Frank Klepacki

Alt./Nickname:
Date of Birth: May 25, 1974
Location: Las Vegas, NV (USA)
Website: www.frankklepacki.com
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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 4 solo albums and is in the process of putting a new one together, with a projected date of release sometime in late 2007.


Games (35)

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


Albums (10)

Year Title
1996 The Music of Command & Conquer
1996 The Music of Command & Conquer: Red Alert
1997 Command & Conquer: Alarmstufe Rot Original Soundtrack
1998 The Music of Lands of Lore: Guardians of Destiny
1999 Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun Soundtrack
2000 Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 - The Soundtrack
2000-10-03 Command & Conquer Soundtrack Collection
2001 Command & Conquer: Renegade Soundtrack
2001 Emperor: Battle for Dune Soundtrack
2007-12-21 Universe at War OST

Albums - Non-VGM (4)

Year Title
2002 Morphscape
2004 Rocktronic
2005 Virtual Control
2006 Awakening of Aggression


Download Links

Title Artist Type
Dune II Frank Klepacki VGM
Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun Frank Klepacki VGM
The Lion King Frank Klepacki, Patrick J. Collins SPC
Universe at War OST Frank Klepacki Album
Young Merlin Frank Klepacki SPC


Links


Added by Rimo on Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM Edited by Rimo on Mar 11, 2008 06:25 PM