Kurt Harland
Encyclopedia
Kurt Harland is a singer, composer
, and video game developer
/audio engineer. He is best known as the lead singer of Information Society
and composer of the soundtracks for the Legacy of Kain
video game series.
. Starting at the age of six, he took piano lessons, and by the end of high school, this had expanded into choral and theatrical singing and stage performing.
During college, he and a high school friend started a recording group they called Information Society
, which would become a decades-long involvement with music, electronic audio, and recording/programming.
After living in New York, Vienna, and Minneapolis, Kurt moved to California, where he now resides in San Francisco with his wife, Michelle, and son, Allistair. Kurt is currently the Audio Director at Nihilistic Software
in Novato, CA.
band Information Society
achieved mainstream success for a while in the late eighties and early nineties. They are most widely known for their 1988 hit single "What's On Your Mind? (Pure Energy)
".
In early concerts and albums, Harland was credited under the pseudonym "Kurt Valaquen," Valaquen taken from Tolkien
, meaning child of light. After the band had achieved mainstream success, he began using his own middle name as his professional last name.http://insoc.org/texts/Name.HTML
After Information Society broke up, Kurt kept the rights to the name of the band and released an album, Don't Be Afraid
, in 1997.
A 2004 episode of VH1's Bands Reunited
, caused a brief controversy when Kurt Harland refused to appear in an Information Society
reunion performance, despite apparently accepting the invitation on-camera by signing a copy of their first album. In an account of the incident written by Harland and available on his website http://insoc.org/texts/BandReunion.HTML, Harland disputes VH1's depiction of the events and his portrayal on the show, claiming that the show was edited to make it look as if he had accepted the invitation and then backed out of it. http://insoc.org/texts/BRMail05.HTML
In 2006, he turned the name back over to Paul Robb
and James Cassidy, who reformed the band with a new singer. Harland cited family obligations and a demanding career in not returning full time; he has since been involved nonetheless, performing at a few concerts, and is featured as a vocalist on their most recent album Synthesizer
(although he would later rejoin the band full time).
Harland has worked on the following:
Four songs from Information Society's album Don't Be Afraid were also used in video games that had their soundtracks composed by Kurt Harland:
In 1987, Harland directed the $10.00 music video for "And So It Goes" by Ex-Sample.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdI_VifAxME
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, and video game developer
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
/audio engineer. He is best known as the lead singer of Information Society
Information Society (band)
Information Society is an American band originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, primarily consisting of Kurt Larson , Paul Robb, and James Cassidy; the latter two reconvened the band in 2006, initially with Christopher Anton as lead vocalist, then with Harland rejoining them as lead vocalist by...
and composer of the soundtracks for the Legacy of Kain
Legacy of Kain
Legacy of Kain is a series of action-adventure video games developed initially by Silicon Knights in association with Crystal Dynamics. After a legal battle, Crystal Dynamics continued the series without Silicon Knights and Eidos Interactive became the publisher...
video game series.
Biography
He was born Kurt Harland Larson, on January 25, 1963 in MinnesotaMinnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. Starting at the age of six, he took piano lessons, and by the end of high school, this had expanded into choral and theatrical singing and stage performing.
During college, he and a high school friend started a recording group they called Information Society
Information Society (band)
Information Society is an American band originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, primarily consisting of Kurt Larson , Paul Robb, and James Cassidy; the latter two reconvened the band in 2006, initially with Christopher Anton as lead vocalist, then with Harland rejoining them as lead vocalist by...
, which would become a decades-long involvement with music, electronic audio, and recording/programming.
After living in New York, Vienna, and Minneapolis, Kurt moved to California, where he now resides in San Francisco with his wife, Michelle, and son, Allistair. Kurt is currently the Audio Director at Nihilistic Software
Nihilistic Software
-History:Nihilistic was founded in March 1998 by Ray Gresko, Robert Huebner, and Steve Tietze. Gresko and Huebner had formerly worked at LucasArts, and Tietze had worked at Rogue Entertainment...
in Novato, CA.
Career
Kurt Harland Larson began his experience with electronic audio gear and recording in 1982.Information Society
Formed in 1982, synthpopSynthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
band Information Society
Information Society (band)
Information Society is an American band originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, primarily consisting of Kurt Larson , Paul Robb, and James Cassidy; the latter two reconvened the band in 2006, initially with Christopher Anton as lead vocalist, then with Harland rejoining them as lead vocalist by...
achieved mainstream success for a while in the late eighties and early nineties. They are most widely known for their 1988 hit single "What's On Your Mind? (Pure Energy)
What's On Your Mind? (Pure Energy)
"What's on Your Mind " is a song by dance artists Information Society which was released as a single in 1988. The "Pure Energy" subtitle derives from a sample of Leonard Nimoy's voice from the Star Trek episode "Errand of Mercy". There is also a sample of DeForest Kelley's voice from the episode...
".
In early concerts and albums, Harland was credited under the pseudonym "Kurt Valaquen," Valaquen taken from Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
, meaning child of light. After the band had achieved mainstream success, he began using his own middle name as his professional last name.http://insoc.org/texts/Name.HTML
After Information Society broke up, Kurt kept the rights to the name of the band and released an album, Don't Be Afraid
Don't Be Afraid (album)
Don't Be Afraid is a 1997 Industrial / electronic album by Information Society. It saw a dramatic change in creative direction from the pop stylings of Information Society's earlier work to a darker sound with prominent themes of paranoia and disaffection with modern life...
, in 1997.
A 2004 episode of VH1's Bands Reunited
Bands Reunited
Bands Reunited is a television program produced by VH1 in 2004. Hosted by Aamer Haleem, the show documented the attempted reuniting of a formerly popular musical ensemble for a special concert in either London or Los Angeles....
, caused a brief controversy when Kurt Harland refused to appear in an Information Society
Information society
The aim of the information society is to gain competitive advantage internationally through using IT in a creative and productive way. An information society is a society in which the creation, distribution, diffusion, use, integration and manipulation of information is a significant economic,...
reunion performance, despite apparently accepting the invitation on-camera by signing a copy of their first album. In an account of the incident written by Harland and available on his website http://insoc.org/texts/BandReunion.HTML, Harland disputes VH1's depiction of the events and his portrayal on the show, claiming that the show was edited to make it look as if he had accepted the invitation and then backed out of it. http://insoc.org/texts/BRMail05.HTML
In 2006, he turned the name back over to Paul Robb
Paul Robb
Paul Jason Robb is a synthesizer player, producer, songwriter and one of the founding members of the synthpop-freestyle band Information Society.- Biography :...
and James Cassidy, who reformed the band with a new singer. Harland cited family obligations and a demanding career in not returning full time; he has since been involved nonetheless, performing at a few concerts, and is featured as a vocalist on their most recent album Synthesizer
Synthesizer (album)
Synthesizer is an album by synthpop band Information Society. It was released on September 1, 2007 from the Official Website, and was released on October 9, 2007 in record stores.-Track listing:# Baby Just Wants# Back In The Day...
(although he would later rejoin the band full time).
Video games
After 11 years as a full-time recording artist, Kurt moved to San Francisco and began his career in video game audio engineering. Over the years he has been involved with eighteen different projects, notably six years with Crystal Dynamics and a stint at Electronic Arts. http://backstagelive.groupee.com/displayvideo/content/66153123681593662Harland has worked on the following:
- 1995: Scooby-Doo MysteryScooby-Doo Mystery- Gameplay :The player controls Shaggy Rogers as well as Scooby Doo simultaneously making gameplay unique. The object of the game is to find clues to solve the 4 mysteries in the game. These clues can be obtained by finding them in the open, completing a specific task, or having Scooby "sniff out"...
— Sunsoft, Mega Drive - 1995: X-Men 2: Clone WarsX-Men 2: Clone WarsX-Men 2: Clone Wars is the title of a video game released in 1995 by Sega of America for the Mega Drive/Genesis. The game is a sequel to its 1993 side-scrolling video game titled X-Men. Oddly enough, the European release of the game reused the same cover art of X-Men 2: Game Master's Legacy for the...
— Headgames / SegaSega, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
, Mega Drive - 1995: BallzBallz3D Ballz is a two player 3D action fighting game for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, the Super NES and the 3DO. It was developed by PF Magic and published by Accolade in 1994. The 3DO version was released as a director's cut in 1995. Ballz offered three difficulty levels over a total of 21 matches...
— PF MagicPF MagicPF Magic was a video game developer founded in 1991 and located in San Francisco, California. Though it developed other types of video games, it was best known for its virtual pet games, such as Dogz and Catz. The company was able to make extra revenue by selling plush toys under the Petz trademark...
, 3DO3DO Interactive MultiplayerThe 3DO Interactive Multiplayer is a video game console originally produced by Panasonic in 1993. Further renditions of the hardware were released in 1994 by Sanyo and Goldstar. The consoles were manufactured according to specifications created by The 3DO Company, and were originally designed by... - 1995: Nightmare CircusNightmare CircusNightmare Circus is a video game which was released for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis platform.The game includes a multiplayer option. The two player games are as a follows: a fighting game, and the regular game itself with both players present on the screen at the same time, though it is very easy...
— Funcom Oslo / Sega, Mega Drive - 1997: Gex: Enter the GeckoGex: Enter the GeckoGex: Enter the Gecko is a platform game released in 1998. It is the sequel to the 1994 game Gex. The game involves collecting 3 types of remotes to unlock different levels, and to aid in the fight against Rez.-Story:Since his retirement from the public eye in 1996, Gex has resided himself to a...
— Crystal DynamicsCrystal DynamicsCrystal Dynamics is an American video game developer based in the San Francisco Bay Area and founded in 1992 by Judy Lang, Madaline Canepa and Dave Morris...
, PlayStationPlayStationThe is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000... - 1999: Legacy of Kain: Soul ReaverLegacy of Kain: Soul ReaverLegacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is an action-adventure game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Interactive. It was released for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows in 1999 and for the Dreamcast in 2000. As the second game in the Legacy of Kain series, Soul Reaver is the sequel to...
— Crystal Dynamics, PlayStation / Dreamcast / Windows - 2001: Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 is an action-adventure game that was released on the PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows. It is the sequel to Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver and the third game in the Legacy of Kain series. It was released in 2001 developed by Crystal Dynamics & published by Eidos...
— Crystal Dynamics, WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
/ PlayStation 2PlayStation 2The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... - 2003: WhiplashWhiplash (video game)Whiplash is a platformer video game for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox where a long-tailed weasel chained to a rabbit must work together to escape from a product testing corporation...
— Crystal Dynamics, PlayStation 2 / Xbox - 2003: Legacy of Kain: DefianceLegacy of Kain: DefianceLegacy of Kain: Defiance is an action-adventure game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos. It is the fifth and thus far final game in the Legacy of Kain series. It was released in North America in November and December 2003, and in Europe in February 2004...
— Crystal Dynamics, Windows / PlayStation 2 / Xbox - 2005: The Godfather — Electronic ArtsElectronic ArtsElectronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
, PlayStation 2 / Xbox / PC - 2005: Death Jr. - Backbone EntertainmentBackbone EntertainmentBackbone Entertainment is an independent video game development company located in Emeryville, California.Backbone Entertainment is the result of a 2003 merger between Digital Eclipse Software and ImaginEngine...
, PSPPlayStation PortableThe is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004... - 2006: Death Jr. II: Root of Evil - Backbone Entertainment, PSP
- 2007: Death Jr. and the Science Fair of Doom - Backbone Entertainment, Nintendo DSNintendo DSThe is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
- 2011: PlayStation Move Heroes - Nihilistic Software Inc., PlayStation 3PlayStation 3The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
with PlayStation Move
Four songs from Information Society's album Don't Be Afraid were also used in video games that had their soundtracks composed by Kurt Harland:
- Early versions of "Closing in" and "On The Outside" had been used in the 3DO3DO Interactive MultiplayerThe 3DO Interactive Multiplayer is a video game console originally produced by Panasonic in 1993. Further renditions of the hardware were released in 1994 by Sanyo and Goldstar. The consoles were manufactured according to specifications created by The 3DO Company, and were originally designed by...
version of BallzBallz3D Ballz is a two player 3D action fighting game for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, the Super NES and the 3DO. It was developed by PF Magic and published by Accolade in 1994. The 3DO version was released as a director's cut in 1995. Ballz offered three difficulty levels over a total of 21 matches...
. - The instrumental track "Ozar Midrashim" would later be used as the intro theme of Legacy of Kain: Soul ReaverLegacy of Kain: Soul ReaverLegacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is an action-adventure game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Interactive. It was released for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows in 1999 and for the Dreamcast in 2000. As the second game in the Legacy of Kain series, Soul Reaver is the sequel to...
. - A slow instrumental mix of "Empty" also appeared in Soul Reaver.
Other works
In 1983, with bandmates, Kurt Harland directed the music video for "Fall In Line" by Information Society,http://youtube.com/watch?v=ITd6Y4ka60s with a budget of exactly $0.00.In 1987, Harland directed the $10.00 music video for "And So It Goes" by Ex-Sample.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdI_VifAxME
External links
- InformationSociety.us - the official Information Society band website (as of 2007)
- InSoc.org, the original official Information Society website (largely a historical archive, written by Kurt Harland)
- Downloads of Kurt's music from the Legacy of Kain / Soul Reaver series
- InSoc Brasil fan site
- Composing for Interactive Music, an article written by Kurt Harland, 2003
- Project: Snowblind/VH1 Bands Reunited Review
- InSoc VS. TELEVISION!, an article/account of "what really happened" on VH1's Bands Reunited, according to Kurt Harland
- Podcast interview discussing a demo recorded with Paul RobbPaul RobbPaul Jason Robb is a synthesizer player, producer, songwriter and one of the founding members of the synthpop-freestyle band Information Society.- Biography :...
, music, and the "coming destruction of life as we know it on earth."