Composers are our jam, and we love getting in the weeds to find out how certain sounds and themes are made. Inspiration can literally come from anywhere. Sometimes, it’s the more obscure and unexpected muses that yield the most memorable themes. While these musicians work with picture (as well as discussions with filmmakers), many times their gut reactions are all it takes to bring amazing sounds into existence. I’ll always cite this example from Patrick Doyle to remind myself that anything is possible.
So enter Canadian composer, Andrew Gordon Macpherson, who has tons of experience with all sorts of sounds and styles. His work on Dark Side of the Ring brought robust and impacting electronic stylings to the world of professional wrestling. And his latest collaboration with co-creators Evan Husney and Jason Eisner is handled with similar complexity and sincerity. Herein, he gets down, dirty and heavy.
Hulu’s music docuseries Into the Void chronicles the epic struggles and the cultural impacts made by Heavy Metal’s most compelling artists. As a friend of mine likes to say, “It ain’t Christmas unless someone is crying.” Well, in the world of Heavy Metal, tears and pain and near-infinite hurt aren’t just a subject of many songs, they are a rite of passage. In the efforts to create music specific to each episode and profiled personality, Macpherson did a lot of unique things to honor these rock legends, especially Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell:
“Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell is one of the most well-known users of this big red pitch pedal called the “Digitech whammy.” For the Into the Void episode about Pantera, I had the idea to do a string quartet style arrangement for 3 loud guitars with whammy’s and automate the pitch via midi so I could have precise control over the harmony, create fretless, “string-like” glides that evoke Texas and also pay tribute to the tone and style of one of my Guitar Heroes, Dimebag Darrell.”
The video below goes into more detail and is worth checking out…
Growing up on his Father’s music collection, Michael Jackson, Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac became huge influences and set him on a trajectory to make his own tunes. Along the way he dabbled in garage bands, metal music, playing bass, underground hip-hop, and more. Like a buffet, he took what he wanted and piled his plate high. The result made him a versatile composer that could drive in any lane of his choosing.
If you were to take a listen to the symphonic themes in Kids vs. Aliens, and click the channel over to the Dark Side of the Ring series, you wouldn’t believe the music came from the same person. Point to Macpherson. Heads up: it’s pronounced fur…there is “no fear” in Macpherson which is actually a great way to describe Andrew’s output and the types of projects he says yes to.
Anyway, enough rambling…let’s get into the fun of this episode of The GoSeeTalk Podcast Experience. Mr. Macpherson is as knowledgeable and talented as he is likeable. On the show, we dive into his history, personal tastes and experiments that turned into successes. Enjoy!!
