It’s a good bet that if a film sticks with you, it’s because of the score. While it doesn’t do all the heavy lifting, a theme can pump a narrative full of so much intangible energy that it is basically a character in the story. So when a composer taps into the feature at hand, they can deliver some of the most impacting sounds you’ll ever hear. And those notes don’t just hit you in the feels, they echo in eternity.
Benjamin Wallfisch is one such artist whose sonic blankets literally bring films and television to life. We chatted with him years ago to discuss A Cure For Wellness as well as Hidden Figures. Since then Ben has taken our ears countless amazing places – from sewers to the skies, and from Oklahoma to alien worlds. So it was a real treat to catch up with him to talk about further sonic adventures into a pair of those realms.
The award-winning composer reunites with director Andy Muschietti for It: Welcome to Derry (now streaming weekly on HBO Max) as well as Dan Trachtenberg to go big game hunting with everyone’s favorite interplanetary sportsman in Predator: Badlands (in theaters now).
With Welcome to Derry, he expands upon the sonic world he first created in the IT feature films, blending haunting orchestral textures, ghostly motifs, and visceral sound design to evoke the psychological unease and emotional depth at the heart of Derry’s dark mythology. In Badlands, he pairs his compositional prowess with Sarah Schachner‘s score to give this sound palette propulsive drums and nebulous energy. It’s quite fitting that the soundscape for this film was as “alien” to us as it is to the titular protagonist.
With more than 80 projects to his credit, Ben is cementing his place among the most versatile and imaginative composers working today. We talk about the early days practicing piano, his approach to composition and orchestration as well as mentors, collaborators, and more in this episode of The GoSeeTalk Podcast Experience!
You can find out much more about Benjamin by clicking over to his official website. And for sneak peeks as to what he’s working on next, check out his Instagram page.
Finally, Mutant (and Mondo in their former life) have a long history of pressing incredible vinyl releases for the Alien films as well as their brief foray into the Predator realm with Prey. One of their latest xenomorph-centered endeavors were these albums of Wallfisch’s work on Alien: Romulus. Here’s hoping this partnership continues with either of his scores to Trachtenberg’s subsequent Yautja films. If we were to bet, I’d say, “stick around” and see what happens next.
