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Grant Kirkhope (born 10 July 1962) is a British video game music composer, known for writing the soundtracks for numerous games by Rare, such as GoldenEye, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Donkey Kong 64, Perfect Dark, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Viva Pinata, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, and also Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning by Big Huge Games.

Biography [link]

Kirkhope was brought up in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire and attended King James's School (like his fellow trumpet player and good friend, Simply Red's Tim Kellett). Kirkhope played in various bands after leaving the Royal Northern College of Music, including Zoot and the Roots along with the saxophonist, Snake Davis. Kirkhope also spent many years as part of "the big bad horns" which were part of UK band "Little Angels". At the age of 33 he was employed by Rare. Before joining Rare, in October 1995, he played for two bands called Syar and Maineeaxe where he played guitar, and already knew Robin Beanland, another Rare composer. Kirkhope's music, featuring an electric guitar, is played on an Ernie Ball/Musicman EVH given to him by Eddie Van Halen.

On 14 July 2008, Kirkhope stated in his MySpace blog that he was resigning from Rare. He joined THQ studio Big Huge Games, as audio director.^[1]

Big Huge Games was acquired by 38 Studios in May 2009, the company founded by Curt Schilling. Kirkhope went on to compose both the music and sound effects for Big Huge Games's role-playing game Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, which was released in February 2012^[2].

On 24 May 2012, 38 Studios announced that it would be laying-off its entire staff, including Kirkhope and the employees of Big Huge Games, due to the effects of the financial downturn.^[3]

Nominations [link]

• In 2004 Kirkhope was nominated for "Outstanding Achievement In Original Music Composition" at the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Wards Ceremony for Grabbed by the Ghoulies.
• In 2004 Kirkhope was nominated for "Best Interactive Score" at the 2nd Annual Game Audio Network Guild Awards Ceremony for Grabbed by the Ghoulies.
• In 2007 Kirkhope was nominated for "Original Score" at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards for Viva Pinata.

Selected works [link]

• Project Dream (1995)
• Donkey Kong Land 2 (1996)
• GoldenEye 007 (with Graeme Norgate and Robin Beanland) (1997)
• Banjo-Kazooie (1998)
• Donkey Kong 64^[4] (with Yukio Kaneoka (for the original Donkey Kong arcade game)) (1999)
• Banjo-Tooie (2000)
• Perfect Dark (with David Clynick) (2000)
• Grabbed by the Ghoulies (2003)
• Viva Piñata (with Steve Burke) (2006)
• Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise (2008)
• Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (with Robin Beanland and David Clynick) (2008)
• Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (with Mark Cromer) (2012)

He also voiced several characters in the games he worked on, such as Mumbo Jumbo, the Jinjos, or Jamjars in the Banjo-Kazooie series, and Donkey Kong in Donkey Kong 64. ^{[5] [6]}

References [link]

External links [link]

• Official website
• Profile at MobyGames
• Grant Kirkhope discography at MusicBrainz
• Grant Kirkhope at the Internet Movie Database
• Artist profile at OverClocked ReMix

Reviews [link]

• Reckoning Soundtrack Review by Daniel Schweiger at Film Music Magazine
• Reckoning Soundtrack Review at Original Sound Version
• Reckoning Review at XBOX World Australia
• Reckoning Soundtrack Review at KQEK

Interviews [link]

• Gamespot Interview
• Game Soundtracks Interview
• Gamikia Interview about the music in Reckoning
• SoundRadar Podcast Interview
• Video Diary on Music and Sound in Reckoning
• Reckoning interview with Square Enix Music Online
• Interview with Made2Game Part 1
• Interview with 38Fans
• Interview with Gamikia
• The Sound Design of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
• Square Enix Music Online Interview
• OverClocked ReMix interview
• Rare-Extreme interview
• Rare-Extreme interview after Rare
• IGN Interview
• IGN Composers To Watch