At Gamereactor, we were excited to chat with Tina Guo for a while as her cello has been a part of many of the games and movies we know and love over the past few years. Earlier this month, we were finally lucky enough to match an interview between our European time zone and their Los Angeles time zone, and here’s the full interview:
At the beginning of the “Big Christmas Fan” video, Tina recalls working with her friend Rusanda Panfili on the recently awarded Endling, a game in which exactly each fox cub is represented by a specific instrument. Both met with Hans Zimmer, the renowned soundtrack composer and Guo’s mentor, who was the second topic of conversation in the interview.
Speaking of well-known musicians, Tina also recalls the development of her Dies Irae album and of course the impressive collaboration with System of a Down’s Serj Tankian, as she describes how natural and improvised working with the singer on the track “Moonhearts in Space” and the genesis of the futuristic video war.
“I recorded for Tomb Raider Reloaded and recently I recorded for Minecraft Legends which is coming out next year,” confirms Tina in reference to upcoming games including her strings in the soundtrack. “Dune and Top Gun are obviously already out, we’re launching Wonder Woman 3 next year,” she adds alongside Shazam! Fury of the Gods and the Flash in terms of movies, along with Hulu’s Boston Strangler (“I’m the Sound of the Killer, of Course”) and CBS’s SEAL team.
Elsewhere, the musician also recalls how she worked with Austin Wintory on the then small Journey, how she was always trying to adapt cello to metal music, and how the ancient Chinese erhu differs as a stringed instrument.
Tina Guo’s next original work is called Water Phoenix and will fuse Chinese and Viking influences. She will also tour Europe with Hans Zimmer from April 2023 and you can Check your local dates here.