If you haven't checked out the new style and opener for IEM you definitely should. Featuring a completely new look and feel as well as a new soundtrack, the Intel Extreme Masters look better than ever:

We sat down with the German producer and composer Alexis Troy, whose track "Silent Runner" will be the official Theme of this years Intel Extreme Masters. His music is a mixture of various electronic music genres, often combined with classical elements. The heavily cinematic nature of his music is ideal for productions, with one of his songs also having served as title track for the BBC Winter Olympics in 2014. We sat down with him to talk about his creative process.

ESL: Hey Alexis, thanks for taking the time to talk. How difficult was it to create a song that fits with not only IEM but also the games that are part of it?

Alexis Troy: My music is often inspired by tracks from movies and trailers, so it wasn't too difficult to create a song which helps support strong visuals. The main challenge was to create a bridge between "classical" theme music and contemporary electronic elements. Much too often this mixture sounds forcefully pieced together and doesn't harmonize organically - and basically ends up as trailer music with dubstep bass. This is absolutely not what I wanted here however. I had already created myself an own little genre, in which I mix urban elements with cinematic tracks, when I created the BBC Winter Olympics title track "White Walkers", although the exact style is hard to put into words. Basically its supposed to sound mighty. 

Given that background, IEM was an extremely suitable project, since its all about technology, powerful visuals and the spirit of competition. If you add in that gamers are extremely open minded about music, it was perfect 🙂

ESL: What kind of message did you want to convey with the piece and what reactions are you hoping for with the official IEM theme?

Alexis Troy: I want that the song can act as the personal soundtrack for an action-game inferno for anybody listening to it! Its supposed to be powerful sound for powerful pictures. A theme which adds a whole new level of epicness to what is happening on screen. Basically I want someone listening it, e.g. a Starcraft player to actually feel like he is heading into battle, instead of just sitting in front of a PC. Something like Ride of the Valkeries in Apocalypse Now. I simply hope people celebrate the music and that even more enthusiasm and fascination is generated for IEM events. They are a big thing and should sound like that. If I can bring forth that feeling with some people I will be extremely satisfied.

ESL: Are you a gamer yourself? Do you play and/or follow esports?

Alexis Troy: I wouldn't call myself a proper gamer, although I do occasionally play Blizzard games such as Diablo and Starcraft - but mainly to relax. What has always fascinated me about the gaming scene however, are the artworks and the illustrations. I think design in gaming is extremely advanced and that a lot of incredibly innovated and creative people work in the industry. This is something that can sadly not always be said of the music industry. Through my work with IEM I'll now definitely follow a few more Starcraft matches than in the past and hopefully not get crushed by 11 year olds in Battlenet as much as in the past 🙂

You can purchase "Silent Runner" on iTunes and Amazon

Also be sure to check out Alexis Troy on Instagram and Facebook and our San Jose Trailer where parts of the theme are already used!