The Moon where love, true, unrequited love, is lost.  I first heard it when I was in a...less than stellar relationship.  I won't spoil the payoff, but it was beautiful, moving, and heartbreaking all in one.  For me, this piece was something sad, but also somewhat hopeful.  It was an anthem to me of love and became both the hope and the requiem of my own hopeless romance.  Even though my love is dead, I still listen to it frequently and never tire of the soft, thoughtful look at a flawed relationship that we want to work so well.

             I suppose that's what made me really sit up and pay attention.  You see, this song, and Shigihara's music as a whole, remind me of a saying from the game Soul Blazer.  The gist of it is that music is a funny kind of thing.  The same music we listen to can feel very triumphant or joyous when we are happy, or mournful and sad when we are depressed.  It spoke to me, I suppose you could say.  It made me feel.  Any game and any music that can do that, really make you feel something, is powerful.

Yeah...that's the moment.  The moment music begins to make you feel.

            Shigihara's music usually involves the piano as she is incredibly skilled as a pianist, but it doesn't have to.  Thanks to the advent of sound software and electronic keyboards, a piano can produce a much wider variety of sounds, which offer great variety to the music as a whole.  Which is quite good, as Shigihara's strength is in piano music and vocals.  She often collaborates with others when other instruments are needed, which have led to some fantastic renditions of classic video game music.

            Now, I am not an expert in music or composition by any means, so perhaps this is also pretty normal for those who can play.  However, Shigihara amazes me with her ability to play music by ear and compose her own original pieces.  Her original work can span any range, from being soft, quiet, and mournful, to being fast paced and energetic.  Cubeland, From the Ground Up, and Jump showcase this range and all her songs are immediately infectious and memorable.  I also can't forget when I saw her playing the Little Nemo themes by ear on her piano.  It sounded spot on and was a wonderful nostalgia trip for me.

            Shigihara is an amazing composer in her own right, however she has also dabbled in game design.  While work began on an RPG called Melolune, it never made it past the demo phase.  However a 3 hour demo is quite impressive, nonetheless and Shigihara has stated she is only on break from this game.  At the moment, she is working on a title called Rakuen, which focuses on a mother and son's relationship, and how stories told to the hospital bound boy are able to help him cope with his illness.  Along the way, the boy starts to learn about the patients in the hospital and tries to complete his own sets of challenges to meet the guardian of the forest from his stories, the mysterious Morizora.  Having heard some of the soundtrack for Rakuen, I can say it looks to be charming and playful, yet also a little somber, mysterious, and possibly even tragic.  In short, it sounds like an emotional journey that I can't wait to try.

Fantasy and reality mixing to create a journey of emotions.  Also, I want that kids hat.

            While I have many famous composers I admire, including Nobuo Uematsu, Akira Yamaoka, and Yasunori Mitsuda, I'd say Laura Shigihara deserves a place among the best of them.  Her music is hauntingly beautiful, memorable, and something that everyone, not just video gamers, should listen to.

Laura is also very vocal about her love of gaming.  She defends the works of others and is a voice of reason in the vitriol fueled games media machine.

            For more information on Shigihara's game, Rakuen, check here.  For all Shigihara's music, which you can purchase for a nominal fee, check here for her bandcamp page.  If you want to show some support, then check out her blog or her facebook pages, but above all else, look at her Youtube channel.  It features some beautiful covers of music, from Miyazaki and Megaman to Frozen and Final Fantasy.  And, just to cover all bases, for the EXCELLENT To The Moon, and other great emotional journeys, check here.

            We don't get composers like her everyday.  No matter what the future brings, we're all anxiously waiting to see what you come up with, Laura.  Keep on playing, keep on singing, keep on having fun.

Keep on making that wonderful music, you beautiful person.