Tilia has an amazing musical sensibility and has a very good adaptation capacity. She composed and played the music for Neurodeck.
How would you describe your job in your own words?
I do lots of things actually! I give individual singing lessons, I use my voice for voice-over, logo jingles or other stuff, I compose music and write songs, I make photomontages of fantasy creatures that I stick on canvas, I sculpt masks... But the main thing that I do for a living is my singing lessons.
How was composing for Neurodeck different from what you used to work on?
It was so interesting to work with the staff and exchange ideas and impressions with them for the atmosphere that the music had to give. I work alone most of the time, composing my own songs or instrumentals. For Neurodeck, I worked with people and composed music for a game for the first time, an old dream came true.
How would you sum up your collaboration with Nicolas Gueguen, sound designer for Neurodeck?
The collaboration with Nicolas was very intuitive, he asked me to split some of the tracks so he could adapt the music in the game. For example, he needed a "stressful" track with sounds on top of the other instruments for the parts where it was needed. The communication was clear and easy, I liked that very much.
Once you had an idea of what you wanted to do for Neurodeck, how did you come up with the composition?
I was inspired by the graphic atmosphere, the inner thoughts that someone can have when having to cope with different psychological phases, and I played on my piano different themes that could be looped without sounding repetitive. I took great pleasure in working on this because I believe in introspection, I like searching inside of myself the emotions and making them "true" with music.
Which features do you take into consideration when composing for video games?
Naturally, a video game is made by a creator, so you have to work with someone else's ideas. It requires a lot of exchanges and understanding with the people developing it.
During the development process, the music had to meet their demands, and the composer have to adapt themselves permanently, change things, and also infuse ideas here and there. It is a real back and forth!
Is there a phobia or a card that reminds you of a special event in your life?
Nyctophobia reminds me of my childhood. I feared what lurked in the darkness, especially behind me. And one day, I decided to put myself in the dark and I turned around, and even if I could not see a lot, I felt better, as I decided to face my fear, and the monster I imagined just disappeared.
GIF made by Jeanne Prigent, 2D animator for Neurodeck.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1253860/Neurodeck__Psychological_Deckbuilder/