Akira Yamaoka is a Japanese composer and sound designer. He was born on February 6, 1968. Since 1999, he has composed music for nearly every game in Konami's Silent Hill horror series. He also helped create some of the games and composed music for three movies based on the series. From 2010 to the present, he has been responsible for sound in games at Grasshopper Manufacture. Since 2018, he has worked as a director and sound designer at Supertrick Games.

Early life

Akira Yamaoka was born in Niigata on February 6, 1968. He wanted to be a designer, but he became a musician while studying product design and interior design at Tokyo Art College.

Career

Yamaoka joined Konami on September 21, 1993. He started working on the games Contra: Hard Corps, Sparkster, and Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2. Soon after, he created the music for the PC Engine and Sega CD versions of Snatcher.

When Konami looked for a musician to compose the score for Silent Hill, Yamaoka volunteered because he believed he was the only person who could make the soundtrack. He was first hired as a composer but later became involved in the game’s overall sound design. He later said Silent Hill 2 was his favorite soundtrack from his own work.

On December 2, 2009, it was announced that Yamaoka was leaving Konami. On February 3, 2010, he joined Grasshopper Manufacture and began working with Goichi Suda and Shinji Mikami on their action game Shadows of the Damned. He was first named chief sound officer at Grasshopper but also became involved in other parts of game production.

On August 10, 2012, Yamaoka announced he would release a second solo album in late 2012. He said the album would be "different from the usual Silent Hill music." On October 31, he announced that a new three-track Spanish-language EP called Revolución would premiere at V-CON during a live performance. In 2014, he said he wanted to return as a composer for Silent Hills, although the project was later cancelled.

From late October to early November 2015, Yamaoka and his band traveled to the United Kingdom for their Silent Hill Live tour. During the tour, they performed songs from the Silent Hill series at venues in Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, London, Manchester, and Southampton. In July 2016, he performed live at the BitSummit 4th indie game festival in Kyoto.

Style and influences

Yamaoka has chosen Suda51 as his favorite game creator and No More Heroes (2007) as his favorite video game. He has also selected Dario Argento’s Suspiria (1977) as his favorite film.

In July 2010, Yamaoka was invited by the website Nintendo Life to create a short list of songs for a new series that explored the musical tastes of important video game creators and figures. His list included "Moon Over Moscow" by Visage, "Der Mussolini" by Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, "Amber" by Craig Armstrong, "Moments in Love" by Art of Noise, and "The Ecstasy of Gold" by Ennio Morricone. He also said that "Moon Over Moscow" was the first song that made him want to pursue music, and he mentioned that he wanted "The Ecstasy of Gold" to be played at his funeral.

In February 2014, when asked about other artists who influenced him, Yamaoka named Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails as his main influence in both performing and music style. He later explained that his work on Silent Hill was directly influenced by Reznor, composer Angelo Badalamenti’s music with filmmaker David Lynch (especially Twin Peaks), and the more atmospheric songs by Depeche Mode and Metallica.

When asked if his studies at Tokyo Art College helped his musical career, Yamaoka explained that at that time, musicians like Mick Karn of Japan and Steve Strange of Visage, along with others, combined the ideas of art and music with their own new style. He said he was greatly influenced by this. So, every time he writes songs, he tries to combine art and music. He has also stated that he draws much of his influence from baroque styles that were common during the 18th century.

Personal life

Yamaoka is married to Ai "Tamu" Murata, a musician who is best known as the drummer for the heavy metal band Nemophila. They have two daughters. In March 2011, Yamaoka sold some of his musical instruments in an auction to raise money for charity after the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.