Disasterpeace Explained

Disasterpeace
Birth Name:Richard Vreeland
Birth Date:29 June 1986
Birth Place:Staten Island, New York, United States
Genre:Chiptune, electronic, ambient, experimental rock
Years Active:2004–present

Richard Vreeland (born June 29, 1986), better known by his stage name Disasterpeace, is an American composer and musician. He first got started in music after learning the guitar in high school and started writing music around the age of 17.[1] Known for his work as a chiptune artist, Vreeland has scored many video games, including Fez and Hyper Light Drifter. He stepped into film score composition with the 2015 film It Follows, and has since composed the scores for Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Under the Silver Lake, Triple Frontier, and Bodies Bodies Bodies.

Childhood

Vreeland's first introduction to music was as a child, growing up in Staten Island. He spent a great deal of time learning from his step-father, who was a trained musician. In an interview, Vreeland stated, "As a child, I was mesmerized by drums. My step-father was the music director of our church and they would have band practice in the basement. Many of my fondest memories are of going down there to jam away on the drums, when they were there".[2]

Career

Fez

Vreeland composed Fez's chiptune-esque[3] electronic soundtrack. Despite his background in chiptune, Vreeland limited his use of that genre's mannerisms in the score. He worked with soft synth pads and reverb to push the score closer to an '80s synthesizer sound. He also reduced reliance on percussion and incorporated distortion techniques like bitcrushing and wow. Vreeland opted for slower passages with varying tempos that could "ebb, flow, and breathe with the player".[4] He left some portions of Fez without music. Vreeland worked on its soundtrack at night for about 14 months while scoring Shoot Many Robots,[4] and Brandon McCartin of Aquaria contributed the game's sound effects.[5]

It Follows

In 2014, Vreeland produced the soundtrack for David Robert Mitchell's sophomore film It Follows, after being approached by Mitchell, a fan of Vreeland's work on the video game Fez.[6]

Hyper Light Drifter

Disasterpeace composed the soundtrack for Hyper Light Drifter, a game developed by Heart Machine in 2016. The score follows Disasterpeace's previous soundtrack work and was listed as "One of the year's best scores, in any medium" by FACT.[7]

Discography

Studio albums

YearTitle
2004History of the Vreeland
2005The Chronicles of Jammage the Jam Mage
2006Atebite and the Warring Nations
2007Under the Influence
Level
Neutralite
2011Rise of the Obsidian Interstellar

EPs

YearTitleNotes
2006Cereal CodeN/A
2010West
2016Mud WaterTheatre

Compilations

YearTitleNotes
2006Daniel, Matthew & RichardImprovisational album
2007Noon KidsB-sides
2010Midnight Orphans
2011Deorbit
2013Strays
2016SinglesN/A
2017Video Games
Disasters for PianoArrangement album

Soundtracks

YearTitleType
2007Limeade GrinUnreleased video game
2008Rescue: The BeaglesVideo game
2009Drawn To Life: The Next Chapter (UST)
Woosh
Waker
High Strangeness
(UST)
Bright-CovesBrightcove video platform
2010Astral Puzzle MeltdownVideo game
Bonk: Brink Of Extinction (UST)Unreleased video game
Passcode: Soul Of The TravelerWeb-series
Cat Astro PhiVideo game
2011360° Sharks
Puzzle Agent (UST)
ZONR
2012Fez
Shoot Many Robots
KRUNCH
2013Runner2 (UST)
FZ: Side FFez OST remix album
FZ: Side Z
Apoc WarsVideo game
Soundodger+
SomewhereShort film
2014The Floor Is JellyVideo game
Famaze
Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake
Cannon Brawl
2015It FollowsFilm
Loop Ring Chop DrinkShort film
GunhouseVideo game
Mini Metro
2016"Bad Jubies"Adventure Time episode
Hyper Light DrifterVideo game
Reigns (UST)
Beasts of BalanceTabletop game
2017Ram Son (original soundtrack for River City Ransom: Underground)Video game
2018DIY - Volume OneTV cartoon
Under the Silver LakeFilm
2019Triple Frontier
Crimson ToothVideo game
2021Solar Ash
Marcel the Shell with Shoes OnFilm
2022Bodies Bodies Bodies
Hyper Light FragmentsHyper Light Drifter OST additional tracks
Paradise MarshVideo Game
2023Soundodger 2Video game
2024Viktor

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Fine Tuning Interview: Rich Vreeland (Disasterpeace). Esperino. April 13, 2015.
  2. Web site: Game Talk: Composer of Games Like Fez & Shoot Many Robots, Rich Vreeland Interview with Timothy Courtney . timothycourtney.io . July 9, 2016 . March 26, 2016 . Timothy . Courtney.
  3. Web site: Fez review. Hollander Cooper. April 12, 2012. GamesRadar+. April 13, 2015.
  4. Web site: Fez's Beautiful Soundtrack Lives and Breathes Video Game Dreaminess. Kirk Hamilton. Gawker Media. Kotaku. April 12, 2012 . April 13, 2015.
  5. Web site: GameSetWatch Two Minutes Of Fez's Charming World. gamesetwatch.com. April 13, 2015. February 1, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140201165023/http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2010/12/two_minutes_of_fezs_charming_w.php. dead.
  6. Web site: Scoring Horror Interview with RICH VREELAND. Cinema Knife Fight. April 13, 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150415031918/http://balzertown.com/cinemaknifefight/2015/02/24/scoring-horror-interview-rich-vreeland/. April 15, 2015. mdy-all.
  7. Web site: The 50 best albums of 2016. FACT. December 13, 2016 . January 1, 2017.