Dan Golding

Dan Golding
OriginMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation(s)Composer, academic, writer
Years active2016–present
Websitedangolding.com

Daniel "Dan" Golding is an Australian writer, composer, broadcaster, and academic.

Early life and education[edit]

Golding holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne.[1]

Academic career[edit]

As of 2023 Golding is Deputy Chair of Media and Communication at Swinburne University of Technology in Hawthorn, Victoria.[2]

Writing[edit]

Golding is the author of Star Wars After Lucas,[3] and the co-author of Game Changers.[4] Golding and his work has been featured on The Conversation,[5] BoingBoing,[6] Australian Broadcasting Corporation,[7] and in Wired.[8] His 2019 book, Star Wars after Lucas: A Critical Guide to the Future of the Galaxy, was reviewed on The Verge[9] and in Leonard.[10] As a writer, Golding won "the Lizzie" for Best Games Journalist at the 11th Annual IT Journalism Awards for work published with Crikey.[1]

Music[edit]

Golding is the creator of the soundtracks for Untitled Goose Game,[11] The Haunted Island,[12] and Push Me Pull You.[13] His soundtrack for The Haunted Island won the APRA AMCOS award for best music at the 2019 Australian Game Developer Awards.[14] Untitled Goose Game was nominated for audio awards at the 2020 Independent Games Festival Awards,[15] the Game Developers Choice Awards,[16] and the British Academy Games Awards.[17]

In March 2020, Golding's soundtrack album for Untitled Goose Game was released by House House and Universal Music Australia.[18] In 2022, Orchestra Victoria performed his music for Untitled Goose Game, dynamically responding live to gameplay.[19] In 2023, the Australian federal government's National Cultural Policy cited the performance as bringing "together multiple genres and art forms and new audiences."[20]

Golding was the director of Australia's Freeplay Independent Games Festival from 2014 to 2017,[21] and from 2006 to 2009 was a member of the Dili Allstars.[citation needed]

Broadcasting[edit]

Golding is the host of the weekly Screen Sounds program on ABC Classic radio.[22][2] He is a co-host of the Art of the Score podcast.[23] He has created video essays about film music, including A Theory of Film Music in response to a video by Every Frame a Painting. The dialogue between the two was described by Fandor as "an extraordinary case study in how popular video essayists and academically trained scholars can bring out the best from each other".[24]

In 2015, Golding presented A Short History of Videogames, a four-part documentary series for ABC Radio National.[25] With Linda Marigliano, Golding co-hosted the documentary series What Is Music for ABC Television and Triple J.[26]

Works[edit]

Videogame soundtracks[edit]

Year Title Details Awards
2016 Push Me Pull You[27] Developer: House House
2018 Frog Detective 1: The Haunted Island Developer: Worm Club APRA AMCOS Australian Game Developer Award for Best Music (won)[28]
2019 Untitled Goose Game Developer: House House

Label: Decca (Universal Music Australia) on digital,[29] iam8bit on vinyl[30]

Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album (nominated)[31][32]

APRA AMCOS Australian Game Developer Award for Best Music (nominated)[28]

2019 Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard[33] Developer: Worm Club

Publisher: Super Hot

2022 Brendan Keogh's Putting Challenge Developer: Brendan Keogh

Publisher: Paper House Games

2022 Frog Detective 3: Corruption at Cowboy County Developer: Worm Club

Publisher: Super Hot

APRA AMCOS Australian Game Developer Award for Best Music (nominated)[34]
2023 Mars First Logistics[35] Developer: Shape Shop[36]

Books[edit]

Year Title Publisher ISBN
2016 Game Changers: From Minecraft to Misogyny, the Fight for the Future of Videogames[37] Affirm Press 9781925344509
2019 Star Wars After Lucas: A Critical Guide to the Future of the Galaxy[38] University of Minnesota Press 9781517905422

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Bunyan, Marcus (10 January 2019). "Dr Dan Golding - Lecturer, Swinburne University, and Writer — School of Culture and Communication". Faculty of Arts. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Broadcaster, composer, academic". Dan Golding. 27 February 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  3. ^ Liptak, Andrew (1 May 2019). "10 new science fiction and fantasy books to check out in May". The Verge. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Game Changers". Affirm Press. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  5. ^ Johnstone, Stefanie. "The Rise of Skywalker ends a third Star Wars trilogy. Here's why stories work so well in threes". The Conversation. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  6. ^ James, Andrea (19 September 2016). "Dan Golding's brilliant response to the Marvel soundtrack originality debate". Boing Boing. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  7. ^ Williams, Cameron (26 May 2019). "Twenty years on, we're still feeling the aftershocks of The Phantom Menace". ABC News. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  8. ^ Rogers, Adam. "Star Wars Fans Know Nostalgia Well. It's Time to Build a Future". Wired. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  9. ^ Liptak, Andrew (1 May 2019). "10 new science fiction and fantasy books to check out in May". The Verge. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  10. ^ Sweeting, James (6 July 2019). "Review of Star Wars After Lucas: A Critical Guide to the Future of the Galaxy". Leonardo/ISAST. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  11. ^ "Developing a horrible goose and a huge following | Film Victoria". www.film.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  12. ^ Couture, Joel. "Road to the IGF: Grace Bruxner's The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game". www.gamasutra.com. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  13. ^ "Push Me Pull You". pmpygame.com. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  14. ^ Di Giovanni, Gianni. "The Winners for the 2019 AGDAs have been announced". www.pixelsift.com.au. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  15. ^ "Mutazione, Eliza, Untitled Goose Game Are Some of the Key Nominees for the 22nd Annual Independent Games Festival". GlobeNewswire. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  16. ^ Gamastura staff (8 January 2020). "Death Stranding leads the pack of 2020 Game Developers Choice Awards nominees". Gamasutra. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  17. ^ Stuart, Keith (3 March 2020). "Death Stranding and Control dominate Bafta games awards nominations". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  18. ^ O'Connor, James (31 March 2020). "Honk! The Untitled Goose Game Soundtrack Is Available Now--Listen To It Here". GameSpot. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  19. ^ Radbourne, Lucas (29 June 2022). "ACMI to stage live concert of Melbourne videogame 'Untitled Goose Game'". Beat Magazine. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  20. ^ Kerr, Chris (30 January 2023). "How a live performance of Untitled Goose Game shaped government policy". Game Developer. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  21. ^ Dominguez, James 'DexX' (23 October 2014). "Freeplay, Australia's premier indie games festival, gets a shake-up". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  22. ^ "Screen Sounds". ABC. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  23. ^ "Art of the Score". Art of the Score. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  24. ^ "The Best Video Essays of 2016". Fandor. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  25. ^ "A Short History of Videogames". ABC Radio National. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  26. ^ "What Is Music". ABC iView. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  27. ^ "Push Me Pull You". press.pmpygame.com. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  28. ^ a b "The winners of the Australian Game Developer Awards revealed". Checkpoint. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  29. ^ "Untitled Goose Game". Presto Music. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  30. ^ Prescott, Shaun (21 July 2020). "Untitled Goose Game vinyl soundtrack has a neat trick up its sleeve". PC Gamer. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  31. ^ "2020 ARIA Awards Winners". www.aria.com.au. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  32. ^ "And The 2020 ARIA Awards Go To…". www.aria.com.au. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  33. ^ "Frog Detective". frogdetective.net. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  34. ^ Innes, Ruby (5 October 2022). "Australian Game Developer Awards 2022 Winners: Praise The Lamb". Kotaku Australia. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  35. ^ Smith, David (26 June 2023). "Mars First Logistics Is A Clever Aussie Game About Doing Chores With Lego". Kotaku Australia. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  36. ^ Verbrugge, Kieron (29 September 2022). "You Can Check Out A Free Steam Demo Of The Gorgeous Aussie-Made Physics Sandbox Mars First Logistics". Press Start. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  37. ^ "Game Changers: From Minecraft to Misogyny". Right Now. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  38. ^ "Star Wars after Lucas". University of Minnesota Press. Retrieved 10 October 2023.

External links[edit]