Laura Shigihara is a freelance video game composer, singer-songwriter, sound engineer, and game developer. She’s created audio for over 25 published video game titles (most notably, the soundtrack for Plants vs. Zombies, though also contributing music and voice work for games like To the Moon, World of Warcraft, and the latest Penny Arcade game). In addition to working independently, Laura also spent 2 years as an Audio Director under the All Play label at Electronic Arts.
Laura’s original songs (Zombies on your Lawn, Cube Land, Everything’s Alright, From the Ground Up, etc.) have garnered over 60 million combined views on youtube, and her personal channel, where she posts a combination of original work as well as game music covers, has over 50,000 subscribers. Laura has been a fan of video game music since the days of the original 8-bit Nintendo; a time when a composer didn’t have access to high-end production materials, and as a result, had to rely solely on their creativity and talents as a composer. She’s always looked up to people like Yasunori Mitsuda and Yoko Shimomura for their unique and beautiful compositions.
Graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in International Relations and Business, Laura decided to pursue a career in music after an unexpected detour landed her record contract offers in Japan for singing and production. Although she didn’t accept for various reasons, she still chose a music related job working as the audio director of a Japanese-American company where she created music and sound effects, and co-hosted an audio talkshow. Shortly after she began composing for game soundtracks. After completing several contracts, she decided to make it her career.
In addition to work, in her spare time Laura has been making an rpg for the PC called “Melolune.” She has also taught piano to elementary school children, and occasionally plays the piano and sings at venues around her area, from Yoshi’s Jazz Club to local events. In her spare time, she enjoys baking, hiking, dancing, drawing, going on adventures, and of course games (some of her favorites include Chrono Trigger, Starcraft, Yoshi’s Island, Secret of Mana, the Megaman series, Link to the Past, Suikoden, Street Fighter 2, Star Tropics, and many others).
