About

“Fergie’s Human”

Hi! I’m Deanna, “Fergie’s Human”, and I’m a composer and lifelong gamer and nerd.

At a young age I was an avid fan of Mega Man as I watched my older brother play, mesmerized by the music. As a gamer in the early pirating days, I played many of my favorite games through emulators and found MIDI files of my favorite tunes to learn them with the aid of Finale. From there began an obsession with arrangement and recording of my own compositions as I continued my love for games on PC. Once I got a piano teacher who had a piano donated to me, I was ready to go!

While I’ve been studying and composing music since I was about 10 years old, I actually went to school for engineering and got a masters from Georgia Institute of Technology, where I was able to enjoy studying acoustics and foreign language when I lived at their campus in Metz, France.

Style

When it comes to game music, my style generally has been described as catchy, fun, quirky, and dynamic, my songwriting compared to classic 90s games.

When it comes to solo piano, as my primary instrument for over two decades, I melt into the keys with feeling, bringing beauty and emotion without words. I mix in varying portions classical, pop, and blues, sometimes in progressive and experimental ways.

My style overall is best described as a sort of progressive pop that blends my favorite elements from other genres. I compose from an intuitive place, particularly in my solo work, but my knowledge of theory helps when necessary for game audio. Composing is my primary expertise, but from my experience working with synthesizers and audio editing, I enjoy doing sound design as well!

I love to work with other indie game developers and those who want music that can bring life or added memorability to their project. Whether that means you need bombastic tunes front and center or you want a gentle soundscape to blend into the background, or anything in between, I would love to help you achieve that vision!

What does “Fergie’s Human” mean?

My cat Fergie adopted me and became a source of inspiration and love, giving rise to my gamer tag “Fergie’s Human”

Favorites & Influences

Artists:
Jonathan Coulton, Amanda Palmer, Tommy Siegel, Claude Debussy, ELO, Alan Parsons Project, Supertramp, Fleetwood Mac, Ben Folds, Carole King, Aimee Mann, The Blue Stones, Steven Wilson, Journey (early progressive), Alicia Keys

TV/Film:
Avatar The Last Airbender, The Expanse

Favorite Games/Series:
Portal, Fable, BioShock, Half-Life, Thief II, TIS-100, Super Meat Boy, Amnesia the Dark Descent, Subnautica, Braid, VVVVVV, Minecraft, Orcs Must Die, Mega Man, Yoshi’s Island, Zelda, Mario, Professor Layton

My Background

I’ve been composing music since I was little and first discovered pianos, infatuated with its pattern and musicality. Thanks to my little light-up Casio keyboard, I taught myself some classical music. As a young writer, I began forming lyrics and sequences on my keyboard that turned into my own songs.

After a lot of begging, I got a piano teacher who was my biggest fan until we moved across the country. She loved my passion for composing and did everything she could to cultivate it. For several years she taught me how to study music – I learned how to transcribe and improvise while studying blues and pop song structures. Through her I had opportunities to perform and record songs I wrote on guitar and piano when I was in 8th grade. Although I left, she provided a foundation for me to continue working from.

Due to my family’s working-class background, I ended up going to college for engineering seeking financial stability to support myself and my family. During my degree I discovered an obsession with waves, expanding my love for music by connecting it to mathematics and physics. I enjoyed studying controls, signals, and Fourier analysis, and during my masters furthered this study with acoustics.

I’m not your typical composer who grew up in a family of musicians or academics. Despite those humble beginnings though, I never stopped writing songs, playing piano, or loving music, and it’s only become more of a joy for me!