For a number of years, Matthew Vaughn, and his composer in crime have been bringing sensational comic book films to life. Vaughn would provide the visuals, Jackman the symphony, and the result is a pyrophoric myriad of energy, action and excitement. On the heels of their previous collaborations (which include Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class) is the top-notch film Kingsman: The Secret Service. The bombastic score features a sophisticated palette of throwback sounds which recall vintage John Barry about as much as they do modern composers like David Arnold and John Powell. But it’s no tribute; this stunning and pulse-pounding effort is all Jackman and co-composer Matthew Margeson making it their own…especially when…
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Interview…Film Composer Ilan Eshkeri on the Emotional Depth and Makeshift Magnificence of ‘Black Sea’
Kevin Macdonald‘s Black Sea, which hits U.S. theaters this week, features top-notch acting and, like the submarine, is air-tight, but music is also another highly effective component to the thrilling story. In addition to pulse-pounding sounds and pensive themes, British composer Ilan Eshkeri also adds a thick layer of humanity to the story about about greed, hard metals and icy depths. Best known for his film scores to Stardust, The Young Victoria and Kick-Ass, as well as his collaborations with recording artists and his concert work Eshkeri’s career is notable for its diversity; recently Eshkeri scored Still Alice starring Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin and Kristen Stewart, 47 Ronin starring Keanu…
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Interview…Composer Reinhold Heil Discusses Scoring Helix for Syfy
Reinhold Heil is a German-born, L.A.-based Golden Globe nominated film and television composer. Prior to Reinhold’s career as a film composer, he was well known throughout Germany and Europe for his monster synth chops. At 21, he became a fixture in the Berlin music scene as the keyboardist of a popular jazz funk fusion band, marrying jazz, rock, and electronica into a sound all his own. Soon after, Reinhold toured Europe as the keyboardist, co-producer, and co-writer of the legendary German punk band The Nina Hagen Band and later Spliff, one of Germany’s most popular rock bands of the 1980s. Reinhold was also a prolific music producer. “99 Luftballoons,” which…
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Interview…Composer J. Ralph on Documentaries, Real Life Heroes and the Call to Action
J. Ralph is an Academy Award-nominated composer, singer/songwriter and producer. He is also the founder of the internationally award-winning music production company The Rumor Mill, and has written and produced the music for numerous Grammy winning artists, Oscar-winning films, and The President of The United States, Barack Obama. Considered by many to have had a profound impact on the documentary medium, J. Ralph has helped elevate the experience of what it feels like to watch a documentary through his scores. Incredibly he has written and produced the music for 4 out of the last 5 Oscar winning/nominated documentary feature projects. In the 85 year history of the Academy Awards, J.…
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La-La Land Records to Release Danny Elfman Batman Collection
Tis the season to love film scores! And even more so if you’re a die-hard fan of Danny Elfman’s big cinematic sound. Starting today, La-La Land Records is releasing The Danny Elfman Batman Collection – an extra special 4-CD set being presented in honor of Batman’s 75th Anniversary. La-La Land Records, Warner Bros. and WEA proudly present this limited edition with a thrilling re-issue of their previously out-of-print deluxe editions of Danny Elfman’s classic, original scores to the Tim Burton-directed Batman and Batman Returns, presented together for the first time! While the programs presented on these discs are the same as found on the acclaimed initial La-La Land releases, Batman (1989) has…
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Interview…Film Composer Henry Jackman on Big Screen Heroes and Even Bigger Themes
Since 2009, composer Henry Jackman has been adding blockbuster films to his resume at an incredible rate. And there’s a reason for it – he’s extremely good at his job. Jackman has consistently been providing the modern film world with some of the most thrilling, weighty, and substantive music of the last decade. That’s high praise, but he’s certainly earned his laurels with the likes of X-Men: First Class, and things haven’t slowed down since. In just five years, the Oxford educated British musician has ascended into the ranks of Hollywood’s elite composers. This year he was tapped to create an epic, futuristic score for Disney and Marvel’s Big Hero…
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Interview…Composer Antonio Sanchez on the Drums and Jazzy Ambiguity of ‘Birdman’
Thanksgiving is just a few days away, but before we dig into the seasonal fowl, let’s digest this year’s other most buzz-worthy winged creature. We wrote a rather glowing review of Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (check it out here), and last week we got to speak with Antonio Sanchez about his background and experiences on such an exceptional project. Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu‘s one-of-a-kind film hit theaters in October, and people are still talking about it – a rarity for an independent film in the weeks before the awards heavy holiday season begins. Picking up speed on a weekly basis, Birdman is certainly the one to beat in 2014. It’s a tour…
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Interview…Film/TV Composer Claude Foisy
For nearly 20 years, film and television composer Claude Foisy has written scores for a variety of projects. Some of his highlights include music for Pontypool, (starring Stephen McHattie), White Noise (starring Michael Keaton), and his TV credits include CW’s Beauty and the Beast, The 4400 and some of the Outer Limits TV show episodes to name just a few. Though he has a long history with the Wrong Turn films – Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort was released earlier this month – Foisy is a well-versed and accomplished musician. Enjoy our session with Claude. GoSeeTalk: Depending on who you speak with, horror films have unfortunately sort of de-evolved somewhat into mindless slashers. Regardless…
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Interview…Composer Nathan Johnson Discusses ‘Young Ones’, ‘Kill the Messenger’ and ‘Looper’ on Vinyl
The last time we spoke with composer Nathan Johnson was just about a year ago. Nathan is a master at making off-beat and imperfect instruments sound distant yet accessible on a number of vastly different narratives (see: Brick, The Brothers Bloom, Looper). Last October, Nathan offered some insight as to the work he did writing the score to Don Jon – Joseph Gordon Levitt’s contemporary take on the classic literary Lothario. It was an interesting film with, as you might expect, an equally unique score to match. But in the time since we spoke, Nathan has done two scores for films that were both released this month – Jake Paltrow‘s neo-Western Young Ones and the journalistic thriller…
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Interview…Oscar-winning Film Composer Steven Price On His Ethereal and Unrelenting Score for ‘Fury’
In the second half of 2013, British film composer Steven Price made quite a name for himself. He scored two very popular films which were both commercial and critical hits. Once the dust of awards season settled, Price found he had walked away with some of the most coveted honors including the Academy Award for “Best Original Score” for Gravity. Alfonso Cuarón’s space fiasco film, (which starred Sandra Bullock and George Clooney) was an amazing cinematic achievement. But it was Price’s ethereal and abstract musical accompaniment that truly helped make Gravity an experience we likely won’t forget any time soon. But Gravity was not the first time this hard working musician…
