Having composed the soundtracks to some of the largest action games of the last decade, her credits include multiple installments of the Call of Duty<\/em> and Assassin\u2019s Creed<\/em> franchises \u2013 including the recently-released Assassin’s Creed Valhalla<\/em>. Her work in media also extends to film and television, having scored feature films such as The Lazarus Effect<\/em> as well as television shows like Chef\u2019s Table<\/em> on Netflix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sarah\u2019s creative output doesn\u2019t stop in the realm of visual media, either. She has also composed music in a three-part suite commemorating NASA\u2019s Cassini Mission, and has collaborations that run the gamut of popular music with the likes of Mike Dean and Travis Scott.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We recently had the honor of speaking with Sarah about her career and process when working across so many different musical contexts \u2013 see the full interview below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Coming from the world of games and film composition, does your creative process change when switching contexts to something like popular music? Are there any strategies that you picked up while working in commercial music that have translated to your media work or vice versa?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I love combining sounds and instruments that you wouldn\u2019t necessarily think would go together, or taking inspiration from one genre and bringing it into a different context. When working on a big game project, I\u2019m pretty much doing the music in a vacuum where I\u2019m the artist. When I\u2019m working on a song where I\u2019m not the primary artist, I get to play more of a support role, contributing my taste and sound with their vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Getting to work on a pop song is like a breath of fresh air after months and sometimes years of creating hours of music for a single scoring project. It\u2019s a different headspace, but it\u2019s good to have varied experiences that keep music fun and exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Was there any sort of learning curve transitioning from film and game music into pop?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I tend to bring a pop sensibility to my scoring with hooks and riffs so in my case, it\u2019s a similar skillset. I blend acoustic instruments with synths and modern production and that approach lends itself well to popular music. Sometimes I\u2019m asked to do a specific thing on a song, but I often end up finding other interesting directions to push it in. It\u2019s good to allow room for surprises when collaborating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There’s a phenomenal YouTube video of you playing every instrument in a medley cover of the Halo<\/em>, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2<\/em>, and Elder Scrolls: Skyrim<\/em> themes \u2013 most notably cello, violin, and what appear to be actual skulls. Do you normally record your own performances in your music?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n That skull you\u2019re referring to is a donkey jaw and can be used as a percussive instrument. I track and overdub myself all the time at my home studio. I play a lot of string instruments and collect obscure regional folk instruments for their interesting tones and textures. I\u2019m really drawn to the spontaneity of improvisation, so a lot of what I track of myself is performance-based. I\u2019ll record long improvisations with live instruments and then go back and find interesting parts to work with. I take the same approach with my modular synth, since the best stuff comes from accidents that happen in the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With all of the props you have around your studio, do you often incorporate found sounds into your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Manipulating audio and sampling my own source material is a big part of my process, so anything laying around the house is fair game. On big projects that require a whole new sound, I like to record sound sources early on with myself and other soloists on unusual instruments to essentially build a custom library of audio and concepts to work with. Sometimes I\u2019ll use an instrument not for its intended purpose, but more as sound design. Scraping the resonator of a banjo for instance makes a great top frequency layer for a variety of sounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How was it working with 070 Shake on her debut album? Where was the creative intersection between the two of you when working on tracks?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I actually only met her in person after the album was finished. I had been collaborating with Mike Dean during that time and he asked me to write something on “The Pines.” I used a rustic bowed instrument I have from Kazakhstan called the Kobyz, and a Mongolian cello. We were going for a kind of an off-kilter Kashmir vibe with the string breakdown. I loved the song the second I heard it, and was so excited to be involved because I\u2019ve been a big fan of Shake ever since she first started posting stuff on SoundCloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n