Behind the scenes of the Stardew Valley concert, creator Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone was living his pre-game dev dream: "Music has always been my primary thing"

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"I always wanted to be a composer," Barone says

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(Image credit: Chucklefish)

Stardew Valley hosted its own orchestral concert earlier this year, and a newly released behind-the-scenes video from the New York venue, The Town Hall, sees creator and composer Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone reminisce about the music career he wanted before this whole game dev thing took off. 

The concert was actually held in February – at the time, Barone joked that all he had to do to get people to listen to his music was make a whole game – but The Town Hall only recently posted a recap of the show with additional commentary. Barone has discussed his musical aspirations before, but straight from the stage of Stardew Valley's very own concert, and sandwiched between clips of excited fans touched by the game's music, his words hit a bit harder. 

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"The inside of the theater looks very nice, it's beautiful," Barone says in the new video. "Bringing the music to as many people as possible, whether that's through more people playing the game or through concert tours like this, it's really satisfying for me to see people enjoy the music. 

"I've always been into playing music, but I never learned anything," he continues. "I don't know how to read notation, I don't know anything about music theory, it's all just by feel. Classic RPGs like Harvest Moon, the inspiration for Stardew Valley – I wanted to create something that's evocative of those classic Super Nintendo and PS1-era RPGs." 

Earlier this year, describing himself as "just a dude who made a game," Barone said he never expected the success that Stardew Valley brought, nor has he done anything "extravagant" with the money after more than 30 million copies sold. Before Stardew blew up the way it did, Barone says he actually just wanted to make music. 

"Music has always been my primary thing," Barone says. "Before I even conceived of possibly being a game developer, I wanted to be a musician. Music has always been very special to me. I've always dreamed of people appreciating my music. This tour, being here, seeing people come so excited to listen to the music, is very satisfying to me. It's like my dream come true." 

12 years on, Stardew Valley creator swears "On the honor of my family name, I will never charge money for a DLC or update for as long as I live."

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.