Kevin Riepl

Last updated

Kevin Riepl
Kevin Riepl (cropped).jpg
Riepl at the Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Bros in 2007
Background information
Born Cliffwood Beach, New Jersey, U.S.
GenresEpic music, orchestral, industrial, electronic, ambient
Occupation(s)Composer
Years active2000–present
Website kevinriepl.com

Kevin Riepl is an American composer for video games, films and television shows. [1] He is best known for his work on the Unreal series of games as well as Gears of War and Aliens: Colonial Marines . [2] [3]

Contents

Biography

Riepl was born in Cliffwood Beach, New Jersey. His interest in music started at the age of six, when he began to play piano and guitar under the instruction of his uncle. [4] In the fourth grade he began studies on the trumpet and piano and that continued throughout his high school years in which he was a member of a variety of bands and orchestras. [5] After high school, he began private independent studies in composition and orchestration at the Village East Conservatory of Music. Following the years at the conservatory and few scoring projects, he attended Mannes College of Music in New York City for further education in composition and orchestration. [6]

Riepl began his career working as an assistant and co-writing partner for Kevin Manthei in the early 2000s. [7] At the time, Cliff Bleszinski, former design director at Epic Games, who was then looking for a different musical sound for the Unreal franchise, played his demo reel. [7] This led him to work on Unreal Tournament 2003 , Unreal Tournament 2004 and Unreal Championship 2 . [8] In February 2005, Riepl became attached to Gears of War . Initially, he was asked to write the main themes for the game, but after submitting the pieces he had written, Epic liked what he created and signed him on to create the entire score. [9] In March 2007, Riepl recorded the score for the massively multiplayer first-person shooter computer game Huxley , developed by Webzen Games. [10] [11]

In October 2010, Riepl suffered a sudden heart failure and was hospitalized. He had a pump installed in his heart until a donor heart could replace it, and underwent the heart transplant in July 2011. Shortly afterwards, a rare tumor was found on his adrenal gland, which was affecting his blood pressure. He has since made a good recovery. [12]

In addition to his work on the video game industry, Riepl has composed for films and television series, including his recent scores for horror films such as Silent Night , Contracted and the Cabin Fever films ( Patient Zero and the 2016 film remake). [13] [14]

Credits

Kevin Riepl has composed music for the following media: [15]

Video games

YearTitleDeveloperNotes
2001 Twisted Metal: Black Incognito Entertainment Additional music (uncredited)
2002 New Legends Infinite MachineAdditional music
Dead to Rights Namco
Unreal Tournament 2003 Epic Games
Nancy Drew: Secret of the Scarlet Hand Her Interactive Additional music
Nancy Drew: Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake
2003 Nancy Drew: The Haunted Carousel
2004 Pitfall: The Lost Expedition Edge of Reality
Torus Games
Beenox
Unreal Tournament 2004 Epic Games
Shrek 2: The Game KnowWonder
Nicktoons: Movin' Mass Media
2005 Unreal Championship 2 Epic Games
Shrek SuperSlam 7 Studios
The Bible Game Mass Media Credited in-game with Original Music Composition [16]
City of Villains Cryptic Studios
2006 Gears of War Epic Games
2007 Huxley Webzen Games Inc.
Unreal Tournament 3 Epic Games
Soul of the Ultimate Nation Webzen Games Inc.
2008 Gears of War 2 Epic Games Additional music
2010 Crackdown 2 Ruffian Games
2011 Hunted: The Demon's Forge inXile Entertainment
2012 Resistance: Burning Skies Nihilistic Software
Borderlands 2: Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage Gearbox Software
2013 Aliens: Colonial Marines Themes by James Horner and Jerry Goldsmith
Ascend: Hand of Kul Signal Studios
2014Vlad The Impaler [17] Section Studios
2015 Toy Soldiers: War Chest Signal Studios
Nosgoth Psyonix
Rocket League
2016 Battleborn Gearbox Software
TBA Unreal Tournament [18] Epic Games
Bedlam [19] Skyshine Games

Films

YearTitleDirectorNotes
2004LookEric Blue
2005 Sky High Mike Mitchell Credited as music programmer
2007Lost CrossingEric Blue
Rogue 379Douglas Choi
2008 Lost Boys: The Tribe P.J. Pesce
2009Broken AugustMarc Pilvinsky
New Hope ManorDanny LeGare
2010ClemencyJoseph Albanese
Broken MomentEric Blue
BreatheDanny LeGare
2011Mama's BabyDrew Daywalt
RuinWes Ball
2012HENRiEli Sasich
The Aggression Scale Steven C. Miller
Dead ShadowsDavid Cholewa
The ABCs of Death Kaare Andrews
Silent Night Steven C. Miller
2013 Contracted Eric England
2014 Cabin Fever: Patient Zero Kaare Andrews
Resignation Joshua Caldwell
The Night Crew Christian Sesma
Criminal Denzel Whitaker
Beacon Point [20] Eric Blue
2015 Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts Butch Lukic
2015Grandpa's PsychoDanny LeGareCredited as music supervisor
2015Vigilante DiariesChristian Sesma
2015 Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem Butch Lukic
2016 Cabin Fever Travis Z
Get The Girl Eric England
Batman Unlimited: Mech vs. Mutants Curt Ceda
2018 Higher Power Matthew Charles Santoro
Constantine: City of Demons – The Movie Doug Murphy
2019 Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Jake Castorena
2019GreenlightGraham Denman
2019PurezaRenato Barbieri
2020 Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons: The Movie Sung Jin Ahn
2020 Superman: Man of Tomorrow Chris Palmer
2021 Justice Society: World War II Jeff Wamester
2022 Green Lantern: Beware My Power
2023 Legion of Super-Heroes
2024 Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part One

Television

YearTitleNotes
2001 Invader Zim Additional music
2003 Xiaolin Showdown Additional music
2004–2006 Brandy & Mr. Whiskers Co-composer
2005–2006 Johnny Test Main Title Composer / Add. Music
2006 Six Degrees Orchestration / Score Prep.
2016 Justice League Action

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References

  1. Ciafardini, Marc (July 22, 2014). "Interview…Composer Kevin Riepl on Scoring 'Cabin Fever: Patient Zero'". goosetalk. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  2. W. Bat, Joseph (August 18, 2007). "Gears of War - Kevin Repl". Movie Music UK. Archived from the original on August 18, 2007. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  3. Bosier, Jennifer (January 15, 2013). "The Sound of 'Aliens: Colonial Marines,' an Interview with Composer Kevin Riepl". Forbes . Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  4. Flak (October 4, 2012). "Maestros of Horror and Sci-Fi Music – Kevin Riepl at NYCC". Epic Games. Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  5. Hughes, Sam (May 11, 2016). "Interview With Battleborn And Batman Unlimited Composer Kevin Riepl!". The Sound Architect. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  6. Cooke, Emmett (December 31, 2008). "Composer Interview – Kevin Riepl". Filmandgamecomposers. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  7. 1 2 Greening, Chris (August 14, 2010). "Kevin Riepl Interview: Raw Interactive Scoring". Game Music Online. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  8. Dyar, Amanda (May 8, 2012). "Exclusive Interview: Composer Kevin Riepl Discusses Aliens Colonial Marines and Resistance: Burning Skies". Dread Central . Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  9. Spence, D. (November 29, 2006). "Gears of War Composer Interview". IGN . Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  10. Goldwasser, Dan (March 19, 2007). "Kevin Riepl Scores a Brave New World of Video Game Music in Huxley". Scoring Sessions. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  11. Webzen Games (October 4, 2007). "Acclaimed Composer Kevin Riepl Scores Webzen's MMOFPS Huxley". Webzen Games. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  12. "Heart transplant patient becomes unexpected ambassador for organ donation". News Medical. December 29, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  13. Dyar, Amanda (July 2014). "Exclusive Interview: Kevin Riepl Discusses Cabin Fever: Patient Zero". BCC After Dark. Archived from the original on October 14, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  14. Jeremy (June 2014). "Interview with Composer... Kevin Riepl". Howlin' Wolf. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  15. "CREDITS". Kevin Riepl Official Website. 2013. Archived from the original on November 8, 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  16. "Kevin Riepl's Bible Game credit as shown on Vargskelethor". Twitch. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  17. Riepl, Kevin (July 17, 2014). "To go along with Vlad being released on Steam, here is some of the music I wrote for the project". Facebook . Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  18. "Steve Polge confirms Kevin Riepl to be an UT composer". Unreal Tournament Forums. Epic Games. May 11, 2014. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  19. Greening, Chris (October 4, 2014). "Kevin Riepl creates a gritty 80s-inspired fusion score for Bedlam". Game Music Online. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  20. Blue, Eric (May 6, 2014). "BEACON POINT Feature Film - Final Finishing Funds Needed". Kickstarter . Retrieved January 27, 2015.