Ahhhh yes. Big Ocean Way Nashville session yesterday for new music with Crate Entertainment on their upcoming Grim Dawn expansion, Fangs of Asterkarn! What a glorious (and kinda emotional) day with the GOATs.
Thanks Seth Crail for his orchestration skills and being last minute co-producer, plus all star team including but not limited to Nick Spezia, David Angess, David Davidson, Spencer Clarke, Eli Feingold, and everyone there.
Excited to share the final product!
Appearance on Danish 007 Podcast
I recently was invited to join the James Bond-focused podcast “Im Gehörgang Ihrer Majestät” and talk about the process of composing the music for the recently released Cypher 007. It was an awesome conversation and was thrilled to go deep with them on all things Bond and Bond music!
Storm Lancers and Ire: A Prologue are announced
Today, two games were announced from ProbablyMonsters, the studio I contribute to as Music Manager and Composer. It’s been a long road!
I contributed a good amount of music to Storm Lancers, but major props to Chris Wilson for doing the heavy lifting on it, as well as composing the entirety of the music for Ire: A Prologue. It’s been amazing hearing his work come to fruition these last few months and years!
Check out the trailer for Storm Lancers, which I composed the music for (which is also the main theme for the game, inspired by a great thematic motif by Chris). Big thanks to Seth Crail, Spencer Clarke, Seth Crail, and Jon Estes for help in recording the orchestra, led by the fantastic David Angell and the Nashville Recording Orchestra.
Stay tuned for the release of both of these games!
DOS and Cypher 007 Nominated at the 2025 GANG Awards
Exciting news! DOS was nominated for Best Audio for a Casual Game at the 2025 GANG Awards, held this week at GDC in San Francisco! My brother and I had an awesome time this year at GDC, and was a nice bonus to get to celebrate the nomination together while we were there.
On top of that, Cypher 007 was nominated for Best Sound Design for an Indie Game, which I led audio for on top of composing.
Thanks to GANG for recognizing both The Pardo Brothers and SkewSound!
DOS Live + Interactive Performance at the Nashville Jazz Workshop
My quartet performed at the Nashville Jazz Workshop, featuring Rod McGaha on trumpet, Jon Estes on bass, Chris Brush on drums, and Kris Karlsson on guitar.
I hope to be able to put this “experience” on more, as it’s the idyllic presentation of this music: audience members play the video game DOS, projected for all to see, while we, the band, perform the music and improvise alongside the actions of the player in real time!
Huge thanks to all that could attend!
ABC Classic features Signs of the Sojourner music
Game Show, the weekly radio program on ABC Australia that features video game music and is hosted by Meena Shamaly, featured music from the soundtrack to Signs of the Sojourner this week.
The music on the program, titled “The music of linguistic puzzles” primarily featured games where language was a primary mechanic. Signs of the Sojourner, developed by Echodog Games in 2020, was made known for it’s creative card-game mechanic that utilized language and communication in a metaphorical sense, influencing your relationship with the cast of characters and principle plot elements.
Listen to the program here:
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/game-show/game-show-the-music-of-linguistic-puzzles/104429502
From Russia With Lev Premiers on MSNBC
Check out From Russia with Lev on MSNBC this week! My friend Brian Robertson composed the score and solicited Amy and I to record woodwinds for it.
From MSNBC:
“From Executive Producer Rachel Maddow, "From Russia With Lev" reveals the outrageous scheme that led to former President Donald Trump's first impeachment. It follows the much, much larger-than-life journey of Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian-born hustler and former small-time mafia operator whose random, almost accidental association with Trump and Trump attorney Rudolph Giuliani took him around the world, and ultimately to prison. Lev reveals the ham-handed workings of the furtive campaign to dredge up false but damaging allegations against then-candidate Joe Biden. Tune in to the broadcast premiere of “From Russia With Lev” on Friday, Sept. 20 at 9 p.m. ET on MSNBC.”
Steve Pardo Quartet Debut at Rudy's Jazz Room
If you are in Nashville this weekend, stop on by Rudy’s Jazz Room to hear my new quartet with Rod McGaha, Chris Brush, and Jon Estes! It’s a bunch of new original music I’ve written and arranged just for this group. This is our first show and sure to be a special one - and if you miss it we’ll surely be playing again soon!
Check out the show details here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/steve-pardo-quartet-tickets-940016463547
Billie Eilish on the Fortnite Festival Main Stage
Huge shout-out to the incredible audio team I’m leading at SkewSound for cranking out mix after mix in support of the Jam mode feature for Fortnite Festival!
The latest huge update is a collaboration with the one-and-only Billie Eilish. Her new music is incredible (as always) and we are feeling so lucky to have our hands in the playable versions on the Jam stage!
Cypher 007 Chapter 3 Update Now Live
I wrote and recorded a bunch of new music for the latest Cypher 007 update, now live on Apple Arcade! My Instagram post gives all the special thanks for all those who helped make it happen :)
Check out the game here!
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cypher-007/id1586958842
DOS is released
My album/game DOS has been released to the public! It is the first game release by indie game dev studio The Pardo Brothers, founded by my bro and I (obviously).
Check out all the details here!
dosalbumgame.com
EIN Presswire - Vanderbilt University to Host MusicTech
This summer I’m once again supporting Vanderbilt University in their MusicTech program for young folks interested in interactive music and audio for games, led by my friend and composer/pianist extraordinaire, Pascal Le Boeuf. It’s always such a great hang!
Here’s a write-up on it via EIN Presswire.
Cypher 007
Coming soon! I had the privilege to score, as well as serve as Audio Lead, with Tilting Point/MGM/Eon on the Apple Arcade exclusive Cypher 007! The team at SkewSound crushed the audio treatment for this, and I’m stoked to dive into the process for music making on it.
This is certainly exciting, and I can’t wait to share more! For now, congrats to all that worked on it and stay tuned for the release later this month.
Indie is the new AAA (i.e. ProbablyMonsters!!!)
Here we go! I’ve been welcomed onto the team at ProbablyMonsters, alongside my SkewSound teammates, helping bring music to their suite of upcoming AAA games! On top of composing for upcoming titles, I’ll be directing and executing music strategy across the board, as well as helping other composers fully realize their music for their respective titles.
Looking forward to an incredible season of life with this team!
Announcing ⚡️MOONBREAKER⚡️
Steve is currently working on the music for the upcoming game by Unknown Worlds and Krafton: Moonbreaker!
Much more news to come on it, but for now, look forward to the Early Access release in late September on Steam!
Farthest Frontier EA Release!
Just released on Steam Early Access is Crate Entertainment’s Farthest Frontier!
I really enjoyed scoring for this one, wholly connecting with the spirit of the environment and pace of the gameplay. It was a joy to continue working with the fine folks at Crate.
As well as enlisting the incredible string talents of Jeremiah Barcus, Avery Bright, and Liz Estes, I was also happy to have my mom, pianist Julie Chapman, on every track on the soundtrack!
OST is currently on the ole youtube for now :)
Nominations for GANG Awards 2021
Happy to say that SkewSound has been nominated for a number of GANG Awards this year! It is incredibly humbling to be included among these titans - we snagged four nominations this round!
Risk of Rain 2:
* Best Audio for an Indie Game
Terrible Posture Games "3 out of 10"
* Best Dialogue for an Indie Game
* Best Ensemble Cast Performance
VR Video Games and Music Composition: an Interview with SkewSound by Andrew Cheek
* Best Game Audio Article or Publication!
Jewish Arts Collaborative
Got to write music for a super cool mobile AR experience by Mike Mandel celebrating Hanukkah!
Check it out here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/jarts-gallery/id1536830685
Also featuring sound design by Nick Kallman (SkewSound) and Nick Bartel.
Songs of Wonder (Amy Pardo) out today!
Now out everywhere! Check out Amy’s site for more details!
From Amy:
“Songs of Wonder is a collection of songs spurring on children and adults alike to notice the beauty in nature all around us. We all share the stars, the moon, the birds, the clouds, and all of creation. It’s just waiting to be taken in and cared for by the big human heart we all share.
Thanks so much for all those who helped us put this together! First of all, Steve Pardo, who always takes what is in my heart and makes it into sound. I'm so thankful to have a collaborator as my best friend and spouse. I couldn't have done any of this without him!
Take a good peek at the album art by Bonnie Fitch! Our family has been very blessed by nature journaling, and the album art might help you start one with your family. Journaling helps us to really *see* and hold memories in our minds that last a lifetime.
Jon and Elizabeth Estes added strings that, to me, reinforce the sound of the tender care of loving parents. Extra thanks to Jon who also mastered the album. My sister-in-law Cara Pardo added more familial love with her background vocals throughout the album. My sister Lindley Cameron co-wrote "Humble Flight of Love" with me a few years back on a very memorable visit to Boston. William Austin Whitney added warmth to the tune "Wonder" with his brass artistry.
We hope these songs take what may seem ordinary in the world around you and turn it into a glimmer of hope we all long for.”
SAXOPHONE Interview for Everything Virtual Podcast
Jonathan and I were featured on the Everything Virtual Podcast! Check it out for the latest updates on SAXOPHONE, the debut VR project from The Pardo Brothers LLC. We had so much fun!