William Ross has had a hand in all avenues of the music industry. A four-time Emmy winner, Ross has decades of experience as a composer, orchestrator, arranger, conductor and music director. Aside from scoring titles like Tin Cup and Ladder 49, he’s worked with a dizzying array of artists and musicians over the years from fellow famous Hollywood composers (John Williams, Alan Silvestri) to pop music icons (Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson). Ross has quite a lot of Olympics experience as well as he’s arranged the music for the opening and closing ceremonies for various Olympic games from 1998 to 2010. But beyond that he’s also tasked with the music of Hollywood’s biggest night. This year’s Academy Awards ceremony marks…
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Interview…Film Composer Patrick Doyle Talks ‘Jack Ryan’, Love of Country and Having A Laugh At It All
Hailing from Uddingston, Scotland, musical maestro Patrick Doyle always has the hugest smile on his face, which makes him either the happiest guy on the planet, or someone who just really, really loves his job. Perhaps it’s both, but you can’t go a few seconds without hearing him laugh. Even over the phone you can sense the endless joy in his voice when he talks about his career, his passion and his good friend Sir Kenneth Branagh. In fact, the rare (but widely abundant on the web) photo above is one of the few times you won’t see him grinning like a kid with a key to a candy store.…
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Interview…Film Composer Christopher Lennertz Rewrites the Rules for Comic Soundscapes with ‘Ride Along’
Christopher Lennertz is a composer, producer, conductor, and arranger whose adeptness for a multitude of genres has put him on the map time and time again. You many not recognize his name but if you’ve seen Horrible Bosses, Think Like A Man, shows like Supernatural or played games like Mass Effect 3 and Starhawk then you know Chris’ work. A veritable encyclopedia of musical styles and theories Chris currently writes the music for the hit J.J. Abrams series Revolution on NBC. He’s also celebrated for his video game scores like Steven Spielberg’s Medal of Honor series and he just completed the score for the most recent installment of the iconic…
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CONTEST CLOSED – Win A Copy of the ‘Machete Kills’ Soundtrack Autographed by Composer Carl Thiel
Attention: CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. All winners have been notified. Thanks for your interest in MACHETE KILLS. ———————————————————————————————————————————— Robert Rodriguez’ Machete Kills hits Blu-Ray shelves this week and holy frijoles have we got something for you Grindhouse fans! Aside from insane action, physics defying stunts, gritty and over-the-top characters, Robert Rodriguez’ films have one other staple worth noting – a rocking soundtrack. Prior to its theatrical release last fall we got to speak with award-winning composer, frequent RR collaborator and Chingon band member Carl Thiel. He gave us an idea of what to expect from the film and his music (read Part I and Part II here) and per usual we were blown…
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Interview…Film Composer Alex Heffes on ‘Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom’
The world lost Nelson Mandela in December of this year and so it’s bittersweet that this Winter we are given a powerful film that chronicles the life of such an important man. The film Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom is directed by Justin Chadwick, stars Idris Elba and Naomie Harris and features a moving and emotional score from award-winning British composer Alex Heffes. Alex composed over 90 minutes of original music for the film. Traveling to South Africa he recorded choir vocals and South African singing legend Caiphus Semenya’s own voice to depict Mandela’s passing into Manhood as a young boy and ultimately reprising this theme for his inauguration as South Africa’s…
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Exclusive: Interview (Part III)…Film Composer Steve Jablonsky on Experimentation and Career Experiences
We’ve come to the final post, Part III of the 90 minute interview we had with the incomparable Steve Jablonsky. Hitting on a number of topics we got a deeper look into his process and Steve offers even more personal experiences and insight into his phenomenal scores. If you’re just joining us, check out Part I and Part II (really, if you love film music, they’re not to be missed) but if you’re all caught up then enjoy the final leg in this trio of interview posts with amazing composer Steve Jablonsky. ——————————————————————————————————————————— – “Making sounds” as opposed to just composing them is a very proprietary approach. But do you think,…
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Exclusive: Interview (Part II)…Steve Jablonsky’s Big Break, His Process, and Living In Michael Bay’s World
In Part I of our interview with film composer Steve Jablonsky we talked about his recent score for Ender’s Game. A major player in the word of film music Jablonsky has made a name for himself contributing to and fully scoring some of the most successful blockbusters in the last decade. Working with the likes of Harry Gregson-Williams and Hans Zimmer, Jablonsky has become an in-demand composer and he continues to score films for some of the biggest names in the industry. So jump right into Part II as we discuss Steve’s big break, scoring a slew of horror remakes for Michael Bay’s production company Platinum Dunes and of course…
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Exclusive: Interview (Part I)…’Ender’s Game’ Composer Steve Jablonsky
For more than a decade Steve Jablonsky has been composing riveting scores for some of Hollywood’s most bombastic blockbuster films. From the Japanese anime Steamboy (directed by legendary filmmaker Katsuhiro Otomo), to Michael Bay’s The Island and Transformers series to scoring no less than 4 feature films in 2013 alone, Jablonsky’s epic sounds have become a staple in the world of action films. Whether things are blowing up on the silver screen, the TV screen or in video games, Jablonsky is one of only a handful of go-to composers who consistently deliver diversity and complexity along with high energy themes. Originally focused on becoming a recording engineer, Jablonsky’s career as a film composer developed after assisting…
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Interview…(Part II) Film Composer Carl Thiel Talks More Music, Robert Rodriguez and ‘Machete Kills’
Award-winning music writer/producer and film composer Carl Thiel was born into a European family and raised in Mexico City, Carl was exposed to a rich and wide variety of cultural experiences and musical styles from a very early age. As a young boy, he would listen to his father (a Swedish immigrant with a doctorate in music) play Mozart and Bach on the piano, while his older siblings would play Beatles and Carpenters albums. His mother, a perpetual student of the spiritual and healing arts and the daughter of German and Austrian immigrants, shared her love for Strauss and Vivaldi, as well as meditation and inspirational music. Immersed in the huge metropolis,…
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Interview…(Part I) ‘Machete Kills’ Composer Carl Thiel Discusses Collaborating with Robert Rodriguez
Film composer Carl Thiel is an award-winning music writer/producer. Over the course of his career he’s worked with a multitude of musicians and personalities including Willie Nelson, Bob Schneider, Los Lonely Boys, John Debney, and Del Castillo to name just a few. Carl currently serves on the Board of Governors of the Texas Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and frequently volunteers his time to teach and work with high school and college students across the state during educational events. But it’s his collaborations with visionary director/filmmaker Robert Rodriguez that occupy a large portion of his resume (he’s even a member of Robert Rodriguez’s pet project band Chingón). In the last decade Carl has lent…
