Composer Series,  Interviews,  Movies/Entertainment

Interview…Composer Paul Leonard-Morgan on High Energy, Cyberpunk, and Philip Glass

Over the years, we’ve spoken to lots of people in the entertainment business, and neither our good friend Bryan Kluger (of BoomStickComics) nor myself have met many individuals with the all-out energy and enthusiasm that Paul Leonard-Morgan exudes. No joke.

The Scottish composer is a delight to speak with and you can tell he doesn’t just love his job…he realllly loves it and that comes through in how he describes his process (using analog synthesizers), his projects (Disney Test Track at Epcot Center and Limitless), and his collaborators (Alex Garland, Mark Romanek). He loves life, cares for everyone, has great taste in film and scores, and he even coined a catchphrase on our show: #Don’tBeADick

He’s got a great sense of humor and reminds us of another cheerily energetic Scotsman: composer Patrick Doyle. Hmmm, maybe there’s something in the water (besides the really excellent Scotch the country is known for).

In all seriousness, Leonard-Morgan (now based in L.A.) has reason to be so exuberant this year because his work has been tied to the upcoming video game Cyberpunk 2077 (a game five years in the making which launches in November) as well as the Amazon show Tales From the Loop which he co-wrote with Philip Glass (we’ve included YT links to the trailer and music clips below). So, yeah, we’d be swinging from the chandeliers were we in his shoes.

Composers are asked to provide a score that helps get to the emotion of a story/show/game and this BAFTA-winning instrumentalist has gotten to where he is by trying, experimenting, listening and even working with sound clips of tortoises mating. Yes, you read that right.

So dive in head first, and get to know this fun-loving musician!


You can keep up with Paul on Twitter, or check out his YouTube channel and his official website.

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