Tommy Tallarico

Tommy Tallarico

Tommy Tallarico at a Video Games Live event in 2009
Background information
Born (1968-02-18) February 18, 1968
Springfield, Massachusetts
Occupation(s) Composer, musician
Instruments Electric guitar, piano
Years active 1991–present
Associated acts Jack Wall

Tommy Tallarico (born February 18, 1968) is an American video game music composer and musician. He is best known as the co-creator of the concert series Video Games Live.[1] He was the co-host of The Electric Playground and Reviews on the Run (formerly known as Judgment Day in the US).

Early life

Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Tallarico entered the video game industry in 1991 and has worked on more than 250 games, including the Earthworm Jim series, Color a Dinosaur, Demolition Racer, Treasures of the Deep, Messiah, MDK, Flip's Twisted World, Wild 9, Unreal, Cool Spot, Spot Goes to Hollywood, Spider-Man (2000), RoboCop versus The Terminator, Maximo, Pac-Man World, Another World (Mega Drive), Prince of Persia, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and Advent Rising. Tallarico has won over 25 industry awards for best video game audio.[2]

Career

He founded Tommy Tallarico Studios in 1994[2] and the Game Audio Network Guild (GANG), of which he was also president, in 2002. He wrote, co-hosted, and co-produced The Electric Playground and Reviews on the Run (formerly Judgment Day on the G4 network),[2] and co-hosted alongside Victor Lucas in both television programs until he left to focus on Video Games Live. He is an advisory board member for the Game Developers Conference, a governor for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS/Grammy), and a nominating peer panel leader for the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. He released a CD of his music, entitled Virgin Games: Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 in 1994. A subsequent volume in the series was released in 1997. His work can also be found on additional game soundtrack albums. Tallarico is the co-creator, executive producer, and host of Video Games Live.[2]

In January 2006, Tallarico announced on his website that he and Victor Lucas had decided to move Judgment Day from G4 to a different network, under the name Reviews on the Run, as it is known in Canada. He and Lucas also act as video game correspondents for HypaSpace Weekly. As of August 2007, Tallarico has not co-hosted any episodes of The Electric Playground or Reviews on the Run, as he is not available due to commitments to Video Games Live. As of now, he has only come back for one Reviews on the Run on episode number 647 and has not yet made another appearance.[3] A two-page interview with Tallarico was featured in Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008, focusing only on his soundtrack and Video Games Live work.[4] In March 2009, Tommy Tallarico received the Ambassador award at the Game Developers Conference for his contributions to the video game industry.

Tallarico is the co-founder and current host of Video Games Live, a touring orchestral show that performs scores of video game music. At the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo, VGL celebrated its 200th show.

Personal life

Tallarico grew up in Massachusetts before moving to California at the age of 21. He worked in a music store in California for three days when he was spotted wearing a video games T-shirt by someone from the then-start-up Virgin Games. He worked as a games tester, then moved over into audio design for the company.[5] He is the cousin of Steven Tyler, the lead singer of Aerosmith.[5][6] Tallarico has dual citizenship with the United States of America and Canada.[7] In December 2010, Tallarico announced that he had become a vegan.[8] In a 2012 interview, Tallarico stated that he had never used alcohol, tobacco, or any other recreational drugs in his entire life.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Pino, Nick (February 28, 2015). "Video Games Live: Tommy Tallarico on 21st century sound". Tech Radar UK. Retrieved November 7, 2015. After spending some time with Tallarico, who's spent the last decade of his life working on his Video Games Live (VGL) concert series, which takes world-class orchestras from all over the world and has them perform the most widely recognized videogame tunes...
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Video Games Live: Our team". Video Games Live. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
  3. ↑ Reviews on the Run Episode 647 on elecplay.com
  4. ↑ Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition – Records – Interview with Tommy Tallarico
  5. 1 2 Thomas, Sarah (July 23, 2015). "From Beethoven to bleeps and bloops: the symphony of video game soundtracks". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Biography". Tommy Tallarico – The Official Website. Retrieved 2008-01-29. Tommy is a cousin of rock star legend Steven Tyler (nee Tallarico)...
  7. ↑ "Vic's Basement podcast". On The Road with E3 and Tommy – 13-minute mark. Retrieved 2014-07-25.
  8. ↑ http://www.videogameslive.com/index.php?story=268
  9. ↑ "The Electric Playground Tommy Tallarico Interview". Retrieved 2013-04-27.

External links

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