“I originally discovered CHVRCHES in 2015. I had a lot going on in my life at that time. I decided to go to a CD shop and I listened to a sample of CHVRCHES' second album. That's when I became a fan.”
Kojima traced his fandom of CHVRCHES to 2015: he discovered CHVRCHES that year after going to a CD shop and listening to a sample of their second album, a moment that made him a fan. He also bought their first album and listened to it all the time. He learned from Keighley that they were going to play The Game Awards 2015 but could not attend. He listened to their third album, Love Is Dead, on repeat, and when he tweeted about it Jeff spotted the tweet and connected them. When CHVRCHES visited Kojima Productions in 2019, Kojima had just finished the ending of Death Stranding, so the timing was right: he showed them the ending and asked them about a song for it.
“Well, at that time, I had just finished the ending, so it was a good timing. I had them look at that and ask them about a song for the ending. […] And then I heard from Jeff that they were going to come to TGA 2015, but I wasn't able to make it. After that, they released a third album, Love is Dead. I listened to it on repeat a lot. And when I tweeted about it, Jeff saw my tweet and connected us.”