Evolve

Jason approached Evolve as an interactive sound-design score rather than a conventional orchestral soundtrack. Because the game pits four Hunters against one Monster, five players could be experiencing different events simultaneously. Instead of writing long linear cues, Jason created hundreds of short loops and stingers, more than 500 individual music clips, that could be triggered dynamically by gameplay. In Jason’s words, the players effectively “perform” the final score as these musical fragments combine differently during each match.

The score was created largely in Jason’s own studio, with Jason performing and recording experimental sounds himself. His palette included razor blades and nails played inside a piano, percussion processed through guitar pedals, bowed gongs, scraped piano strings, bongos struck with pencils, a pizza box, a pencil can, a bird-cage tray, and even the accidental sound of a rolling chair. He would record these organic sources and then heavily manipulate and process them, giving the music an electronic character while retaining the unpredictable texture of real performances.

Musically, he described Evolve as a “groovier version of Dead Space” - still mysterious, ambient and highly textural, but driven by stronger beats and a more contemporary electronic edge.

The two sides of the game also received contrasting musical identities: the Hunter side was more precise, technological and futuristic, while the Monster perspective emphasized huge distorted drums, chaotic acoustic textures and abused instruments that could scrape, screech and squeal.