BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
A soundtrack must be powerful enough to enhance a narrative, and moving enough manipulate our emotions — whether we’re playing an energised Mario Kart, or watching a mind-blowing piece of cinema.
But what you mightn’t think about is that the soundtrack must also be of a quality so remarkable that it can be taken for granted. And that’s where Amelia Jones comes in.
This soprano, who is classically trained but chose to venture into the world of screen, has been selected to sing for major soundtracks — perhaps for that very reason: through her talent, the listener is able to take the soundworld for granted. We can be entirely and unconditionally immersed in her voice. It sways us to feel — without question. (Yep, it’s really that “crystal clear“.)
The Wales-born, Melbourne-based artist has worked across the games and anime industries in Japan and Australia — not to mention her performances as soloist with major chamber ensembles and choirs.
Some recording highlights include anime Made in Abyss (Best Soundtrack in the 2018 Crunchyroll Anime Awards) and game Hollow Knight (a soundtrack with more than 1 million hits on YouTube).
Here, Amelia talks us through her career — from networking with Japanese producers over a beer, to recording a soundtrack the very day she received the score. (True story.)
Amelia, I’d like to talk about your career so far. Why are you interested in singing on soundtracks?
I’ve always been a little unconventional in terms of musical taste.
As a kid, I used to listen to Metallica’s Enter Sandman every night before bed, I’d be driven to school with Handel’s Messiah playing on the way there, and Led Zeppelin playing on the way home.
When I announced I was going to study classical singing at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, my mum remarked: ‘But you don’t even like opera!’. But I’d heard Dido’s lament and I fell in love. Then, I heard Jeff Buckley’s version, and fell in love again. I’ve always been fascinated by interpretation.
I lost my musical identity and confidence for a long time whilst studying: I couldn’t sing Rossini or Puccini, or roll my Rs. I found myself leaning into composers like Faure, Purcell, and Finzi, but was strongly discouraged from using straight tone and natural colours in my voice, resulting in many technical issues. The term ‘wide vibrato’ still haunts me.
It wasn’t until I moved to Melbourne to study at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music when I realised I was desperately lacking an education in early music and ensemble work. Everything clicked into place when I finally understood that was a huge part of my identity as an artist. I was suddenly singing Monteverdi, Schutz, and Charpentier — and it felt like heaven.
Singing on soundtracks gives me the freedom to interpret music that has never been done before, and that’s exhilarating for me. And to perform music specifically composed for my voice is an absolute honour.
Your background involves so many achievements in the classical music world. Would you describe your soundtrack engagements as a departure from this industry? Why didn’t you pursue a purely ‘classical’ career with your voice?
The way I see it, the two disciplines can exist within absolute harmony of each other.
It’s refreshing to move away from Bach or Byrd, and onto something new and groundbreaking, and then back again.
Forging a career purely as a young artist in the operatic world is absolutely relentless, and I suspect relatively joyless and generally isolating, aside from those rare shining moments on stage. […] For a long time whilst studying, my teachers made me feel like opera was the only option, and to have a career, I’d have to study for years on end — outside of Australia to even gain a chance at a life of contentment and success. I don’t buy it. I love classical music, but as a young artist with ambition, you’re always at the mercy of someone in a position of power with a subjective opinion.
I’m lucky enough to have the opportunity to break away from that whilst still making beautiful music. I’d be crazy not to jump on board.
In 2018, you took part in UnderSCORE, which you’ve described to me as the first symphonic concert featuring music from Australian games composers. How have you found the culture of classical music compared to screen music? Do you think Australia is slow to embrace screen music?
UnderSCORE was pretty special to be a part of: it was a passion project for Fabian Malabello, who worked tirelessly for months in order to get it up and running. The composers flew in from all over the country to hear their works played live, and it felt like we’d achieved something quite momentus; a big step forward. UnderSCORE is likely to be a recurring event, so it’s fantastic that we’ll have a uniquely Australian concert to look forward to.
We still have a long way to go in terms of attitudes toward screen music. I’m fully aware that many classical musicians in Australia view it as a novelty, and inferior to classical music — or at least, that’s what I’ve [gathered] through careless passing comments, which I sometimes have the energy to challenge.
I’ve learnt that this attitude generally stems from a lack of exposure, and blindly succumbing to stereotypes. I was extremely grateful and excited to be involved in the Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy concert [in Australia, 2019): it was thrilling to be a part of an event of such scale and importance, the audience response blew us away.
I walked away from the vocal rehearsal feeling quite defeated at some of the attitudes on display from very established musicians, but it was heartening to see them come around to the experience during the orchestral rehearsal and performance, and realise that screen music is entertaining, engaging, technically challenging, a lot of fun, and brings people together on a huge scale.
So talk us through how you got involved in anime and games music. What was your first ‘big break’?
It has to be Hollow Knight. None of us realised how big the game would turn out to be at the time.
Fun fact — I got notified of the gig, got the score, and had the recording session all in the same day.
Composer Christopher Larkin […] got in touch saying he’d written a soprano line but there was a catch: it needed to be recorded that evening. Luckily, [I was] available, and aside from me having a bit of a meltdown over hitting that high B flat in City of Tears, it was a relatively casual and enjoyable process.
Since then, it’s gone on to sell millions of copies on multiple platforms. [In 2018], I attended Tokyo Game Show. Entering the Indie Game Area, I was blown away to see that only two games were being showcased at the merch desk: Dark Souls and Hollow Knight.
I bought the t-shirt.
Beyond Hollow Knight, you’ve had success after success. Why do you think your voice has been selected as ‘fitting’ screen music?
Gosh, I think the main factor is versatility. My vocals in Made in Abyss were pretty standard operatic soaring phrases, then for Falling Through Starlight (anime The Rising of the Shield Hero), composer Kevin Penkin was kind enough to accommodate my not so subtle hints: ‘I can sing low notes, too!’. He took that and ran with it in En Annan Tid, Ett Annat Liv when he wrote for me within a D3-A5 range. That was fun.
My background in choral and early music helps from a sight reading perspective. Often, composers are grappling with crazy deadlines and I won’t receive a finished score until the last minute. The baroque concepts of affect and rhetoric in singing are things I take very seriously when performing or recording anything, meaning I have a very clear view of what I want to convey to the listener with every line of text.
So what’s it like working on these soundtracks? Talk us through the process.
It’s probably not as glamorous as one would suspect. I haven’t had to travel outside of Australia yet — there are so many fantastic studios and talented audio engineers here.
Usually, the process will start out with a casual meeting with the composer, including a general overview of the project, timeline, and my involvement. Skype comes in handy to have a couple of meetings before the recording session to discuss the score and stylistic approach — vibrato or no vibrato, a bright or a dark vowel, breathy onsets or straight on to the note.
During The Rising of the Shield Hero recording, I had two people physically in the room, and the composer and music supervisor Skyping in live from Japan. That was full on, but they did give fantastic feedback.
I find I do my best work whilst in a meditative state, recording the same line over and over again until I really get into the groove.
What was your most memorable or fun experience of working on a soundtrack?
I had an intensive yet really enjoyable two-day recording session for one of Kevin Penkin’s scores, for a project that is yet to be announced. It was my first time recording his music with him in the country, let alone the same building. It was great to have him there to give live feedback.
It topped it off having my friend [soprano] Elspeth Bawden also singing in the session. We’re all very close and it was special to share that experience.
Did you watch much anime prior to singing in it? How has your relationship with anime changed since you’ve started making it part of your profession?
Spirited Away was a pivotal moment for me. I remember watching it for the first time and feeling completely hypnotised by the perfect entanglement of animation, music, drama, comedy, and just general strangeness. I’d never experienced anything like it.
Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Dragon Ball Z were staples in my household, although I’d have to pretend not to enjoy them because my younger brother did first.
I still love watching anime in my spare time. The genre really knows no bounds in terms of content. Being involved in the industry, I now have a deep appreciation of how much effort is involved in just one episode of anime, from the animators to the directors, the script writers to the voice actors, sound designers, translators and localisers, composers, musicians — it’s such a huge collaborative feat, and not to be underestimated.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far about the anime industry?
It’s hard to gain a comprehensive insight without speaking Japanese. I think it’s really important to form genuine connections with people, preferably over a beer — that’s how a lot of networking is done in the anime and video games industry, in both Japan and Melbourne.
Networking is key, which is still tough for me to embrace, as I fear I might overstep a boundary or feel out of my depth. I’ve stopped viewing it as a high stakes scenario. I now try to relax into it, enjoy meeting new people who have done fantastic things, and let my business card do the dirty work.
Any parting words?
Thank you for being so interested, and congratulations on your new publication Level and Gain! It’s fantastic you’re bringing to light all the great things people are doing in the video game industry and beyond. Let’s check in again soon and see how things have evolved!
Thanks, Amelia!
You can listen to Amelia Jones’ recordings on her website.
Images supplied. Credit: Daniele Francesca Martinie.
