Theodosius Kaskamanidis (September 24, 1971 – November 11, 2016), better known as Saki Kaskas or "Captain Ginger", was a

Greek-Canadian Greek Canadians ( el, Ελληνοκαναδοί) are Canadian citizens who have full or partial Greek heritage or people who emigrated from Greece and reside in Canada. According to the 2021 Census, there were 262,140 Canadians who claimed Gre ...

video game music Video game music (or VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, best known for his soundtracks in the ''

Need for Speed ''Need for Speed'' (''NFS'') is a racing game franchise published by Electronic Arts and currently developed by Criterion Games, the developers of ''Burnout''. The series generally centers around illicit street racing and tasks players to com ...

'' series.

Biography

Saki was born in Krefeld, West Germany, in 1971, to Greek parents. Shortly after he was born, the whole family moved to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. Saki started to play the guitar when he was 15. He practiced 5 hours a day and in two years he was in his first band, Omnibol. They were a rock band and they gained some notoriety around the Vancouver music scene. In 1993, Omnibol broke up. At that time, he started to play in various bands. Saki played in a Greek folk band, a heavy metal band, a cover band, a ‘power trio’ rock band and in a guitar duet. He also played sessions for commercials and such.

Electronic Arts

In 1994, Saki joined

The Heavy Lounge ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. This was an instrumental band and they played

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

with some leanings towards

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

Funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

and

Metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

. The keyboard player was

Jeff van Dyck Jeff van Dyck, known as simply Jeff Dyck in his early years, is a Canadian-Australian video game composer. Born and raised in Vancouver, van Dyck started to become known in the video game music industry in 1992, when he was working with Electronic ...

, who was working for Electronic Arts at the time. In 1996, Jeff got Saki a contract for ''The Need for Speed''. Soon after that, Saki became a full-time composer for EA, and he composed music for ''

NHL 97 ''NHL 97'' is an ice hockey video game by EA Sports. It was released on October 31, 1996 and was the successor to ''NHL 96''. It is the sixth installment of the NHL series and the first to be released on both PlayStation and Saturn. A Panasoni ...

'', ''

NHL 98 ''NHL 98'' is an ice hockey video game developed by Electronic Arts Canada. It was released in 1997 and was the successor to ''NHL 97''. It was the last installment of the NHL series to be released on the SNES, Sega Genesis, or Sega Saturn. Feat ...

'', ''

Need for Speed II ''Need for Speed II'' is a racing video game released in 1997. It is a part of the ''Need for Speed'' series and is the second installment, following ''The Need for Speed''. Gameplay Like its predecessor, ''Need for Speed II'' allows play ...

'', '' Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit'', '' Need for Speed: High Stakes'', '' Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed'', '' Rugby 2001'', ''Missile Command'', and '' Mass Effect 2''.

Other projects

Together with

The Humble Brothers The Humble Brothers are an electronic music duo consisting of Canadian Ken "hiwatt" Marshall and Tanzanian-born Traz Damji. They gained fame with their involvement in Electronic Arts soundtracks, starting with 2002's Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 ...

, Saki Kaskas has done session guitar work for remixes for

Skinny Puppy Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial music group formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group is among the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side-project by cEvin Key (Kevin Crompton ...

, Deftones,

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer ...

, Filter,

Dry Cell upLine art drawing of a dry cell: 1. brass cap, 2. plastic seal, 3. expansion space, 4. porous cardboard, 5. zinc can, 6. carbon rod, 7. chemical mixture A dry cell is a type of electric battery, commonly used for portable electrical devices. Un ...

Anastacia Anastacia Lyn Newkirk ( ; born September 17, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter and former dancer. Her first two albums '' Not That Kind'' (2000) and '' Freak of Nature'' (2001) were released in quick succession to major success. Spurred o ...

and

Static-X Static-X is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1994. The line-up has fluctuated over the years, but was long-held constant with band founder, frontman, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Wayne Static until his ...

. In 2012, Saki Kaskas began to record again, composing music on his own behalf, and for newer games such as '' Sleeping Dogs''.

Death

Kaskas died of a

fentanyl Fentanyl, also spelled fentanil, is a very potent synthetic opioid used as a pain medication. Together with other drugs, fentanyl is used for anesthesia. It is also used illicitly as a recreational drug, sometimes mixed with heroin, cocaine ...

overdose on November 11, 2016, in his Vancouver apartment; he had been battling heroin addiction for over a decade. A posthumous album he was working on at the time of his death, ''Theodosius'', was released in 2019. It was completed by his friend and former Electronic Arts colleague

Jeff Van Dyck Jeff van Dyck, known as simply Jeff Dyck in his early years, is a Canadian-Australian video game composer. Born and raised in Vancouver, van Dyck started to become known in the video game music industry in 1992, when he was working with Electronic ...

, with the help of other former colleagues like Traz Damji and

Rom Di Prisco Rom Di Prisco (sometimes known as Morphadron) is a Canadian composer and producer. He has provided music for over 30 video games, including ''Guacamelee!'', '' Unreal Tournament 3'', ''SSX Tricky'', '' Spy Hunter 2'', ''NHL'' series, '' Need for ...

Prominent works

*''

The Need for Speed ''Road & Track Presents: The Need for Speed'' is a racing video game developed by EA Canada, originally known as Pioneer Productions, and published by Electronic Arts, released for the 3DO in 1994, and ported to MS-DOS in 1995. Another versio ...

'' *''

'' *'' Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit'' *'' Need for Speed: High Stakes'' *''

'' *''

'' *''Missile Command'' *'' Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed'' *'' Rugby 2001'' *''

SimCity 4 ''SimCity 4'' is a city-building game, city-building Construction and management simulation games, simulation Personal computer game, computer game developed by Maxis, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts. It was released on January 14, 2003. It is t ...

'' *'' Mass Effect 2''

Interview

EXCLUSIVE interview with Saki Kaskas for Romulus Club - 2014-02-12

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaskas, Saki 1971 births 2016 deaths Greek composers Male composers People from Krefeld Video game composers