Frank Klepacki

Alt. Name:
Date of Birth: May 25, 1974
Location: Las Vegas, NV (USA)
Website: www.frankklepacki.com

Biography / Trivia

Frank Klepacki was born in a musical family. This lead him to become an active musician at a young age, starting with drums and later learning keyboards, guitar and bass. He also gained knowledge of how to use studio equipment and how to program BASIC on a computer. At age 17, he applied for a job at Westwood Studios in Las Vegas. Frank considered this to be like a magical place, where he could get to work on a combination of two of his passions: video games and music. After having been hired, he started to work on the titles in development. A few Westwood games were released on consoles, but most of them were PC games. Some early works include "Dune II", the "Legend of Kyrandia" trilogy and "Lands of Lore".

Klepacki's name is most associated with his soundtracks to the "Command & Conquer" series. They consist of a mix of several genres and influences, ranging from hard-hitting industrial rock to militaristic orchestral and even dance music. The evolving technology at the time made it possible to use "live" music for this series, and not be forced to use MIDI or FM synthesis anymore. This was a relief to Frank, as he was now able to let himself loose and really exploit his creativity and resources.

Frank was the main composer at Westwood up until it was aquired by Electronic Arts, at which point he and several other employees decided to leave and form a new company in 2003: Petroglyph Games. He is currently employed by Petroglyph, heading the audio department. So far, he composed the soundtracks for their first game, "Star Wars: Universe at War", and its expansion, "Forces of Corruption". For Frank, who is an avid Star Wars fan, this was his career's highlight; he had the chance to work on a Star Wars product and arrange John Williams' original score, in addition to creating some new themes of his own used for the planets not represented in the original movies. "Universe at War: Earth Assault" is the latest game he scored, released in December 2007.

Aside VGM, Frank is also involved in other musical venues. He was a drummer in a couple of bands, including I AM ("There's a Home", 1995) and Home Cookin' ("Mmm, Mmm, Mmm", 1997, and "Pink in the Middle", 2000), and currently is for The Bitters ("The Bitters", 2006). He is also part of Vegas-based live acts managed by Jarrid Mendelson like The Dynamite Band and The Whip Its. Furthermore, he contributed music to a few films and TV programs, including the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As a side project, Frank produces albums of his own original non-game material, which is written in a style not stranger to what could be heard in the C&C games. So far, he has released 5 solo albums.

Games (37)

Year Title Platform Composer
1991 Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon PC Frank Klepacki
1992 DragonStrike NES Frank Klepacki
1992 Dune II PC, AMI, GEN Frank Klepacki
1992 Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun GEN Frank Klepacki
1992 Order of the Griffon TG16 Frank Klepacki
1992 The Legend of Kyrandia PC, AMI, FM Frank Klepacki
1993 Lands of Lore PC Frank Klepacki
1993 The Legend of Kyrandia 2: The Hand of Fate PC, FM Frank Klepacki
1993 Young Merlin SNES Frank Klepacki
1994 The Legend of Kyrandia 3: Malcolm's Revenge PC Frank Klepacki
1994 The Lion King PC, SNES Frank Klepacki, Patrick J. Collins
1995 Command & Conquer PC, PSX, SAT Frank Klepacki
1995 Monopoly PC Frank Klepacki
1996 Command & Conquer: Red Alert PC, PSX Frank Klepacki
1996 Command & Conquer: The Covert Operations PC Frank Klepacki
1997 Blade Runner PC Frank Klepacki
1997 Command & Conquer: Red Alert - Counterstrike PC Frank Klepacki
1997 Command & Conquer: Red Alert - The Aftermath PC Frank Klepacki
1997 Command & Conquer: Sole Survivor PC Frank Klepacki
1997 Lands of Lore II: Guardians of Destiny PC Frank Klepacki, David Arkenstone
1998 Command & Conquer: Red Alert - Retaliation PSX Frank Klepacki
1998 Dune 2000 PC, PSX Frank Klepacki
1999 Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun PC Frank Klepacki, Jarrid Mendelson
1999 Lands of Lore III PC David Arkenstone, Frank Klepacki
2000 Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 PC Frank Klepacki
2000 Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun - Firestorm PC Frank Klepacki
2000 Nox PC Frank Klepacki
2001 Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge PC Frank Klepacki
2001 Emperor: Battle for Dune PC Frank Klepacki, David Arkenstone, Jarrid Mendelson
2002 Command & Conquer: Renegade PC Frank Klepacki
2002 Earth & Beyond PC Frank Klepacki, David Arkenstone
2002 Pirates: The Legend of Black Cat PS2, XBOX Frank Klepacki
2006 Star Wars: Empire at War PC Frank Klepacki
2006 Star Wars: Empire at War - Forces of Corruption PC Frank Klepacki
2007 Universe at War: Earth Assault PC, X360 Frank Klepacki
2008 Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 PC, X360, PS3 Tim Wynn, James Hannigan, Frank Klepacki, Mikael Sandgren
2009 Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Uprising PC James Hannigan, Frank Klepacki

Albums (11)

Year Title Type
1996 The Music of Command & Conquer CD
1996 The Music of Command & Conquer: Red Alert CD
1997 Command & Conquer: Alarmstufe Rot Original Soundtrack CD
1998 The Music of Lands of Lore: Guardians of Destiny CD
1999 Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun Soundtrack CD
2000 Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 - The Soundtrack CD
2000 Command & Conquer Soundtrack Collection CD
2001 Command & Conquer: Renegade Soundtrack CD
2001 Emperor: Battle for Dune Soundtrack CD
2007 Universe at War OST Digital Release
2008 Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 PREMIER EDITION music disc CD

Albums - Non-VGM (5)

Year Title Type
2002 Morphscape CD
2004 Rocktronic CD
2005 Virtual Control CD
2006 Awakening of Aggression CD
2009 Infiltrator CD

Download Links

» Dune II (VGM)
» Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun (VGM)
» The Lion King (SPC)
» Universe at War OST (Album)
» Young Merlin (SPC)

Links

Added by Rimo on Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM Edited by Rimo on Apr 8, 2009 10:33 AM