"I want to do an RPG more than anything" – Health's John Famiglietti on his next soundtrack, Cyberpunk 2077 collaborations, and more
Last week, I had a chance to chat with John Famiglietti AKA Johnny from the industrial / noise rock band Health about a plethora of topics for today's Branching Path Interview. I've been a fan of the band for many years now, and in addition to their many albums and collaborations, they've also worked on music for some of the biggest games in years with their first one being the score for Max Payne 3. Since then, they've done songs for Grand Theft Auto V, Cyberpunk 2077, and more-recently New Blood's Ultrakill. After watching their live streams and also Johnny's interviews over the years like on The Downbeat Podcast, I kept thinking of ways to get it done. Given how much he loves RPGs and especially FromSoftware games, I thought it was a good time to have a chat with him to discuss Health's music, collaborations, games, and more. I also spoke to Johnny about how the band adapted through the pandemic, him wanting to do an RPG soundtrack more than anything, working with CD Projekt Red here. This interview was done on a call. It has been slightly edited for clarity.

John Famiglietti: I am John Famiglietti. I do bass and software.
John Famiglietti: If you know the band you know I'm not the singer, but yeah. The confusion is understandable. I'm the face of the band, but I'm not the singer of the band. You know there are some bands in history that work that way. It's not totally unique but it's definitely not common... especially for the online presence, you know.
That's also a sign of the times. We kind of made that decision internally where it was like - you know algorithms and the whole system are very anti band and very anti a group of guys. They want like... very much like a person. We saw a lot of bands, especially the bands that are even more electronic or guys from like the indie scene, even trying to promote only two guys or one guy in their imagery just because it was like the internet was working against them to have like four guys.
We went harder with that, with just, I guess, me going out there more. But also I'm the one active in these online spaces and stuff. For the other guys, it's just very different for them. So yeah, it makes sense that there's confusion. I'm the face of the band but I'm not the singer of the band.
John Famiglietti: So Major Crimes, we got to just, out of nowhere, we got an email from a CD Projekt Red about Cyberpunk 2077 and they're like 'we want an original song'. When we made the our album Vol. 4: Slaves of Fear we had one song left off the record that was just gathering dust. We liked the song, we just didn't think it could fit on the record - but then we're like this could actually work for Cyberpunk. So we sent it to them to see if they would like it just as a test, and then we would finish the song. But they liked it immediately and just took the song. So the song never got properly mixed - and that's the song in the game.
And it was kind of a funny thing where our own record label, they didn't understand. I was like 'hey, what happened to the Cyberpunk thing?' and they said 'Oh we turned it down. It wasn't a great deal.' and I was like 'What?!' So I had to write letters, like huge emails, saying 'you guys do not understand how important this is. I'm going to lose my mind.' So we got it, we got it figured out. We got reversed and we got in the game.
Then it even got better because we also got an email later being like 'here's these stick figures moving, here's animatics... they're going to make an anime of Cyberpunk'. I was like sure, whatever, yeah, it can be in there... and then Edgerunners is just this masterpiece.
Just a fortunate turn of events. After that happened, people were calling me like 'How'd you get in that game?' I don't know, they just emailed us.
John Famiglietti: It is a turning point for the band, but didn't feel like it at the time exactly. Personally it was a huge deal and we were very proud of it, but it was like a sort of, the trickle down or whatever you want to say. When Max Payne 3 came out it wasn't like suddenly the band was a lot bigger. It didn't affect shows until many years down the line where a lot of kids who played it growing up were older, but had discovered the band back then.
Then we started to notice it too. When we were trying to work with a lot of younger cooler artists like Ghostemane and JPEGMafia we were surprised that they would be down to work with us - and the reason why is they loved Max Payne 3 or were huge fans of the soundtrack. They knew us that way. More and more we found younger - or not that younger, but just kids who grew up playing it who are now older.
John Famiglietti: We've stayed really great friends with the music department at Rockstar. A lot of people at Rockstar, we flew to their wedding, even dog sitting. I mean, like, we're friends. They are great dudes, and I see them whenever they come to LA, or we go to New York. Anyway, it was their idea. They wanted us to cover a legendary old LA band called The Units.
So the song by The Units is called High Pressure Days. We kept making this dumb joke while recording like 'Ha ha check it out, High Pressure Dave'... and we kept titling it High Pressure Dave. What if it's High Pressure Dave? They're like 'ha ha, very funny guys.' Then when the game comes out it's just High Pressure Dave. We're like 'what the fuck guys?!' and they're like 'you said High Pressure Dave - you like that?'
So it's a bit of a practical joke but it kind of works out hilariously because there's a character in GTA5 who's named Dave and he's pressuring your character so it's High Pressure Dave. It's so stupid. [laughs]
John Famiglietti: I mean, budget's not an issue with music. We can do anything. We don't need a budget to make a soundtrack. I think it's a great thing about music. Most of my favorite games have great soundtracks - sometimes, that's why they are my favorite games. I don't want to replace those guys. I think they're brilliant. You know everyone's like oh you guys you should do Armored Core. To that I say, Armored Core 6 has a brilliant soundtrack. I want that guy to do the soundtrack. I love that soundtrack.
My dream would be like if we could do a new IP, a new RPG. I want to do an RPG more than anything. I would love to do an RPG or something either futuristic action based. My favorite developers. I mean you know like Larian, FromSoftware, like all these guys. Nothing I'd love more than a new IP, a new RPG that we could do.
John Famiglietti: We would do it. We would make time. We would not tour. I mean, it's very important. We want to do another game very badly and we've gotten some offers but you know we feel like with Max Payne 3 what we've done, we want to do a big game and do a big full soundtrack. We love the RPG narrative story. However, it's not that we have to, we could do something else.
It's funny because our first gig was Max Payne 3 or fucking Rockstar Games. It does feel weird. We're a band full time, we do not score games full time. We've barely scored that much stuff. So a follow up to Max Payne 3 kind of has to be a big game or at least a really awesome indie game. We're open.
John Famiglietti: The pandemic for us was actually kind of the birth of the new Health. It was a great moment for us to get to really focus on online and on the fan base - and really become the modern Health. We did an incredible amount of work and put out those two collaboration records during the pandemic. So the pandemic was very productive for us.
You can't work on music when you tour and touring kind is this constant thing, so being home for this crazy amount of time locked down... we started doing all these things we didn't do before like streaming, like having a Discord server, like having all this kind of stuff, so it's really changed.
John Famiglietti: Joe who I work with, the creative director of Health, he said we should have a Discord. I said, 'who the fuck would ever go to that?' That's when we really started the online community and building this real Health experience. The Health fanbase lifestyle of Health was born during the pandemic because everyone was stuck at home and we're all hanging out you know on Discord. I'm hanging out with the fans every day and still am, and that's kind of how that's the modern online version of Health.
John Famiglietti: Not really. I mean here's the thing. Even before we did this stuff online, before we had this new online Health, I gave out my phone number, and I've been giving out my phone ever since 2015, since Death Magic. So fans have always been able to text or call me or message me, and I've always messaged fans, and I've always gone out after the shows to hang out with fans, and meet people and go to bars or whatever. I'm the most available man in rock and roll. If you go to the show, your chance is at 95% of meeting me if you want to. It's never really been an issue, so this is just this is taking farther, taking it online.
Only time I'm like 'uhhh' is like if I get sent like a cry for help suicide attempt or I get sent some schizophrenic fucking 80 page just insane screen like accusing me of working for the devil or something, or some bullshit like that. But that's few and far between. 99% of the time it's just it's fans.
John Famiglietti: Uh, just more gimmicks. People bring me cat ears and stuff to put on or people dress up like Elden Ring characters at the shows. Stuff like that. I mean, the shows are still the shows. It's serious music. We don't change the live show, but just the fan vibe. Obviously we do the elite lounge. People have me sign copies of Elden Ring, which is really funny because I got nothing to do with Elden Ring. But you know, we just love Elden Ring so why not?
At this point we discussed a bit about Health touring different parts of the world and how Johnny said he'd love to tour Singapore and Thailand.
John Famiglietti: We're really surprised because... even our first shows away, long ancient history... we had a pretty good show in Istanbul. We were really happy about that and it's different times obviously, our fans are totally different now, but our show in Istanbul was huge and it was like a bunch of kids and so I was super excited. I'm like - damn, okay, they know. We've been to all kinds of cities where we played and didn't expect people to know who we are, but we're having big shows and everywhere has been great, so we're really really happy.
John Famiglietti: So the Evangelion meme.... I think it started in the Discord. All our fans are sharing memes and talking, and these Evangelion memes keep coming up. And I'm like, what is this anime? I got super curious with this anime.There's so many memes about it. I really like these characters. I like this red-haired girl. And they're like, 'dude, you haven't seen Evangelion?!'
I was like, no. I knew the name, because I was into anime as a kid and saw those posters at the store, but I never saw it. They're all saying John, this is like super up your alley. You got to watch it.
So during the pandemic I just started watching Evangelion... and I fucking loved it. And then at some point this FELIZ JUEVES meme comes out. I'm like, well, it's a really long meme. When I post on Thursday and it had such a reaction, I just kept posting it on Thursday. And then now it's been years. I say that we should stop and everyone is like, 'please don't stop. Just keep it running.' So I don't know how many years it's already been like three, three, four years, it's gone on. FELIZ JUEVES has just become part of the band lore, I guess.
John Famiglietti: In 2024 we had this huge tour and for the intro music, I said 'play this before we go on.' I didn't tell the guys. They were playing it and Jake's like 'what the fuck is this song?' But then people were screaming and clapping, just going insane up there. Jake's like 'what is going on?!' And I'm like, 'it's this Evangelion song.' If I'd asked them, they'd have said hell no, but I'm playing it and they're hearing people lose their minds. They're like, okay, well, what is going on here?
People were freaking out. Like, oh my god. People having an out of body experience. But you know, the memes and - not just the meme but the anime - for this new generation, it has so much meaning. I was saying to Jake, this is like Taxi Driver for -- not the same message, but it has that kind of cultural significance like that when we were kids.
John Famiglietti: So everything on our YouTube is demonetized. We just don't care. We just don't monetize any of it.
John Famiglietti: So we are a very focused group. Like, we really respond to our fans and we're very active with the fan community. So so much of what we do is just responding to the fans. So with Signalis - we could just notice they are crazy about Signalis. Signalis keeps coming up.
One of our fans made a fan video, like an AMV style kind of thing for this song that featured Jake. Jake featured in a song by Venera (Ochre) and one of our fans made a fan video with Signalis footage. We were like, wow, that was really good. That was really good. That's a great idea. And so Joe, the guy who I mentioned before, he says 'what if we do this officially?' He just reached out to Rose Engine and he's like, our fanbase is obsessed with Signalis. Would you guys make an official AMV with Signalis footage that's like made and animated by you guys that we could release as an official music video? And they were super into the idea.
They wanted the song Don't Try. We pitched a different song to them and they're like, no, no, Don't Try. And they did it. And now it's this amazing video. So the song is not in the game, but it's associated with the game now. And it's a really beautiful video. And it really hits people who love the game.
John Famiglietti: We're both very memey and ridiculous on the internet. I mean, I've hung out with Dave many times. He's a super guy. He's like one of my friends. We were fucking around the internet so much. And at some point, we're just in a Discord talk like all right, you guys are doing a song? Like, yeah.
John Famiglietti: So we were pretty obsessed with Kinofabino memes. Then we were like, man, what if this guy would do a meme for us for Elden Ring? I mean, if you're a fan of us, you know that I just love FromSoftware games the most. It's part of our, I don't know... part of our Health lore - that love for FromSoftware. So we asked, for something that features us that has something to do with Elden Ring. He said okay, and he did it... and it was just so good. So we asked if we could put it on a shirt, and split the money.
Then we had this weird live show that we filmed randomly. We weren't that happy with the footage, but we thought, we've filmed it, and we're going to put it out. But then we think - wait a second - the Radahn Festival. Everyone's already making memes that are on the festival. He made this brilliant meme. We're going to throw some Elden Ring assets on top of it and just play it and live stream it. And then we'll sell this t-shirt during the live stream. That kind of took a life of its own. This Elden Ring Radahn festival shirt, you know.

John Famiglietti: Yeah, we had it limited. And the people wanted it so bad. We did a limited run for Europe. And the people wanted it so bad. We did one final limited run now. And like, we're leaving them on the website when that's gone. It's gone. You know, but like, so many of those shirts went out there. And there's bootlegs of it in China and stuff. People love this shirt. That's the thing. I think that's kind of crossed over to people who aren't even fans of the band or they're just like you like Elden Ring and you like some funny shit.
John Famiglietti: Yes, yes, absolutely. I signed a lot of Elden Ring discs. I've signed lots of Evangelion merch. I've signed Bloodborne. People bring random stuff. I'll sign like, I don't know, just games. It's just the funny things. I signed games that aren't even part of the band lore. Like it's not just all video games. Like there's certain video games that are like Health codified like, you know, part of our, you know, official Health experiences video games, you know, it's not all games. Baldur's Gate 3 is definitely a big one, though.
At this point, I brought up Yuka Kitamura's music.
John Famiglietti: I played PS3 Demon's Souls I think a year after it came out or two years after whatever. I played it before Dark Souls. I started with Demon's Souls PS3 from the top so I've had the whole Souls journey. It's like being compared to being a fan of Metallica in the 80s. I gotta ride the wave. It's one of my favorite things I've got to do in the video game lifestyle my whole life, you know.

John Famiglietti: So I got to Party with Larian Dublin. Obviously the main Larian's in Belgium, but when we played Dublin like 20-something people from Larian studios all came to the show, and I got to hang out and have a tour of their office. If you go to our Instagram, we have a video of it.
So I got to meet them. Awesome people. I had a great time with Larian, so you know... if they want to call me they know where I am, and I'm available. We'd stop everything to work with Larian. I think Baldur's Gate 3 is just a towering towering achievement in games and Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 are like literally my favorite games of all time so I was skeptical with 3. Then I went - hoo man. Y'all did some fucking RPG right there, you know RPGs are my favorite. That's my favorite, y'know.
John Famiglietti: No, I bought it and I started it, and I was going to play it with a friend, the whole thing, but I'm like man, I don't have time for this, but I am kind of curious to go back. But the thing that got me with Baldur's Gate 3 is obviously the IP. I love Dungeons the Dragons. I'm a lifelong Dungeons and Dragons player.
John Famiglietti: You know, streaming... I mean it's a mixed bag. It's really that the algorithms and the setup -- I think the biggest gripe where it changes your listening habits. And this has always happened, but music continues to be devalued. Going through the 2000s, you'd never make a dime on your records, but people would really go through the work to download it.
So they still kind of ingest it that way, but there's now this crazy thing where you download so much you wouldn't listen to any of it. So there's huge issues. Obviously nothing beats the original which is someone buying a fucking record at a store, an LP, then going home, putting it on, and sitting on the ground and listening to it, looking at the atwork. But those days are long gone.
So there's endless negatives, but there's also positives. Everyone can get your record, everyone can hear it instantly. It's practically free. Obviously it being free does not really help how music is perceived, but being listened to is a dream come true for many people. But then the thing is when people talk about money and streaming if you're not on a record label the money is not terrible, especially coming from a super DIY perspective where other than selling your record and physically at the show you never make a dime on your records.
If you cut the label out of the picture, streams are not a joke. For new artists, it's really hard to make the case that they need to be at a record label these days because all they're doing is uploading to music to the internet, You can actually make money off your streams. So there's definitely a lot of positives; it's not all negative.
Personally I listen to music on streaming. I'm a Spotify user. I like it. I don't like how I can't save my entire library and it's always just kind of pushing you away from albums. We like to make albums. I know they're very outdated, but we still like to make albums.
John Famiglietti: Apple Music pays basically the rate that I would wish all streaming paid. It's like a penny a stream, which is basically perfect. So um, I would say it would be amazing if everyone used Apple Music. The thing is, pretty much everyone uses Spotify. It's strange because when Apple Music came out I thought 'oh, Spotify's done. But I think they just launched too early because there's all these faults with the streaming where it would skip and such. Like, how can I use the streaming service that skips versus the one that doesn't? If they just waited longer and fixed that I think Apple could have taken over, y'know.
There is stuff about Spotify that people love. Spotify's recommendation algorithm is helpful for a new artist to get noticed which is very hard to do these days. It's a wild west, really. It's a nuanced thing, but it's the world we live in. Obviously it's not like we're going back to a different time. But y'know, some of the kids want to buy CDs for some reason. I don't know where they have a disc drive. It doesn't make any sense to me.

John Famiglietti: So you need it on physical media because as you've seen it can just disappear in a second online. You gotta own it.
John Famiglietti: My game of the year is Balatro and then my runner-ups are Space Marine 2 and Metaphor: ReFantazio. A lot of my gaming I do on tour because I'm busy here, but on tour there's lots of downtime and I have my Steam Deck. I beat the majority of Elden Ring on the Steam Deck on tour with no internet connection in the airplane. I'm looking forward to playing more Metaphor that way because it works great on the Steam Deck.

John Famiglietti: I drink green tea all day, every day. It's apparently incredibly good for you. It's what the Blue Zones Okinawan people do. I've started putting lemon in it. And then the first one of the day I put a gram of NMN in it, which is probably bullshit. But I saw podcasts and I've been throwing this NMN in there religiously. Anecdotally it makes me feel great. It could be a placebo, but I feel great.
Images of Johnny used have been taken from Health's YouTube channel videos.