November 24, 2004 - Composer Tom Salta has made a name for himself over the past few years thanks to his aggressive electronic compositions which he has either licensed to or composed for such video games as Rallisport Challenge 2, Street Racing Syndicate, and Need For Speed Underground 2, as well as also having his work appear on such television programs as Third Watch, Punk'd, and others.

A musician and producer who has been working in the music industry for over 15 years now, Salta branched out on his own last year when he released his debut solo album 2 Days Or Die under the Atlas Plug moniker. The project really began to take flight once various songs from the album were licensed for such high profile projects as Rallisport Challenge 2 and a major Volvo television spot. The resulting exposure has helped Salta score additional scoring work, his most recent being the theme music and in-game music for Need For Speed Underground 2, as well as co-writing the theme for Ghost Recon 2 along with fellow composer Bill Brown.

We caught up with Salta during some rare down time between gigs and he graciously discussed all aspects of his career, including his Atlas Plug material and his most recent full-scale project, crafting the music for Need For Speed Underground 2.

---

Spence D., Editor-In-Chief, IGN Music: Looking at your list of scoring credits, while driving games aren't the only projects you've worked on, you have scored a rather large chunk of this particular genre of video game…

Tom Salta: That's true and that's probably mostly because the first batch were license music and the music that they licensed off of my album was perfect for that kind of stuff. Like in Rallisport Challenge 2 they licensed the title track off of my Atlas Plug CD, 2 Days Or Die. And ironically Volvo licensed the same song for their S40 commercial, which featured footage from Rallisport.

IGN Music: Nice. So what do you think it is about your music that makes it such a perfect fit for driving games?

Tom Salta: I think, in particular, a lot of the Atlas Plug songs are perfect for driving games just because of the sheer energy that they have, the driving nature that they have. They're very aggressive, so it fits the mood of that kind of stuff. People have come up to me and just said 'That is the best record to drive to.' I think it's just the energy. I think it pumps you up.

IGN Music: So, do you drive around in your car late at night, perhaps keeping you pedal to the metal in an attempt to capture that rush and get ideas for your music? And, conversely, have you ever taken your Atlas Plug CD out for a spin in your car, you know to test the "drivability" of your music?