Meet Stefan Klein | Storm Chaser & Game Developer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Stefan Klein and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Stefan, why did you pursue a creative career?
There’s something so rewarding about seeing and hearing your imagination come to life, or being able to capture a moment you can’t describe with words in a photograph. Being creative is just part of who I am, I feel a sense of purpose when I make something or when I see that my work has a positive effect on someone else. I don’t think anyone should suppress their creativity, because if everyone throughout history had done that we’d still be living in caves.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I like to bend the rules of an artistic medium to make something that’s truly my own. Storm chasing wasn’t really a video game genre when I programmed a game about it in 2005, and first person games rarely delved outside of gunplay or RPGs, but I wanted to break that trend and I did by taking inspiration from arcade hack n’ slash and beat ’em up games and 90s cartoons. Most storm chasers try and get close to tornadoes, I’d rather get a shot with more of the storm above it. I really like the concept of noise music: using unconventional instruments and breaking all the rules of music, and when I make music I like to blend elements of it within structured composition.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Given there’s a lot of things to do that are rather far away from eachother I’d think each place might be a whole day in and of themselves, but if there’s time you might cram this all into one week:

Red Rocks Park
Paint Mines Park
Lookout Mountain
Downtown Manitou Springs
Watch Some Storms on the Plains
Parks and Trails in Castle Rock
High Plains Raceway
The Blue Moose Tavern in Green Mountain Falls
Tarantula Migration
Elitch Gardens

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My family and friends were always there for me, even when no one else was, that I should mention first and foremost. As a kid, seeing lightning strike the tree across the street certainly left an impression on me, Twister: Fury on the Plains on TLC really got me into tornadoes, I really admire the work of Dr. Theodore Fujita and Tim Samaras, and The Weather Book by Jack Williams was a very informative read for a 12 year old. Playing video games growing up always had me interested in making them myself, I dabbled in programming games with my TI-86 calculator in high school. My favorite games were the Metal Gear series and Wolfenstein, but I play all kinds of video games.

Website: https://www.stefankleinphotography.net

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestormwhisperer

Twitter: twitter.com/DBeverte

Facebook: facebook.com/theStormWhisperer

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8xKXA51qIwlAYNN5Maxy5A

Other: https://an00bus666.itch.io