One of the busiest film musicians out there has to be Joseph Trapanese. Let’s call him “Joe.” Joe is a composer. These days, Joe is happy. In fact, he’s very, very happy. And why wouldn’t he be? He’s one of the most sought-after magic makers and has a brilliant track record working on huge films with megastar directors.
In Netflix’s Spiderhead, Joe reunites with director Joseph Kosinski (with whom he previously worked on TRON: Legacy, Oblivion, and Only The Brave). Aside from working closely with his good friend Joe K – we’ll call him “other Joe” – Mr. Trapanese had the unique opportunity to get away from the music that has become his calling card: bombastic scores and/or fantasy music.
With Spiderhead, Joe set out to write something so tied to the narrative geography that it allowed him to imagine this score as chamber music. Quite fitting for a film whose characters are confined to a prison, amirite? This led to some fascinating musical choices (from synths to choir, bass clarinet to electric cello) as well as technical decisions which make listening to the score almost more engaging than watching the film.
The last time we spoke with Mr. Trapanese, we went all-in on The Raid and Oblivion‘s over-the-top scores. That was a fun podcast! This time around, we discussed the airy syths, arpeggios and ostinatos juxtaposed against the above-mentioned cellos. This project is very important to Joe and while he’s pulled in may directions scoring TV and film, he was able to dive into this and orchestrate Spiderhead himself making him very aware of all the notes in the score.
If you get the chance, check out Spiderhead. It’s got plenty of surprises – coming from Kosinski it looks stunning – but the acting and music really take the cake. So far, the Joes have a pretty sweet track record and a wonderful shorthand and friendship that goes along with it. Joe was happy to work us into his schedule, and we had a whirlwind discussion as well as a ton of laughs dissecting this score.
Now enjoy this session with Joe…and look forward to a vinyl release of the music to Spiderhead in the near future!
SPIDERHEAD, a genre-blending thriller directed by Joseph Kosinski and starring Chris Hemsworth, Miles Teller, Jurnee Smollett, Mark Paguio and Tess Haurbich, will be released on Netflix globally on June 17, 2022.
