Jon Everist

Everist began his musical pursuits in his middle school band, played the drums. After being exposed to groups like Radiohead, Aphex Twin, MF Doom, and Aesop Rock, Soon after Everist's interests steered toward playing and experimenting with analog synths and samplers – producing music on an Ensoniq ASR-10 sampler, recording everything into Sony Acid.

After High School, being told there was no money or stability in music, Everist pursued studies in economics at the University of Washington and sold copiers during the day and made music at night and some small tours, keeping his music and professional work life separate. After hearing Amon Tobin's score for Chaos Theory and Disasterpeace's score for FEZ in 2012, Everist left his job. Cashing out his retirement he enrolled at DigiPen Institute of Technology to study music and sound for video games at age of 28.{{Cite web|title=INTERVIEW: Composer Jon Everist talks to us about BattleTech, and scoring for video games|url=http://www.originalsoundversion.com/interview-composer-jon-everist-talks-to-us-about-battletech-and-scoring-for-video-games/|access-date=December 15, 2020|website=Original Sound Version|language=en-US}}

While enrolled at DigiPen Institute of Technology, Everist had done music for several student games that Jenn Tran, Director and Cinematographer, who was a concept artist for Harebrained Schemes at the time. The creative relationship blossomed helping Everist secure the opportunity to score a trailer for Shadowrun: Returns with Harebrained Schemes, leading towards opening the door for Everist to work on Golem Arcana, Shadowrun: Dragonfall, and other releases from the company propelling him into the industry.

In an in-depth interview with VGMOnline, Everist would talk more on his road from corporate work into composing. Talking of his early work for Shadowrun: Dragonfall and the different approach he took from the existing music that had existed for the franchise, filling in the emotional gaps that had been missing from the largely dystopian cyberpunk sound palette, as well as adding his own expertise in music production.{{Cite web|date=October 10, 2015|title=Jon Everist Interview: Music and Sounds of Cyberpunk|url=http://www.vgmonline.net/joneveristinterview/|access-date=December 15, 2020|website=VGMO -Video Game Music Online-|language=en-US}}

Everist's score to 2018's BattleTech would prove a monument to his orchestral and synth fusion sound. Pitched as a "Game of Thrones in Space", Everist would use his skills as a synth musician and producer and marry it to material he wrote for the enlisted European orchestras and ensembles that would help bring to score to completion.{{Cite web|title=Jon Everist – we are far in the future with amazing technology {{!}} Gamemusic|url=https://gamemusic.net/jon-everist-we-are-far-in-the-future-with-amazing-technology/|access-date=December 15, 2020|website=gamemusic.net|date=January 14, 2020}}

In 2020 Everist's score accompanying V1 Interactive's Disintegration, was released. The score was recorded with the Budapest Scoring Orchestra, with Brendon Williams helping with orchestration duties. In a radio conversation with Kate Remington of NPR (WSHU), Everist would tell his inspiration for the score and Main Theme, coming from the idea of the "fragility of humankind against all odds."{{Cite web|last=Remington|first=Kate|title=Jon Everist Scores A Battle For Humanity In 'Disintegration'|url=https://www.wshu.org/post/jon-everist-scores-battle-humanity-disintegration|access-date=December 15, 2020|website=www.wshu.org|date=July 9, 2020|language=en}} Telling The Sound Architect's, Sam Hughes "I wanted to capture both the fragility and hopefulness of the human spirit...The solo piano motif propels the piece to a crescendo with the rest of the orchestra where our heroic theme is revealed, representing the power and ingenuity of humanity coming together for a common good. This is the theme of the resistance."{{Cite web|last=Hughes|first=Sam|date=September 21, 2020|title=Composer, Jon Everist (Disintegration, Battletech)|url=https://www.thesoundarchitect.co.uk/tsap-s03e18/|access-date=December 15, 2020|website=The Sound Architect|language=en-GB}}

From a press release with Gamasutra, Disintegration's Audio Lead at V1 Interactive, Jack Menhorn, describes the creative process and collaboration with Everist: "When we started working with Jon, the main theme was the first piece we tackled as it would set the tone and character of the rest of Disintegration's music. There was so much to get right with this piece: the 'earworm' melody that people would remember, the struggle and eventual heroic victory of our characters, as well as the general vibe of the game we were still figuring out ourselves. Jon has nailed each of these criteria masterfully and went on to do the same with all of the music in the game.{{Cite web|title=JON EVERIST SCORES NEW SCI-FI SHOOTER DISINTEGRATION – FROM VI INTERACTIVE AND PRIVATE DIVISION|url=https://www.gamasutra.com/view/pressreleases/364537/JON_EVERIST_SCORES_NEW_SCIFI_SHOOTER_DISINTEGRATION__FROM_VI_INTERACTIVE_AND_PRIVATE_DIVISION.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610233552/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/pressreleases/364537/JON_EVERIST_SCORES_NEW_SCIFI_SHOOTER_DISINTEGRATION__FROM_VI_INTERACTIVE_AND_PRIVATE_DIVISION.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 10, 2020|access-date=December 15, 2020|website=www.gamasutra.com|language=en}}

Everist would also score a commercial highlight spot{{Cite web|title=OZO+: Next-Gen Camera Image Quality Comparison Demo (Equirectangular) – YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTmhjlPEVmM&feature=youtu.be|access-date=December 15, 2020|website=www.youtube.com| date=August 16, 2017 }} for Nokia's virtual reality camera, OZO.

He co-composed the score for the 2024 video game Star Wars Outlaws.

• {{official|https://everistsound.com}}
• {{IMDb name|7058373}}
• [https://vgmdb.net/artist/16691 Discography at VGMdb]
• [https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,606761/ MobyGames rap sheet]
• [https://www.discogs.com/label/1169356-Everist-Sound-LLC Jon Everist discography at Discogs]

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Category:American film score composers

Category:Living people

Category:American male film score composers

Category:Musicians from Seattle

Category:American video game composers

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)