The Film Scorer

In a quick 1-2 punch after talking with Daniel Blumberg (The Brutalist), Bryce Dessner (The National, The Revenant, The Two Popes) joins The Film Scorer podcast! Bryce released two scores last year, for the films Sing Sing and We Live In Time. However, Bryce and I were under a tight time constraint and so had to pick and choose what we chatted about; no time for a classic rambling conversation. As such, we spend much of our conversation covering his score for Sing Sing. This includes, among other things, choosing to focus the music on nature and escapism (rather than the more obvious matching of the prison setting), making space for the performers, and the film's equitable compensation system. Of course, we still manage to pack a lot in, so we cover quite a bit more as well, both about Sing Sing and various unexpected topics. Bryce's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms. Sing Sing was released earlier last year and will be re-released in theaters (at least in the US) on January 1. You can find out more about Bryce on his website.

Much to my dismay, The Brutalist is not an industrial grindcore band. Nonetheless, I feel compelled to talk about it. As such, composer Daniel Blumberg joins the show! It should be no surprise, then, that we spend much of our time talking about his score to Brady Corbet's 3.5 hour epic, which is only Daniel's second feature score. This includes discussing the balance between improvisational and written music (especially when scoring to picture), using prepared piano to mirror the imagery and plot of the film, and how he and the sound design team overlapped their crafts to confuse the audience (and some of the other crew). Of course, we chat about a bunch of other things in between. Daniel's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms. The Brutalist is forthcoming, currently in limited theatrical release and will expand shortly.

Composer Donna McKevitt joins The Film Scorer Podcast! Donna is someone that I've chatted to here and there over the last few years, so it was a treat having her on the show and finally getting the chance to "meet" her. Her latest scores are for The Swimming Diaries and My Name is Alfred Hitchcock,two very different documentaries and very different scores. Unsurprisingly, we spend much of our conversation talking about those two works, while also pivoting into other topics like the discrepancy in representation of male and female composers, the challenges that touring musicians face (and how much better things used to be, such as during her time in Miranda Sex Garden), and plenty more. Donna's scores, and much of her other music, is available on all major platforms. The Swimming Diaries and My Name is Alfred Hitchcock are both forthcoming. You can find out more about Donna on her website.

The Angel (Boiler Room, Kidulthood) joins The Film Scorer! Angel's latest score is for the crime thriller Heist 88, which came out last year but her score only released last month. As such, we spend much of our conversation talking about the score, including the hybrid palette, influences from Chicago's 1980s club/house music scene, and getting into Courtney B. Vance's head. We also touch on some of her other film and TV projects, her long career as a record producer and DJ, obtaining her master recordings from Sony, and plenty more! Angel's score, and much of her other music, is available on all major platforms. Heist 88 is currently available on Paramount+ or on demand. You can find out more about Angel on her website.

In the latest episode of The Film Scorer podcast I'm joined by Wilbert Roget, II (Star Wars: Outlaws, Helldivers 2, Mortal Kombat). While Wilbert is best known for his work scoring video games, including recently receiving a Grammy nomination for Star Wars: Outlaws, our focus is on something a little different. Wilbert has just made his first foray into scoring for tv, with the limited series Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance! As such, we dig deep into his score for the six-episode series, including building out the eclectic sonic palette, working closely with the Japanese team, being the first non-Japanese composer to score a Gundam project (and the pressures that come with that, and plenty more. He even lists some of his favorite Gundam series, both in terms of overall show as well as primarily for their score. We also drive down other avenues, such as his work on other games, scoring 48-hour game jams, and how Japanese music his significantly impacted him. Wilbert's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms. Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance is currently on Netflix (at least in most territories). You can find out more about Wilbert on his website.

Season 5 of The Film Scorer Podcast continues to pick up steam as Kris Bowers (Bridgerton, Green Book) joins the show! The Academy Award winner and nominee (who was just nominated for a Grammy for his score to The Color Purple a few days ago) recently scored the hit animated film The Wild Robot. As such, Kris and I spend much of our conversation talking about his score, which is both adventurous and a tearjerker, and filled with thematic exploration. The conversation touches on the challenges of scoring for animation, the increasing amount of space the film made for Kris's score, how it let Kris run wild with his passion for thematic and melodic scoring (drawing a number of Star Wars parallels), and plenty more. Kris's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms. The Wild Robot is currently in theaters, and available to watch at home now. You can find out more about Kris on his website.

Season 5 of The Film Scorer Podcast is here! In the Season 5 premiere I chat with composer Amelia Warner. Amelia's latest score is for the Disney sports biopic Young Woman and the Sea (starring Daisy Ridley), about Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim across the English Channel. As such, we spend much of our conversation focused on that score, including how her score and approaches developed over time, balancing the film's sports and family aspects, working closely with legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and plenty more. Along the way, we also talk about things like Mary Shelley and the pros and cons of temp music. Amelia's score, and much of her other music, is available on all major platforms, and Young Woman and the Sea is currently available on Disney+. You can find out more about Amelia on her website.

Season Five of The Film Scorer Podcast is almost here! The new season launches on Sunday, October 27th, with new episodes continuing every other Sunday after that (more or less). Given the breadth of guests in season three, including Academy Award nominated actor-turned-composer Viggo Mortensen, Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Abels, 2024 Academy Award nominees Jerskin Fendrix and Laura Karpman, Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij, you never who will show up this time around - all I can say is I already have some great guests lined up! So subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, follow The Film Scorer on Instagram, Twitter, and Threads, and keep those ears open!

Dipping back into the well again, reaching to September 2020, here's the audio version (cleaned up and shortened) of my review of Mondo Boys' score for She Dies Tomorrow. Again, the audio is still a little rougher but after thirty seconds or so you don't really notice (or at least I didn't as I was editing). There's also a nauseating little cue thrown in the middle - which I embarrassingly called a "song", which Sony was kind enough to give me permission to use when I first recorded this. I don't have a written review of this one, but I did end up reaching out to Mondo Boys shortly after and interviewing them: https://thefilmscorer.com/an-interview-with-mondo-boys/ This is one of my favorite interviews, because we recorded for about two and a half hours on a Saturday night, drinking whiskey. How I turned it into a tight, coherent, sub-hour interview I don't know...

Just because the podcast is between seasons and on a brief hiatus doesn't mean that the work stops. To keep me busy, I chatted with Brooke Blair and Will Blair (Blue Ruin, Green Room), the very rare sibling composer duo, about their latest score: Rebel Ridge. Rebel Ridge marks the fifth collaboration between the Blair Bros. and director Jeremy Saulnier, and is arguably their best. As such, we spend much of our time talking about their score, including developing the palette, experimenting with and avoiding musical clichés, and mimicking cicadas as a “symphony of terror”. Beyond that, though, we discuss what it's like to build your career alongside a director, how to uncover a director's preferences (and the benefits in doing so), working as brothers (including when their third brother, Macon (I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore) gets added to the mix, and plenty more. I even try to get a little inside information about the forthcoming Toxic Avenger film, which they scored and their brother Macon directed, but no luck. For your benefit, the first long answer you'll hear comes from Will. Brooke and Will's score, and much of their other music, is available on all major platforms, and Rebel Ridge is currently available on Netflix. You can find out more about Brooke and Will on their website.

Welcome in the new year (and forget that it's already September) by hearing about some of the best and most notable film scores kicking off 2024, including Dune: Prat 2 by Hans Zimmer, Spaceman by Max Richter, and plenty more, both big and small. Remember: the show is still in hiatus between seasons, but hopefully this can hold you over a little bit. Keep your eye on The Film Scorer website for reviews and articles covering some of these scores, including detailed writeups and lists. January: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-january-2024/ February: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-february-2024/ For a full list of the scores discussed in this episode, see below:

Somewhat early on in The Film Scorer days, I did a few video reviews of film scores. The first was the 1974 score for Five Shaolin Masters, by the prolific Chinese composer Yung-Yu Chen. Given that the show is currently between seasons, there's a bit of time to kill (and I know you're all clamoring for new episodes), so I've decided to clean these up a bit and release them through the podcast as well. First off: Chen's score. The audio here is a little rougher than you're used to, as it may have been before I even owned a mic. But that's balanced out by a nice little capture of the main motif of the score that comes about halfway through. This also went surprisingly "viral" on YouTube, racking up nearly 60,000 views. If you enjoy this and want some more, just let me know - I've been meaning to record some more reviews and keep procrastinating... You can also read my review here: https://thefilmscorer.com/five-shaolin-masters-yung-yu-chen-1974-film-score-review/

We've reached the end . . . of season 4. To commemorate the occasion, Daniel Hart (The Green Knight, A Ghost Story) joins The Film Scorer! Daniel is fresh off of scoring season 2 of Interview with the Vampire, which itself had its season finale only a couple of weeks ago. As such, Daniel and I spend a lot of the interview discussing his scores for both seasons of the show (and some hints about what's to come in the newly-announced season 3). We then break out from there, discussing Philip Glass, the prospects of writing a recorder concerto, and plenty more. Daniel's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms, and the series is available on AMC. You can find out more about Daniel on his website.

As season 4 draws to a close, I'm joined by someone all of you should know: Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings, The Road)! One thing you might not know about Viggo - it was certainly news to me - is that he's also a musician, making a number of albums with famed guitarist Buckethead and even scoring a couple films, including his latest directorial effort The Dead Don't Hurt. As such, we discuss his musical history, his score for The Dead Don't Hurt, his first foray into making music for film in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, balancing various behind-the-scenes roles in the same film, and plenty more. Even though this is a pretty short interview, we cover a surprising amount of ground. Candidly, this was the most surreal, hard to believe interview I've ever done. When I saw Viggo pop up on video to chat with me, I was certain I was being pranked, or maybe just dreaming; I'm sure I'll wake up at any second... Viggo's score is available on all major platforms, while The Dead Don't Hurt has just finished its theatrical run and will likely be coming to home video soon. I also want to flag that I accidentally attribute a (poorly) paraphrased quote to Ernest Hemingway that's actually from Mark Twain.

On the latest episode, I'm joined by Jason Graves! Jason is best known for a number of different video game scores, such as the Dead Space games, Tomb Raider, Far Cry Primal, and Moss 1 and 2, so it's no surprise that we spend much of our conversation talking about his latest game scores: Still Wakes the Deep and No Rest for the Wicked. They're two very different games, in terms of genre, style, gameplay, and more, and so Jason's scores are equally unique. We probably spend the most time talking about the former game's score, which is a combination of a string quarter, woodwinds, a bass synth, and a roughly two foot tall sculpture - it may seem weird, but I promise that it sounds good. Along the way, we cover things like his journey through scoring, how he works with game writers to understand concepts and plot points before they're rendered in-game, and differences (perceived and real) between scoring for film and video games. Still Wakes the Deep (the game and the score) releases on June 18, while No Rest for the Wicked is currently in early access with Jason's score forthcoming. You can also find many of Jason's other scores physically or on all major platforms. Find out more about Jason on his website.

Recently anointed Grammy winner Carla Patullo joins The Film Scorer podcast! While Carla has over thirty scores under her belt, she might be most known for her non-score album So She Howls, for which Carla won the Grammy for Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album earlier this year. Unsurprisingly, then, Carla and I spend a fair bit of time talking about that album. However, and perhaps more importantly, we actually focus much of our discussion on the genesis of that album: Carla's cancer diagnosis a few years ago. Carla began by recording little voice and vocal snippets, which eventually evolved into a full album. She told me she was worried it might be her final album, but that if so she wanted a chance to sing "one last time". Fortunately, it isn't. We also move into discussions on the scoring world, her love for short films, the concerns surrounding AI, and plenty more. You can find out more about Carla on her website.

In a Film Scorer first, a composer-director team joins the show! Composer Suvi-Eeva Äikäs & director Ben Steiner recently worked together on Ben's film Matriarch (which Ben directed and which Suvi scored). As such, we primarily talk about Suvi's score for Matriarch from both the director and composer perspectives (and with them each touching on sound design as well, particularly regarding the score edging into sound design and the sound design edging into score). Along the way, we touch on some big questions, like the role of film music, collaborating (and how to push back), and plenty more. Suvi and Ben actually connected in Bristol, England through a mutual friend, Ben Salisbury (Annihilation, Ex Machina). Suvi has also worked with Ben Salisbury and his longtime composing partner Geoff Barrow on several projects, including Devs and Men. You can find out more about Suvi on her website or about Ben on his website. Suvi's score is out on all major platforms, and Matriarch is currently on Hulu.

While 2023 ended several months ago, here at The Film Scorer it's only just happened. Tune-in to hear about some of the best film scores that rounded-out the year, included Poor Things by Jerskin Fendrix, Killers of the Flower Moon by Robbie Robertson, Godzilla: Minus One by Naoki Sato, and plenty more that you may not be quite as familiar with. Keep your eye on The Film Scorer website for reviews and articles covering some of these scores, including detailed writeups and lists. For a full list of the scores discussed in this episode, see below:

Fresh off of scoring Evil Does Not Exist, composer Eiko Ishibashi joins The Film Scorer podcast! Evil Does Not Exist is Eiko's second collaboration with acclaimed director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and the film itself actually stemmed from Eiko approaching Ryusuke regarding providing visuals for her live performance. Evil Does Not Exist grew out of that, while also spawning the film Gift, a sort of "composer's cut" of Evil Does Not Exist, which removes spoken dialogue and focuses on Eiko's music. Not surprisingly, we compare and contrast her work on Evil Does Not Exist and her prior score, Drive My Car (the Oscar winner for Best International Film). Along the way, we also cover things like Eiko's approach to music and preference to giving control to the director, trends in Japanese film music, and more. Note that this is an interpreted interview, so you'll hear snippets of Eiko's responses in Japanese but the answers are primarily via English translation. You can find out more about Eiko on her website. Eiko's score releases digitally and on physical media on June 28, and Evil Does Not Exist is currently in theaters.

To celebrate his first full-length tv series score, Gareth Coker joins The Film Scorer podcast! You video game fans in particular may know Gareth from his work scoring games like Ori, Ark, and Halo Infinite, but Gareth hasn't stopped there. Given that he's already scored the various Ark games, it's no surprise that he was tapped to score Ark: The Animated Series, the animated adaptation of the Ark games. As such, we spend much of our interview talking about his scores for both the show and the game series and the interaction between the two, such as shared palettes and themes (including for the Broodmother fights). Along the way, we also talk about things like the score for Shōgun (Gareth's a fan), the keys behind making great exploration music (with a shoutout to Jesper Kyd's score for Assassin's Creed 2), and plenty more. Candidly I wasn't super familiar with Gareth's music previously, other than his work on Ori and the Blind Forest, largely because I don't really play video games, which in turn probably limits how much video game music I listen to broadly. So preparing to talk with Gareth gave me the chance/excuse to start digging into his other scores, primarily for the Ark games. With Ark: The Animated Series, Gareth is able to bring the Ark palette into tv, with a massive orchestral score that's actually packed but also heavily focused on building great character themes. The success and quality of the score is, in part, a testament to the resources given to Gareth in the scoring process, something I'd love to see every studio do! You can find out more about Gareth on his website. Ark: The Animated Series is currently streaming on Paramount+ while Gareth's score, and much of his other music, is widely available digitally.