Image via Complex Original
After the original Saints Row landed on the Xbox 360 in 2006 and broke out in a big way, licensed music has firmly become an essential part of the franchise's appeal, with Kanye West, Faith No More, Deadmau5, Mötley Crüe, Hall & Oates, De La Soul, My Chemical Romance, Crystal Castles, Buju Banton, and dozens of other notables soundtracking the action.
Saints Row IV—a PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 release due August 20—sports seven radio stations with a similarly stacked playlist and sense of variety that Deep Silver Volition officially details for the first time here. (Speaking of which, a soundtrack featuring around 80 minutes of original music from returning composer Malcolm Kirby Jr. is on its way, too.)
According to SR IV Project Audio Director, Brandon Bray, the process of plotting and licensing the soundtrack was split between Deep Silver Volition and New York-based music production and publishing company Heavy Duty. Specifically, Josh Kessler—a Partner, Executive Producer and resident Music Supervisor at Heavy Duty—played a huge role in guiding the soundtrack of both Saints Row: The Third and now its followup.
“He talks to his contacts and he tries to look at what will be popular and what will be released by the time our game comes out. We’re looking at licensing tracks eight months away from release. We're trying to figure out, 'Well, what’s going to be popular? What’s going to be good eight months from now?' He helps us predict the future,” says Bray. “It’s an interesting process because one, we’re privy to songs that may or may not have been released yet, and two, we need to make sure that what we're going to be licensing will be relevant by the time our game comes out.”
We spoke to both Bray, and associate Audio Designer Roel Sanchez, about the songs and ideas driving each of Saints Row IV's radio stations. The two speak on the development of the game's absurdly clever Dubstep gun.
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89 GenX
Brandon Bray: This time around, we got rid of [106.66] The Blood from Saints Row: The Third. That was the heavy metal station. We looked at logging data from Saints Row: The Third as far as what stations were listened to the most, what stations had the longest listening run times, what stations were switched off of onto something else on a different station. Unfortunately, even though there are several fans of that type of music, The Blood was really low on that list.
[To] maximize the kind of content that we could get with the budget that we had, we decided to drop The Blood and put money that we would have spent on that station towards getting better tracks for the rest of the radio stations. We kind of got rid of The Blood, maybe added a few Blood/heavy-metal-type tracks into GenX. This time around, we just have one rock station.
Roel Sanchez: In terms of GenX, we selected up-and-coming bands. One of my favorites is the Black Bananas track. It's just really retro [and] kind of fits in the funky vibe of Saints Row IV.
BB: We definitely tried to gear each station towards fans of that genre, so with GenX, it's kind of the alt-rock/rock genre. Fans of bands like Awolnation and Vampire Weekend-even though we don't have Vampire Weekend-will definitely enjoy this station. Also, the hope is that we'll put a few artists on there that not many people may know or people don't often listen to [and] they'll hear it and go, 'Oh man, that really is a good track.' Our creative director here listened to the songs that we have on GenX, and he was like, 'Man, I don't know many of those bands, but that is some awesome stuff.’ That's what we try to do with each station: Gear it towards fans of the genre but also put artists and music styles in there that might also get new fans.
Track List:
DJ: Christopher Daniels
Awolnation - "Burn It Down"
Beware of Darkness - "Howl"
Black Bananas - "Rad Times"
FIDLAR - "No Waves"
In Flames - "Deliver Us"
Lissy Trullie - "It's Only You, Isn't It?"
Neon Trees - "Teenage Sounds"
Papa Roach - "Still Swinging"
Terraplane Sun - "Get Me Golden"
The Black Cadillacs - "Choke"
The Bronx - "Along For The Ride"
The Datsuns - "System Overload"
The Features - "How It Starts"
Walk the Moon - "Tightrope"
We Were Promised Jetpacks - "Circles and Squares"
Behind the dubstep gun
BB: The dubstep gun has actually been whispered around the office [since during the] Saints Row: The Third days, but we just didn't have the time or the resources to really do it well, so we had to put it on the back burner.
So with Saints Row IV, we knew we needed a signature weapon for the game like the Penetrator on Saints Row: The Third, and something that we knew would be fun, so we brought it back to life.
People from audio, programming, art, design-we all got together to hash out how this weapon would work, what kind of system updates and improvements we would need to make to make it work. What we came up with was a system that utilizes markers in the WAV files. So the actual WAV file of music that plays when you pull the trigger [is tied to] markers inside the WAV file for its metadata.
We put those where we want certain visual effects to trigger from the weapon, so that's why when you pull the trigger, the effects that play out of the weapon are in tempo and in time with the music. Other markers in that music file cause the pedestrians to dance. There are markers in those files that cause the cars to turn on their hydraulics and jump up and down-all in tempo with the music.
We ran out of time, but we did want to try to do an Oktoberfest gun. One of the designers really wanted to have a polka song and do a funny lederhosen, Oktoberfest kind of gun, but we just ran out of time. Maybe if we do something in the future, we could try to resurrect that.
Mad Decent 106.9
BB: On Saints Row: The Third, we had that Adult Swim radio station, but that was more driven from marketing for hardcore Adult Swim fans. It was meant to be comical, the DJ sketches and the song selection were meant to be funny.
The best part about that station was the DJ, who was absolutely hilarious. Those skits were one of my favorite things on the radio. We liked the idea of a collaboration or of a showcase station. One of the things that we worked with earliest on with Josh was what labels could we approach as far as doing some kind of a collaboration.
We had a few that we looked at besides Mad Decent. One of the other ones we looked at was Fool's Gold. They had expressed interest in perhaps doing something. But Mad Decent, as far as their stable of artists, was definitely most fitting for the tone and the humor of Saints Row.
Saints Row is an everything but the kitchen sink kind of sandbox game, and Mad Decent, as far as their stable of artists, they are everything but the kitchen sink as far as a music label goes. They've got every kind of style of music that you could listen to, and they've got a huge following. They're not as mainstream as some other labels, but they have a handful of artists that are extremely popular. Their fans are the kinds of fans that we want checking out Saints Row for sure.
Track List
DJ: Riff Raff
Bonde Do Role (ft. Ce'cile) - "Brazilian Boys"
Clockwork - "Titan"
Dillon Francis - "I.D.G.A.F.O.S."
Dillon Francis (ft. Simon Lord) - "Messages"
Diplo (ft. Nicky Da B) - "Express Yourself"
DJ Snake (ft. Alesia) - "Bird Machine"
Djemba Djemba - "I Just Go"
ETC!ETC! and Brillz - "Swoop"
ETC!ETC!, Brillz and Diplo (ft. Whiskey Pete) - "Bueller"
GTA (ft. DJ Funk) - "Booty Bounce"
Jahan Lennon - "Can't Ruin My Fun"
LIZ (ft. RiFF RAFF) - "Underdogs"
RiFF RAFF - "Rookie Of The Year"
Three Loco - "Beer"
Toadally Krossed Out (ft. RiFF RAFF) - "Cray"
Yellow Claw - "W.O.L.F."
Zeds Dead - "Demons"
Klassic 102.4
BB: Klassic is one of those ones where we just kind of go, 'OK, what have we not had before?' We look at our classical playlist from 1, 2, and 3. We want to make sure we're not really repeating anything. We want to keep something new for IV versus the other titles, but with this station in particular, it has to be recognizable. It can't be some obscure symphony from some not well-known composer that might be good. It needs to be recognizable on Klassic or else people are going to change the station just like that.
Emperor Zinyak is the DJ. We're playing on this whole idea that he's this erudite, arrogant, evil lord that has a penchant for classical music and classic literature. He's doing intros and outros for the songs, but also, there'll be intermittent snippets of him reading the classics. He reads Pride and Prejudice, and he does monologues from Othello and Shakespeare and things like that. Absolutely hilarious.
Track List
DJ: JB Blanc as Emperor Zinyak
Frederic Chopin - "Grande Valse Brilliante in Eb Major, Op. 18"
Georges Bizet - "Carmen Suite No. 1: Aragonaise"
Georges Bizet - "Carmen Suite No. 1: Les Toreadors"
Georges Bizet - "Habanera (From Carmen)"
George Frideric Handel - "Music for the Royal Fireworks"
Gioachino Rossini - "Largo Al Factotum (From The Barber Of Seville)"
Giuseppe Verdi - "La Donna e Mobile (From Rigoletto)"
Gustav Holst - "The Planets, 1st Movement: Mars"
Jacques Offenbach - "Orpheus in the Underworld: Infernal Galop"
Johann Sebastian Bach - "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor"
Johann Strauss II - "Die Fledermaus, Overture"
Johann Strauss Sr. - "Radetzky March"
John Philip Sousa - "The Liberty Bell"
Ludwig van Beethoven - "Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 (Ode to Joy)"
Modest Mussorgsky - "A Night on Bare Mountain"
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - "Swan Lake, Op.20: Finale"
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - "The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a: Overture"
103.6 Four20
BB: Four20 is one that was on Saints Row 1 and Saints Row 2. This is where, again, we looked at numbers as far as [what people listened to]. Kabron, which was the reggaeton station on Saints Row: The Third was low on the list as well. We knew that Four20 was popular on Saints Row 2. After talking with Josh [Kessler], we decided to bring that back. We figured with all this high-energy music on K12 and GenX and The Mix, we needed a station that was a little bit more chill, a little more down tempo, so if people wanted to change the pace a little bit, they could just chill with reggae and run around town with nice, down tempo music. It's a genre that is slowly becoming much more popular in the mainstream.
RS: There's also a lot of demand in terms of Saints Row 2 fans that enjoyed the reggae [station]. It was missing from III and so we kind of want to deliver on that in Saints Row IV. In terms of the content itself, it's a mixture of reggae as well as old, hidden samples you would recognize.
Track List:
DJ: Phil Morris as Mr. Sunshine
Born Jamericans - "Cease & Seckle"
Charly Black & J Capri - "Whine & Kotch"
Delroy Wilson - "You Never Get Away"
Dennis Brown - "Milk and Honey"
Early B - "History Of Jamaica"
Easy Star All-Stars - "One Likkle Draw"
Eek-A-Mouse - "Wa-Do-Dem"
Max Romeo - "Juks"
Ranking Dread - "Fattie Boom Boom"
Super Beagle - "Dust A Sound Boy"
Tenor Saw - "Ring The Alarm"
The In Crowd - "Mango Walk"
Toots And The Maytals - "Pressure Drop (Ska Version)"
Wayne Smith - "Under Mi Sleng Teng"
The Mix 107.77
BB: [In developing the game,] we have to look at what key moments do we want to try to capitalize on with licensed music, where does that fit in with the radio stations and music styles, [and] how that does that fit in with our budget. Of course, this is the most expensive station because these are the most well-known songs.
We had a lot of back and forth with songs we wanted but couldn't get because either they were too expensive or, unfortunately with a game like Saints Row, because some people don't get the humor. They don't understand the tone of the game. They just think it's a shoot-'em-up game and they don't want to license their music for our game. That we unfortunately run into a lot. But we're really, really happy with what we ended up with.
RS: This station in particular is the one where we really had to collaborate with our designers in the song selection because they really like using the throwback tracks and nostalgia value to really give our key moments in a lot of the missions [greater effect]. There were certain debates on what tracks should be used when, but I think overall, we really hit certain points in terms of where these tracks are used in missions and how these tracks are used in the open world.
BB: With The Mix on Saints Row: The Third, it was a great station, but there were a few tracks here and there where it's just like, 'I kinda remember that song, but not really.' We didn't want that. We wanted every time a song came on The Mix for the player to be like, 'No shit! No way! Yeah, that's my jam!'
Track List:
DJ: Kevin Gill
Aerosmith - "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"
Biz Markie - "Just A Friend"
Blur - "Song 2"
Cypress Hill - "Insane In The Brain"
EMF - "Unbelievable"
Haddaway - "What Is Love"
Men Without Hats - "The Safety Dance"
Montell Jordan - "This Is How We Do It"
OutKast - "B.O.B."
Paula Abdul - "Opposites Attract"
Robert Palmer - "Simply Irresistible"
Stan Bush - "The Touch"
Th Pharcyde - "Oh Shit"
The Presidents Of The United States Of America - "Lump"
The Romantics - "Talking in Your Sleep"
Thin Lizzy - "The Boys Are Back In Town"
K12 97.6
RS: We're dealing with Saints Row IV. It's a Matrix- inspired simultated world and we have the dubstep gun, so our electronic music is really heavy on dubstep influence. We've got a lot of drops in there. You've got Dr. P, Flux Pavilion, Nero, Datsik. It gets to the heavier stuff. I think we have a peppering of slower EDM and things that people will also enjoy.
BB: This is definitely the dirtiest K12 we've ever had. We're all huge fans of electronic music-some styles more than others. Like Roel said, with the art style of the game where you're in this gritty simulation, this is one style that we definitely wanted to reflect that. We do have one track on there by a band called the Bloody Beetroots. They worked with us on doing an exclusive release on one of their albums, so the song that we have on K12, we are basically officially releasing that single on our game, which is really cool.
Track List:
DJ: Lauri Hendler as Jane Valderama
Alex Metric - "Prophecies"
Apashe - "Eat My Apple"
Congorock - "Ivory (Bloody Beetroots Mix)"
Datsik - "Bonafide Hustler"
Datsik and Excision - "Vindicate"
Doctor P - "Flying Spaghetti Monster"
Flux Pavilion - "Blow the Roof"
Gigamesh (ft. Jana Nyberg) - "All My Life"
Junkie XL - "Giraffe"
Kill Paris - "Slap Me"
Nero - "Promises"
The Bloody Beetroots - "The Source"
The Knocks & Fred Falke - "Geronimo"
Vitalic - "Stamina"
Watch the Duck - "Poppin' Off"
KRhyme 95.4
RS: We have Atmosphere in there. We also have a few tongue-in-cheek tracks like KOVAS' "Grape Drank"-really party music and things that'll make the player experience fun and silly because Saints Row IV is essentially about having fun. That's one of our challenges that we had: We have to have a good mixture of tracks that are both upbeat and down tempo while still maintaining the overall feel of the game.
Track List:
DJ: Andrew Kishino
A$AP Rocky - "Goldie"
Atmosphere - "Until The Nipple's Gone"
El-P - "The Full Retard"
Jerry James - "Donald Trump Walk"
Kendrick Lamar - "Swimming Pools (Drank)"
Killer Mike - "Go!"
KOVAS - "Grape Drink"
Machine Gun Kelly (ft. Cassie) - "Warning Shot"
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (ft. Eighty4 Fly) - "Gold"
Najee The 1 (ft. DB2) - "Elevated"
Pause - "Caroline"
Quake City Mobsters - "Money On My Mind"
Sum - "City Pop"
The Cool Kids (ft. Travis Barker) - "Sour Apples"
Weekend Money (ft. Heems) - "Yellow"