Hollywood Goes Gaming

Matt Kirby of Quietdrive Rocks On

In addition to being the first gamers to get their hands on Gears of War® at the offices of developer Epic Games last year, Quietdrive also played the Gears of War launch party for the game's biggest fans. Gamers should also be familiar with at least one song from this rising band, "Rise from the Ashes," which is featured on the soundtrack for NHL® 07 for Xbox 360™. Matt Kirby, who plays guitar and provides vocals for the group, took some time out of his touring schedule to talk to us about gaming.

The up-and-coming band has received a big boost thanks to Xbox Live.

"Growing up, my brother and I played videogames as much as we were allowed," said Kirby. "We'd get in trouble sitting in front of the TV for weeks on end. We would be outside doing stuff, but as soon as we were inside it was videogames for the rest of the night."

Hit the Ice
Quietdrive's first brush with videogame greatness came courtesy of Electronic Arts Trax. EA SPORTS was looking for hot new bands for its new hockey game, NHL 07, and they loved "Rise from the Ashes." The song made the game's soundtrack, although it took a while for the band to actually hear it in-game.

"We hadn't played the game, even after it was released," said Kirby. "So about a month after it had come out, we went to a friend's house and drank a few beers and played the game until our song came up. There are like 20 songs on there and it took three or four games for our song to come up."

Kirby has always been a fan of EA SPORTS' NHL franchise, having started playing the series early in his gaming days.

"I love the new analog controllers," said Kirby. "I was used to the old button scheme, but after about three or four games, I had it down. Once you get used to it, it's so much more precise to control the players on the ice. It's entirely different from the way it used to be. Our drummer, Brandon Lanier, he changes back to the old way to play it. But I totally dig the new controls."

Matt Kirby loves the new controls for NHL 07.

Hi-Def Gaming
Kirby loves his new Xbox 360. He can't get enough of what next-generation gaming brings to the table.

"It's scary, man," said Kirby. "It's frightening how rapidly things are developing and how good it looks and sounds. It's so real, it's like watching ESPN highlights of a game. Things are so different now. It's just awesome."

Kirby missed out on the original Xbox®, because at that time the band was just starting up and every waking moment was devoted to getting things going. But no he makes time to play Xbox 360 games.

"I just got into Xbox 360 and I only get to play it sparingly right now," said Kirby. "There's so much to do work-wise that play time is getting crunched. It's extra novel now because it takes you a significant amount of time to beat a game. We make sure we block out time to drink beers and play Gears of War as often as possible."

Matt Kirby was among the first to play Gears of War and he even took on the developer.

An Epic Gig
Kirby said he was looking through Maxim Magazine at a preview of Gears of War when his manager called him with the news that the band would be playing the Gears of War launch party in Raleigh, NC. He said it was an awesome gig and it also opened up a great door with Microsoft.

"Meeting the developers of the game … these are guys that you'd think wouldn't have time to talk to us, but all we did was hang out and talk about videogames," said Kirby.

Although Kirby and the band had a first look at the new game at the party, as well as plenty of free drinks and food, the competition was brutal. Microsoft had invited the most rabid Gears of War fans to the event, which meant getting fragged on one of the Xbox 360 consoles running the game was a sure thing. Kirby still loves the game, though, and practices whenever he can.

Article by John Gaudiosi