About Kole Hicks
Composer | Songwriter | Music Producer For Games
Music and Gaming have always played a large role in Kole’s life. Whether it be from learning the melodies of favorite soundtracks on his guitar or imagining the folk songs of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign he was running, Kole found a passion in using music as way to better help tell stories and immerse listeners deeper into fictional worlds.
Throughout his decade and a half in the game industry, with nearly seven of those in-house at Riot Games and the last few as Lead Composer for League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics, Kole has written music that has been listened to, streamed, and viewed over half a billion times. He was composer, co-producer, co-writer, and mixer on the song for the League of Legends 2024 season start cinematic, Still Here, where the video gained 100 million views in less than a week and was the #1 most viewed video in the world on YouTube for the first few days surrounding its release.
Over the years, Kole has had the distinct pleasure of collaborating with different artists on a variety of musical projects and songs. Artists like Becky G, Keke Palmer, SOYEON of (G)I-dle), Duckwrth, and Thutmose for the song GIANTS; for which Kole was producer, co-writer, mixer and received a Game Audio Network Guild award for ‘Best Original Song.’ He’s also collaborated with MAX, Henry, and Jeremy McKinnon from a Day to Remember for the 2020 League of Legends Worlds Anthem, Take Over. Prior to leaving Riot at the end of 2023, Kole also did a remix collaboration with Steve Aoki for the first music-centric set for Teamfight Tactics, Remix Rumble.
Beyond his time in-house, Kole has written music for a variety of different indie projects including the smash hit squad based RPG, Kenshi. He’s also been hired as a session guitarist for different projects, serves on the advisory board of the Game Audio Network Guild, and has worked independently as a contractor with game studios like Hidden Variable Studios, First Contact Entertainment, and Obsidian Entertainment.
In his earlier years, Kole studied music at both Indiana University and Musicians Institute. As a strong proponent of continuously furthering one’s musical education, and providing opportunities to learn more about the game music industry, Kole frequently gives lectures and organizes panels for different events. Most recently he’s spoken at various universities like Colorado State, Berklee, and Musicians Institute. Beyond his speaking engagements at different universities, Kole has provided presentations for various organizations and spoken multiple times at different conferences like: The Society of Composers and Lyricists, GameSoundCon, and The Game Developers Conference.
notable credits
Original Music
Original Music
Original Music & Sound Design
Main Theme Music
Original Sound & Music Editing
Original Music & Sound
Contact
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Kole Hicks
Composer | Songwriter | Music Producer for Games
