Kurt Harland is a singer, composer, and video game developer/audio engineer. He is best known as the lead singer of Information Society and composer of the soundtracks for the Legacy of Kain video game series. is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... This article is about the city in Minnesota. ... Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Area  Ranked 12th  - Total 87,014 sq mi (225,365 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 400 miles (645 km)  - % water 8. ... For other uses, see Singer (disambiguation). ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... An Audio Engineer is a person recording, editing, manipulating, mixing and mastering sound by technical means. ... This biographical article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Singer (disambiguation). ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates video games. ... An Audio Engineer is a person recording, editing, manipulating, mixing and mastering sound by technical means. ... This biographical article does not cite any references or sources. ... Legacy of Kain is a series of video games developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Interactive. ...

Biography

He was born Kurt Harland Larson, on January 25, 1963) in Minnesota. Starting at the age of six, he took piano lessons, and by the end of high school, this had expanded into choral and theatrical singing and stage performing. is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Area  Ranked 12th  - Total 87,014 sq mi (225,365 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 400 miles (645 km)  - % water 8. ...

During college, he and a high school friend started a recording group they called Information Society, which would become a decades-long involvement with music, electronic audio, and recording/programming. This biographical article does not cite any references or sources. ...

After living in New York, Vienna, and Minneapolis, Kurt moved to California, where he now resides in San Francisco with his wife and son.

Career

Kurt Harland Larson has twenty-five years of experience with electronic audio gear and recording, beginning in 1982.

Information Society

Formed in 1982, synthpop band Information Society achieved mainstream success for a while in the late eighties and early ninties. They are most widely known for their 1988 hit single "What's On Your Mind? (Pure Energy)". Synthpop is a subgenre of New Wave in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. ... This biographical article does not cite any references or sources. ... Whats On Your Mind? (Pure Energy) is a music single by dance artists Information Society which was released in 1988. ...

In early concerts and albums, Harland was credited under the pseudonym "Kurt Valaquen." After the band had achieved mainstream success, he began using his own middle name as his professional last name.[1]

After Information Society broke up, Kurt kept the rights to the name of the band and released a solo album, Don't Be Afraid, in 1997. Dont Be Afraid is the title of a number-one R&B single by singer Aaron Hall. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ...

A 2004 episode of VH1's Bands Reunited, caused a brief controversy when Kurt Harland refused to appear in an Information Society reunion performance, despite apparently accepting the invitation on-camera by signing a copy of their first album. In an account of the incident written by Harland and available on his website [2], Harland disputes VH1's depiction of the events and his portrayal on the show, claiming that the show was edited to make it look as if he had accepted the invitation and then backed out of it. [3] Bands Reunited was a television program produced by VH1 in 2004. ... For other uses, see Information society (disambiguation). ...

In 2006, he turned the name back over to Paul Robb and James Cassidy, who reformed the band with a new singer. Harland cited family obligations and a demanding career in not returning full time; he has since been involved nonetheless, performing at a few concerts, and is featured as a vocalist on their most recent album Synthesizer. Paul Robb is one of the founding members of the synthpop band Information Society. ... James Cassidy (also known as Jim Cassidy and Jim Kazmeyer) is one of the founding members of the band Information Society. ... Synthesizer is an upcoming album by synthpop band Information Society. ...

Video games

After 16 years as a full-time recording artist, Kurt moved to San Francisco and began his career in video game audio engineering. Over the years he has been involved with eighteen different projects, notably six years with Crystal Dynamics and a stint at Electronic Arts. He is currently the Audio Director of a game development company in San Francisco.

Harland has worked on:

• 1995: Scooby-Doo Mystery — Sunsoft, Mega Drive
• 1995: X-Men 2: Clone Wars — Headgames / Sega, Mega Drive
• 1995: Ballz — PF Magic, 3DO
• 1995: Nightmare Circus — Funcom Oslo / Sega, Mega Drive
• 1997: Gex: Enter the Gecko — Crystal Dynamics, PlayStation
• 1999: Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver — Crystal Dynamics, PlayStation / Dreamcast
• 2001: Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 — Crystal Dynamics, Windows / PlayStation 2
• 2002: Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain — Crystal Dynamics, Windows / PlayStation 2 / Xbox / GameCube
• 2003: Whiplash — Crystal Dynamics, PlayStation 2 / Xbox
• 2003: Legacy of Kain: Defiance — Crystal Dynamics, Windows / PlayStation 2 / Xbox
• 2005: The Godfather — Electronic Arts, PlayStation 2 / Xbox / PC
• 2005: Death Jr. - Backbone Entertainment / PS2
• 2006: Death Jr. 2 - Backbone Entertainment / PS2 / Nintendo DS

Four songs from Information Society's album Don't Be Afraid were also used in video games that had their soundtracks composed by Kurt Harland: Sunsoft is a video game development company founded in 1985 as a division of Sun Corporation, itself a division of Sun Electronics, or Sun Denshi (サン電子) in Japan (its U.S. subsidiary operated under the name Sunsoft of America, though games they published showed a logo that read only SUNSOFT). ... Sega MegaDrive 2 European version with joypad, game cart + box Sega Mega Drive (Japanese: メガドライブ Mega Doraibu) was a 16-bit video game console released by Sega. ... This article is about the video game company. ... Ballz is a two player, 3D action, fighting game for the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System. ... PF Magic was a computer game developer for virtual pet games, bought out in 1998. ... 3DO can refer to: The 3DO Company, a developer of computer and video game software and hardware 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, the name of a number of video game consoles based on specifications created by above company This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that... Nightmare Circus is a beatem-up mixed with elements from platform games and fighting games, made for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. ... Crystal Dynamics is an American video game developer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. ... The Sony PlayStation ) is a video game console of the 32/64-bit era, first produced by Sony Computer Entertainment in the mid-1990s. ... The Dreamcast , code-named White Belt, Black Belt, Dural, Dricas, Vortex, Katana, Shark and Guppy during development) is Segas last video game console and the successor to the Sega Saturn. ... Windows redirects here. ... PS2 redirects here. ... The Xbox is a sixth generation era video game console produced by Microsoft Corporation. ... The Nintendo GameCube (Japanese: ゲームキューブ; originally code-named Dolphin during development; abbreviated as GCN) is Nintendos fourth home video game console, belonging to the 128-bit era; the same generation as Segas Dreamcast, Sonys PlayStation 2, and Microsofts Xbox. ... This article is about the action game. ... The Godfather is a video game scheduled for release by Electronic Arts in late 2005. ...

• Early versions of "Closing in" and "On The Outside" had been used in the 3DO version of Ballz.
• The instrumental track "Ozar Midrashim" would later be used as the intro theme of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver.
• A slow instrumental mix of "Empty" also appeared in Soul Reaver.

3DO Interactive Multiplayer (most commonly referred to as the 3DO) is a line of video game consoles which were released in 1993 and 1994 by Panasonic, Sanyo and Goldstar, among other companies. ... Ballz is a two player, 3D action, fighting game for the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System. ...

Other works

In 1983, with bandmates, Kurt Harland directed the music video for "Fall In Line" by Information Society,[4] with a budget of exactly $0.00. In 1987, Harland directed the $10.00 music video for "And So It Goes" by Ex-Sample.[5]

External Links

• InformationSociety.us - the official Information Society band website (as of 2007)
• InSoc.org, the original official Information Society website (largely a historical archive, written by Kurt Harland)
• Downloads of Kurt's music from the Legacy of Kain / Soul Reaver series
• InSoc Brasil fan site
• Composing for Interactive Music, an article written by Kurt Harland, 2003
• Project: Snowblind/VH1 Bands Reunited Review
• InSoc VS. TELEVISION!, an article/account of "what really happened" on VH1's Bands Reunited, according to Kurt Harland
• Kurt Harland‎ discography at MusicBrainz
• Podcast interview discussing a demo recorded with Paul Robb, music, and the "coming destruction of life as we know it on earth."

MusicBrainz (MusicBrainz. ... Paul Robb is one of the founding members of the synthpop band Information Society. ...

References

• "Information Society." Bands Reunited. VH1. New York. 10 November 2004