The Periphery and Warframe of 1999 fused with a new guest track, but how did that happen?

1999 Warframe: Techrot Encore is out, which is fun. However, one thing you may not notice as a player or out of reach is that the perimeter of progressive metal bands works with digital extremes on a special guest track for updates. It all fits the rock band vibe brought by Temple and the new defense mission.

But how is this actually done? How did Peripherals end up working with DE on Techrot Encore and what was the reason for creating the track? To find out, I sent some questions to Jake Bowen and Mark Holcomb on the periphery and Elliot Coleman from Good Tigers who worked with the group to lament the days.

VG247:How did this cooperation come about? When to start working from track?

Holcomb: It comes together very organically. I’ve known Megan, Rebe and Steve since around 2016 and we’ve been talking about doing something. Jake and I hang out with them at the 2024 peripheral show, and it’s when the wheel officially starts opening the project. We are working seriously on the track starting in the summer of 2024.

Bowen: We’ve been friends with the Warframe team for a while and I think it’s pretty casual. It just started mergers from “Hey, would it be cool if we collaborate?” I know they are working on the role of music/guitar and are looking for a band that might be able to contribute music and consult the character “sound”.

Coleman: Jack initially contacted me to assess my interest in working with them for the original songs of the game. In the past, the three of us used to work in music together, so it was effortless for me. The three of us had a good chemistry!

VG247:How long did you have to make this new song for the 1999 Warframe update?

Holcomb: We had the chance to have a few months of running track to finish the song, but Jack and I met at his Jersey City location to get most of the songs written and recorded in just a few days. After that, we spent months adjusting, which allowed us to bounce the Warframe team without rushing to bounce our ideas and suggestions in order to further shape the song into the horizon they feel they are.

Bowen: I don’t know much about video game development, but in my opinion you can’t make video games, let alone video games on Warframes scales that don’t have a lot of time and precise planning, so we made a few calls with Rebb and Megan and they helped us make plans and gave us plenty of time to come up with our best things. So while most of the song’s schedule blends together in the studio about two days later, we spent a lot of time honing the track and sounding right.

Coleman: When I hear the instrument they are working on, I quickly get a lot of melodies. I started the game and would repeat for a few days to listen to the song to feel the sound of my wished voice.

VG247: Peripheral has written several times for video games, including the 2016 Deus Ex track, Halo 2nd Anniversary OST and HomeFront in 2011 all the way back in 2011! What inspired the rewards of this medium? Is video game work something that bands have always been keen on?

Holcomb: Since our teammate Misha mainly deals with the music of the above-mentioned games, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to dip my toes into this world. I did the sound in a video game that dates back to 2017, but I never made music, so I took the opportunity to do it with Jake and Elliot. I am a lifelong gamer, and whether through voice performance or musical works, I will climb mountains to participate in that world.

Bowen: The interesting thing about previous work is that it’s all handled by a member of the periphery Misha Mansoor, so for me it’s a chance to really get into that side and I found the idea of ​​making up for someone else’s projects very daunting, it’s a terrifying thing about the warframe team, but the fans of The Warframe team are fans of Enciphery music, at least I know I’m like everything else, I know they’re like everything else.

VG247: What are the unique considerations for creating songs for video games rather than for albums? What does the band have to keep in mind from the conventional process?

Holcomb: What I want to say is that the biggest consideration is to make sure you adhere to the developer’s vision 100%. When Peripherals record the album, it is definitely free because we create art for the sake of art, and the first priority makes us happy and as little as possible. For projects like this, we have boundaries and we need to stay to meet the vision of digital extremes. But it’s exciting in its own way because from the outset, their vision was so specific and well thought out.

Bowen: I think the first thing I think about when writing music is “whether this fits the theme of 1999”, talking about many of the more iconic musical sounds of that era, bands like Stone Temple Pilots and Deftones are always in my mind when trying to come up with Riff. Apart from that, I want to create a song that a real band might write, Scripture/Chorus/Poems/Bridge/unero or something similar to this. I even added sound elements from the game to help it fit more in the game world.

Coleman: When I make good tiger records, the overall tone of the album usually forms very quickly. We know what our band sounds and what its strengths are. To write this song, I have to keep in mind the vision that Rebb and Megan come to for this, which is easy because they give a good direction!

VG247: In Warframe in 1999, the audio team firmly built the environment in the junk-era music of the late 90s. The periphery was built in the early 2000s! Can we expect the musical style to be more in line with the band’s original sound, more in line with your contemporary work or something very different?

Holcomb: I think, essentially, Jack and I are on the periphery, you’ll definitely get more modern metal sounds, but yes, we do try to capture the 90s sounds in the song. It’s natural since I grew up in the 90s.

Bowen: I think that’s the other half of the song equation, and in addition to paying homage to our 90s inspiration, we have to make room for certain peripheral sounds that sound more modern. For me, this is the most interesting part of the project. I love 90s music, so it’s fun to be able to guide myself into a natural style.

VG247: In an interview with Tuonela Mag last year, Misha said that “from a purely musical perspective, “musical themes and abstract concepts”, the process of making new music for you is largely intuitive. Is the creation process of this song the same? Does digital extremes provide a guide or requirement that makes you different from this song?

Holcomb: What I’m going to say is still very intuitive, it’s not much different from how I work on the periphery, but the main difference is a series of standard digital extremes that we have set for. The idea of ​​writing a song that would feel at home in the late 90s was the general idea of ​​every detail in the song, so we had to throw out some original, unfiltered threads, and we did a lot of things on the periphery. But I have to say that it makes a lot of sense because we rarely write in periphery guidelines, so it is an interesting creativity.

Bowen: We absolutely try to limit this process by the guidelines prescribed by digital extremes. When the perimeter is in the studio, we call all the shots, which is fun. But when someone asks you to write a song for their video game, you obviously have to make sure you are aligned with their vision, which is exactly why I find the process so interesting – which makes me deal with writing and production in different ways, but that’s no stranger. If you are a musician, it might be related to this. It’s always horrible to try new things and get into new music projects, but once it scrolls, it feels like you know what to do, and it feels really good.

Coleman: No hard guidance, but they did mention some different singers to appreciate the atmosphere. Chris Cornell, Layne Staley, Eddie Vedder, and more. They aren’t looking for the exact copy, so I’m still able to be myself.

VG247: In the same interview, Misha said that with all of you life, the band doesn’t have many opportunities to play together (except to tour). How challenging is it to write a song before the deadline without being able to sit in the same room and figure out it out?

Holcomb: This is definitely not ideal, but as a band we spent a lot of time on planes and zoom phones, haha. It wasn’t hard this time since Jack and I were able to write and arrange the song in person, and then we were able to make most of the adjustments remotely.

Bowen: Of course, this brings some challenges to the band. Usually, we all fly to a place for a few weeks and make what we need at that time. When it comes to tours, we usually rehearse together a few days before the tour begins.

Coleman:One of the most important things when working with a band member, a companion or a friend is that everyone agrees that you are working towards the same goal. I trust their constructive criticism very much.

VG247: Mark, you are also a voice actor in video games! Can we expect your voice to pop up in future fighter updates?

Holcomb: Yes! I’m dubbing the Flare in the new update. It’s crazy to explore this role and step on the foundation I’ve never stepped on in a career that I’ve never stepped on in a voice. Thank you very much Digital Extremes for writing a fun, fun character for this and trust me to bring him into life.

Bowen: I know this question is not for me, but I also did some voice work for Warframe and as a new villain you hear some very cruel voices!

Warframe 1999: Techrot Encore is out now, and although “Peripheral Tracks” lament that “Days” aren’t playing on Spotify, you can check it out on YouTube right away!