Brian McNelis and Eric Craig are listed in the credits of Cyberpunk 2077 as Music Supervisors and it turns out that the Lakeshore Records duo has a considerable history in film that led to them working on the highly-anticipated title. As revealed in a radio interview with Triple J’s Tim Shiel, the duo’s work on on the 2011 cult crime film Drive was what convinced CD Projekt Red to “cold call” them for the job.
In 2015, the duo flew to CD Projekt Red’s headquarters in Warsaw, Poland to be pitched on the project using early production work subject to an NDA. At the time, the only public knowledge on Cyberpunk 2077 was the infamous 2013 teaser trailer, with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and its expansions being the Polish developer’s main focus. McNelis commented on the experience: “When I saw the stuff I was like ‘Oh my god, this is my teenage dream.’ Literally. How do we get involved? Let’s do it!”
The biggest challenge of forming the soundtrack of Cyberpunk 2077 was what 50 years in the future would sound like. Considering how different music sounded like 50 years ago from today, the duo tapped into multiple genres including hip hop, rock, pop, electronic, and more in order to be able to convey a futuristic sound complete based on speculation in an alternate universe. As framed by McNelis: “You’re looking at the evolution of the difference between Chuck Berry and Jay-Z.”
According to the duo, there was a bigger focus on the “punk” aspect of Cyberpunk rather than the “cyber.” This can be seen with the host of artists seen on the original 150+ songs on the soundtrack including Grimes, SOPHIE, Run the Jewels, and A$AP Rocky. Each of the various artists are credited as in-universe artists, with Swedish hardcore band Refused appearing as Johnny Silverhand’s band Samurai and Grimes playing the role of future pop star Lizzy Wizzy, who even has her own side quest. Grimes, who is currently in a relationship with billionaire SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, was “already interested in this kind of stuff and a gamer herself” according to McNelis.
Besides these bigger names (at least in their particular genres and scenes), McNelis and Craig brought on lesser-known artists like Le Destroy and Deafkids to the hugely successful platform that is Cyberpunk 2077. Craig described it as “a real heartwarming thing to facilitate for a lot of these people we’ve known for a very long time.” McNelis was previously nominated for a Grammy for his work on the Napoleon Dynamite soundtrack and the duo have worked on the Underworld franchise.
With Cyberpunk 2077 topping sales charts, there is an expectation that many people will be introduced to the various artists that populate the game’s soundtrack, much like those listening to the soundtracks of FIFA or Grand Theft Auto. “It’s a thrill that these songs will forever be imprinted on people as being the songs of Night City,” said McNelis. “That’s where you heard it first… not in a club or on a date, or in your car or at a McDonald’s… The first time you heard the song was in Night City.”
Cyberpunk 2077 is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions coming in 2021.
Source: Triple J
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