The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Simple Minds player is game for boosting Scotland’s reach
Dundee-born Simple Minds bass player Ged Grimes tells Michael Alexander why it was ‘cool’ to compose and produce a Gaelic soundtrack for a video game set in the 18th Century Highlands
As a composer, producer and performer of music for more than 30 years, Dundee-born and raised Ged Grimes came to prominence as a member of 1980s pop trio Danny Wilson and, for the past eight years, he has been the bass player with rock legends Simple Minds.
But lesser known is that for the best part of 10 years after the break-up of Danny Wilson, and before joining Simple Minds, Ged spent most of his time writing and producing music for computer games.
The venture started in Dundee through his friend Chris van der Kuyl when he did the soundtrack for a game called Earthworm Jim 3D.
That led to material being produced in America and Japan, including for Shrek 3, The Bourne Supremacy, Quarrel and Enter The Matrix – nominated for Best Instrumental Music and Best Original Song at the Gang Awards at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
Now Ged, 56, has composed and produced an authentic soundtrack with Gaelic artists and traditional musicians for a virtual reality video game set in 18th Century Scotland – an instalment in the highly successful Bard’s Tale franchise.
The former St Saviour’s High School pupil was responsible for sourcing musical talent, composing and producing the soundtrack to The Bard’s Tale IV: Barrows Deep in a gaming first which features Scottish and Gaelic music.
Ged collaborated with a breadth of Gaelic artists spanning generations to record an authentic soundtrack for the game, set in a virtual Skara Brae, which uses a character, The Bard, to tell the story of old Highland life.
Talent ranges from 16-year old Peigi Barker, who was the voice of Young Merida in Disney’s Brave, to Scottish piping sensation and Gaelic singer Rona Lightfoot, 82.
“Scotland’s traditional and Gaelic music is an intrinsic part of our history and culture,” said Ged, who was contacted “out of the blue” in 2015 to put the soundtrack together by the New Orleans-based InXile Entertainment producer with whom he worked on Earthworm Jim.
“Its beautiful melodies reach deep into our souls and its magical songs, passed down through the centuries, tell stories of a proud ancient civilisation.
“When composing the scores for the Bard’s Tale, I wanted to capture the breadth of outstanding voices and musicianship that exists in my homeland and create a soundtrack fit for the Bard which reflected Scotland’s unique musical heritage. These ancient songs tell us about how life was lived long ago but can also give us wisdom, vision and hope for the future.”