James Landino

James Landino (born 23 November 1992) is an American video game composer and DJ. He is best known for his work on musically acclaimed action-adventure game No Straight Roads, which was released worldwide on August 25, 2020.
== Early Life ==
Landino was born on 23 November 1992 in New Haven, Connecticut and was raised in Westbrook, Connecticut. During his childhood, he developed a passion for rhythm games, which led to his interest in writing video game music. His musical inspirations include Nintendo 64 soundtracks, as well as Jazz artists such as Casiopea, T-Square (band)|T-SQUARE and Chick Korea.
Landino started composing when he was 13 years old. As a teenager, he wrote music for games like Aces Wild: Manic Brawling Action! and browser game Flash Flash Revolution. After graduating from Westbrook High School in 2010, he enrolled at Berklee College of Music with a major in Electronic Production and Design.
== Career ==
In 2008, Landino’s music was licensed for iDance, a rhythm game based on popular music video game Dance Dance Revolution. In the same year, he contributed to the soundtrack of Sonic the Hedgehog fangame Sonic: Before the Sequel and later to its 2013 continuation Sonic: After the Sequel, which received high praise for its original compositions. He also worked with composer Jeff Williams as a remixer and composer for the American anime-influenced web series RWBY in 2013. In July of that year, he received his Bachelor’s Degree from Berklee College of Music and was then hired by music game developer company Harmonix Music Systems. During his time there, he worked on various titles such as Fantasia: Music Evolved, Dance Central Spotlight, Amplitude, Harmonix Music VR and Audica. He also was a developer for music mixing game DropMix.
In 2017, Landino managed the audio team and wrote music for platform game Spark the Electric Jester and its 2019 sequel Spark the Electric Jester 2. In 2018, he composed music for Cytus II, a mobile game developed by Taiwanese game developer Rayark. In the following year, he wrote music for Sega arcade game Chunithm. Landino said on Twitter that it was his dream to work with the video game company.
In 2020, he worked with anime composer Kevin Penkin, contributing to the soundtrack of the anime adaptation of Korean webtoon series Tower of God. 2020 also marked the release of No Straight Roads, an action-adventure game developed by Malaysian indie game studio Metronomik. The soundtrack, consisting of compositions by James Landino, Falk Au Yeong, Andy Tunstall, Funk Fiction and Masahiro Aoki, received praise from various media and news outlets such as IGN and The Guardian, the latter of which wrote that it is “fantastic” and “cleverly fusing a wide range of styles.” In 2021, Landino became a featured artist on online game platform Roblox with various original songs. Landino has also provided his likeness to Roblox, allowing players to obtain special character customization items to emulate his appearance.
Over the course of his career, Landino has worked with notable clients such as Avex Inc., Crunchyroll, Monstercat, Rooster Teeth, and Square Enix. He has also worked with Japanese singer Kumi Koda on her remix album, Koda Kumi Driving Hit's 8. In 2021 he collaborated with Sony Music Entertainment Japan, releasing an official remix of anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations closing theme song “Kimi ga Ita Shirushi” by Halca. In the following year, he officially remixed the opening theme song “Colors (Flow song)|Colors” of anime series Code Geass, originally performed by Japanese rock band Flow (Japanese band)|Flow. As a DJ, Landino has appeared at numerous anime and video game events, including MAGFest, Anime Expo and PAX East, and has performed alongside renowned acts like TeddyLoid, M-Flo and Taku Takahashi.
== Works ==
===Video Games===
Year	Title 	Note(s) 	Ref(s)
N/A 	Flash Flash Revolution 	 	
2008	iDance 	 	
2012	Sonic: Before the Sequel 	 	
2013	God Eater 2 Rage Burst 	recording engineer 	
2013	Sonic: After the Sequel 	 	
2013	The Bureau: XCOM Declassified 	sound designer 	
2013	Aces Wild: Manic Brawling Action! 	 	
2013	Final Fantasy XIII: Lightning Returns	recording engineer 	
2014	Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix 	recording engineer 	
2014	Fantasia: Music Evolved 	 	
2014	Dance Central Spotlight 	 	
2015	BeatNiks 	 	
2015	Crypt of the NecroDancer 	 	
2016	Amplitude HD 	 	
2016	Harmonix Music VR 	 	
2017	Spark the Electric Jester 	audio lead and composer 	
2017	Simulacra 	sound designer 	
2017	Neon FM 	 	
2017	Oh My Godheads 	 	
2017	DropMix 	game developer, sound designer and composer	
2018	Cytus II 	 	
2018	Synth Riders VR 	sound designer and audio consultant 	
2018	City of the Shroud 	 	
2018	Light A Way 	sound designer 	
2018	Kluno Hero Battle 	sound designer 	
2019	Endcycle VS 	 	
2019	Audica 	 	
2019	Spark The Electric Jester 2 	audio lead and composer 	
2019	RAVON 	 	
2019	Osu! 	 	
2019	Chunithm Crystal 	 	
2020	Mighty Fight Federation 	 	
2020	No Straight Roads 	nominated at the NAVGTR Awards 2021 	
2021	Klang 2 	 	
2021	PUBG Mobile 	 	
2021	Roblox 	 	
2022	Fraymakers 	 	
===Anime===
Year	Title 	Note(s) 	Ref(s)
2013	RWBY 	remixed and contributed to score for Season 1, with Jeff Williams 	
2020	Tower of God	with Kevin Penkin, won "Best Score" at the 5th Crunchyroll Anime Awards	
Category:1992 births
Category:Video game composers