Laura Shigihara

Laura Shigihara
Laura Shigihara with a picture of Sunflower
Name	Laura Shigihara
Occupation	Composer, programmer
Worked on	Plants vs. Zombies, Plants vs. Zombies 2

Laura Shigihara is the musical composer of Plants vs. Zombies. She is an actress who voiced the Sunflower who provided a speaking and singing role in "Zombies on Your Lawn" and "Uraniwa ni Zombies ga!" (the Japanese version of Zombies on Your Lawn).

She has a YouTube account called "supershigi." She uploads content about all kinds of video games and music.

Laura plays the American and Japanese version of Plants vs. Zombies. Her mother is French-American, and her father is Japanese. Her favorite plant is Cattail. This is why a Cattail shows up beside her name in the credits.

She is also an independent game developer and developed games like Melolune, a music-based role playing game. She has also participated in Akira Yamaoka's charity iTunes album Play for Japan where she contributed an original song called Jump, which also appeared in her game, Rakuen. She also provided the voice of the singing pet Sunflower in World of Warcraft. 

In Plants vs. Zombies 2, Laura composed the music for Ancient Egypt. However, after that, she left PopCap after George Fan was laid off. A trailer for Pirate Seas , however, actually uses different music, which was composed by Laura seen here.

QnA sessions

Questions were asked by various members of The Lawn Discord server on June 17, 2019. They were to be passed to Laura by a now-deleted Discord user. Only a select number of questions were answered the day after they were asked.

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Question #1: What are your other favorite PopCap games?
Answer #1: Plants vs. Zombies and Peggle

Question #2: What's your favorite part of composing music for games?
Answer #2: I really enjoy making music that can make people feel something; whether it makes them feel cool and strong while fighting a boss, or bittersweet during a sad cutscene... I think it's a really fun challenge to communicate to the player's heart through music.

Question #3: How did you feel about the final product of the game as a whole. Anywhere else you felt you could've improved?
Answer #3: I was really happy with how the game turned out. I honestly don't think I would have changed anything about it.

Question #4: If you could have chosen any of PvZ's sound tracks to be sort of your "mark", like a theme song to represent you, which one would you choose?
Answer #4: Probably "Watery Graves."

Question #5: What were your thoughts while you were creating "Don't Forget" from Deltarune?
Answer #5: I was really curious what the song was going to be used for! The project was kept so secret, that I actually didn't even know what it was until the game came out! It was the first time I had worked on music without any information about the project it was going to be used in.

Question #6: Would you ever want to return to the franchise if the opportunity came?
Answer #6: If you're talking about Plants vs. Zombies, I can imagine a scenario where it would be fun to work on something again, but it would depend on the project/timing/etc.

Question #7: What kind of songs (in a mood/motif-sense) do you love to compose the most?
Answer #7: Probably ballads. I really enjoy connecting with people's hearts, and writing that type of music is cathartic for me. Though I also really enjoy putting together more up-tempo melodic songs. I've been working on the OST for a basketball game called "Dunk Lords," where I've really been enjoying making melodic hip hop.

Question #8: What other parts of games do you enjoy besides the music?
Answer #8: Are you referring to what I enjoy while playing or making games? If the former, I really love when a game has a good story and characters that I can relate to. I also like games that allow me to reconnect with that feeling of wonderment that I had as a kid -- Things like, exploring a beautiful world in a way that I never could in real life (jumping off cliffs, flying over forests, etc.)... things that really wake up that survival instinct (early days of survival mode in Minecraft)... things that feel especially challenging and involve working with others (Challenge Mode Dungeons in World of Warcraft, where our guild would prepare by planning out strategies, making potions, training with one another, etc. in order to get the best times).

Question #9: What got you interested in music?
Answer #9: I started taking piano lessons when I was 5, but I always had music running through my head. When I was a kid, music would play so vividly in my head sometimes that I'd actually get confused and think it was playing on a radio or tv in another room. I always had that desire to get it out of my head and onto the piano -- which later became a desire to arrange/produce the music so others could hear what I was hearing.

Question #10: What challenges did you face while composing music?
Answer #10: One of the biggest practical hurdles for me is having to learn new software once it goes obsolete (or once an OS no longer supports the version I'm using). A more emotional challenge is striving to be "in the zone." Sometimes I hear music vividly playing in my head, and it's at those times that it's the easiest and most natural to compose. But other times, I can't hear it... so I have to find ways to either get into that state or work around it.

Question #11: Any song from PvZ you would've changed?
Answer #11: I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out

Question #12: On the topic of your other works, do you still happen to have interest in World of Warcraft? If so, do you still believe in the hopes of possible Blood Elf Druids?
Answer #12: I do! I'm really excited about WoW Classic. I took a break from WoW around the time I was shipping my game (I was working basically all my waking hours in the months leading up to Rakuen's release), but I am planning on returning. I am really hoping they will allow Blood Elfs to be Druids someday!

See also

• Zombies on Your Lawn

External links

• Laura Shigihara on RAWG

References

V · E	Music