Beards, Cats and Indie Game Audio

I had been trying to line this one up for awhile and it was a great fun chat to finally have. And we went long! I hope you enjoy this fun talk I had with Elise Kates, a good game audio friend from down in Seattle. As a note, I have adopted the new schedule of "when it happens" for episodes of the podcast. When I can line something up and I've got time, there will be an episode. When I'm busy, there won't. Always searching for that balance with all that I take on and have life throw at me.

My second interview from GameSoundCon 2025. I sat down with Emily Meo and chatted about daily recordings and actually talked about our cats.

Back again for a new year. Our firsts episode of 2026 is with Rev. Dr. Bradley D Meyer. Last year at GameSoundCon I managed to sit down with Brad for a conversation. End of the day we sat down outside in a sort of quiet area and talked about game audio stuff and art and guitars.

It's a month late cause I got the worst flu ever but it's finally here! I had a great conversation with Mark Kilborn where we talked about classic sounds and retro games amongst other things. As well, this will be the final episode for this year. I need a bit of a break so going to take a bit of time off. Going forward, I'm playing on each year being a 9 episode season. I'll be at GameSoundCon again this year, gathering interviews to release next year. I hope you enjoyed this season. See you next year.

Super fun chat with sound designer Martin Kvale this month. Very glad to finally do this interview.

Super fun chat with sound designer and composer Neha Patel for this episode. We talked all over the place. Sound design for Venba, composer payments, going on walks to see the neighborhood cats. https://www.nehapatelaudio.com/  

Gord's back again! We catch up on what's been going on since the last time Gord was on the podcast and answer a few listener questions.

This episode I talk with Megan Carnes (composer, implementer) who loves nerding out about interactive music systems.

My last interview from GameSoundCon 2024. I was able to sit down with Maximilien Simard-Poirier (sound designer, guitar nerd, professional French Canadian) who organizes the Interactive Audio Montreal meetups and chat about running a meetup for 7 years. https://www.interactiveaudiomontreal.com/ https://youtube.com/@interactiveaudiomontreal?si=hQhWzMP2Jres-2xL  

This month I've got a great conversation I had with Lewis Thompson and Greg Lester from Airwiggles while we were at GameSoundCon 2024. We talked about some different sound design tips and tricks and Airwiggles and drinking water (for some reason).

This month my guest is Bonnie Bogovich (vocal artist, audio designer, and chicken and human choir arranger). We sat down at GameSoundCon in Oct 2024 and talked about dialogue and sounds and educational games amongst other things.

Hey everyone. Beards, Cats, And Indie Game Audio is back. It's been a long break but I'm back with a new episode. Come have a listen while I catch up with our surprise guest. (It's Gord, Gord is the surprise guest) Matthew

Hi everyone, It's been a real long time since. But it's official, that was just a really long break and the podcast is returning in 2025. I'll be flying solo as the host (I'm sure Gord will turn up every once and awhile) and I've already got a couple interviews recorded waiting to be edited. Regular monthly episodes should start dropping mid Jan 2025.  Thanks for listening and I'm very excited to be back doing this again. Matthew

With this episode we welcome our new co-host, Rachel Sim. Rachel will be filling in at times so Gord can take a break. This time around we talk about how Rachel came into the industry, mentorships, community support and as always answer some questions.

Back at the podcast for 2019. We had a bit of a break to deal with life and all it can bring out side game audio. We catch up and talk about what we've been up to, games we're working on, conferences we went to, Gord having a kid and then answer some questions.

And here it is, the last episode of 2018. This time we talk our way through a bunch of random stuff. Upgrading cheap mics, Gord giving away something, and his trip to Thinkercon. Teaching people what you do, black friday sales, getting the most out of a vacation and how we learn perfect pitch. As well as one user question.

Another multi-subject podcast, we dig into the past month of our lives. Gord took a whirlwind trip to Paris to exhibit Wandersong at Indiecade Europe, while Matt went to GameSoundCon to give a talk on the Mark of the Ninja Remaser and take part in a panel on advising composers interested in getting into sound design. We discuss losing gigs that were totally-in-the-bag, working while a bit rusty, taking things one at a time during stressful period. Oh and Korean food & architecture.

This time around we actually talk about cats. As well as general life, studio expansion, answer some questions and dig into Gord's recenct blog post on being an ethical employer.   You can find that blog post on the Audiokinetic site at https://blog.audiokinetic.com/dream-job-ethical-employment-in-game-audio/

Episode 51 and we dig into a bit of mid to later career growth and motivation. And general how to keep up motivation as well. And of course we dive into some questions from everyone. Also happy again to have Pro Sound Effects advertising with us again. We get into another great Ann Kroeber and Alan Splet library called Cinematic Winds that they provided to  us for this ad. As part of this, PSE has been awesome enough to give us a discount code for all our listeners. If you use the code BEARDS you'll get 15% off both the Industrial Sounds With Soul or the new Stallion libraries. You can see this and all their other libraries at www.prosoundeffects.com and follow them on twitter at @prosoundeffects    

So recently Gord started the hashtag #gameaudiotips on twitter. He started posting a good tip every day. I thought it was great so I jumped in on it as well. And then some others joined in too. This episode we go over some of the ones we thought have been great so far. And then we answer some questions too.  Again we're happy to have Pro Sound Effects advertising with us again. This time we go over Stallion, another library from Ann Kroeber and Alan Splet. Again, this is a good one. As part of this, PSE has been awesome enough to give us a discount code for all our listeners. If you use the code BEARDS you'll get 15% off both the Industrial Sounds With Soul or the new Stallion libraries. You can see this and all their other libraries at www.prosoundeffects.com and follow them on twitter at @prosoundeffects

 This year at GDC we got another interview recorded. We sat down with Carley Nyte and chatted about a bunch of stuff. You can find her on twitter at @carlyenyte and hear her work in the next project from Camouflaj.    As well this episode we're very happy to have Pro Sound Effects advertising wtih us. We give a little run down on what we think about the Industrial Sounds With Soul library from Ann Kroeber and Alan Splet. Spoiler, we like it. As part of this, PSE has been awesome enough to give us a discount code for all our listeners. If you use the code BEARDS you'll get 15% off both the Industrial Sounds With Soul or the new Stallion libraries. You can see this and all their other libraries at www.prosoundeffects.com and follow them on twitter at @prosoundeffects

This was a big episode for us. With some help from some friends we hosted a night of live podcast recording while we were at GDC 2018. It was an amazing time. DB Cooper was our amazing guest who chatted with us about doing voice acting in games. Monument.house was kind enough to lend us their space. And Kim from gretta.com was who made that happen and was kind of her big idea in the first place.  Thanks for everyone that came out. And if you didn't or couldn't, here's the recording!

Here again for episode 47. We talk about getting people on board with audio and how to communicate around that. And how to analyze reference sounds and music to give clients what they're looking for. And we answer some questions.   If you're going to GDC and see this before then, we're doing a live recording of our next episode and hang out.    https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/beards-cats-and-indie-game-audio-podcast-live-tickets-43213861824

We run through a few things this time around. We talk about conferences and figuring out if they're worth it. Inspired by some Twitter posts by @jaymfernandes. We run down some stuff we learned at Audio Bash. We talk about some big time failures we've had lately. Answer some questions. And talk about cars for a bit.   As well from our announcments, Gord's soundtrack to Full Metal Furies is out. You can pick it up here. https://ashellinthepit.bandcamp.com/album/full-metal-furies     And Matthew is looking for speakers for CarouselCon 2018. It's free and takes place during lunch time at GDC. More info here.  http://wootwootsound.com/carouselcon-2018/

A day late but we're still calling this the last of 2017 episodes. We talked about some random small topics this time and fielded some questions.

This month we decieded to cover some basics. We go over a bunch of terms and ideas that make up game audio and how we do things. This is mostly ment for developers and beginners. And to hopefully generate questions and more ideas for us to cover. If you're thinking of doing your own audio but have no idea where to start, or how to talk to an audio person, this could be a good place to start.   Calling this one part 1 cause we want to hear from our listeners on what we missed, what you disagree with or need to correct. Let us know and we'll build up part 2.   As well we talk about a quick bit about Mattia Cellotto's new dry ice library. More info available here - https://www.asoundeffect.com/sound-library/ultrasonic-dry-ice/

First time we've recorded at the new Klei office. We talk a bunch about dealing with social media interactions as a freelancer in audio. And answer a few questions.

Back from missing a months episode. Last month I got real sick. Something I'm still dealing with. This episode we talk about that and what it's shown us about our situation in game audio and some of the filters or lenses our advice comes through. And how those sorts of lenses/filters are on all the advice you're being given out there.  And we cover some questions as always.

Back again and just the two of us talking again. This time we're on the road again in the car and talking about crunch, game jams and answering some questions.   As we'll we've got our first sponser. We talk a bit about Mattia Cellotto's Polarity library. Check out that and his other libraries at his website http://www.mattiacellotto.com/libraries/

Well it's the last of our GDC interviews. For this last one we sat down with Ben Crossbones (@BenCrossbones). I must say this one gets a bit salty. :)  We talked about Ben starting out, some tips for networking and mentors and mentorships. Including the new and great Audio Mentoring Project (http://audiomentoring.com)

Our second interview from GDC 2017 and actually the first one we did. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Rich Vreeland also known as Disasterpeace. We talked about a bunch of the projects he's done including Mini Metro and Hyper Light Drifter and some of the differences between Hollywood and games.   Great place to find out more about Rich is his website http://disasterpeace.com/

The first of our 2017 GDC interviews. The second we recorded but the first we're putting out. We had a really great conversation with voice acctress Fryda Wolff. You might know her lately from a little game called Mass Effect: Andromeda.  She's done some sweet indie stuff like Octodad: Dadliest Catch as well. We talk about all kinds of things, like breaking in, how much screaming you can do and squeaky cheese.   You can find her website here, which has lots of great stuff to read if you're interested in getting into VO: https://frydawolff.com/

We talk about stuff this time. What stuff? Good question. We talked about practice and learning new things and effective practice. And we talked about focus. And answered some questions.

At GGJ Vancouver we had the chance to talk to a room of audio people and give some advice on things. We spent this podcast talking about what Gord went over which was about dealing with different conflicts and negotiations as an audio person from different perspectives. Being a client. Being a contrator. Being a business owner. And of course we answer some questions.   As well I'm running CarouselCon this year while at GDC. Looking for people to talk at that. http://wootwootsound.com/?page_id=158

The last episode of 2016 and we've got Leonard Paul as our guest. We sat down at Gord's and talked about a bunch of stuff that Leonard has done and his school. As well we talk a bit about Sound Particles and vinyl soundtrack releases. And of course we answer some questions.   As well Leonard sent us a bunch of links on how to contact him and his projects: School: http://School.VideoGameAudio.com Twitter: http://Twitter.com/SchoolGameAudio or http://Twitter.com/VideoGameAudio Personal: http://VideoGameAudio.com 'Beep' Original Music Score: http://LeonardJPaul.Bandcamp.com Billboard Article: http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7624544/beep-documentary-traces-history-of-video-game-music 'Beep' interview on 'Level' with Emily Podcast: www.patreon.com/posts/lwer-43-leonard-7048277 Interview on Game Audio Hour: youtu.be/XevtZileSjg?list=PL17-p74MQ_0STwm-hfUC3Nyl2X2kD7Y_b 'Music of Beep' article on DesigningMusicNow!: www.designingmusicnow.com/2016/09/22/the-music-of-beep/

And we're back again. We answer some questions and talk about doing personal projects and it's importance. As well as some tips for analyzing mixes on other games and why that's a good thing to do.   We both have music released this month that we talk about some and here's some links to that. Gord's Viking Squad OST - https://ashellinthepit.bandcamp.com/album/viking-squad-original-soundtrack  Also available on streaming services and youtube. Matthew's dark ambient EP - https://mattesque.bandcamp.com/album/nov-xx164t8-ep Should also be available on other sales/streaming platforms soon.   On a sad note Saki Kaskas passed away this month and I wouldn't be doing game audio if he hadn't taken a chance on my. He did some great work in games, made some great music and was just generally a great guy. He will be missed. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/285871/Obituary_Need_for_Speed_and_Sleeping_Dogs_composer_Saki_Kaskas.php  

Feels like we get a bit personal this month. For the month of October we talk about some conferences we've been to lately, some personal learnings from that and thoughts on games that have disappointing launches. And then answer some questions.

It's the PAX episode! This time we sat down with Gina Zdanowicz from Serial Lab Studios after she did a talk at PAX about devs and middleware. A bit of a noisy one but a great conversation. Two extra pieces of info this month to add on. The first, as some may know, is that one of my cats, Odin, passed on this month after a battle with cancer. While it's incredibly sad that she's gone I recorded her voice before she left and am giving that to all of you now. Head to Soundcloud and download to make her live on in your game projects. I'd really love to hear how you use it.    https://soundcloud.com/woot-woot-sound/odin-cat-meow-yell-meraow Second, and happier, Beep: A Documentary History Of Game Sound is now out!! If you're involved in games in any way, especially if it's audio, you should watch this doc.    http://www.gamessound.com/

We were a bit busy and stressed this month so we just took a bunch of questions and topic ideas from listeners and talked about those. So a bit of a grab bag episode.

It's the July 2016 episode. This time around we talk about the Audio Bash 2.0, Gord's audio test package for new hires, hardware synths in game audio and take a bunch of questions.

At it again. This time was answer some questions, talk about a really cheap mic Matthew bought, discuss acoustics on a budget and game audio in regards to accessibility of your game.

This month we talk about burnout. What it means and what you might be able to do about it when it comes to your creative work. And then we answer some real good questions.

This month we have the wonderful Jennifer Lewis (@jlew42) on to talk with us. We chat about community and moving from AAA to indie and a bunch of other stuff. Although we didn't mention it in the episode due to when we recorded it we'd like to mention the passing of Jory Prum. While we didn't know Jory personally we due know a lot of our listeners did and we truly wish we had. He sounds like he was a great human being and a wonderful person to have in game audio sharing his knowledge and making our industry a better brighter place. There is a wonderful write up here from people who knew him better.  http://designingsound.org/2016/04/remembering-jory-prum/ RIP Jory, you will be missed.

It's that time of year we head to GDC, lose our voices and interview someone not from Vancouver. This time around we had the pleasure of sitting down with Damian Kastbauer (@lostlab) and talk about technical sound design and community building.

At it again, just putting it out under the wire. It's the February 2016 episode of the podcast. Number 25. This time around we go over the VR talk Gordon did at our PNW audio con. We talk about the various things he's found out working on a VR game and VR ads. And then we answer some questions. 

In just under the wire but here's the January 2016 episode. This time we talk about the mini-con we had in Bellingham brining the Vancouver and Seattle game audio together. I give a recap of the talk I did then. 3 Interesting Things About 3 Interesting Games. And then we do the usual answer some questions bit.

A little late in the month but we still made it in. Was a real pleasure to find ourselves at the Sony Playstation Experience in San Francisco this month and be able to sit down with Joonas Turner. Joonas is an awesome guy and talented sound designer and voice actor from Finland with a broad range of games he's worked on.

Well it's a late one but it's still in November so here's episode 22! We been busy so the only time we had together was the car ride to the Seattle game audio meetup. So a car recorded episode it is! This time around we talk about sound libraries focusing on some tips for building your own libraries and as always take some questions from the internet.

Rolling in late but rolling in regardless. This time around it's just the two of us in the Klei recording room chatting about what makes a good sound. We've even got examples! We try to give an idea of what we think makes a good sound before you hit implementation. And then we answer a bunch of questions from you guys.

Here we are again. Anther episode. This time from my hotel room at PAX Prime 2015. We take this chance to sit down with Jay Fernandes who does audio and audio QA and talk about some of that and loudness standards and a couple of twitter questions and this is a really long run on sentence.