Nintendo Life: Talking about those layers, one of the big things about Impossible Lair is that there are two versions of every level. Does that mean you've got two unique pieces of music? You've done double the amount of work you usually do?
Dan Murdoch: Yes. So this is where, as the game really developed, we had to adjust our strategy. Originally, we were thinking that the level 'State Change' would be just a new way to play that level. And as the game went on, we realised that's not good enough. It's going to effectively be an entirely different new level, where there might be a different time of day, or might be an entire course which is completely different, depending on the level. The interesting link is that you're in the same place, but you're not doing the same things. You're not on the same path necessarily, and you're not doing the same gameplay. The atmosphere may be completely different. So, of course, we needed a new tune.
Matt Griffin: From a composing standpoint, this a new level. We did do a few tunes where we used a state change to inform how we could flip the piece and use similar melodies, but a lot of the time it seemed like unnecessarily restricting yourself when the level was so, so different.
Dan Murdoch: There are ones where the two pieces will share entirely the same instrument pattern. In fact, I've written a theme where the two pieces are the exact same chords and the exact same instruments but they sound absolutely nothing alike. One's a really fast rock track, and one is a really laid-back ambient atmospheric piece – but they just happen to be using the same chords and the same instruments.
