Alternative band Northlane has gone from strength to strength, and now they’ve collaborated with gaming giant Ubisoft for their latest song.
Writing a song is hard, but writing one designed around a video game is another challenge entirely. That’s exactly the challenge Northlane, a multiple ARIA Award-winning alternative band, had to face when they chose to partner with video game giant Ubisoft.
The unexpected collaboration is for the band’s latest track Clockwork – a new theme song to promote the start of another season of the R6 Oceanic Nationals, Ubisoft’s national Rainbow 6 Siege eSports tournament.
It’s a combo that, according to one of Northlane’s guitarists, Josh Smith, the band were more than happy to experiment with. “Ubisoft are one of the most exciting game developers in the world and synonymous with some of the biggest titles in gaming,” Smith says. “For this partnership, they actually reached out to us. They thought we would be the perfect match to write the theme song…”
But as it turns out, actually writing the song wasn’t so easy. According to the band’s frontman, Marcus Bridge, Clockwork was first born after a long year of lockdown. “[I was] feeling uninspired to write but with a deadline creeping up on us. I wasn’t happy with anything I was writing and it was driving me crazy, it just made sense to write about that feeling.”
For Bridge, the hardest part was finding that harmonious blend. Clockwork needed to not just hit the brief to satisfy the big wigs at Ubisoft, but also not alienate long-time Northlane fans.
Watch the video for Northlane’s ‘Clockwork’ below
“I found the most difficult part about writing a theme song was finding the middle ground of being relevant to the game itself, but not forcing something unnatural into our music,” Bridge admits. “I put a lot of expectation on myself when writing and go through stages of self-doubt.
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“Coincidently, that’s what the song ended up being about but, at the same time, I think it also reflects the expectations and pressure that I’m sure comes with playing games like Rainbow Six Siege professionally.”
Less so was the pressure of releasing a song to a bunch of gamers who could be entirely unfamiliar with the band’s back catalogue. “I didn’t feel any extra pressure at the idea of a new audience, Bridge says. “I think if you believe in the music you create and the message you’re spreading, then that will translate to the listener in one way or another. The only pressure I felt was the pressure I put on myself.”
While the band didn’t draw on any video game music for the new theme song, there’s still definite favourites they love to listen to. “It isn’t from a video game BUT Hero by Chad Kroeger from the Spiderman Soundtrack (2002) is the first song I think of when it comes to an epic theme song,” Bridge reflects. “The Mortal Kombat theme would be up there but the guys already covered that a while back.”
Clockwork is just another feather in the cap of Northlane’s success, but what about some final words for those budding artists looking to follow in the band’s footsteps? “Spend your time getting your songs right,” advises Smith. “Don’t rush. Songs are your currency. You can have all the help in the world but you’ll never achieve anything if you don’t invest your time and emotion into your craft.”
You can read more about this topic over at the Gaming Observer.
