Jared Nathaniel Emerson-Johnson (born October 13, 1981) is an American
video game music
Video game music (VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to t ...
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
,
sound designer
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...
, voice director and
voice actor
Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...
. Emerson-Johnson is the Music Supervisor and lead composer at Bay Area Sound, an audio production company specializing in sound design, music and voiceover for video games. His work has been predominantly featured in games developed by
Telltale.
Career
Jared began his career as an assistant to composer
Clint Bajakian
Clint Bajakian (born 1962) is an American video game composer and musician.
Biography
Bajakian was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. He was linked with music since age of eight. In middle school, Bajakian played in marching bands, and also pla ...
on the score for LucasArts' ''
Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb
''Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb'' is a 2003 action-adventure video game developed by The Collective and published by LucasArts for the Xbox, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and OS X. It features cover art by Drew Struzan. The game is an ...
''. Emerson-Johnson has also worked as a sound designer for projects, including ''
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing'', ''
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'', ''
Psychonauts
''Psychonauts'' is a 2005 platformer, platform game developed by Double Fine Productions and published by Majesco Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, Xbox (console), Xbox and PlayStation 2. Set in a Retrofuturism, retro-futuristic version of t ...
'', and ''
Firewatch
''Firewatch'' is an adventure game developed by Campo Santo (company), Campo Santo and published by the developer in partnership with Panic Inc., Panic. The game was released in February 2016 for Linux, OS X, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox ...
''. Emerson-Johnson is perhaps best known as the composer behind multiple video games produced by
Telltale Games
Telltale Incorporated (trade name: Telltale Games) was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. The company was founded in July 2004 by former LucasArts developers Kevin Bruner, Dan Connors and Troy Molander, following ...
, such as ''
Bone
A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...
'', ''
Sam & Max
''Sam & Max'' is an American media franchise about Sam and Max, a pair of anthropomorphic vigilante private investigators. The characters, who occupy a universe that parodies American popular culture, were created by Steve Purcell in his youth, ...
'', ''
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People
''Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People'' is an episodic graphic adventure developed by Telltale Games and based on the ''Homestar Runner'' web cartoon, with Strong Bad as the lead character. A total of five episodes were released for M ...
'', ''
Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures'', ''
Poker Night at the Inventory
''Poker Night at the Inventory'' is a poker video game developed by Telltale Games. It features four characters from different franchises: Tycho Brahe from the ''Penny Arcade'' webcomic, Max from the ''Sam & Max'' franchise, the RED Heavy Weapo ...
'', ''
Back to the Future: The Game'', ''
Jurassic Park: The Game'', ''
The Walking Dead'', ''
The Wolf Among Us
''The Wolf Among Us'' is an episodic adventure game developed and published by Telltale Games. It is based on Bill Willingham's ''Fables'' comic book series, to which it serves as a prequel. The game consists of five episodes that were re ...
,'' ''
Game of Thrones
''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...
'', ''
Batman: The Telltale Series'', and ''
Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series''.
In all three seasons of ''
Sam & Max
''Sam & Max'' is an American media franchise about Sam and Max, a pair of anthropomorphic vigilante private investigators. The characters, who occupy a universe that parodies American popular culture, were created by Steve Purcell in his youth, ...
'', he voices the C.O.P.S., a group of obsolete computers. In ''
Tales of Monkey Island
''Tales of Monkey Island'' is a 2009 graphic adventure video game developed by Telltale Games under license from LucasArts. It is the fifth game in the '' Monkey Island'' series, released nearly a decade after the previous installment, '' Escap ...
'', he plays the Marquis DeSinge as well as the Thief.
In 2004, Emerson-Johnson received the
Game Audio Network Guild's "Rookie of the Year" award. Jared's score, voice direction, and sound design for Telltale Games' ''
Bone: The Great Cow Race'' were finalists for the 2007 Independent Games Festival. His score for Telltale Games' ''
Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space'' was also a finalist for Best Original Score in the 2008 IGN PC Awards. He shares an AdventureGamers.com 2009 Aggie award for best voice acting for his work on ''
Tales of Monkey Island
''Tales of Monkey Island'' is a 2009 graphic adventure video game developed by Telltale Games under license from LucasArts. It is the fifth game in the '' Monkey Island'' series, released nearly a decade after the previous installment, '' Escap ...
''.
His score for Telltale Games’ ''
The Walking Dead'' was nominated for Best Music of the year at the ''
British Academy Games Awards
The BAFTA Games Awards or British Academy Games Awards are an annual British awards ceremony honouring "outstanding creative achievement" in the video game industry. First presented in 2004 following the restructuring of the BAFTA Interactive En ...
'' in 2013.
Discography
Video game soundtracks
*''
The Bard's Tale
''The Bard's Tale'' is a fantasy role-playing video game franchise created by Michael Cranford and developed by Brian Fargo's Interplay Productions (1985–1992) and inXile Entertainment (2004–present).
The initial title of the series was ...
'' (2004)
*''
Bone: Out from Boneville'' (2005)
*''
America's Army: Rise of a Soldier'' (2005)
*''
Bone: The Great Cow Race'' (2006)
*''
Sam & Max Save the World
''Sam & Max Save the World'' is a graphic adventure game, graphic adventure video game developed by Telltale Games. The game was originally released as ''Sam & Max: Season One'' before being renamed in early 2009. ''Save the World'' was develope ...
'' (2006–2007)
*''
Alien Syndrome
is a run and gun video game developed by Sega and released in arcades in 1987, and later ported to the Master System the same year. The game utilizes a side-scrolling feature that allows the player to take control of either a male (Ricky) o ...
'' (2007)
*''
Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space'' (2007–2008)
*''
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People
''Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People'' is an episodic graphic adventure developed by Telltale Games and based on the ''Homestar Runner'' web cartoon, with Strong Bad as the lead character. A total of five episodes were released for M ...
'' (2008)
*''
Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures'' (2009)
*''
Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse'' (2010)
*''
Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent'' (2010)
*''
Poker Night at the Inventory
''Poker Night at the Inventory'' is a poker video game developed by Telltale Games. It features four characters from different franchises: Tycho Brahe from the ''Penny Arcade'' webcomic, Max from the ''Sam & Max'' franchise, the RED Heavy Weapo ...
'' (2010)
*''
Back to the Future: The Game'' (2010-2011)
*''
Puzzle Agent 2
''Puzzle Agent 2'' is an adventure/puzzle game by Telltale Games, in collaboration with Graham Annable. It is the sequel to ''Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent''. It was released on June 30, 2011.
Gameplay
Similar to the first installment, the gamepla ...
'' (2011)
*''
Jurassic Park: The Game'' (2011)
*''
Double Fine Happy Action Theater
''Double Fine Happy Action Theater'' (sometimes referred to as ''Happy Action Theater'') is a casual video game developed by Double Fine Productions and distributed by Microsoft Game Studios. The title is a Kinect motion-sensing based title for ...
'' (2012)
*''
The Walking Dead'' (2012)
*''
Poker Night 2'' (2013)
*''
The Wolf Among Us
''The Wolf Among Us'' is an episodic adventure game developed and published by Telltale Games. It is based on Bill Willingham's ''Fables'' comic book series, to which it serves as a prequel. The game consists of five episodes that were re ...
'' (2013)
*''
The Walking Dead: Season Two'' (2013)
*''
Tales from the Borderlands
''Tales from the Borderlands'' is an episodic interactive comedy graphic adventure sci-fi video game based on the '' Borderlands'' series. It was developed by Telltale Games under license from Gearbox Software, the developer of the ''Borderland ...
'' (2014)
*''
Game of Thrones (video game)'' (2014)
*''
The Walking Dead: Michonne'' (2016)
*''
Batman: The Telltale Series'' (2016)
*''
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier'' (2017)
*''
Batman: The Enemy Within'' (2017)
*''
Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series'' (2017)
*''
The Walking Dead: The Final Season'' (2018)
*''Nick Bounty and the Dame with the Blue Chewed Shoe'' (2020)
*''
Sam & Max Save the World Remastered'' (2020)
*''
Sam & Max: This Time It's Virtual'' (2021)
*''I Expect You To Die 2: The Spy And The Liar'' (2021)
*''
Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Remastered'' (2021)
*''Demon Quest '85'' (2021)
*''Sasquatchers'' (2021)
*''Forrest Byrnes: Up in Smoke'' (2022)
*''
Star Trek: Resurgence'' (2023)
*''
Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse Remastered (2024)''
*''
The Wolf Among Us 2
''The Wolf Among Us 2'' is an upcoming episodic adventure game developed by Telltale Games and AdHoc Studio and published by Telltale Games. It is a sequel to the 2013 game ''The Wolf Among Us,'' with the title taking place six months followi ...
'' (TBA)
Other works
*''Mr. Lux At Your Service'' (2008)
*''YouTube Presents: The Birds and the Biz'' (2008)
Notes
BAFTA Games Awards
The BAFTA Games Awards or British Academy Games Awards are an annual British awards ceremony honouring "outstanding creative achievement" in the video game industry. First presented in 2004 following the restructuring of the BAFTA Interactive En ...
Golden Joystick Award
The Golden Joystick Awards, also known as the People's Gaming Awards, is a video game award ceremony; it awards the best video games of the year, as voted for originally by the British general public, but is now a global event that can be vote ...
s
Game Audio Network Guild Awards
Independent Games Festival
The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of the independent video game industry. Originally founded in 1998 to promote independent video game developers, ...
Golden Joystick Award
The Golden Joystick Awards, also known as the People's Gaming Awards, is a video game award ceremony; it awards the best video games of the year, as voted for originally by the British general public, but is now a global event that can be vote ...
s
Jug Band
In addition to his work in entertainment music scoring, Jared is also the front man of the
Rivertown Skifflers Rivertown may refer to:
* a town on a river
* Peter Hessler's book from 2001 about the town of Fuling on the Yangtze in Sichuan, China
* Rivertown, a neighbourhood on the Detroit International Riverfront in Detroit, Michigan, USA
* Rivertown, ...
, a northern California based
jug band
A jug band is a musical band, band employing a jug (instrument), jug player and a mix of conventional and homemade instruments. These homemade instruments are ordinary objects adapted to or modified for making sound, like the washtub bass, washbo ...
.
References
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Official Siteat Bay Area Sound, Inc
*
Jared Emerson-Johnsonat
MobyGames
MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video game
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controlle ...
Jared Emerson-Johnsonat
Giant Bomb
''Giant Bomb'' is an American video game website and wiki that includes personality-driven gaming videos, commentary, news and reviews, created by former ''GameSpot'' editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis. The website was voted by ''Time (maga ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emerson-Johnson, Jared
1981 births
Living people
American sound designers
American voice directors
Place of birth missing (living people)
American video game composers
Male actors from San Francisco
American male voice actors