Michael Bross Press Release-Everything Is Now released

October 10, 2006

Latest Album From Successful Video Game Composer

Now Available—
Electronica Artist Michael Bross’s album, Everything Is Now.

Michael Bross has been a composer for some of the biggest names in the game industry including Oddworld and Take 2. After 15 years of creating music for games, Bross has turned his attention to recording his own album, Everything Is Now. Heavily influenced by film soundtracks and electronica, the recording, which spans eight tracks, is beat-driven and atmospheric.

Though steeped in the electronic domain, he took an unorthodox approach to his music. For starters, he recorded a myriad of “found” sounds such as pasta strainers, a satellite dish and flower cans as percussion. Bross also employed non-traditional techniques for traditional instruments like “preparing” a guitar with paper clips, screwdrivers, forks and a monkey wrench to transform its output into what he calls “clouds of sound”.

The outcome is tracks like “Mars Disarmed” with its textural drifts powered by percussive undercurrents; or “The Return” which features a simple, repetitive melody supported by a guitar that was transformed into something that might resemble trickling water. Listeners will find the downtempo “Back Alley Crime” to be loaded with mangled voice clips (from members of the U.S. Senate) that float over a pulse of swirling organ and brush snare. The opening track, “Searchlights”, though more synth driven, swells with a siren-like guitar which Bross “bowed” with a threaded screw while a distant, wordless vocal emerges around it.

Bross states, “The challenge is not in creating strange sounds for their own sake but in using those sounds in a way that creates a deeper connection with the listener."

Bross continues to score game soundtracks with his current project for Red 5 Studios, a new startup founded by key directors and producers on World of Warcraft. While at Oddworld, Bross scored the music for the video games Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath (published by Electronic Arts, 2005) and Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee (published by Microsoft, 2001). His work on these projects garnered several awards including the NY Festivals Gold World Medal in 2004 for “Best Soundtrack”. He also crafted the soundtracks for Black Dahlia (1998, published by Interplay), starring Dennis Hopper, and Ripper (1996, published by Take 2), starring Christopher Walken.

The album “Everything Is Now” is now available in major online music stores (including iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, etc.) and available as a CD direct from the artist’s site (www.bross.com) and Amazon.com.

Michael Bross

Press Release