Trevor Gureckis composed the music for the popular M. Night Shyamalan Apple TV+ series Servant. Recently he composed some new music for the 2023 version of the video game Dead Space, available for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. Gureckis has also worked on many other projects over the years, including M. Night Shyamalan’s Old, and the Jordan Peele-produced Hunters on Amazon, among others. So what does he have to say about Dead Space and other developments in his career?

The 10 Questions

1. The score to Dead Space is pretty wild and crazy. Was it influenced at all by Penderecki,
   Xenakis, or similar composers?

Trevor Gureckis: Yes it’s definitely wild, brutal, and relentless – but has its moments of reflection because at the heart of Isaac’s journey, he’s desperately trying to find his girlfriend Nicole as he goes deeper and deeper into the USG Ishimura.

Musically, I was influenced by late-20th-century composers like Penderecki, Lutoslawski and Ligeti. Penderecki was one of the composers who really explored new ways of playing traditional orchestral instruments in a new way – for instance, strings sliding, playing behind the bridge or overpressure on the bow so that the sound stops and starts in very harsh ways.

When put in a picture or in a game – a lot of those sounds come off as terrifying because they are so unusual and extreme. The strings, winds, and brass were scored to play all sorts of extended techniques in that vernacular. I play a lot of solo violin and cello on this score – adding distortion effects that we got the full orchestra to double at times for extra impact.

2. Other than the music, what can you tell people about the new Dead Space game?

Trevor Gureckis: I was initially tasked with exploring key narrative moments that they wanted to highlight
and pull together in the remake. One thing that we ended up experimenting with was the idea of “corruption”. The further you go in the game the more visions and confusion Isaac and other characters in the game experience. I wrote a number of suites dedicated to this lore idea but I also developed a concept for the Tram system which is the way you get around the USG Ishimura.

Early on it’s very pristine as the chapters progress “corruption” music is introduced as a layer. This is atonal cello melodies, heavier percussion, and woodwind breakout moments to name a couple. I’m playing the game now and I’m starting to hear this unfold and it feels unnerving for sure. So new thematic concepts and storylines and then these across-game developments were the main goals that I had when I started.

3.  You have also composed music for M. Night Shyamalan projects. In your experience, are there any differences between composing for a film and for a game?

Trevor Gureckis: I’m sure every experience is somewhat unique. I was very happy with the amount of time
and consideration we took on Dead Space to make sure that we were getting it right because in a lot of ways, it’s threading a needle. The original score was going to be used in places, so I already knew I didn’t want to ‘bump’ with it… or be so different that it felt off.

So I started way back in April 2021 I believe with the first recording session happening in November 2021 and then two more sessions in 2022. Each time the audio team and I would ask ourselves… “does this feel like we’re in the Dead Space world, or has it strayed too far…?” I would work to analyze what is working and what wasn’t.

4.  What can we expect from this installment in the Dead Space series?

Trevor Gureckis: Lots of new music and new sounds. I re-scored most of the major boss battles which was
quite fun and challenging – to do real high-energy action horror scoring for 8 minutes. New themes for characters that weren’t present in the original. But also, which was important to me, something that feels natural and at home in the Dead Space sonic world.

5.  Do you play video games and, if so, what are some of your favorites? (Not that there is anything wrong if you don’t).

Trevor Gureckis: Yes! I love playing video games. It’s my past time when not working on movies. My favorite game is the Mass Effect series. I played the original Dead Space back in 2008 and loved it.

It’s a dream to work on this project. I finally have some time this week to play the remake. It’s surreal to hear your music in an actual game and to think back to the orchestra recording session.. or even to the solo session of me in my studio banging away on my instruments and hearing it all mixed together. It’s been quite a journey to get here!

6.  What sort of instruments and techniques did you employ to create the wall of sound
elements of the Dead Space score?

Trevor Gureckis: I use everything I got at times. There’s a 50-person string section, full winds (all the
lowest winds), full brass (with Cimbasso for the ugly low splats), full choir, huge percussion section and solo violin, cello, prepared piano – and a ton of electronics. The orchestra and electronic parts often complement each other to increase the size.

In some tracks, like say “The Hive Mind”. There are places where it’s like 2 full orchestras playing to cover all the action. It got a little crazy. But then I’m wailing on my cello which is distorted to sound like a monster.

7.  You also composed the main title theme to Hunters. What can you tell us about that
series?

Trevor Gureckis: Yes I wrote the main title theme for season 1 for Hunters but not for the second season
and final one. I didn’t work on any of the score for the show itself. The opportunity came up as they were looking for a theme. I think it was a little bit of a demo competition thing between several composers.

They wanted something sweeping and epic but also something for the Jewish heritage depicted in the Main Title sequence – I thought of 2 solo violins. So, the result was a very classic Hollywood-sounding Main Theme, accompanied by this heartfelt violin duo.

8.  What can you tell us about Found Objects?

Trevor Gureckis: I founded Found Objects with fellow composer Jay Wadley about 15 years ago when we
were in grad school together at Yale. It really started out as an idea for putting our heads and resources together for the day we got out of school. We had decided that we probably didn’t want to get into academics but weren’t quite sure about what the next steps would be.

For the next few years, we mainly focused on original music for advertising and building that infrastructure – which took a lot of work. The company has expanded now to 9 (producers and in-house composers) with a recording studio in
DUMBO Brooklyn.

9.  Do you have any advice for aspiring musicians and composers?

Trevor Gureckis: I would say be open-minded about the opportunities that come your way because you never know where things lead. For years I was pretty much fully advertising music focused after coming out of the Yale School of Music and working for Philip Glass for 6 years. It took time to build a career in different media and follow different paths as they showed up – anything from pop production, arrangements, film, tv, and now my first game.

10.  What are some new projects in the works?

Trevor Gureckis: Yes, I just started this great show for Apple TV+ called The Crowded Room starring Tom
Holland and written by Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind, Picard). The music is a complete departure from Dead Space. More along the lines of The Goldfinch, a movie I scored in 2019. Big piano-driven themes. It’s a drama/thriller.

We would like to thank Trevor Gureckis for answering our questions!