The soul of The Last of Us is in Gustavo Santaolalla's music
When fans nervously tuned in to watch HBO's adaptation of one of their favorite video games, there was one familiar presence that immediately calmed their nerves: the mournful guitar of Gustavo Santaolalla. As certain story beats changed and beloved polygonal faces were replaced with new actors, the beating heart of The Last of Us — its mesmerizing, tension-ridden score — survived the transition to TV intact.
'[Series creator] Neil Druckmann has said that my music is part of the DNA of The Last of Us,' Santaolalla says. 'I think the fact that we kept the sonic fabric — that we didn't do an orchestral score for the series — has been instrumental in keeping those fans of the games fans of the series, too.'
Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Santaolalla first started releasing music when he was 17. Loving both English rock bands and the traditional Argentine folk music that he was raised on, Santaolalla melded both into his own unique sound, part of a genre called rock nacional. Before he could fully make his mark, Santaolalla's family fled the Argentine junta dictatorship in 1978, moving to Los Angeles, where his unique sound soon caught the attention of filmmakers. Snapped up to score the 2000 film Amores Perros and 2003's 21 Grams, their success led to Santaolalla composing the soundtracks for Brokeback Mountain and Babe l, both of which won him Oscars.
Santaolla's sonic secret? Embracing the eloquence of silence. 'I work so much with silence and space, because silences sometimes can be louder than a note that you're playing,' says Santaolalla. 'I remember on Brokeback Mountain when I first sent them the music, the producer said 'I thought you were pulling my leg at first, because you wait so long to play the next note!''
'Silences sometimes can be louder than a note that you're playing.'
After winning two Oscars back to back, Santaolalla carefully considered his next career move. Despite being a self-professed 'terrible gamer' Santaolalla tells me he always loved watching his son play, mesmerized by the on-screen kineticism. 'I always thought that if somebody connects this at an emotional level with a player, it's going to be a revolution.'
It turns out, the universe had picked up on Santaolalla's newest interest. Post-Oscars, he was approached by several game companies to do music, but turned them down because 'I'm very picky about the work that I do.' That includes a lucrative gaming project that he is careful not to name. 'Everyone thought I was crazy!' he chuckles. Still, Santaolalla quietly hoped that a more emotionally-resonant project would materialize.
'So, I waited… and then Neil appeared,' Santaolalla says. 'When Neil told his colleagues that he wanted me to do this, [his colleagues ] said, No, Gustavo is not going to be interested — he won two Oscars! But when Neil [told me] the story, and that he wanted to do a game that connects with people on an emotional level… I was sold.
What even Neil Druckmann wasn't prepared for, however, was that Gustavo's music would become just as crucial a presence as Ellie and Joel. In a post apocalyptic world where life is scarce and danger lurks around every corner, silence hangs in the air like a threat. Santaolalla's scuffed notes, discordant melodies and screeching fret slides reverberate across the dilapidated city streets, feeling as unpredictable as the world Ellie and Joel inhabit.
'I love the use of imperfections, even errors or mistakes.'
'I love the use of imperfections, even errors or mistakes,' Santaolalla explains. 'Any professional guitar player when they're recording tend to avoid all kinds of noises; when you run your hand on the fretboard or little glitches in your playing. But sometimes, I'll push those in my mix, and I think that humanizes it. That's why many people have said that my music becomes like a character — a presence. It's why I play things myself.'
In the second game, Gustavo's music becomes a physical part of the fiction, with Ellie carrying a guitar throughout her quest for vengeance. She takes out the instrument during welcome moments of downtime, offering cathartic respite. And just like Gustavo's score, these beautiful vignettes break up the harrowing silence, which carries through in the second season of the show.
'I love the TV series too,' says Santaolalla. ' For the show, Neil associated himself with another incredible talent, Craig Mazin — the guy that did Chernobyl — who knows that media and that language. I think it was a big, big challenge, because when you go from one media to another one, people say no, I like the original better! So, I think, once again, that the way we have used the music has been instrumental to keep that fan base attached.'
He adds that 'I think that when a story is really great, like a theatrical piece — like Shakespeare — it doesn't matter who plays the character. Obviously Pedro Pascal's Joel is different than the Joel from the game, but the substance of the character is so powerful that those things are just superficial. They could have done this as a series, as a feature film, as a puppet theatre piece, or an animation and it will still land regardless — because it's just great writing.'
Now as Santaolalla finds himself releasing his very own instrument — the Guitarocko — it feels like the culmination of the musical journey he started as a teen. Melding the traditional Bolivian 10 stringed ronroco with the form factor of a Fender Stratocaster, Gustavo feels a father-like pride for his musical creation: the 73-year-old is invigorated by what The Last Of Us has given him at this stage in his career.
'I've been blessed with the fact that I have connected with an audience since I was very young,' he says. 'But the way I connect with the fans of The Last of Us and the way they connect with the music… here's a special devotion that is really beautiful. I have this new audience which is fantastic, and I love that they didn't know me as an artist or as a film composer! Now they look for my music, and they discover these things. It's been a gift for me, at this point — after everything that I've been through — to be involved with a project like this.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
26 minutes ago
- Forbes
Gailard Sartain, ‘Hee Haw' Star, Dies At 81
Los Angeles, CA - 1991: Gailard Sartain promotional photo for the ABC tv series 'Davis Rules', ... More episode 'The Principle', the original unaired pilot. (Photo by Sharon M Beard /American Broadcasting Companies via Getty Images) Gailard Sartain, the Southern character actor and comedian who appeared on the long-running country western-themed variety hour Hee Haw, died Tuesday, June 17 following a long illness. He was 81. His death was announced on Facebook by The Church Studio, a recording studio in Tulsa, Oklahoma where Sartain's wife Mary Jo volunteers. Born September 18, 1943 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Gailard Sartain was a successful illustrator who broke into show business through the creation of a late-night local comedy program he hosted in Tulsa entitled The Uncanny Film Festival and Camp Meeting. After being discovered by a talent scout, Sartain was hired in 1972 as a regular on Hee Haw, which was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. A victim of the infamous "rural purge," CBS canceled Hee Haw in 1971 (along with sitcoms The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres and Mayberry R.F.D.). But it immediately found a new home in first-run syndication and remained on the air until 1993. Sartain was a cast member for 19 seasons. Sartain also served as a regular on the short-lived variety series Cher from 1975 to 1976, Keep on Truckin' in 1975, and Shields and Yarnell in 1978. He made his film debut with an uncredited cameo in Nashville in 1975, and was a larger presence in The Buddy Holly Story as 'Big Bopper' in 1978 and as B.B. Muldoon in Roadie in 1980. (Top L-R) Actors Meat Loaf and Art Carney (Bottom L-R) Actor Gailard Sartain and actress Kaki Hunter ... More on set of the United Artist movie "Roadie" in 1980. (Photo by Michael) Other films on Sartain's resume included Mississippi Burning, The Outsiders, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Grifters, The Replacements and The Patriot. He was also known for his roles in three of the Ernest P. Worrell films starring Jim Varney, and the 13-episode Hey Vern, It's Ernest! television series in 1988. Sartain's final film role was in Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown in 2005.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
'The Gilded Age' Season 3 premiere: Release date, trailer, new cast members and how to watch. Plus, what fans can expect.
Marriage proposals, robber baron business deals and new characters — oh my! You're cordially invited to the unfolding of juicy melodrama among high society in 1800s New York with the Season 3 premiere of HBO's Emmy-nominated show, The Gilded Age. So pull up an opulent velvet chair and grab your opera glasses as we take a closer look at what's to come in this period drama from Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes. Season 3 of The Gilded Age drops this Sunday, June 22, at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and will also be available to stream on HBO Max. There will be a total of eight episodes this season, with a new episode airing every Sunday through Aug. 10. The battle between old and new money families continued… Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon), whose family is considered 'new money' because of her railroad tycoon husband's fortune, was still shut out by old money elites like Mrs. Astor (Donna Murphy), an influential patron at the well-established Academy of Music. Bertha was fed up with Mrs. Astor denying her family an opera box, which was seen as a symbol of status and power. Hell-bent on climbing the social ladder, Bertha started an opera war and used her family's wealth to support the newly built Metropolitan Opera. The new venue threatened audience attendance on opening night at the Academy of Music. Bertha won the opera war when the Duke of Buckingham (Ben Lamb) ultimately decided to attend the Met opening, which was met with high societal fanfare. But Bertha's victory came at a cost, it seems, which is implied at the end of the season that she promised her daughter Gladys's (Taissa Farmiga) hand to the Duke. The Russell family patriarch, George Russell (Morgan Spector), faced backlash from the steelworkers who manufactured his railroads and demanded fair pay and better working conditions. Tensions reached a boiling point when armed militia were ready to shoot the protesting laborers. George called off his men before things turned violent and granted some of the laborers' demands. Meanwhile, Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) found out that her son Oscar (Blake Ritson) had lost the family fortune. Ada Forte (Cynthia Nixon), Agnes's sister, learns that her late husband left her a substantial fortune, and the power dynamic Agnes had with Ada has started to shift. The period melodrama included juicy romances in the love lives of Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) and Peggy Scott (Denée Benton). Marian realized she's in love with Larry Russell (Harry Richardson), while Peggy shut down her affair with T. Thomas Fortune (Sullivan Jones), a married man. According to a media release from HBO, the Russell family is poised to take their place at the head of high society, following Bertha's victory in the opera wars. 'Bertha sets her sights on a prize that would elevate the family to unimaginable heights, while George risks everything on a gambit that could revolutionize the railroad industry — if it doesn't ruin him first,' HBO says. Bertha has high hopes for a marriage between her daughter Gladys and the Duke, despite her daughter's interest in another young man, Billy Carlton (Matt Walker). In Season 2, George had also promised Gladys she could marry for love, even if it went against Bertha's wishes. This leads to greater conflict between George and Bertha in the new season. Across 61st Street from the Russell household on the Upper East Side, Agnes struggles to accept Ada's new position as lady of the house with her newfound wealth. Peggy meets a new love interest from Newport, R.I., whose family isn't keen on her career as a writer and journalist. The Gilded Age features a big cast of show regulars, including: Carrie Coon as Bertha Russell, Christine Baranski as Agnes Van Rhijn, Cynthia Nixon as Ada Forte, Morgan Spector as George Russell, Louisa Jacobson as Marian Brook, Denée Benton as Peggy Scott, Taissa Farmiga as Gladys Russell, Harry Richardson as Larry Russell, Blake Ritson as Oscar Van Rhijn and Ben Ahlers as Jack Trotter. New additions to the cast in Season 3 include: Jordan Donica, Andrea Martin, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Hattie Morahan, Leslie Uggams, Merritt Wever, Bill Camp and Phylicia Rashad.
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
Who Are The Top Five 'Value Buy' Franchises In Sports? Plus, A Comprehensive List Of Everything Canceled During The BLM Era
On the Friday sports edition of 'Will Cain Country,' following the sale of the Los Angeles Lakers for $10 billion, Will and The Crew break down which sports franchises could be worth even more and Will shares his top 5 'value buy' franchises. Then, after promising a comprehensive list of everything that was canceled during the BLM era, Will delivers a list that fully illustrates the insanity of the early 2020s which saw changes to the Washington Redskins, Uncle Ben's Rice, The Dixie Chicks, and many more. Plus, with talk of a Florida Panthers dynasty heating up, Will and The Crew debate the big question: What really makes a dynasty in sports? Tell Will what you thought about this podcast by emailing WillCainShow@ Subscribe to 'Will Cain Country' on YouTube here: Watch Will Cain Country! Follow Will on X: @WillCain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
