Cambridge, Massachusetts may be known for the brainiacs it nurtures at Harvard University and M.I.T. (as well as some Worlds Series-bound baseball team), but it's also the home of Harmonix Music Systems,* the developer of "Rock Band."
In just about every article I've read about "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero," it's been mentioned that many Harmonix employees are actually real musicians themselves. Well today I spent a few solid hours at the Boston-area studio to conduct some interviews about the game (stay tuned for those) and to see what the music culture of Harmonix is all about. And let me tell you: it wasn't pretty...
[*Full disclosure: Harmonix is owned by MTV Networks]
In fact, it was very messy. But I have to cut the Harmonix folks some slack; the company had to move their offices in July (right after E3 and during beta testing -- not a great idea). With the sheer scale of a project like "Rock Band," Harmonix needed to hire more people, and their old space was bursting at the seams. "People were just sitting on top of each other, and there just wasn't enough room for everybody," said John Drake, a Harmonix PR Coordinator who gave me the full tour of the place.
The brand new office is located on the second floor of a nondescript brick building off Massachusetts Avenue, and was once the home of the Harvard Asia Center and Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. It now houses the entire Harmonix staff -- 140 employees, to be exact.
And it's fitting that the space was formerly a university facility: Harmonix feels more like a college dorm than a place where people are working diligently to release probably the most complex music video game ever made. Rock 'n' roll paraphernalia litters everyone's offices and workstations: a "Spinal Tap" poster here, a drum kit over there, stacks of CDs everywhere. There were as many real guitars strewn across the office as there were fake ones (I even saw UI Lead Kevin McGuiness walking around the office playing his acoustic guitar for no apparent reason).
There's also a college-style dining area with a fridge fully loaded with mineral water, IBC cream soda and even bottled Starbucks frappachinos ("It's what keeps this place going," Drake explained). To boot, there's a library -- but not the kind filled with books. The company maintains a collection of games and music DVDs for the research (and enjoyment) of its employees. Besides, how can you teach people to rock if you haven't seen "School of Rock"?
Next to the dining area is a large room called the "Star Chamber." While a lot of "Rock Band"-playing happens in every corner of the office, the Star Chamber is the biggest and best room for band practice. It's completely sound-proof and holds multiple instruments (both fake and real... including a Zildjian gong) and consoles, as well as a 60-inch TV. Though a lot of employees often spend their downtime in there, it's not always strictly for pleasure: every employee at Harmonix is required to be in their own "Rock Band" rock band, using the Star Chamber for one hour of practice a week. It's a job requirement that no one seems to have trouble fulfilling. In fact, there's a rehearsal space available for employees' real bands that they can sign up to use for free... sort of like an in-house gym, but instead of pumping iron, Harmonix staffers are encouraged keep their rock repertoire in shape.
On our way to visit the QA testers, Programmer Dan Brakeley Matt Moore rode by on a scooter (no doubt on his way to an important meeting). As you can see, some QA testers looked a bit, er... relaxed as they played their way through songs (I imagine it must be essential to test playing the game in all positions... including slouched ones).
The rest of the day was spent conducting interviews. I met with Eran Egozy, the co-founder and CTO, Lead Audio Director Eric Brosius, Art Director Ryan Lesser and Senior Designer Dan Teasdale. Each one of them is an experienced musician; the love and knowledge of music is essential to fit into the Harmonix culture. Teasdale, who's been with the company for two years since the start of "Rock Band," explained that on his job interview, one of the questions he was asked was "Beatles or Stones?" Although there is no right or wrong answer, he did say that liking whichever band your boss likes better definitely helps. (And for the record, Teasdale chose The Beatles.)
All in all, the people at Harmonix certainly know their stuff, and despite "Rock Band" being a month away from launch, employees always find time to jam because they seem to genuinely enjoy what they do. At the end of our visit, four staffers -- our PR escort Drake on vocals, animator Ann Marie Ticaric on bass and production assistants Gordon Fellows on drums and John Carter on guitar -- demoed the game for us with an impressive rendition of David Bowie's "Suffragette City."
To Harmonix, all we can say is: "Wham, bam, thank you ma'am!"
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