Like many, my first exposure to Megan McDuffee's work was the original River City Girls soundtrack in 2019. It stood out in a way many game soundtracks didn't that year; The synth beats and smooth vocals perfectly fit the pastel-colored, kick-ass River City World. Since its release, "The Hunt" in particular has kept a spot warm on a Spotify playlist. Since then, McDuffee's career has only continued to grow. She's composed soundtracks and songs for Aeon Drive, River City Girls 2, River City Girls Zero, the Atari Recharged collection, and more recently, Yar's Rising and Streets of Rogue 2.

How she found time to answer our questions somewhere in there, I'll never know, but I'm grateful she did.

Photo above from "Hostile Takeover," a Cyberpunk inspired album full of corporate dystopian synthwave beats.

Trevor: First off, a few simple questions. Favorite Rocky Horror Picture Show song? (As a show of solidarity, mine is "Sword of Damocles.")

Megan: "Sweet Transvestite."

T: How many times did you attend a midnight screening?

M: Only once, actually! But many more that weren't at midnight, or were actual stage performances.

T: First instrument you learned?

M: Piano.

T: Favorite musical? (I'll accept movies.)

M: Does Labyrinth count as a musical? In general I'm not really a musical fan, but if I have to choose, "Sweeney Todd." The intro orchestral theme is incredible.

Why yes, we do allow Labyrinth around here.

T: One video game score and one film score that have stuck with you forever?

M: This is such a tough one, seeing as I was heavily influenced by both film and game scores (and made it my life's work). One game score I find myself coming back to over and over again is Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. It's also one of my favorite games. And for film scores, the vocal songs and instrumental scores by David Bowie and Trevor Jones are permanently cemented in my brain in the best way.

T: I think it's safe to say you've always been passionate about music, but how did your career begin?

M: Indeed it is! I've been immersed in music studies and performance my entire life. So I suppose you could say it started at six years old when I performed at my first grade talent show. As far as actual profession though, when I graduated the University of Santa Cruz with a Film Scoring major and Electronic Music minor I started hustling and looking for any opportunity to compose that I possibly could.

T: When did your connection to WayForward form?

M: I always call this my networking miracle. Many years ago (around 2015-ish), I was part of a group of musicians called the “Materia Collective.” This was a network of composers, songwriters, arrangers, instrumentalists, etc. with a love of video game music. One prolific composer by the name of Dale North happened to be good chums with folks at WayForward, and at one point they had a conversation about an upcoming title. They expressed interest in finding someone with a synthpop sensibility, and Dale mentioned me. At this point I didn’t realize that Dale even knew who I was, let alone recommended me for a job! WayForward took a listen to my work, loved it, and our partnership was born.

T: In River City Girls 2, the lyrical songs you composed reflect each antagonist's greater motivations and attitudes leading up to their boss fights. How much information on these characters did you have going into River City Girls 2 in order to write these tracks? Did you have a full script to work with, or were these composed largely based on early design documents?

M: I had a basic description of each boss/villain character and what their whole personality and vibe was. I also had character artwork. So between the descriptions and art, I had enough to go on.

Tsuiko, the social media savvy menace, mocks players incessantly in "Your Like."

T: Sticking with River City Girls 2, there's an incredible collaboration track called "River City Anthem" credited to you, Mega Ran, DJ CHiEF, and the Microphone Misfitz. How does a track with that many collaborators come together?

M: I actually didn’t have anything to do with that track, other than mastering it alongside the rest of the soundtrack. My name is only on there to avoid the “various artists” black hole on streaming services.

Mega Ran himself makes an in game cameo as the song plays.

A brief aside — since Megan couldn't comment much on "River City Anthem" I reached out to DJ CHiEF, who graciously provided some insight on how this track came together.

Trevor: Who approached who first about getting a group together for the River City Anthem?

Dj CHiEF: Oh man, that's a good question. Mega Ran was the one who brought us all in, and he already had an idea about what to do for the track. We'd all worked together — me, Mega Ran, The Microphone Misfitz, D-Nick — on "Keep Watching" before. The Microphone Misfitz do Breakin' songs, you know, they come from that world. So we used that style for River City Anthem.

T: Did you have any direction from WayForward about what they wanted, or did you guys have a lot of freedom to do your own thing?

Dj: We knew it was a sequel so we looked at at the original, and that helped inform the track — we knew it would be upbeat, humorous, a brawler. After that, it came together in elements. We brought in the lyrics from Mega Ran, and then The Microphone Misfitz and D-Nick came in with the chorus. The record scratch break down at the end, it's funny, it was the first sound I'd recorded for the track and it became the sound we built the track around. If you ever catch the Microphone Misfitz live, it's really cool, their dancers use that scratch breakdown on stage.

DJ CHiEF and The Microphone Misfitz provided this video of a live performance of River City Anthem, complete with said dances. A big thanks to Dj CHiEF and The Microphone Misfitz! We now resume our previously scheduled interview.

T: In terms of more recent WayForward releases — Prior to Yar’s Rising, you also worked on the Atari: Recharged soundtrack. Did the songs you composed for Yar’s Revenge: Recharged help inform any of your work in Yar’s Rising, or did you approach it with a fresh start?

M: The brief was quite specific for Yar's Rising; I was to produce three tracks, the third of which was supposed to reference my soundtrack for Yar's Recharged. So in that one track, I took melodies from “Army of One” and re-vamped them to fit the Yar's Rising musical aesthetic.

T: How many revisions would you say a song goes through before it reaches a state you'd call "finished?"

M: It really depends and varies greatly. Many times I’ll finish composing and producing the track, and make no changes other than tweaking the final mix a few times. Other times I’ll have somewhere in the ballpark of five versions before moving on to the mix stage. I’ve been fortunate that my clients are usually quite happy on version one of any particular delivery!

T: How many would you say it took for “Hacking My Brain?”

M: Once I was satisfied with the song (which took about three or four sessions of getting it the way I wanted), I sent it off. WayForward and Atari didn’t have any revisions actually, they liked it exactly as I delivered it!

Hacking my Brain is a catchy beat you’ll hear frequently while exploring Yar’s technofunk city.

T: On another note, I have to imagine your scores and songs are composed and done long before the game sees release. How long was it between finalizing your contributions in Yar’s Rising and the actual release?

M: About eight months.

T: Have you managed to play every game you've composed for?

M: Not yet!

T: How does your approach change between recording your own work and composing for a game?

M: My approach is pretty similar, actually. When I’m tasked with a game score, I’m typically given a brief and reference music to analyze before diving in. When I’m working on my own artist releases, I essentially give myself a brief just like I’d get from a game studio. I find that being presented with limitless possibilities is kind of daunting, so deciding on tone, vibe, instrumentation, and song theme beforehand really helps narrow down what I want to create.

T: In 2019, you did a handful of cover songs for an EP dubbed “Barely Covered.” Have you considered doing another cover album of some kind since? Which songs would be on your short list?

M: Funny you should ask! What started as an experiment on Instagram now has folks clambering for a cover album from me. I began posting performances, covering 90’s and 00’s songs in a dark synthy style. My follower count grew exponentially, and now I’m releasing the cover songs in full once per month. While no album is in the plans per say, I will definitely release them as singles.

Ed. - Shortly after this interview, two singles dropped. "Don't Speak" and "Californication" are now available on Spotify.

T: By the time this article is up, your latest album, "Crimson Legacy", will be available. How would you describe "Crimson Legacy"? What would you call the overall theme?

M: "Crimson Legacy" is my second album about two years in the making. It’s in a style I’ve always wanted to do — darker, edgier, and much more rock and industrial-oriented than any of my previous releases. I wanted to capture the essential weirdness and surreal quality to the strange 70’s-90’s movies I grew up with: Labyrinth, A Clockwork Orange, Little Nemo Adventures in Slumberland, Rocky Horror Picture Show, etc. "Crimson Legacy" is a sinister delight, full of whimsy, lust, and revenge. It’s for all my fellow witches, warlocks, weirdos, and creatures of the dark corners of the earth.

Megan, channeling that dark energy in the "Your Demise" music video.

T: If you had to pick a standout track on "Crimson Legacy", which song would it be?

M: Oh gosh, this is so impossible. I try to create albums with no weak links, and every song being my favorite. I guess based on the reception from my fans, I'll go with "Your Demise."

T: When it comes to looking to your future, you’ve got a strong connection to horror — I’ve stumbled across a few of your independent horror compositions, your work is in the trailers for Annihilation and The Predator, and you're a narrator for the Podcast "Creepy". Do you have any upcoming opportunities to compose the score for a horror game? And if not, do we need to get the word out?

M: Ah yes, I very much love horror! I did the soundtracks to the RetroRealms’ Ash Vs. Evil Dead and Halloween games that were released recently. But yes, please do get the word out. I’d absolutely die happy working on something like Dead Space or Doom, or even something really cool and indie. That would be tremendous.

T: Are there any musicians in the game industry (colleagues, collaborators, or otherwise) you'd like to shout out or call attention to?

M: I have soooo many talented colleagues and collaborators! I'll drop a few names for you: Dale North, Ben Prunty, Simon Chylinski.

T: And finally, do you have any advice for aspiring game composers?

M: Produce and compose consistently to hone your skills, network your ass off, and be more persistent than you thought you could be. "Overnight successes" are usually a decade in the making, but you can do it as long as you don't give up.

A big thank you to Megan McDuffee for her time. You can hear her latest track in the River City Girls 2 Double Dragon DLC, with Arin Hanson and Dan Avidan on vocals. For those interested in a career in game composition, she's provided more detailed advice below.