Sara López (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1990) did not know that she could dedicate her life to musical composition in a field in which she immersed herself for the first time in her childhood: the videogames. After studying classical guitar at the Superior Conservatory of Tenerife and also a Master’s Degree in Audiovisual Media Composition at the ESMUC in Barcelona, he took enough steps to dare to make a space for himself in the industry. Among his repertoire is Dead Lands, Human Fall Flat either Terra Alliascores that invite you to investigate fantastic worlds that represent one of the largest consumptions in the leisure sector today.
When did your interest in video games begin?
I always say it with a certain pride because the word has been used in a very pejorative way: I am very geek. When I was younger it was used as an insult, so today I hold it up as a kind of shield. My parents already had computers at home and I played with them. Later, the first console came with the Game Boy Color, but it was still using floppy disks, very old school! It had references such as the mythical pokemon yellow Y Red, Age of Empires, Pharaoh or, for example, Heroes of Might an Magic III. They also marked me a lot at the soundtrack level.
Between the movies, the series, the anime and the manga, that is, the geek, Sara López Productions was born later. It arose in the stage where I was making a little money from myself thanks to photo and video editing with tourist companies or cosplay events. Little by little, I uploaded my compositions to the networks and I got tired of working for other people. I decided to become a freelancer in a fit of madness, so please, whoever reads this, prepare it better than me.
What do you take into account when composing so that the dynamism of the body accompanies the sound?
When I have composed for cinema I see that time is finite and, in any case, given by the director or the editor. The scene begins and ends while, in video games, it is not like that most of the time. Whether the director, producer or screenwriter is the player who is in front of the middle and has control in her hands. Therefore, the added difficulty is that the music has to be interactive or practically infinite. This can be a problem, but it’s a lot of fun. You have to compose almost like a puzzle. Don’t they say music is math? Well, these types of soundtracks have this factor with calculation, planning on several planes, which I find very attractive.
Is the Conservatory sufficiently updated for this professional path?
I am concerned that the current music education system is too anchored in what we call “functional tonal”, that is, what has been done for centuries. I defend that it is necessary to know and study musical theory, furthermore, what we do today is based on it: everything is “practically” the same as when Bach wrote; but there are many more accesses to production and composition, other media, there is dynamic music, like in video games, where it interacts with the medium. So there is so much to learn that I am concerned that the Conservatory is not helping. It has to contribute to its protection, its teaching and its advancement.
Both music composed on purpose and hit lists are used, see Fifa. What do you think of these differences?
I always advocate using the music that best suits the video game and is best for the players. Here is a question that I point out treacherously: when music is a soundtrack, it is not a decorative element, but a narrative one. Whenever you want to contribute history with your video game, there has to be.
Was it difficult to enter this world?
It is difficult, in general, to dedicate oneself to the artistic. I am devoting myself 100% to music, which I say with pride and, at the same time, with a broken rib because it is very difficult to be solvent. When working for long-term goals, you depend on whether you get a very good payment or one when you find a job. It’s a bit fateful. Luckily, I entered the cinema with the Canarian film Apocalypse Voodo, with which we won the award for Best Soundtrack at the Costa del Sol International Fantastic Film Week in 2018, which was a very strong push. What it did do was light a fire up my ass, this can be done!
I wrote to a lot of people and talked to NoBrakesGames, in Los Cristianos, I met the team and, by chance, someone had already proposed me in previous weeks to include me and, presto, hired! This year the days of Fimucité ended and Vince DiCola, composer of Rocky IV, gave a talk in front of a lot of kids willing to learn and the first thing he said was: «I have no idea why I’m up here. The only thing I’ve had was luck.” I think there is something of a lie there, but, in part, he met Sylvester Stallone by chance and the point is that he knew how to take advantage of it and got on the train.
I understand that the ubiquity of the video game world allows it to be everywhere. Coming from the Canary Islands, what is the assessment of the sector?
The fact of being interconnected is wonderful. For example, my second video game, Terra Alia, is from a company that is based in the United States. In any case, in Tenerife and Gran Canaria there are entities that do not go unnoticed, such as Broken Bird Games that is hitting it hard with Luto. You don’t have to go anywhere else to do this, luckily.
It’s essential to promote yourself nowadays through Instagram, Twitch and others, don’t you think?
I was lucky enough to work in the sector and I had a bit of an advantage to focus that knowledge on Sara López Productions. I tell everyone to do TikTok now. It seems like a silly tool, but it is changing everything and with which it is very easy to go viral. Then, if you like to talk like me, Twitch is amazing. The art community is super nice and allows you to show people not only your work, but yourself. You have to show people who you are, and this is the way to do it.
It does not leave behind the disclosure of women composers, both at Tenerife Noir and at Fimucité itself. Why?
Because I am a woman and I am a composer. A male songwriter doesn’t have to promote himself as much because he’s in a comfortable place. It is hard for me to be taken seriously, first, because I am very natural, which I defend is not incompatible with being a great professional, then, I look much younger than I am, and the third is that I am a woman. With these three factors, plus body modifications, I need to talk about women like me. If the Sara of ten years ago had seen me or composers like Beatriz Ruiz-Castillo ‘Beícoli’ or Eímear Noone, she would come out of the house dancing, look at this girl who is making music, I want to do the same! Leaving aside humility, I want to be a reference for other girls who want to do the same, not because they are better, but because they exist. We are here, this is possible and we need to support each other more.
