In my former life, back before it struck me I liked money and having weekends relatively free, I worked as a film sound recordist and general freelance sound nerd. So I always find stuff about audio engineering and soundscapes fascinating. Grand Theft Auto V, though, seems to have had a sound engineering job more… colorful than most.
Essentially, Lazlow Jones, a contributing writer and the guy behind all the GTA radio stations since Claude hit Liberty City, went to where the authenticity was. Such as, for example, gang members:
“…we recruited a guy who gets gang members, actual real gang members, like El Salvadoran gang dudes with amazing tattoos, one of which had literally gotten out of prison the day before. We get these guys in to record the gang characters because we don’t want a goofy L.A actor who went to a fancy school trying to be a hard gang member. There’s nothing worse than that, so just go find the terrifying people and say ‘Can you come in here please?'”
Nothing like knowing the Grove Street Families, Ballas and Vagos are not just people that will kill you digitally, but also possibly in real life! Similarly, Blaine County’s radio and dialogue was apparently defined by the… memorable Jesco White. To give you an idea of just what you’re in for in a couple of weeks, this is Jesco White:
If you want to have more of a sense of this guy (and his family), you might want to check out The Wild and Wonderful Whites Of West Virginia, a documentary about the family that’s… memorable, to say the least. Suffice to say that Blaine County is going to be an interesting place.