Laura Shigihara

Laura Shigihara (, born April 16 in the United States) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, video game developer, and Twitch streamer of French and Japanese descent. She is best known as the lead composer and sound designer for the tower defense game ''Plants vs. Zombies'' and the creator of the acclaimed indie RPG '' Rakuen''.

Shigihara has worked on over 30 other published video game titles including ''Deltarune'', ''World of Warcraft'', '' To the Moon'', defunct mobile game '' High School Story'' and the 5th Anniversary Edition of '' Super Meat Boy''. She co-created the ending theme song for '' Minecraft: The Story of Mojang'' with C418 and worked together with Yasunori Mitsuda on the official Square Enix Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross 20th Anniversary Album.

Early life

Born on April 16 in the United States to a Japanese father and a French American mother, Shigihara grew up in both the United States and Japan. She was classically trained on the piano for 11 years and taught herself guitar and drums. While studying International Relations, Business and Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley, she was given an old version of ''Sonar'' (known as ''Cakewalk'' since 2018) which she used to start learning about mixing, arranging and production by recreating old video game soundtracks and composing her own songs. After a friend leaked her original material to record companies in Japan, Shigihara was offered record contracts as a singer there, but ended up turning them down for personal reasons.

Career

Shortly after returning to the U.S, Shigihara took a job as the sound director for a company that produced an audio talk show and English learning materials through Apple Japan. She also released a studio album and composed her first video game soundtrack for a small casual game called ''Wobbly Bobbly''. She stated that she would work voluntarily, and soon the company liked her work and paid her to create music for several subsequent projects. From there she built up her portfolio and has worked on over 30 published titles including ''Plants vs. Zombies'', ''Deltarune'', ''World of Warcraft'', ''Minecraft'' and the indie RPG '' To the Moon''. She participated in Akira Yamaoka's charity album '' Play for Japan'' where she contributed an original song called "Jump", alongside other composers like Nobuo Uematsu, Koji Kondo and Yasunori Mitsuda. On November 16, 2011, she released her single "Cube Land" in relation to ''Minecraft'' and ''Plants vs. Zombies''.

As a game developer herself, Shigihara published two adventure games: '' Rakuen'' in 2017 and '' Mr. Saitou'' in 2023.

Personal

She is an online streamer under the nickname ''supershigi'' on Twitch.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Soundtrack albums

Shigihara's works also include:

* ''Deltarune'' (Toby Fox/2018), arranged/performed "Don't Forget" and "Until Next Time"
* ''Farmer in the Sky'', director, writer, composer
* ''Band Saga'' (Rekcahdam, Playism/2016), singer
* '' Plants vs. Zombies 2'' (PopCap Games/2013), composed "Ancient Egypt" tracks
* ''Cosmic Star Heroine'' (Zeboyd Games/2016), singer/lyricist "Lauren’s Song"
* ''Chrono Trigger & Chrono Cross Arrangement Album/Harukanaru Toki no Kanata e'' () (Yasunori Mitsuda/2015), contributing Lyricist/Arranger/Singer
* ''CHUNITHM'' (Sega/2015), Sung "Alma" by Yasunori Mitsuda
* Penny Arcade's "On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 4" (2013), voice of MistleToe
* '' Minecraft: The Story of Mojang'', co-created ending theme song
* ''Aether (The Basement Collection)'' (Edmund McMillen, Tyler Glaiel/2012), original song
* ''Theme Park'' (Electronic Arts/2011), lead composer
* ''Ghost Harvest'' (Electronic Arts, 8lb Gorilla/2011), composer
* ''Sweet World'' (Kabam/2010), lead composer and sound designer
* ''Minesweeper'' (Microsoft, TG Xbox 360/2009 TBA), lead composer
* ''Quintessence: The Blighted Venom'' (Kan Gao/2009 TBA), ending theme lead vocalist
* '' Domino Master'' (Microsoft, TG Xbox 360/2008), assistant sound designer
* ''U.S.G. A New Beginning'' (GPTouch/2008), ending theme composer and lead vocalist
* ''Interpol 2: Most Wanted'' (Big Fish Games, Tikgames/2008), contributing composer
* ''Waterscape Solitaire: American Falls'' (Tikgames/2007), lead composer and sound designer
* '' Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos'' (Big Fish Games, Xbox 360, Tikgames/2007-2008), lead composer and sound designer
* '' Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom'' (Big Fish Games, Tikgames/2007), lead composer and sound designer
* ''Flowershop: Big City Break'' (Big Fish Games, Tikgames/2006), lead composer and sound designer
* ''Wobbly Bobbly'' (Tikgames/2006), lead composer

Notes

References

External links

Official blog

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shigihara, Laura
American musicians of Japanese descent
American women singer-songwriters
American people of French descent
Living people
American video game composers
American child singers
American child musicians
Year of birth missing (living people)
American expatriates in Japan
21st-century American pianists
21st-century American women pianists
Women video game developers
American Twitch (service) streamers
Japanese Twitch (service) streamers