Listen, I won’t lie – Stardust is one of my favorite movies of all time. And when the chance to chat to someone involved in that film presents itself, well… I jump at the chance.

Ilan Eshkeri was the composer on that film, as well as just a few other projects you might’ve heard of: Layer Cake, Kick-Ass, numerous David Attenborough nature documentaries, and all three films directed by Ralph Fiennes.

But Eshkeri has also composed for TV, theater, fashion shows, and more… including a few forays into video games. Having previously scored the music for The Sims 4, Eshkeri now has a new project on shelves: the decidedly different Ghost of Tsushima.

Set in 1274 Japan on Tsushima Island, the last samurai – Jin Sakai – must master a fighting style called “the way of the Ghost” to defeat the Mongol forces and gain independence. Eshkeri studied and learned traditional Japanese instruments – such as the biwa, koto, taiko, and more – for the soundtrack, and the game is evidence of the dedication and love given by Eshkeri… and everyone involved.

We sat down with Ilan Eshkeri to chat about Ghost of Tsushima, how he approached his music for the game, and immersing himself in Japanese culture and music.

The soundtrack is now available from Milan Records, and the game is a PlayStation 4 exclusive.

Roarbots: You come from a long background of composing for film and TV. Unless I’m mistaken, Ghost of Tsushima is only your second video game – and the first with a clear narrative arc. How difficult was it for you to adapt to the format? Did you need to adjust your process at all?

Ilan Eshkeri: My work spans many disciplines – film and TV but also ballet, theater, live shows, and songwriting. What ties my work together is a love of narrative and storytelling. In everything I do, I’m always telling an emotional story through music, and in this respect, Ghost was no different.

Roarbots: How much of the game was complete before you came on board and began writing music?

Eshkeri: When I went to Sucker Punch HQ in Seattle, I was able to play an early part of the game that wasn’t complete, but there was still a very long way to go. There was enough artwork and images for me to understand how beautiful the game was going to be and enough gameplay for me to understand how the character would feel. But what really inspired me was how powerful the story was.

Roarbots: For those unfamiliar with the process of scoring a video game, how do you write music for specific sequences since the narrative structure of a game is more… malleable and interactive than a film or TV show?

Eshkeri: The first thing you have to do on every project, games included, is come up with the melodies. This is the moment of purest artistic creation and is always the most challenging thing to do. Once you have the melodies, working out how to fit them and use them is a craft that anyone can learn.

Some sequences are set, and so writing those is the same as writing any linear story, whether it’s dance, theater, film, or TV. What’s unique to video games is what I can best describe as a third dimension in the music. For example, the music can be more or less intense depending on what’s happening on the screen, and the game engine can achieve this by adding in more elements or taking them away.

What that means for the writing process is that inside lines of music that the audience would often never hear may become isolated. Often, these lines act as filler under melodies and bass lines, but with a game – because they can be exposed – you have to write each line for each instrument with a tremendous amount of detail and sensitivity. This is both a technical and an artistic challenge.

Roarbots: Are you a gamer? Have you played the final game?

Eshkeri: This is going to sound made up, but literally as I’ve been typing this interview, there was a knock at the door and my collector’s edition box of the game just arrived from PlayStation! As soon as I finish this, I’m going to get sucked in.

These days, I must confess that I’m not much of a gamer. In preparation for Ghost, I did play God of War and Spider-Man. Both were brilliant to play and had really great scores, so it was kind of intimidating. Gaming was a huge part of my childhood – my first computer at 6 years old was a Vic 20, and I played games like Mario Bros, OutRun, and Ghostbusters.

Roarbots: The soundtrack release for Ghost of Tsushima has 17 tracks by you. About how much music did you write in all?

Eshkeri: There’s considerably more music in the game than there is in the soundtrack. I don’t know how to quantify it, but perhaps a better way to think of it is I must’ve written at least twice as many themes as ended up in the game. This is part of the process, and trying to find the very best work for the game sometimes means letting go of musical gems that I loved.

Roarbots: The soundtrack includes not only your music but also a symphonic suite by Shigeru Umebayashi. The two of you previously worked together on Hannibal Rising, but was there any collaboration on Ghost of Tsushima?

Eshkeri: We talked about the possibility of that early on, but the game makers decided that they would like us to focus on separate areas. Ume is a wonderful composer, and I’m really proud to be able to share a credit with him again.

Roarbots: You’re not Japanese, so I have to ask if it was difficult to find the right head space for this score. Were you already familiar with traditional Japanese instruments and musical ideas?

Eshkeri: It was difficult. There was a desire for great authenticity, which I found very inspiring so I set about learning Japanese scales, folk songs, Shomyo Buddhist chants, and Japanese instruments so I would understand what the people of the Island of Tsushima would’ve heard during this time.

Learning the music of a culture that you don’t really understand is a challenging process, but I had a lot of help – especially from the incredible musicians I collaborated with.

Roarbots: If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing?

Eshkeri: I love cooking, so maybe I’d be a chef! 🤷‍♂️

Roarbots: Who’s the one composer working today that everyone should listen to?

Eshkeri: Apart from me?! No, seriously, in the last decade, there’s been a renewed focus on the brilliance of Philip Glass but not as much attention on some of the other giants of the minimalist world. I’ve recently been relistening to the works of Steve Reich, who for me is the other side of the coin to Glass in minimalist music.