The Film Scorer

Hannah Peel

 

In the season two finale of The Film Scorer Podcast, acclaimed Northern Irish composer Hannah Peel joins the show! We primarily talk about her score for the new series adaptation of John Wyndham's novel The Midwich Cuckoos (which you may know as The Village of the Damned). It's a supremely cool score, mixing dark, oppressive and gentle soundscape electronics with voice. The most notable aspect of the latter - and the part that sold me on the score immediately - is Hannah's manipulation of her own voice to mimic the sound of cuckoos. In the midst of this, Hannah actually talks about why she thinks experimentations with voice have become more common in recent scores, and we talk a bit about her journey into composing media music as well as the thought that goes into curating a soundtrack release.

 

The Midwich Cuckoos is available to watch on Sky in the UK and may be forthcoming elsewhere. Hannah's score, and all of her other music, is available digitally, particularly on BandCamp (with The Midwich Cuckoos being released in conjunction with Invada). You can find out more about Hannah by visiting her website.

 

Lucrecia Dalt

Experimental musician turned film and TV composer Lucrecia Dalt joins me on The Film Scorer Podcast! Despite a lifelong interest in film and film music, as well as a decade-long career in composing and sound design, Dalt has just broken into the film and TV sphere in the last several months. We primarily cover her two new scores - for the horror feature The Seed and the horror-comedy show The Baby - but also dive into our thoughts on the film and film music landscapes and touch on her broader love of film.

 

I'm a huge fan of both of these scores, which provide an exciting, fresh experimental take on media music, utilizing strange voices (especially real and pseudo throat-singing), monolithic fear, and hints of comedy. All it took was for me to hear the single from The Seed, "Venutian Offspring", to know I wanted to dig into these more.

 

The Seed is available to watch digitally on Shudder while The Baby is available via HBO in the US and Sky in the UK. Both of her scores, and all of her other music, is available digitally, particularly on BandCamp. The vinyl version of The Seed is available via Invada.

 

Film Score Recap: January through March 2022

In between composer interviews, The Film Scorer covers some of the best, most notable, and favorite film scores from January through March, 2022. These include a handful of films released in 2021 whose scores for some reason had delayed releases, like The Harder They Fall by Jeymes Samuel and Benedetta by Anne Dudley, as well as experimental scores like The Seed by Lucrecia Dalt, Texas Chainsaw Massacre by Colin Stetson, and Ted K by Blanck Mass (the latter of whom I recently interviewed), and a whole load more! 

Keep your eye on The Film Scorer website for reviews and articles covering some of these scores and see below for articles covering some of my favorite scores for the following months, including detailed writeups and lists:

January: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-january-2022/

February: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-february-2022/

March: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-march-2022/

Blanck Mass Takes Us Inside Ted K

Experimental electronic musician turned film composer Benjamin John Power (aka Blanck Mass) joins The Film Scorer Podcast! We initially set out to talk about his score for Ted K, which mixes gentle, ambient textures and pounding melodies to get into the head of domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski. However, we take a detour and first talk about his other new score (which, as of recording, hadn't released) for Gazza, which covers the troubled life of British footballer Paul Gascoigne (aka Gazza). Blanck Mass also talks about how hearing Ennio Morricone's score to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly at six years old inspired him to score for film, his long journey to finally having that opportunity (the Irish crime drama Calm with Horses), and the new scoring challenges he hopes to one day face.

 

Ted K is available to watch digitally in the US (but is forthcoming in the UK) while Gazza is available via BBC iPlayer (but is forthcoming in the US). Blanck Mass's score for Ted K (though not Gazza), and almost all of his other music, is available digitally, particularly on BandCamp.

An Interview with Nicole Russin-McFarland (and Christopher Andrew Norris)

Film composer and director Nicole Russin-McFarland joins The Film Scorer Podcast! But, Nicole didn't come alone; joining her is voice actor Christopher Andrew Norris, a frequent collaborator of Nicole's (though those of you with deft ears might notice a third guest - Nicole's cat - who makes some infrequent background appearances...). We discuss their working relationship and process, spanning several dozen radio plays that the two have put together, and both of their future plans and aspirations. In addition, we cover topics like accessibility and discrimination issues in film and film music, the AWAL music program, UJAM's virtual instruments, and the Stan Winston School for film effects and vfx (among many other things).

 

Much of Nicole's music, including her many collaborations with Chris, are available digitally on all platforms. Find out more about Nicole on her website and more about Chris on his website.

 

This was only my third interview with multiple guests, but the first one where they both called in from different locations. A lot to handle, to be sure, but also a lot of fun! And I think the fun carries over into the interview itself.

 

CJ Mirra Makes ’A Banquet’

Pleased to have composer CJ Mirra join The Film Scorer Podcast! We primarily talk about CJ's feature scoring debut, the UK family drama/horror film A Banquet. Much of CJ's score oscillates between eerie, dreadful atmospheres and textures and gentler yet ominous melodies that complement the film's many classical music extracts. We also get into his prolific work in short surf films (working on 20+), which are collected in the compilation Static, culminating in scoring the upcoming Apple TV Series Make or Break that follows the World Surf League.

 

A Banquet is available to watch digitally, and CJ's score (as well as much of his other music) is available digitally on all platforms or on vinyl through Burning Witches Records. Find out more about CJ on his website.

 

DeAndre Allen-Toole

At the end of January I "attended" Sundance to watch God's Country, a drama/thriller starring Thandiwe Newton. Today DeAndre Allen-Toole, the film's composer, joins the show! We chat about the film, including the challenges of making his feature scoring debut, palette choices, and the months he and director Julian Higgins spent in pre-production. We also cover his long journey into becoming a composer for media and some of his future goals and dreams.

God's Country releases this fall, although you can listen to some of DeAndre's score (and find out more about him) on his website.

Patrick Stump: From Fall Out Boy to Film Music

Fall Out Boy vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter turned media composer Patrick Stump joins the show! While our intended focus his score for the new Disney show Spidey And His Amazing Friends, we spend a significant time talking about his transition into a media composer, his early love for film music, and what it's like having this dream finally come true. Eventually we turn to Spidey And His Amazing Friends, covering his rock-powered score and how he composed new (and addressed familiar) themes for the show's characters.

 

Spidey And His Amazing Friends season 1 is on Disney Junior/Disney+ and YouTube, with season 2 on the horizon. You can listen to several of Patricks' scores, including singles from the show, on all major platforms.

The Best Film Scores of 2021

Better late than never - The Film Scorer returns for the annual tradition of covering the "best" film scores of 2021. These scores aren't presented in any particular order, and are really just favorites - there are NO "best" scores! Feel free to chime in with some of your favorites from the world of film and beyond; even if they didn't make the list, chances are they were close!

Colin Stetson Scores a Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Colin Stetson (Hereditary, Red Dead Redemption II) joins The Film Scorer podcast to talk about his brutal, unconventional score to Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Netflix's new installment in the iconic horror series. Texas Chainsaw Massacre probably displays Colin at his most unrestrained, as the filmmakers largely gave him free reign to go as unconventional and vicious as possible. You can hear this in Colin's voice when he describes the score and composing process, and the feeling is infectious. As always, we go on some tangents like how horror and other film genres compare in terms of score and Ann Arbor's old DIY music scene (a town where we coincidentally both spent a lot of time).

 

Texas Chainsaw Massacre is now streaming on Netflix while Colin's score is available everywhere. You can also order the gorgeous vinyl from Waxwork Records. Find out more about Colin on his website.