A composer retires - Chance Thomas - Game Maker's Notebook

Chance Thomas, after a remarkable career contributing to enumerable storied franchises like AVATAR, LORD OF THE RINGS, KING KONG etc, did the impossible: retired! We spoke about his career, resilience facing some astounding obstacles and that truly baffling notion of putting the pencil down for good.
This podcast was created by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (who also give out the DICE Awards) and can be heard / subscribed to here:
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Highly recommended for anyone interested in the game industry!
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[@RachelHardy]

The topic at 6:45 and 22:05 is really interesting to me. This year I've thought about this exact topic a LOT. There is nothing I love more than music and creating it, it's a huge priority in my life, and I very much consider this to be a pillar of who I am as a person. But because of this, creative dips hit me really hard -- it makes me question my self-worth, my abilities / potential, my decisions in life (lol). I'm sure that's a pretty common thing for artists and maybe it's just my ego running the brain ship... but recently I have found it extremely helpful to change my thinking to "this is just what I do, not who I am" to get me through those times. It helps me take a step back, re-order my priorities for awhile, take care of myself and clear up the brain space to allow more inspiration and clear thinking back in. So for me, sometimes music is who I am, and sometimes it's what I do, and it just depends what I need in that moment in time to move forward and find fulfillment as a person & as an artist. I swap them as needed, as a bit of a brain hack. (I find the identity mindset can sometimes be exhausting, but the job mindset on its own can be demotivating, so having both cards available to play helps). Really interesting to hear where other composers fall on that spectrum. Cool to hear that Mr. Thomas seems to have moved around on that spectrum throughout the course of his career before finding what he found most fulfilling. Also, I'm so sad I can't hear that original procedural music system for The Settlers, I would have LOVED to see that in action.

[@iceomistar4302]

I'm glad you've been able to get something out of his wisdom, he is and always will be one of my favourites.

[@RickMcGuireMusic]

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Chance. Brilliant composer and thoughtful guy

[@submergedtapes]

Love that idea of the "shtick of not having a shtick", I feel like I've always been this way about music. Whenever people ask me what my favourite music is, my answer has always been "all of it" or "something I haven't heard yet" and it's taken me years to get comfortable with that and know that I'm not just being trite. Now that I write music and make sound for a living I'm always trying to pursue new things I haven't done before, sometimes with disastrous consequences, but it's always interesting. Lovely to hear that other composers (especially ones such as yourselves who are so much further along the path than me) feel the same way :) This was a great listen as always, thank you both!

[@sourcefor]

Yeah, Chance, nice guy, met him on a cruise ship once when my band was doing a show in the theater and I asked him what he did and he said he was a composer so I looked him up and was blown away. Damn I wish I could have picked his brain!

[@johnwayne2898]

I also met Chance on a cruise ship! I met him during a Bible Study. He also said he was a composer and I was surprised when I got home and looked him up, very humble guy!

[@universalmeditation8631]

Well I’m definitely buying the book, Chance is pretty awesome!❤

[@J-MLindeMusic]

Mr. Thomas: "I think I'm going to retire from music". Most of the composer community: "Do what from the what know?" Great interview with some great stories, made guitar maintenance actually enjoyable, haha!

[@shaunadamson4634]

Rossini also retired from composing quite abruptly, just putting that out there, along with my personal opinion that Chance Thomas is of a similar calibre.

[@felixwilsonmusic]

Love listening to Chance, he's an inspiring, well- balanced guy. With Settlers it sounds like he was essentially making a music library! 😅 sounds exhausting

[@indrabar]

Commenting before I'm quite done watching, but this was so cool to see! I am sad he is leaving, his work on Lord of the Rings Online was what made the game really stick in my head and kept bringing it back over and over again.

[@the_orcabird]

Even though it's wonderful that the official soundtrack to The Settlers: New Allies is a good reflection of the original product it's such a tragedy that the original system, such a monumental technical achievement, is effectively lost to the Ubisoft Vaults. I just attended a symposium where a videogame music archivist named Fanny Rebillard spoke at great length about the value of properly archiving videogame systems like this for the future. That safeguarding these systems and ensuring that the software that can run them is maintained and that documentation exists explaining how they work has tremendous educational value for future composers, and also serious financial value to the companies preserving them. That without concerted effort these systems tend to disappear after even only a handful of years. I hope the original system and project files with all those assets stay working and available for people to learn and study from and appreciate, even if just internally at the proprietary company, lest it become a mandala in beach sand.

[@awintory]

It's a huge problem and one so unique to games!

[@Vadjong]

Nah. Next month the new chatbot can do the same and a bit more ad infinitum. 🏂

[@ParisMexis]

This was one of the most interesting things I've ever watched on the web - I wish you could elaborate more on Mr. Thomas' decision to stop and his life afterwards!

[@JoeFilms5420]

I really appreciated listening to you talk about how people graduate from school dead-set on being a composer, even if deep down maybe that life isn't fitting. Last year I was fortunate enough to have a graduate student mentor me, and he told me to be open to all kinds of jobs since there's so much cool stuff to do in game audio that it would be a shame to never try most of it. Another great entry to the series, I wasn't familiar with most of Chance's work yet so it was awesome getting to hear about some of his massive contributions to game music, and his stories for Settlers and the adaptive systems are mind-blowing! Shame we'll never get to actually experience that in the game, but hopefully it will see the light of day eventually.

[@jakesidwellmusic]

Absolutely loved this conversation. It’s refreshing to hear from composers with such a different view on life and art and success. Rethinking some unchallenged biases. I don’t see myself ever retiring, as I view the world of music the way Chance sees the larger world of art-vast and perhaps unmasterable-but it seems we can’t know what we want unless we contend with WHY we want it. And for me that’s been an elusive answer while chained to capital.

[@boneking1548]

Great interview! But sad to see that a very good composer retires.

[@awintory]

HE'S not sad about it!!

[@shaunadamson4634]

@@awintory And it's great to learn that he's enjoying his (hopefully several decades-long) retirement, boy has he earned it! While on the subject matter, I really hope you don't follow suite any time soon.

[@awintory]

@@shaunadamson4634 I have no plans to ever retire!

[@Jacob-Vivimord]

Chance is so honest and philosophical here. This is great.

[@BoonetheAgentsofHAILCreator]

It's sad to interview a retired composer. I'm an upcoming newcomer, as I am much younger.

[@awintory]

I found it thrilling!

[@captbjmc]

If you see this let Chance know, my iPad followed his album for The Settlers up with a John Williams score 🙂

[@Vadjong]

3:30 "I'm done." Famous last words and all that jazz & fat ladies. 🤣

[@Vadjong]

Golden repair = kintsukuroi

[@nekokna]

Another victim of agile method of developement

[@awintory]

What do you mean?