• Composer Series,  Interviews/Podcasts,  Movies/Entertainment

    Interview…Composer Cameron Moody on Hulu’s ‘Washington Black’

    Cameron Moody is an American composer, conductor, and trumpeter based in Los Angeles, CA. His distinctive utilization of the symphony orchestra has given way to a varied resume, with project genres in film and television ranging from action and documentaries to romance and comedies. His debut project, Washington Black, hit Hulu in July and the score is a magical and transportive orchestral effort that sounds like some of the all time greats. His work is signalling a new fresh talent in music. The limited series, created by Selwyn Seyfu Hinds and starring Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us, American Fiction, Paradise), called for a sweeping, cinematic score, one that reflects the global scale of its story while…

  • Movies/Entertainment

    Exclusive First Listen: Jeff Russo’s Music to ‘Alien: Earth’

    This year, one of sci-fi’s biggest franchises is coming to the small screen and we can’t wait for that. Taking the helm for Alien: Earth, and bringing xenomorphs uncomfortably close to home, is Noah Hawley who is one of the most accomplished auteurs and versatile storytellers. The award-winning novelist, screenwriter, series creator, and director behind shows like Fargo and Legion will craft the same level of drama, tension, and captivating narratives for this universe. Yet, unlike Alien: Romulus which wowed audiences in theaters, you won’t have to go very far to find frights and delights because this is all coming to a TV near you. On your sofa, everyone can…

  • Composer Series,  Interviews/Podcasts,  Movies/Entertainment

    Interview…Dominic Lewis & Hamilton Leithauser On the Intro Song to ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’

    If you visit this site somewhat regularly, it should be news to no one that we love music, specifically theme music for film and television. We also love chatting with composers, songsmiths and performers about their work. As such, we had a blast speaking with Dominic Lewis & Hamilton Leithauser who tag-teamed the superb melody and lyrics for the song in the opening credits of Your Friends & Neighbors on Apple TV+. This mini-series about misdemeanors, mischief, misdirected hostilities and marital troubles is, even in a fictitious sense, proof that what glitters is not always gold. Nobody’s life is perfect and it’s fair to say you never truly know your…

  • Composer Series,  Interviews/Podcasts,  Movies/Entertainment

    Interview…Composer Carlos Rafael Rivera on Piano, Guitar, Teaching and the Sounds of ‘Dept. Q’

    Over the years, we’ve become increasingly fond of TV shows for a few reasons. One of which is pretty obvious: we get more time with characters we love. Their arc can be spaced out as the story tops and tails. But another more satisfying reason is that the music can get the same amount of space. Many times, it can find room to evolve and change with the narrative. So let’s look at one such property where the music played an incredibly important role in the production. The Queen’s Gambit was a captivating series whereby the lush musical score captured our imagination, got the heart racing and made chess pretty…

  • Composer Series,  Interviews/Podcasts,  Movies/Entertainment

    Interview…Le Matos on Returning to The Wasteland with ‘Turbo Kid’ Video Game Soundtrack

    It was ten years ago that the world fell in love with Turbo Kid, and part of what made that small-scale, cult classic an underground worldwide phenomenon was the incredible musical accompaniment. An exceptional powerhouse of synthesizer alchemy, Le Matos brings a very cinematic approach to their compositions. You can say that for a lot of musicians, but this time it’s completely justified – especially because they have a background in cinematography. So when they work on something, there’s a narrative through line where shooting styles can inform the soundscape, and vice versa.  We’ve been a fan of the Montréal-based outfit for almost that long, thanks in large part to…

  • Composer Series,  Interviews/Podcasts,  Movies/Entertainment

    Interview…Wow Jones and JimiJame$ on Propulsive Sounds, Gut-Feelings, and Musical Confidence

    On today’s show, we got the thrilling opportunity to chat with two powerhouse musicians/composers and creators. These superstars have unparalleled talent and vision, and have made waves in the music industry. From crafting unforgettable scores to shaping the direction of major tours and projects, they continue to elevate the music scene in exciting ways. With multiple highly anticipated projects and a growing reputation for breaking new ground, Wow Jones and JimiJame$ are poised to take the world by storm. This highly creative team were handpicked by Tyler Perry to work on this groundbreaking Netflix series after impressing him with their work on Duplicity. The duo created a unique, modern-day soap…

  • Movies/Entertainment,  Music Review

    Music Review…Scott Pilgrim Truly ‘Takes Off’ Thanks to Anamanaguchi and Joseph Trapanese

    The animated series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off gets us back into the wonderful, wild and insanely colorful world of Bryan Lee O’Malley‘s original graphic novels. Our first entry point to this universe was Edgar Wright‘s 2010 film which lovingly adapted those works. It was awesome – filled to the brim with Wright’s style and charm, yet the great live-action film retained the 2D atmosphere of the books. Now fast-forward more than a decade later and Netflix dropped this incredibly reverent and all encompassing eight-part animated series. It cherry picks the best from O’Malley’s ideas and Wright’s film (including the voice cast who return and reprise their roles) to expand/explore the…

  • Interviews/Podcasts,  Movies/Entertainment

    Interview…Kay Hanley and Tom Polce on Bringing Melodic Magnificence to ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’

    Hey there, score fans. If you’re like me, the first property you think of when someone says “musical” is probably not Star Trek. Well, you’re not wrong, but thanks to the efforts from the dynamic duo of Kay Hanley and Tom Polce that’s gonna change. These two seasoned musicians have outdone themselves with the sing-song soundtrack that, as far as those characters who boldly go, really changes everything. Episode 9 in season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds made waves in TV as the first full musical episode in franchise history. Cleverly named “Subspace Rhapsody,” the story puts the crew of the USS Enterprise and others in this universe…

  • Composer Series,  Interviews/Podcasts,  Movies/Entertainment

    Interview…Composer Gareth Coker on Worldbuilding, Melody Writing and Quiet Moments in ‘Ark’ on Paramount+

    The last time we spoke to composer Gareth Coker, we had a lot of fun learning about his early days in music, and the exceptional work he did for the pair of Ori games from Moon Studios. This time, nearly four years to the day, we had him on the podcast to talk all about Ark: The Animated Series on Paramount+. An adaptation of the wildly popular game (and its expansions), ARK has to be played, watched and lived to be fully experienced. Suffice to say, this show takes liberties with its condensed story, yet in so doing retains core elements and gives the devoted gamers lots of what they’ve…

  • Mondo,  Movies/Entertainment,  Music Review

    Music Review…’Severance’ Soundtrack Is Chock-Full of Lumon Goodies

    If you’re a fan of soundtracks and film scores, the team at Mondo has you covered. They take great pride in crafting physical media, they produce vinyl with audiophiles in mind, and they also care about the packaging. Like a lot! In fact, their slipcases have just as much detail as their amazing posters. Yet the cool thing about their albums is that the team gets to do way more than silk screen their work on foil variants. Albums give these artists/creatives a smaller yet more complex canvas than a poster and the team tries their darnedest to use every square inch (inside and out) to tell their story. The…