Jason Graves
Two-time BAFTA award-winning composer Jason Graves is renowned for his textural concept scores and innovative orchestration in cinematic narrative games such as the Dead Space series, Still Wakes The Deep, The Dark Pictures Anthology, No Rest For The Wicked, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, MOSS 1&2, Tomb Raider, Far Cry Primal, Until Dawn, The Order: 1886, and The Hobbit. Jason’s repertoire is truly diverse, from aleatoric and sweeping orchestral journeys in space, to haunting and immersive soundscapes in historical, fantasy, gothic and supernatural worlds, to manipulating ancient instruments in a natural environment and crafting whimsical waltzes for an intimate pastoral palette. In film and television, his additional music can be heard in DC Comics’/CW series Swamp Thing and Twentieth Century Studios’ Prey, on Disney +.
Jason recently collaborated with internationally revered independent games studio The Chinese Room on the BAFTA-winning Still Wakes The Deep, a first-person narrative disaster story that sees players navigating a North Sea oil rig. To help match the feel and tone of Still Wakes the Deep, Graves commissioned a unique instrument for the game's score. Known affectionately as "The Rig", this metal sound structure takes the shape of an oil rig and was used to create the unearthly, metallic sounds that permeate the game's score. To fill out the body of this sound, Graves also employed a Moog Model D synthesizer, which adds another layer of eeriness when combined with The Rig.
For the story expansion, Siren’s Rest, Jason performed waterphone and experimental piano for deep sea sonic immersion. "Siren’s Rest is an extension of the original game's sonic universe as much as the story universe," explains Graves. "I wanted to use new sounds, instruments and textures to separate this score from the original game. There are related characters and related musical themes, but they are still different and unique to Siren's Rest. Waterphone, prepared piano and penny whistles are the only instruments used in the score. These sounds were significantly pitched down and extremely processed with outboard reverbs to convey the crushing depth of the sea and the isolation of saturation diving."
Adds Graves: "The music had to be able to represent itself accurately while staying faithful to the rather claustrophobic, tight and muffled experience that lasts the entirety of Siren’s Rest. I chose to record live waterphone and experimental percussive piano sounds for the bulk of the music. Everything was recorded and mixed in my studio. These sounds were pitched very, very low and effected with four different external reverbs to make them less familiar and more impressionistic. The reverb gives everything a dramatic, muted, and deeply ‘underwater’ feel, much like the sounds you hear through your diving suit would sound."
Graves’ extensive compositional range is exemplified in the first season of the interactive drama The Dark Pictures, Supermassive Games’ cinematic survival horror anthology series taking place in multiple time periods and settings, including the 17th Century during the Salem Witch Trials, Chicago in the late 18th Century, to 1970s USA, and through to present-day and into sci-fi. In its first season, the series’ standalone installments have encompassed the South Pacific, Iraq, New England, ancient Sumerian temples, psychos, demons, and aliens. No stranger to the sci-fi horror genre, Graves returns to score The Dark Pictures: Directive 8020, the first installment of the second season of The Dark Pictures Anthology releasing May, 2026.
For the magical world of MOSS: Book II, the award-winning sequel to the fan favorite VR game MOSS, Jason scored Quill's next adventure and further elevated the player experience with his elegant, heartfelt, and thematic score performed by a ‘pub band’ of soloists to underscore Quill's heroism and heartbreak. The heart and soul of the “beautiful soundtrack” (IGN) features Jason on solo piano, acoustic guitars, and Celtic harp, with additional instrumental performances from Kristin Naigus (Irish whistles, flute, oboe, English horn), Reinoud Ford (cello), and Tom Strahl (bouzouki, oud). Critically acclaimed as “the perfect soundtrack” (VR Realm), “emotionally charged and gorgeous,” (Android Central), and “a wonderfully crafted work by Graves that builds upon the foundation laid in the 2018 game while elevating every possible aspect of the music” (Soundtrack Universe), the sequel’s score was nominated at the 2023 DICE Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition.
Jason’s penchant for scoring emotionally engaging narratives shines in his "delectable score" (Push Square) for the charming and beautifully animated storybook adventure MOSS, hailed as "VR's finest game to date" (Eurogamer). The "magical soundtrack" (IGN) paints a “pastoral soundscape with enchanting Waltz-esque flair” (Polyarc), including the song “Home To Me” featuring vocalist Malukah, and won Best Music for an Indie Game at the 2019 Game Developers Conference.
As a classically-trained composer and world percussionist, Jason created an entirely live, organic "phenomenal score" (Kotaku) for Far Cry Primal, blending a diverse array of sounds from the natural environment and incorporating many animal effects into the score. The evocative soundtrack includes a ram’s horn and solo flute, Aztec death whistles, evocative vocals, and ritualistic percussion, with raw sounds from the Stone Age natural environment including bushes, bones, antlers, clay pots, logs, dirt and wooden artifacts.
Game Informer described Jason's original score for Sony's supernatural drama Until Dawn as a "superb dynamic orchestral score" and GameSpot called it "a chilling soundtrack...which crescendos and subsides to highlight panic, terror, and anguish." Jason combined live orchestra with many of his signature sounds - found percussion, experimental instruments and haunting soloists come together to form a unique and ever-changing adaptive score that is "part of what makes the game so memorable." (Venture Beat)
Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics entrusted Jason with their innovative reboot of the iconic Tomb Raider franchise, giving him creative freedom to infuse atmosphere, emotion and authenticity to Lara's origins story through his score. The end result blends found sounds, authentic percussion and a truly unique custom instrument interwoven with orchestral themes and textures.
Jason is universally celebrated for creating the innovative, unique soundtracks for the Dead Space franchise, Electronic Arts' best-selling original title called "the scariest game ever made." Jason's groundbreaking score was hailed by critics as a "truly original soundtrack” and "the best score of the year." It was recognized with a myriad of nominations worldwide and won two BAFTA awards - one for Original Score and one for Use of Audio. For the latter, the Academy stated, "It's the music soundtrack that boasts horror and tension." The Dead Space remake (2023) retains Jason's iconic score, described by The Guardian as “pure terror in musical form.”
Jason studied under film composers Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein and Christopher Young, while earning a degree from the University of Southern California's prestigious film scoring program. His diverse musical background as a composer, drummer, keyboardist, guitarist and world percussionist allow him to perform on many of his scores and he has conducted and recorded his live orchestral scores at Abbey Road Studios, AIR Studios, Capitol Records, FOX, Paramount Pictures, Skywalker Sound and Ocean Way Studios.
Jason Graves is represented by Defiant Talent Management.