The Film Scorer (Nicholas Marcus)

While the main branch of The Film Scorer Podcast is on its post-season 2 hiatus, I've decided to do something a little different to fill the absence. I'll be doing some shorter-form audio reviews of film scores. The first of these is Dan Wool's score to the brilliant stop-motion monstrosity, Phil Tippett's Mad God. It's a bleak, apocalyptic piece that blurs the edges of sound design. I highly recommend the score and the film!

You can also read my review of Wool's score here: https://thefilmscorer.com/dan-wools-mad-score-for-phil-tippetts-mad-god-2022-film-score-review/

Composer, violinist, and pianist Ros Gilman talks about his upcoming animated film The Last Cloudweaver, his road to becoming a film composer, and much more!

Find out more about Ros on his website.

Selections of Gilmans' scores are available on all major streaming platforms and YouTube.

It's a new year, which means a new batch of great film music to listen to! To help you out, The Film Scorer covers some of the best and most notable film scores released from the first three months of the year, including scores like Enys Men by Mark Jenkin, Broker by Jung Jae-Il, L'envol by Gabriel Yared, and many 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.

One note: I accidentally reference Chris Lord when I meant to say Chris Miller (of Lord and Miller).

In between composer interviews, The Film Scorer covers some of the best, most notable, and favorite film scores from October through December, 2021. These include Halloween Kills by Cody Carpenter, John Carpenter, and Daniel A. Davies , The Matrix Resurrections by Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer, Spencer and The Power of the Dog by Jonny Greenwood, 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:

October: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-october-2021/

November: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-november-2021/

December: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-december-2021/

In this somewhat Halloween-flavored episode, Rostam Batmanglij (Rostam) (ex-Vampire Weekend, The OA) joins the show! Taking a little detour from his solo and collab music, and writing and producing for other artists like Haim, Charli XCX, and Frank, Ocean, Rostam and I primarily talk about his new score for the film The Persian Version. Rostam's score is quite subtle and restrained, marrying ancient Iranian music with Western classical music, as well as some pop and more mainstream musical influences from the last several decades. His score is capped by a cover of Cyndi Lauper's classic "Girls Just Want To Have Fun", featuring some very cool Iranian musical twists. As always, Rostam and I travel along various tangents, including his interest in film music from a young age, his first post-college music gig (with composer Craig Wedren (Yellowjackets, School of Rock)) and how this experience influenced his work on Vampire Weekend, and his Iranian cultural identity.

The Persian Version is available digitally while Rostam's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms. Meanwhile, you can find out more about Rostam on his website.

Gazelle Twin (aka Elizabeth Bernholz) joins the show to head up the season finale of season 1 of The Film Scorer Podcast! The experimental/avantgarde composer talks about her film score debut with 2020's Nocturne and her follow-up collaborative score for The Power with Max de Wardener. In the process, we talk about ritualism and early music, the themes that draw her to horror films, and the amazing British composer Mica Levi.

Find out more about Gazelle Twin on her website. Nocturne is currently available on Amazon Prime and The Power is currently available on Shudder. Gazelle Twin's scores, as well as her full solo back catalog, are available on all major streaming platforms or on Bandcamp.

Film composer and singer-songwriter Steph Copeland joins the show to talk about, among other things: her recent scores for Vicious Fun, The Retreat, and The Oak Room, as well as her trend of scoring for horror and balancing her dual identities of a film composer and a solo artist.

Find out more about Steph on her website. Vicious Fun is currently available on Shudder while the others are available on VOD. Certain of Steph's scores, as well as her solo back catalog, are available on all major streaming platforms or on Bandcamp.

I'm getting closer and closer to having conducted one hundred composer interviews, and yet I don't think I've ever covered a Marvel score in one (let alone any superhero score). With Laura Karpman (Ms. Marvel, What If...?) joining the show, that all changes. Laura is fresh off of scoring the latest MCU film, The Marvels, starring Brie Larson (Captain Marvel), Iman Vellani (Ms. Marvel), and Teyonah Parris (Captain Rambeau), in an interplanetary adventure. As such, we spend most of the conversation digging into her score, and particularly the great lengths to which she was able to experiment with sound. Along the way we talk about composer unionization, her other new score, for the upcoming film American Fiction (which score has been nominated for an Oscar), and more!

The Marvels is currently playing in theaters while Laura's score, and much of her other music, is available on all major platforms. American Fiction is set to release on December 15, and Laura's score is scheduled to release the same day. Meanwhile, you can find out more about Laura on her website.

Note that there is a brief spoiler for The Marvels in the interview. Once you hear a chime, skip ahead 15 seconds to avoid it.

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.

Three-time Oscar nominated composer Carter Burwell (True Grit, Three Billboards Outside Billing, Missouri) joins The Film Scorer Podcast! We primarily talk about his latest score, which also happened to land him his third Oscar nomination (as well as another BAFTA nom), The Banshees of Inisherin! This includes determining the sound palette (going from initial ideas for period-appropriate Irish music to incorporating an Indonesian gamelan), pulling out the essence of Colin Farrell's character, and more. Along the way, he gives his thoughts on experimentation in film music and the benefit of having more time to sit down and score, while briefly covering his a capella score for Catherine Called Birdy.

I was immediately drawn to Carter's score, in part because it deviates from and subverts expectation. Carter creates a sort of dark fairy tale, balancing a childlike sense with melancholy and foreboding, all through a minimal and restrained sound palette. On this point, he told me "When I started really thinking why does this music work or what am I trying to achieve, I began thinking that what it really is doing is turning the movie into a fable. It’s playing a little more like a fairytale.” This comes, in part, because of Carter's choice to largely use the music to play off of Colin Farrell's character, to embody him and his troublesome journey through the film.

You can find out more about Carter on his website. The Banshees of Inisherin is currently available on HBO Max and Carter's score, as well as many of his other works, is available digitally on all major platforms.

Experimental composer and musician Tom Hodge joins to talk about his latest film score: The Mauritanian, a Golden Globe nominated political and legal drama starring Jodie Foster, Tahar Rahim, and Benedict Cumberbatch. We also talk about various and historical approaches to film music, dealing with difficult subject matter, and advice for young composers.

Find out more about Tom on his website.

The Mauritanian is now out in theaters and Tom's score is available on all major streaming platforms.

Composer Frank Ilfman joins The Film Scorer podcast to do a deep dive into his score for the hit Netflix action film 'Gunpowder Milkshake.' During the dive, we touch on the score's spaghetti western, noir, and broader 60s and 70s American, French, and Italian influences. Along the way we also touch on Frank's own influences, including a chance encounter with Klaus Doldinger during the recording of 'The NeverEnding Story'!

Find our more about Frank on his website. 'Gunpowder Milkshake' is currently available on Netflix while Frank's score (and many of his other scores) is available on all major streaming platforms.

Note: during the introduction I state that 'Gunpowder Milkshake' released in Netflix in the UK this weekend. That's incorrect - it released in theaters and on SKY Cinema.

Season 5 of The Film Scorer Podcast continues to pick up steam as Kris Bowers (Bridgerton, Green Book) joins the show! The Academy Award winner and nominee (who was just nominated for a Grammy for his score to The Color Purple a few days ago) recently scored the hit animated film The Wild Robot. As such, Kris and I spend much of our conversation talking about his score, which is both adventurous and a tearjerker, and filled with thematic exploration. The conversation touches on the challenges of scoring for animation, the increasing amount of space the film made for Kris's score, how it let Kris run wild with his passion for thematic and melodic scoring (drawing a number of Star Wars parallels), and plenty more.

Kris's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms. The Wild Robot is currently in theaters, and available to watch at home now. You can find out more about Kris on his website. Kris's score for The Wild Robot has since been nominated for a Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Oscar!

I've been familiar with Yair Elazar Glotman ever since I heard his score for Last and First Men, which he co-composed with the great Jóhann Jóhannsson. As such, it's great to finally have him on the show! Yair and I primarily talk about his score for the new Netflix crime thriller Reptile, for which Yair has composed a fairly dense, abstract, and textural score. The score - and the film overall - has homages to older noir films, helping solidify this film as a sort of neo-noir, but it's also aware of itself and these influences, giving them nods while also attempting something new and distinct. Along the way, we hit a number of other points, like Yair's constant quest for inspiration and knowledge (whether it be studying different playing or recording techniques, new composers, or esoteric music concepts), how scores and solo albums influence one another, and more.

Reptile is currently available on Netflix while Yair's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms. Meanwhile, you can find out more about Yair on his website.

In a Film Scorer first, a composer-director team joins the show! Composer Suvi-Eeva Äikäs & director Ben Steiner recently worked together on Ben's film Matriarch (which Ben directed and which Suvi scored). As such, we primarily talk about Suvi's score for Matriarch from both the director and composer perspectives (and with them each touching on sound design as well, particularly regarding the score edging into sound design and the sound design edging into score). Along the way, we touch on some big questions, like the role of film music, collaborating (and how to push back), and plenty more.

Suvi and Ben actually connected in Bristol, England through a mutual friend, Ben Salisbury (Annihilation, Ex Machina). Suvi has also worked with Ben Salisbury and his longtime composing partner Geoff Barrow on several projects, including Devs and Men.

You can find out more about Suvi on her website or about Ben on his website. Suvi's score is out on all major platforms, and Matriarch is currently on Hulu.

Composer, guitarist, and keyboardist Rob Lord talks about his "cosmic country" score for the Amazon Prime hit 'Troop Zero.' Along the way they discuss their favorite scores of 2019, David Bowie, and floating through the jazz world of New Orleans.

Find out more about Rob on his website. Troop Zero is currently available on Amazon Prime and Rob's score is available on all major streaming platforms, released through Lakeshore Records.

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.

Fresh off of scoring the critical and box office hit action film John Wick 4, Tyler Bates (Guardians of the Galaxy Vols. 1 & 2, 300, The Punisher) joins The Film Scorer Podcast! Unsurprisingly, Tyler and I spend a decent amount of time talking about his work on John Wick; not just the latest film, but his work across all four entries and his collaboration across each with Joel J. Richard as well. Throughout the chat, we also cover Tyler's latest series, the animated action/spy show Agent Elvis on Netflix (which he co-scored with Tim Williams), his interest in equitable collaboration, and how he continues to push himself to improve and break his own boundaries.

One note: prior to the interview Tyler had spent the preceding few days playing shows with Jerry Cantrell and flying across the country, so he has a slight cold throughout.

You can find out more about Tyler on his website. John Wick 4 is in theaters while Agent Elvis is on Netflix, and Tyler's scores, as well as many of his other works, are available digitally on all major platforms.

With the season 3 premiere right around the corner, we've decided to drop an interview to tease your appetite. Dominic Lewis (Violent Night, The King's Man) joins The Film Scorer to talk about his new score to the hit action film Bullet Train. Dom's score is a self-described concept album featuring numerous, far-reaching influences and a number of faux needle drops that completely fooled me when I watched the film. Dom also briefly talks about his two upcoming Christmas films (including Spirited, a musical starring Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds) and how to make Christmas music that doesn't sound like every other Christmas score. Finally, Dom ends the interview by talking about his time working at (and giving a rare peak behind the scenes into) Remote Control Productions, Hans Zimmer's film scoring production company.

As I mention during the interview, hearing Dom's score is what sold me on the interview. It's such a wild genre mix that somehow works, ending up even more weird and gonzo than the underlying film. It's always exciting when composers try to push the boundaries a bit, and even more so when they can do it in an otherwise mainstream release.

Bullet Train is available to watch in theaters. Dom's score, and all of his other music, is available digitally.

Blockbuster Chinese composer Elliot Leung joins The Film Scorer Podcast! Elliot's latest score is for the major Korean War film The Battle at Lake Changjin, which released this weekend and has already smashed numerous box office records (as well as being the highest grossing film in the world this weekend). However, we only briefly discuss his score. Instead, we touch on his other films, his general process, and how Martin O'Donnell's score for Halo inspired Elliot to pursue a career in composing for film and other media!

You can find more information about Elliot on his website. The Battle at Lake Changjin is currently in theaters in China, but has not yet had a worldwide release. Elliot's score is similarly forthcoming, but you can listen to his scores for Operation Red Sea and The Rescue on all major streaming platforms.

I recently chatted with experimental composer Maya Shenfeld about her first major foray into film scoring: the Oscar shortlisted documentary The Flagmakers. Fresh off of her critically acclaimed debut album, In Free Fall (which experiments through electroacoustic arrangements), Maya's score for The Flagmakers is a contemporary, modernized take on traditional American minimalism (á la Reich and Glass). Not only do we discuss these two pieces, but we also cover Maya's long-time interest in film music, dive into the world and communities of experimental music, and more.

You can find out more about Maya on her website or on bandcamp. The Flagmakers has not yet been released, and Maya is still working on potentially releasing (and expanding) her score for the documentary, although her prior works are available on all major digital platforms (and her cinematic album called Cinematic Minimalism and released under the nom de guerre Rouge Fou.

Tim Hecker, one of the leading voices in experimental electronic music (sometimes referred to as "ambient") joins The Film Scorer Podcast! Tim and I primarily talk about his score to the new film Infinity Pool, a psychedelic, nasty ride with an equally wowing, disorienting score. Among the stranger aspects of the score is that Tim actually utilized the sounds of Mediterranean cicadas, spending hours trawling through YouTube for the perfect samples before eventually turning them into a sort of Baltic banjo in a Deliverance homage for the regressive, yet future-forward dystopian mythical island state on which the film takes place. We then get into, among other things, the problematic nature of the "ambient" genre label and our increasing disconnect with music.

One note on this interview: after the introduction, it begins mid-conversation between Tim and I. Our pre-interview small talk started going too deep, so I felt the need to capture it and keep it going rather than abruptly stop it to start a more "formal" interview.

You can find out more about Tim on his website. Infinity Pool is now available on demand and Tim's score, as well as many of his other works, is available digitally on all major platforms. Although the score is not available there, most of Tim's works are available directly through bandcamp.

Prolific composer and musician Roger Mason joins The Film Scorer Podcast! They talk broadly about Roger's media compositions and approach, as well as: the differences between Australian and American productions; figuring out how to play what's in your head; and the famed Australian musician David Page. Note that there's no small talk on this one - Roger jumps straight into the heavy stuff!

I was particularly excited to talk with Roger given his pre-composing background. He was well known on the post-punk/new wave scene, playing in Models, Gary Numan's backing band, and the supergroup Illustrated Man (with members of Japan and Gang of four), while also touring with Wall of Voodoo. Though Roger expected to have left that lifestyle long behind, he's recently worked with Steve Kilbey (of The Church) on a number of projects, including the album "The Hall of Counterfeits" by Steve Kilbey & the Winged Heels.

Find out more about Roger on his website. Many of Roger's scores are available on all major streaming platforms, and the films and shows themselves are available across a variety of streaming platforms too.

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!

Composer Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch joins the show! Emilie's latest score is for the film All of Us Strangers, a sort of romance-fantasy-supernatural film that I found absolutely moving. As such, we primarily talk about her score for that film, including talking about striking an emotional balance (one that feels organic but not manipulative), avoiding falling into "period" piece clichés, and more. We then meander into other topics, like the use of Michel Legrand's score from The Go-Between in May December and the freedom that horror gives composers.

You can find out more about Emilie on her website. All of Us Strangers is currently in theaters, and Emilie's score is available on all major platforms with a curated vinyl release forthcoming. You may have seem me talk about how much I love when a score release is curated, so it shouldn't be a surprise to say I'm looking forward to that!

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.

Film and video game composer Nima Fakhrara (Detroit: Become Human; Becky) joins the show to talk about, among other things: diversity in film music, the necessity of being genuine in everything you create, and a few of his latest projects.

Find out more about Nima on his website. Many of Nima's film and video game scores are available on all major streaming platforms.

With Season 3 over and the prevalence of union strikes in the American film and tv landscape, I've decided to use this break to give a brief overview as to why composers in the US don't have a union (unlike almost everyone else in the industry). There's a little history in here, a little legal discussion, and some conjecture and opinions I've picked up from composers lately. That said, I've tried to keep my own opinion out of this (and this certainly isn't legal advice).

Keep in mind that I've simplified a number of the concepts. For instance, more factors go into the work-for-hire analysis to determine whether something falls into it, but that broader discussion would be beyond this brief episode. I've also realized that I refer to Loyola in Chicago, when the correct reference should have been to Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles.

In the latest episode of The Film Scorer podcast I'm joined by Wilbert Roget, II (Star Wars: Outlaws, Helldivers 2, Mortal Kombat). While Wilbert is best known for his work scoring video games, including recently receiving a Grammy nomination for Star Wars: Outlaws, our focus is on something a little different. Wilbert has just made his first foray into scoring for tv, with the limited series Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance! As such, we dig deep into his score for the six-episode series, including building out the eclectic sonic palette, working closely with the Japanese team, being the first non-Japanese composer to score a Gundam project (and the pressures that come with that, and plenty more. He even lists some of his favorite Gundam series, both in terms of overall show as well as primarily for their score. We also drive down other avenues, such as his work on other games, scoring 48-hour game jams, and how Japanese music his significantly impacted him.

Wilbert's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms. Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance is currently on Netflix (at least in most territories). You can find out more about Wilbert on his website.

Season three of The Film Scorer Podcast is finally here! Joining me is legendary musician and composer Cosey Fanni Tutti. Film music fans may not be quite as familiar with Cosey, who's best known for being a founding member of the band Throbbing Gristle, arguably the pioneers of industrial music. However, Cosey has also been busy with solo work, collaborations, and even film scoring. As such, we primarily discuss her score for the film Delia Derbyshire: The Myths & The Legendary Tapes, about the influential electronic musician and composer Delia Derbyshire. We also talk about her new book, Re-Sisters: The Lives and Recordings of Delia Derbyshire, Margery Kempe and Cosey Fanni Tutti, which serves as a "meditation on womanhood, creativity and self-expression, and a revelatory exploration into the lives of three visionary artists" (description courtesy of Amazon).

Cosey's score is fascinating, weird, and, at times, completely haunting; I really enjoyed it. It released on September 16 and is available on all major platforms and on vinyl from Cargo Records. Cosey's other music, both as a solo artist and in her various collaborations and bands, is also widely available.

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.

Although we've just entered 2025, this series is deep in the middle of 2024. The months of April, May, and June released some of my favorite scores of the year (feel free to guess which) as well as arguably the most popular score of the year in Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross's Challengers, and plenty more scores, both big and small. I also noticed that I've interviewed almost a third of the composers mentioned during this period - I still get surprised now and again with just how many folks I've interviewed!

Keep your eye on The Film Scorer website for reviews and articles covering some of these scores, including detailed writeups and lists.

April: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-april-2024/ 

For a full list of the scores discussed in this episode, see below:

• Challengers - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
• Confidenza - Thom Yorke
• Horizon: An American Saga, Chapter 1 - John Debney
• The Dead Don't Hurt - Viggo Mortensen
• Le Comte de Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo) - Jerome Rebotier
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes - John Paesano
• Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga - Tom Holkenborg
• Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver - Tom Holkenborg
• Young Woman and the Sea - Amelia Warner
• The Rooster - Stefan Gregory
• The Swimming Diaries - Donna McKevitt
• Evil Does Not Exist - Eiko Ishibashi
• The First Omen - Mark Korven
• All You Need Is Death - Ian Lynch
• I Saw the TV Glow - Alex G
• The Glassworker - Carmine Di Florio and Usman Riaz
• Back to Black - Nick Cave and Warren Elli
• Sasquatch Sunset - The Octopus Project
• Civil War - Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury
• We Grown Now - Jay Wadley
• Unfrosted - Christophe Beck
• The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare - Christopher Benstead
• If - Michael Giacchino
• Hit Man - Graham Reynolds

It's a bit worrying to realize that we're now over halfway through the 2020s - where has the time gone? Well, I suppose we all know one collective reason why it feels like a blur... But rather than lament the passage of time, I've decided to celebrate what's been released during the last five years; specifically, celebrating the "best" film scores of the decade, so far.

Joining me in this endeavor is David Rosen, a fellow podcast host and film composer. Dave and I have "known" each other virtually for a few years now and this gave us a good reason to hop on video for a little while. I'll also give a shout out to Dave's primary podcast, Piecing It Together, where he and various guest hosts look at what past films (the puzzle pieces) have inspired the films of today (the puzzle). It's a pretty cool show, even if I've always been too hesitant to hop on and join for an episode.

If you don't want to listen, you can see each of our lists below (though you'll miss out on the why of the choices, which is most of the fun). My list isn't presented in any particular order while Dave's is presented in descending order, saving the best for last. Don't be shy, feel free to chime in (whether commenting on this episode, dm, or calling me out publicly) with some of your favorite scores of the decade too.

• Blonde – Nick Cave and Warren Ellis
• Drive My Car – Eiko Ishibashi
• Oppenheimer – Ludwig Göransson
• The Batman – Michael Giacchino
• Dune (Parts 1 and 2) – Hans Zimmer
• The Brutalist – Daniel Blumberg
• The Green Knight – Daniel Hart
• The Personal History of David Copperfield – Christopher Willis
• Cryptozoo – John Carroll Kirby
• Smile 2 – Cristobal Tapia de Veer

10. Challengers – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

9. Gretel and Hansel – Rob

8. The Last Duel – Harry Gregson-Williams

7. Minari – Emile Mosseri

6. The Brutalist – Daniel Blumberg

5. Smile 2 – Cristobal Tapia de Veer

4. Conclave – Volker Bertelmann

3. A Different Man – Umberto Smerilli

2. Windfall – Danny Bensi & Saunder Jurriaans

1. Oppenheimer – Ludwig Göransson

Season Three of The Film Scorer Podcast is almost here! The new season launches on Sunday, October 2nd, with new episodes continuing every other Sunday. Given the breadth of guests in Season Two, you never who will show up this time around - but I can promise, there's already some great names signed up!

So subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, follow The Film Scorer on Instagram and Twitter, and keep those ears open.

As the year draws to a close, The Film Scorer covers some of the best and most notable film scores released from July, August, and September 2022. These include scores like Nope by Michael Abels, Blonde by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, and many more. A breadth of film music awaits!

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:

July: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-july-2022/

August: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-august-2022/

September: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-september-2022/

The Film Scorer takes a breather from composer interviews to cover some of the best, most notable, and favorite film scores from July through September, 2021. These include Dune and the Dune Sketchbook by Hans Zimmer, The Green Knight by Daniel Hart, Beckett and Minamata by Ryuichi Sakamoto, and a whole load more! 

See below for articles covering some of my favorite scores for the following months, including detailed writeups and lists:

July: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-july-2021/

August: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-august-2021/

September: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-september-2021/

Five-time Grammy winner Mike Post joins The Film Scorer podcast! A lot of you will probably be familiar with Mike already, who boasts one of the most impressive tv resumes of all time. For those of you that aren't, Mike's responsible for the two-note “dun-dun” sound in Law & Order, as well as themes and scores for shows like The Rockford Files, Hill Street Blues, The A-Team, Magnum P.I., NYPD Blue, L.A. Law, various Law & Order shows, and many, many more. He's also played for and with tons of classic artists, like Sonny & Cher and Kenny Rogers, and has produced albums for a number of artists, including Van Halen. Frankly, it's one heck of a career. Despite all that, Mike and I focus our conversation on something a bit different: his new album, Message from the Mountains & Echoes of the Delta (though of course we still talk a bit about some of those other pieces too - they're too intriguing to pass up!).

Message from the Mountains & Echoes of the Delta marks Mike's first non-tv album in something like 55 years. I assumed that would be particularly exciting, releasing music that's his, but he surprised me by saying "[t]he music I make for TV is my own music, it’s just attached to somebody else’s art.” It's a very cool mixture, with half of the album being an exploration of an orchestra and bluegrass rhythm section and the second half exploring orchestra and the blues. He's also pulled in some of the heaviest hitters in each respective genre to make up the rhythm sections - highly recommend looking up each player!

You can find out more about Mike on his website. Message from the Mountains & Echoes of the Delta is currently available on all major platforms here.

Australian composer Stefan Gregory joins The Film Scorer to talk about his score to the new Netflix historical drama The Dig. They also discuss Stefan's journey from being in an indie-rock band to becoming a composer for film, experimentation in film music, and the parallels between opera and film history and development.

Find out more about Stefan on his website. While The Dig is currently available on Netflix, Stefan's score is not yet available, though hopefully it will be soon.

Composer (and fan of the show!) Michael Yezerski joins The Film Scorer podcast to give an in-depth look at his score for the new Starz series Blindspotting! Michael actually co-composed the score with avantgarde and renowned jazz trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, and Ambrose was originally scheduled to join the chat but unfortunately had to drop out. Hopefully both composers will be able to join when season 2 rolls around!

We also talk about some of Michael's recent film scores, including The Vigil and The Tax Collector, while exploring some of his musical interests, scoring process, and advice for up-and-coming composers!

You can find more about Michael on his website. Blindspotting is available on Starz, while Michael's score is available on all major platforms.

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.

Four-time Grammy nominated music producer and supervisor Matt Sullivan (Chicago, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast) joins The Film Scorer Podcast! We primarily discuss his work with Steven Spielberg as executive music producer on West Side Story, how he carved this role out for himself almost by accident on the set of Chicago, and the upcoming musical Disenchanted!

Matt is actually the first non-composer to join the show, and it was great having a crash-course in music supervision and production, especially from the man synonymous with the mega-musical!

Composer Ben Symons talks about his dread-filled score for the new UK horror film Hosts, his approaches to film music, composing for major YouTube streamers, and much more!

Find out more about Symons on his website.

Hosts is currently available on VOD while Symons' scores are available on all major streaming platforms.

Excited to have composer Ariel Marx join the show! Ariel has been on a major upswing in 2021, scoring Shiva Baby (which I loved), Rebel Hearts, and the third episode of American Horror Stories. We talk about a few of these projects (as well as some others that are on the way), how the love of collaboration brought her into composing for media, and more!

You can find more about Ariel on her website. Shiva Baby and American Horror Stories are both streaming on Hulu while Rebel Hearts is on discovery+. Meanwhile, most of Ariel's scores are available on all major platforms.

The latest guest on The Film Scorer Podcast is French composer Raphaelle Thibaut! Raphaelle (or simply Raph) has been primarily working in documentaries lately, scoring projects such as Secrets of the Whales, Introducing, Selma Blair, and Mama's Boy, the last of which being her latest project. We primarily talk about her score for Mama's Boy, which is a lovely, somber yet optimistic score told primarily through piano, with instances of woodwinds, acoustic guitar, and more. We also touch on some of her musical influences (60s and 70s French and Italian scores), how those influences compare with more modern scores, and appreciation for documentary music broadly.

You can find out more about Raph on her website. Mama's Boy is currently available on HBO Max, while Raph's score (and many of her prior works) is available on all major digital platforms.

Derek Kirkup joins The Film Scorer Podcast to talk about his gentle, bittersweet score to the new familial drama Sorority. Along the way we talk about Nic Cage's acting career and how his boundary-pushing approach may have parallels to pushing film music forward, as well as music in AR and VR cinematic experiences.

Sorority released on Amazon Prime on February 10th, and Derek's score comes out on February 14th. You can also find more out about Derek on his website.

Michael Price joins The Film Scorer for episode 2 of season 3! You might be most familiar with Michael Price (at least I was) from his work with David Arnold on the acclaimed and excellent Sherlock and Dracula series, both created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat. But Michael also spent five years working with Michael Kamen, beginning on Event Horizon and X-Men, and music edited a number of films including the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy. During our interview we talk about all of those. We also talk about, and cover most in-depth, Michael's latest solo album Whitsun, which becomes an intimate look at Michael's childhood in Yorkshire, a connection of sound and memory. It's a lovely, nostalgic album that's both sweet and melancholic, with a universality that conjures a sense of recollection no matter one's past.

As we wrapped up our chat, we began discussing the importance of music in one's life and Michael said: "If just one person made a little moment to play something or sing for themselves or with someone else in their family or with a friend, just that tiny one act I think is joyful and worthwhile…To anyone: if you do find yourself playing or singing, send me a note on Twitter, cheer us both up." So, if after listening you've found yourself playing or singing, but sure to let Michael know (and include me while you're at it).

Whitsun is available digitally and physically (via CD and cassette) on Michael's bandcamp, and digitally on all major platforms. Michael's scores are broadly available digitally and physically.

For those interested in Scored to Death: The Dark Art of Scary Movie Music, you can find out more information here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scoredtodeathmovie/scored-to-death-the-dark-art-of-scary-movie-music

The one and only Mark Korven (The Witch, The Lighthouse) joins me on The Film Scorer Podcast! Mark is probably best known for scoring films like The Witch and The Lighthouse, but his latest score is for Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. We talk about that film and his score, as well as his prior releases, his signature instrument the "Apprehension Engine," and Mark announces an upcoming 25th anniversary release of his score for Cube. Of course, during the interview we touch on a load more as well.

This was a very exciting interview for me since Mark's work is one of the reasons I began down this film music path in the first place. When I first saw The Witch, I found the music absolutely fascinating and unlike anything I'd really heard. Although I didn't begin writing about film music until a couple years after, it certainly planted the seed.

You can find more about Mark on his website. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is currently in theaters, while many of Mark's more recent scores are available on all major platforms.

Pleased to have Harry Gregson-Williams (Shrek, Mulan, The Chronicles of Narnia) join me for a quick chat. We primarily focus on his scores for the two new Ridley Scott films The Last Duel and House of Gucci, as well as his score for the upcoming Disneynature film Polar Bear. Along the way we talk about distraction in film music and some recent scores that Harry's been enjoying. Although it's a quick chat - Harry originally only had twenty minutes, though we stretched it to just over half an hour - we managed to cover a great amount!

These two films do a fantastic job of showing Harry's range. While The Last Duel is an often somber, heavily thematic and semi-period specific score (late 14th century), House of Gucci sees Harry jump into a much more stylized, nearly-contemporary sound.

The Last Duel is now available to rent while House of Gucci is currently in theaters, while many of Harry's scores are available on all major platforms. Although House of Gucci didn't end up having a full score from Harry, the film's soundtrack release does include his score suite.

For this new, experimental endeavor in The Film Scorer Podcast, catch up on some of the most noteworthy film score releases from the last three months (including brief thoughts on the recently wrapped-up awards season).

See below for articles covering some of my favorite scores for the following months, including detailed writeups and lists:

January: https://thefilmscorer.com/best-film-scores-of-january-2021/

February: https://thefilmscorer.com/best-film-scores-of-february-2021/

March: https://thefilmscorer.com/best-film-scores-of-march-2021/

To keep the newly-launched season 4 momentum rolling, I'm joined by composer Christopher Willis! Chris is actually responsible for some of my favorite scores in recent years, like The Death of Stalin and The Personal History of David Copperfield, as well as the excellent series Veep (among other things). However, I managed to keep the fan side of me at bay until the very end of our chat. Instead, we chat about his most recent works: the score for the animated film Lamya's Poem, featuring an incredibly lovely, lush main theme (one of my favorites of the year so far), and Demon 79, the last episode in the latest season of Black Mirror, which sees Chris embracing horror.

Along the way, of course, we dig into a number of other topics as well. These include what it's like for Chris and his wife Elyse to work together creating music, the use of AI in music (and particularly film and tv music), and more!

Lamya's Poem is available to rent or buy digitally while Demon 79 is available to watch on Netflix. Chris's scores for both, as well as many of his other works, are available to listen on all major platforms. Meanwhile, you can find out more about Chris on his website.

The Film Scorer Podcast is back from its season 4 mid-season break! To celebrate in this return, Sam Haft joins the show! As of now, Sam might be best known for being one-half of the duo The Living Tombstone, alongside Yoav Landau. Unsurprisingly, we dig a little bit into this, including how Sam got involved in the band (and his broader musical journey) and what his music-writing relationship with Yoav is like. The bigger part of our conversation, however, surrounds the new Prime adult-animated-musical series, Hazbin Hotel. Sam co-wrote all of the songs in the series (alongside Andrew Underberg). As such, Sam and I primarily talk about the show and his songs, including the demanding pace of work, how his writing process differs from that in The Living Tombstone, and the pressure of pleasing a large, dedicated fanbase.

The entirety of season 1 of Hazbin Hotel is now out on Prime, while Sam's songs (and much of his other music) is widely available on all major digital platforms. You can find out more about Sam on his website.

Season 4 is just around the corner! But until then, satiate your film music appetite by joining The Film Scorer to hear about some of the best or most notable film scores released from April through June of this year, featuring scores like Carmen by Nicholas Britell, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny by John Williams, and many more!

Keep your eye on The Film Scorer website for reviews and articles covering some of these scores, including detailed writeups and lists.

Join The Film Scorer as he talks with English composer Harry Escott about his jazzy and stylish score to the new BBC One political series Roadkill starring Hugh Laurie.  They also talk about some of Harry's films (like the Steve McQueen drama Shame) and a mutual love of drone.

Find out more about Harry on his site.

Roadkill is now airing on BBC One in the UK and PBS Masterpiece Theater in the US while many of Harry's scores are available on all major streaming platforms.

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/

We've reached the end . . . of season 4. To commemorate the occasion, Daniel Hart (The Green Knight, A Ghost Story) joins The Film Scorer! Daniel is fresh off of scoring season 2 of Interview with the Vampire, which itself had its season finale only a couple of weeks ago. As such, Daniel and I spend a lot of the interview discussing his scores for both seasons of the show (and some hints about what's to come in the newly-announced season 3). We then break out from there, discussing Philip Glass, the prospects of writing a recorder concerto, and plenty more.

Daniel's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms, and the series is available on AMC. You can find out more about Daniel on his website.

Composer Will Bates joins me to talk about scoring the Amazon Prime film Bliss, which stars Owen Wilson and Salma Hayek. Along the way we talk about his work on commercials, starting off as a jazz and indie rock musician, and creating recording and production studio Fall On Your Sword.

Find out more about Will on his website. Bliss is currently available on Amazon Prime and Will's score, as well as many of his other works, is available on all major streaming platforms.

Last year's Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey drew a pretty divisive reception, but my favorite part, Andrew Scott Bell's score, rose above all the noise and discord. With Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 about to release, Andrew joins me on The Film Scorer podcast. Unsurprisingly, Andrew and I spend a good chunk of the interview talking about his scores for both parts, including the aspect that impressed me the most: how he crafts an organic, "real" sounding score in the face of a very limited budget. Along the way, he talks about the importance of staying a bit playful, he showcases some of the weird, custom instruments used in his scores (like the "beehiveolin", a cello made out of a bear's skull, and the "glorious box"), and Andrew plays some clips from his scores for parts 1 and 2. The latter aspect was really cool: Andrew had a number of cues ready to go to give a closer view into the sound of the score.

You can find out more about Andrew on his website. Andrew's various scores are available on all major platforms, while Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 plays in theaters from March 26-28, with the score release likely to follow shortly thereafter.

Composer Jay Wadley joins The Film Scorer to talk about his score to I'm Thinking of Ending Things. As they had a limited amount of time (compared to most other interviews), the two go in-depth into the score, discussing how it came about, Jay's working relationship with director Charlie Kaufman, and the broader abstract thematic elements of Jay's work.

Find out more about Jay on his website. I'm Thinking of Ending Things is currently available on Netflix. Jay's score for I'm Thinking of Ending Things is not yet available, although portions of the score are available online, including the "Dream Ballet." Further, several of his other scores are available on all major streaming platforms.

To celebrate the season 3 finale, I'm joined by Grammy winning composer Steph Economou! Steph's latest score is for the Dreamworks animated film Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. As such, we primarily talk about Steph's score, including her choice to approach the score with a "cinematic dream pop" palette, implementing unique instruments like conch shells and the Bohemian Cristal Instrument, and the daunting nature of this being her first feature animated project. Of course, we also talk about her Grammy win, taking home the first ever Grammy for "Best Score Soundtrack For Video Games And Other Interactive Media" for her score to Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök, as well as the challenge and excitement of scoring for videogames broadly (among many other things).

I found Steph's score to be really exciting, in no small part because it's so distinct. While the "cinematic dream pop" sound ends up being particularly fitting for the film's underwater/nautical setting, it's an unusual choice for film music broadly, even more so for a family animated film. Those that know me will know by now that moving the sonic needle in media music is something I love to see, but so often it's done in indie films or in horror; for this to happen in a bigger-budget, mainstream film is great! Hopefully it's a trend that can continue. Steph mentions that the filmmakers gave her a lot of leeway right of the bat when it came to the score's palette, and she took full advantage of it. Even though she felt a bit daunted at first, with this being her first animated feature, she mentioned her two approaches in getting past it: "I just try to write music that I know I’ll be proud of later” and “you just gotta put your head down and do it; but the fear makes you better.” Things we can all live by.

You can find out more about Steph on her website. Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is currently in theaters and Steph's score, as well as many of her other scores, is available digitally on all major platforms.

To continue 2022's strong start, the great composer Marcelo Zarvos (Ray Donovan, The Equalizer 3) joins me for a quick chat! Marcelo recently scored the newly released film A Journal for Jordan, directed by Denzel Washington and starring Michael B. Jordan. We discuss his work on the film, some early Brazilian rock and metal, and what it's like working with Denzel.

It's a lovely, intimate score that manages to balance tragedy and love, always staying true to the drama that forms the heart of the film.

A Journal for Jordan is currently in theaters and Marcelo's score, as well as many of his works over the years, is available on all major platforms. You can also find out more about Marcelo by visiting his website.

On this Devil's Night, who better to raise a little hell with than my latest guest: Ben Lovett (The Night House, The Ritual). Ben and I primarily talk about his latest score, Hellraiser, which is a reimagining/remake of Clive Barker's original novella The Hellbound Heart. As part of that discussion, we cover (among other things), Ben's utilization of Chris Young's themes for the original film, making the score something uniquely his own, and dealing with the pressure (and external criticism) that comes with working on such a big, beloved (sometimes) franchise.

Hellraiser is currently streaming on Hulu, while Ben's score (and much of the rest of his music) is widely available physically and digitally, including on Ben's bandcamp. In addition, Mondo is releasing a limited edition (2,000 copies) vinyl in connection with Lakeshore Records and Death Waltz Recording.

Pleased to have Joe Kraemer join the podcast! Though known for films like Jack Reacher and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Joe's latest is the children's fantasy film Emily and the Magical Journey. We discuss that score near the end of the interview, and in the meantime we talk about his other works (including the upcoming Old Man starring starring Stephen Lang), late Soviet-era pop music, Pacino's character in Heat, and much more!

Find out more about Joe on his website. Emily and the Magical Journey is currently available on VOD while his score (and most of his back catalog) is available on all platforms.

The Film Scorer's first guest is Sean Carney!  A jazz vocalist, touring guitarist, and member of the bands WOLVES and Miscellaneous, Sean has recently released his first feature-length film score for the Neo-Western To Hell and Gone.  We dive deep into the process for scoring To Hell and Gone, making the jump into composing for features, and our joint dislike of the Star Wars prequels.

A short, highlights-only text version of the interview can be found here.

More information about Sean can be found on his website here.

To Hell and Gone is available on VOD while Sean's score is available on all major streaming platforms.

Composer Donna McKevitt joins The Film Scorer Podcast! Donna is someone that I've chatted to here and there over the last few years, so it was a treat having her on the show and finally getting the chance to "meet" her. Her latest scores are for The Swimming Diaries and My Name is Alfred Hitchcock, two very different documentaries and very different scores. Unsurprisingly, we spend much of our conversation talking about those two works, while also pivoting into other topics like the discrepancy in representation of male and female composers, the challenges that touring musicians face (and how much better things used to be, such as during her time in Miranda Sex Garden), and plenty more.

Donna's scores, and much of her other music, is available on all major platforms. The Swimming Diaries and My Name is Alfred Hitchcock are both forthcoming. You can find out more about Donna on her website.

While 2023 ended several months ago, here at The Film Scorer it's only just happened. Tune-in to hear about some of the best film scores that rounded-out the year, included Poor Things by Jerskin Fendrix, Killers of the Flower Moon by Robbie Robertson, Godzilla: Minus One by Naoki Sato, and plenty more that you may not be quite as familiar with.

Keep your eye on The Film Scorer website for reviews and articles covering some of these scores, including detailed writeups and lists.

For a full list of the scores discussed in this episode, see below:

• Poor Things - Jerskin Fendrix
• American Fiction - Laura Karpman
• The Marvels - Laura Karpman
• Killers of the Flower Moon - Robbie Robertson
• All of Us Strangers - Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch
• The Killer - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
• L'autre Laurens - Thomas Turine
• My Animal - Augustus Muller/Boy Harsher
• Holly - Johnny Jewel
• The Royal Hotel - Jed Palmer
• Biosphere - Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans
• The Pigeon Tunnel - Philip Glass and Paul Leonard-Morgan
• Grasshopper Republic - Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe
• Dream Scenario - Owen Pallett
• Saltburn - Anthony Willis
• Napoleon - Martin Phipps
• Mars Express - Fred Avril and Philippe Monthaye
• Godzilla Minus One - Naoki Sati
• Eileen - Richard Reed Parry
• The Iron Claw - Richard Reed Parry
• Society of the Snow - Michael Giacchino
• Leave the World Behind - Mac Quayle
• The Boys in the Boat - Alexandre Desplat
• Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget - Harry Gregson-Williams
• Migration - John Powell
• Rebel Moon - Part One - Tom Holkenberg/Junkie XL
• Ferrari - Daniel Pemberton

To finish up 2022, I attempt to unravel the new murder mystery Glass Onion, with the help of its composer, Nathan Johnson (Knives Out, Looper) . Not surprisingly, then, Nathan and I jump into his big, orchestral score, including revisiting themes from the predecessor film Knives Out, creating new themes (particularly the theme for Janelle Monáe's character, Andi), and finding the right sound for the film. Along the way we talk about working with Rian Johnson and Guillermo del Toro (with whom Nathan collaborated on 2021's Nightmare Alley), picking the right projects, impostor syndrome, and more!

You can find out more about Nathan on his website. Glass Onion is currently available on Netflix, while Nathan's score (and many of his prior works) is available on all major digital platforms.

As season 3 of The Film Scorer podcast slowly comes to a close (only a few episodes left), Chad Cannon (Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island) joins the show! Chad and I primarily talk about his latest score, which is for the documentary miniseries Algiers, America, following a high school football team in New Orleans (the Edna Carr Cougars). The score mostly features Chad's modern classical compositions, as well as some New Orleans-centric elements that Chad crafted with a few local musicians. As such, Chad talks about the challenge of scoring around three hours of music, visiting New Orleans to get in touch with the city's musicality, and balancing various musical elements, styles, and genres.

Along the way, we also cover Chad's prolific work in the documentary scoring arena, carving out a bit of a specialization within the field (although he has done a number of fiction films, series, and videogames as well), and how and why the public reception to documentary music differs from that of music for other media. Finally, we briefly touch on Chad's work in arranging for legendary composer Joe Hisaishi, and Chad's upcoming project in which Hisaishi is providing the main theme.

You can find out more about Chad on his website. Algiers, America is currently on Hulu, and while Chad's score is not yet available, many of his other works are available digitally on all major platforms.

Anne-Kathrin Dern is the latest guest on The Film Scorer Podcast! You might be most familiar with Anne's lush, thematically-rich traditional orchestral scoring on a number of family and animation films, but she's started to slowly move into more hybrid and pure electronic/textural film and game scoring as well. As such, we talk about this transition and how mixing up scoring styles makes her grow as a composer well maintaining her excitement in the field. This transition recently culminated with her latest score, The Devil Conspiracy, a far more electronic, textural horror score that also features heavy use of organ and choir. It's an unusual score for Anne, but also admittedly the most fun she's had scoring in a long time! We then move into discussing some heavier topics, including the recent article from The Guardian regarding MeToo in the composing world, the lack of opportunity for female composers, and the necessity for having open conversations about these types of issues.

You can find out more about Anne on her website. The Devil Conspiracy is now available on demand and Anne's score, as well as many of her other works, is available digitally on all major platforms.

With 2022 over, The Film Scorer covers some of the best and most notable film scores released from the last three months of the year. These include scores like Babylon by Justin Hurwitz, All Quiet on the Western Front by Volker Bertelmann, and many more. A breadth of film music awaits!

The episode opens with some awards season coverage, recorded prior to the BAFTA awards ceremony, and so predicts a Hurwitz win even though Volker Bertelmann ended up winning.

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:

October: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-october-2022/

November: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-november-2022/

December: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-december-2022/

Just because the podcast is between seasons and on a brief hiatus doesn't mean that the work stops. To keep me busy, I chatted with Brooke Blair and Will Blair (Blue Ruin, Green Room), the very rare sibling composer duo, about their latest score: Rebel Ridge. Rebel Ridge marks the fifth collaboration between the Blair Bros. and director Jeremy Saulnier, and is arguably their best. As such, we spend much of our time talking about their score, including developing the palette, experimenting with and avoiding musical clichés, and mimicking cicadas as a “symphony of terror”.

Beyond that, though, we discuss what it's like to build your career alongside a director, how to uncover a director's preferences (and the benefits in doing so), working as brothers (including when their third brother, Macon (I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore) gets added to the mix, and plenty more. I even try to get a little inside information about the forthcoming Toxic Avenger film, which they scored and their brother Macon directed, but no luck. For your benefit, the first long answer you'll hear comes from Will.

Brooke and Will's score, and much of their other music, is available on all major platforms, and Rebel Ridge is currently available on Netflix. You can find out more about Brooke and Will on their website.

Although we're now a couple months into 2025, I finally present you with the "best" film scores of 2024. As usual, there are some very mainstream scores in here that most observers would agree with and there are a few left field choices. If you're a longtime listener, that shouldn't surprise you. As with all of these lists, although I say they're the "best", what I really mean is these are my favorites. Who's to say what's really the best? Surely not me.

If you can't control yourself, look below to see what scores I picked, though you'll miss out on the why of it all. And make sure to check out my conversation with David Rosen (from Piecing It Together) to see what we think are the best film scores of the decade (so far).

• Evil Does Not Exist – Eiko Ishibashi
• Smile 2 – Cristobal Tapia de Veer
• Megalopolis - Osvaldo Golijov
• AGGRO DR1FT – AraabMuzik
• Dune 2 – Hans Zimmer
• The Brutalist – Daniel Blumberg
• Challengers – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
• Le Comte de Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo) - Jerome Rebotier
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes - John Paesano
• A Different Man – Umberto Smerilli

Dipping back into the well again, reaching to September 2020, here's the audio version (cleaned up and shortened) of my review of Mondo Boys' score for She Dies Tomorrow. Again, the audio is still a little rougher but after thirty seconds or so you don't really notice (or at least I didn't as I was editing). There's also a nauseating little cue thrown in the middle - which I embarrassingly called a "song", which Sony was kind enough to give me permission to use when I first recorded this.

I don't have a written review of this one, but I did end up reaching out to Mondo Boys shortly after and interviewing them: https://thefilmscorer.com/an-interview-with-mondo-boys/

This is one of my favorite interviews, because we recorded for about two and a half hours on a Saturday night, drinking whiskey. How I turned it into a tight, coherent, sub-hour interview I don't know...

The introductory episode to The Film Scorer's podcast!  Listen for an overview of this series and what's to come, featuring many, many film composer interviews.

Pleased to have Academy Award winning composer Volker Bertelmann join the show! Volker is fresh off of scoring the new adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front, a new bleak, harrowing anti-war version of the classic novel for which he's received his first Oscar and BAFTA wins! We chat primarily about this score, including creating some of the incredibly distinct, surprising sounds used throughout and his working relationship with long time collaborator (and the film's director) Edward Berger. We also cover a few more disparate topics, like his earlier days in the music industry, finding inspiration when writing, and the drive to constantly challenge himself (telling me "I love being challenged by things that I haven’t done before...I’m actually in a long learning curve of getting challenged”).

Volker's score has been fairly divisive, and I think that's a testament, in part, to the unorthodox sound palette and that drive to challenge himself. The score's main motif is a blaring three note siren or alarm, backed by the humming din of organized industrialization. Although it feels modern and electronic, the thrust of the motif is actually an amplified harmonium from the early 1900s, firmly placing it in the film's time period. It's one of those moments where immediately upon hearing the score's first few notes I knew I had to find out more. I'm glad I did, and I hope you are too!

You can find out more about Volker on his website. All Quiet on the Western Front is currently available on Netflix, while Volker's score (and many of his prior works) is available on all major digital platforms.

In an absolute coincidence, during International Women's Month Meg Remy (U.S. Girls) and Grace Glowicki join me on The Film Scorer Podcast! Our primary focus is the film Dead Lover, for which Grace is director, co-writer, and lead actress and Meg provided most of the score. As such, we talk about the film itself, the music (and how Meg and Grace worked together on it, trying to find a unifying style), and the benefit of having a female director and composer working together on a female-centric film.

The reason I say that Meg provided most of the score is because of the unusual approach they took to music on the film. Dead Lover is set in a sort of kaleidoscopic Victorian England that constantly jumps around in palette, tone, and style, and with added influences like German Expressionism and silent film. So Meg wrote original music, but also started pulled old music she'd written 15-20 years ago sitting unused on hard drives and scouring public domain music as well. While the final music is incredibly diverse, jumping from opera to 70s prog doom, they manage to unify it and make it all work.

Meg's score release is forthcoming (I believe), but her other music is available on all major platforms. Dead Lover is currently on the festival circuit, including at SXSW on March 9. You can find out more about Meg/U.S. Girls on her website.

2023 is nearly over, and to lead into the new year, The Film Scorer keeps you up to date on recent releases (perfect to chat about with your family over the holidays) by covering some of the best and most notable film scores released from July through September of this year, featuring scores like Oppenheimer by Ludwig Göransson, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Bottoms by Leo Birenberg and Charli XCX, and many more!

Keep your eye on The Film Scorer website for reviews and articles covering some of these scores, including detailed writeups and lists.

For a full list of the scores discussed in this episode, see below:

• • Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One - Lorne Balfe
  • The Starling Girl - Lord Huron
  • Creation of the Gods I - Feng Shen Trilogy - Gordy Haab
  • Oppenheimer - Ludwig Göransso
  • The Boy and the Heron – Joe Hisaishi
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
  • Haunted Mansion - Kris Bowers
  • The Last Voyage of the Demeter - Bear McCreary
  • A Haunting in Venice - Hildur Guðnadóttir
  • Blue Beetle - Bobby Krlic
  • Landscape with Invisible Hand - Michael Abel
  • They Cloned Tyrone - Pierre Charles and Desmond Murray
  • The Creator - Hans Zimmer
  • Barbie - Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt
  • Bottoms - Leo Birenberg and Charli XCX
  • The Monkey King - Toby Chu
  • Lamya's Poem - Christopher Willis
  • Cassandro - Marcelo Zarvos
  • She Came to Me - Bryce Dessner
  • PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie - Pinar Toprak

To celebrate his first full-length tv series score, Gareth Coker joins The Film Scorer podcast! You video game fans in particular may know Gareth from his work scoring games like Ori, Ark, and Halo Infinite, but Gareth hasn't stopped there. Given that he's already scored the various Ark games, it's no surprise that he was tapped to score Ark: The Animated Series, the animated adaptation of the Ark games. As such, we spend much of our interview talking about his scores for both the show and the game series and the interaction between the two, such as shared palettes and themes (including for the Broodmother fights). Along the way, we also talk about things like the score for Shōgun (Gareth's a fan), the keys behind making great exploration music (with a shoutout to Jesper Kyd's score for Assassin's Creed 2), and plenty more.

Candidly I wasn't super familiar with Gareth's music previously, other than his work on Ori and the Blind Forest, largely because I don't really play video games, which in turn probably limits how much video game music I listen to broadly. So preparing to talk with Gareth gave me the chance/excuse to start digging into his other scores, primarily for the Ark games. With Ark: The Animated Series, Gareth is able to bring the Ark palette into tv, with a massive orchestral score that's actually packed but also heavily focused on building great character themes. The success and quality of the score is, in part, a testament to the resources given to Gareth in the scoring process, something I'd love to see every studio do!

You can find out more about Gareth on his website. Ark: The Animated Series is currently streaming on Paramount+ while Gareth's score, and much of his other music, is widely available digitally.

The Film Scorer Podcast is back - covering some of the best and most notable film scores from April, May, and June 2021, including Junkie XL's Army of the Dead, Clint Mansell's In the Earth, and Abraham Marder and Nicolas Becker's Sound of Metal. Catch-up on the latest film music releases from across genre, composer, and continent!

See below for articles covering some of my favorite scores for the following months, including detailed writeups and lists:

April: https://thefilmscorer.com/best-film-scores-of-april-2021/

May: https://thefilmscorer.com/best-film-scores-of-may-2021/

June: https://thefilmscorer.com/best-film-scores-of-june-2021/

Welcome in the new year (and forget that it's already September) by hearing about some of the best and most notable film scores kicking off 2024, including Dune: Part 2 by Hans Zimmer, Spaceman by Max Richter, and plenty more, both big and small. Remember: the show is still in hiatus between seasons, but hopefully this can hold you over a little bit.

Keep your eye on The Film Scorer website for reviews and articles covering some of these scores, including detailed writeups and lists.

January: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-january-2024/

February: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-february-2024/ 

March: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-march-2024/

For a full list of the scores discussed in this episode, see below:

• Dune: Part 2 - Hans Zimmer
• Kung Fu Panda 4 - Steve Mazzaro and Hans Zimmer
• The Primevals - Richard Band
• Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire - Dario Marianelli
• Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire - Antonio Di Iorio and Tom Holkenborg
• How to Have Sex – Jakwob
• Happy Palace - Adrian Leung
• Silent Love - Joe Hisaishi
• The Seeding - Tristan Bechet (aka TRZTN)
• Night Swim - Mark Korven
• When Evil Lurks - Pablo Fuu
• Out of Darkness - Adam Janota Bzowski
• Femme - Adam Janota Bzowski
• Drive-Away Dolls - Carter Burwell
• Spaceman - Max Richter
• Love Lies Bleeding - Clint Mansell
• Problemista - Lia Ouyang Rusli
• Cop vs. Killer - Shaun Hettinger
• The End We Start From - Anna Meredith
• Home Sweet Home - Michael Kamm, Paul Rischer, and Maximilian Stephan
• Custom - Ted Regklis
• Des Teufels Bad - Anja Plaschg (aka Soap&Skin)
• Asphalt City - Nicolas Becker and Quentin Sirjacq
• Vivre avec les loups - Armand Amar

Peter Gregson joins The Film Scorer Podcast! Peter and I talk about his Recomposed Bach Cello Suites (in which Peter re-examined some of Bach's great cello works), taking me far out of my musical knowledge depth and comfort! We also discuss his excellent new album 'Patina' and his forays into scoring for film and other media. During the conversation, Peter mimics a few cello melodies by singing, which is a highlight that can't be missed.

You can find out more about Peter on his website, while his scores and 'Patina' are available on all major services (with 'Patina' also being available to buy from Deutsche Grammophon). It's an excellent album and I highly recommend checking it out!

Season 5 of The Film Scorer Podcast is here! In the Season 5 premiere I chat with composer Amelia Warner. Amelia's latest score is for the Disney sports biopic Young Woman and the Sea (starring Daisy Ridley), about Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim across the English Channel. As such, we spend much of our conversation focused on that score, including how her score and approaches developed over time, balancing the film's sports and family aspects, working closely with legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and plenty more. Along the way, we also talk about things like Mary Shelley and the pros and cons of temp music.

Amelia's score, and much of her other music, is available on all major platforms, and Young Woman and the Sea is currently available on Disney+. You can find out more about Amelia on her website.

The BAFTAs air on February 16 and the Oscars on March 2. I'd never consider myself a big awards season guy, but I love that it's the one time of year where film music is widely celebrated and has a little spotlight, if only briefly. As such, here's a little peek into the six nominated scores between the two awards.

I've also done interviews on two of the six nominated scores (The Wild Robot and The Brutalist) and also interviewed Volker Bertelmann a little while back about his BAFTA and Oscar winning score for All Quiet on the Western Front, so seek those out as well

BAFTAs:

• Nosferatu – Robin Carolan
• Emilia Perez– Camille and Clément Ducol
• Conclave – Volker Bertelmann
• The Wild Robot – Kris Bowers
• The Brutalist – Daniel Blumberg

Oscars:

• Wicked  – John Powell and Stephen Schwartz
• Emilia Perez– Camille and Clément Ducol
• Conclave – Volker Bertelmann
• The Wild Robot – Kris Bowers
• The Brutalist – Daniel Blumberg
•  

As the inter-season hiatus winds down, The Film Scorer covers some of the best, most notable, and favorite film scores from April through June, 2022. These run the gamut, from "multiverse" scores like Everything Everywhere All at Once by Son Lux and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, to grimy, experimental works like We're All Going to the World's Fair by Alex G or Phil Tippett's Mad God by Dan Wool and more, this period is loaded with impressive pieces. 

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:

April: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-april-2022/

May: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-may-2022/

June: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-june-2022/

Recently anointed Grammy winner Carla Patullo joins The Film Scorer podcast! While Carla has over thirty scores under her belt, she might be most known for her non-score album So She Howls, for which Carla won the Grammy for Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album earlier this year. Unsurprisingly, then, Carla and I spend a fair bit of time talking about that album. However, and perhaps more importantly, we actually focus much of our discussion on the genesis of that album: Carla's cancer diagnosis a few years ago. Carla began by recording little voice and vocal snippets, which eventually evolved into a full album. She told me she was worried it might be her final album, but that if so she wanted a chance to sing "one last time". Fortunately, it isn't.  We also move into discussions on the scoring world, her love for short films, the concerns surrounding AI, and plenty more.

You can find out more about Carla on her website.

Overjoyed to have composer and singer/songwriter Jessica Rose Weiss join The Film Scorer Podcast! Jess's latest film score (co-composed with Mychael Danna) is for the new Amazon Prime retelling of Cinderella starring Camila Cabello. Jess and I talk about crafting their magical, romantic (and folk-influenced) score for this jukebox musical, as well as her mentorship with Mychael and her time spent working at Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions! We jump right into the conversation in this episode - no chit chat to start off - so don't think you've missed anything! While we unfortunately don't have a chance to discuss these, Jess just released two other scores as well, both for Netflix: the dramedy Afterlife of the Party and the animated feature film Dog Gone Trouble.

Find out more about Jess on her website. Cinderella is currently available on Amazon Prime while her and Mychael's score (as well as her score for Dog Gone Trouble and her score suite for Afterlife of the Party) are available on all platforms.

Brian Tyler (Fast & Furious franchise, Yellowstone franchise, Avengers: Age of Ultron) joins The Film Scorer Podcast, finishing up our unofficial "month of Tylers"! Brian is fresh off the back of scoring the global smash hit The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and we spend the bulk of our conversation discussing his score and experience. This ranges from Brian's lifelong fandom of Mario games (as a kid he'd cut out articles about Mario composer Koji Kondo and game designer Shigeru Miyamoto from magazines), the surreal experience of working with Kondo and Miyamoto, and filling the score with homages to the many iconic themes and motifs that fill the Mario universe. On the way he even spends a few minutes talking about his score for the upcoming Fast X, with his face and voice filling with excitement when he discusses his theme for Jason Momoa's new character.

You can find out more about Brian on his website. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is in theaters, and Brian's score, as well as many of his other works, is available digitally on all major platforms.

Sofia degli Alessandri-Hultquist (aka Drum & Lace) joins The Film Scorer for the season 2 premiere! She talks about scoring hit tv shows Dickinson and Good Girls, facing positive reception for those shows (and the negative public response to the Netflix film Deadly Illusions), and the interrelationship between her scoring and solo music identities.

Find out more about Drum & Lace on her website. Dickinson is is currently available on Apple+, Good Girls' final season just finished on NBC, and Deadly Illusions is currently available on Netflix. Drum & Lace's scores, as well as her full solo back catalog, are available on all major streaming platforms or on Bandcamp.

Experimental composer Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe (Candyman) joins The Film Scorer podcast in the midst of the year-end blitz. Rob's latest score is for the vérité-style documentary Grasshopper Republic. As such, we spend much of the conversation talking about, and around, Rob's score, which is certainly among the most overlooked of the year. Along the way we talk about Rob's general style and approach, tackle the big questions around how to roll back the commodification of music, and more.

Grasshopper Republic is currently playing in certain festivals while Rob's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms through Invada. Meanwhile, you can find out more about Rob on his website.

Season 4 is here! Charlie Clouser (the Saw series, Nine Inch Nails) joins the show to kick-off the latest season. Charlie and I talk about not just his score for the latest Saw film - Saw X - but his work throughout the series, including the famous and essential "Hello Zepp" themes found in each film. Near the end, Charlie indulges me on my personal curiosity regarding the surprising number of 90s and early 2000s industrial musicians that have found their way into the film and scoring worlds, expanding it to cover the desire for filmmakers to bring in musicians on the fringes of music. During this, he hypes up a number of great composers and scores, something I absolutely love to see!

Charlie's score for Saw X surprised me given the amount of melody, seemingly broader palette, and sheer variety throughout. It isn't necessarily surprising, given his fixation on finding the perfect array of sounds to bring onto each project - hand-picking them from his seemingly-bottomless well of sounds collected over the last 40 years. But there's also an extreme level of technical precision on these scores, with endless tempo changes so that the film and its characters seem to be constantly moving to the rhythm of his score.

Saw X is currently in theaters, while Charlie's score, as well as many of his other scores, is available digitally on all major platforms.

Join The Film Scorer as he talks with composer Roman Molino Dunn about his score to the new psychological drama Huracán, about an mma fighter struggling with dissociative disorder.  They also discuss Dunn's composing process, sampling the sounds of subways, and a mutual love of short film.

Find out more about Dunn on his website.

Huracán is currently available on HBO, HBO Latino, and HBO Max while several of Dunn's scores are available on all major streaming platforms.

Even though Season 3 is over and Season 4 has yet to begin, The Film Scorer podcast returns with a new interview. This time, I'm joined by composer Sherri Chung! Sherri (Riverdale, Kung Fu) and I intended to chat about her three latest projects, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, Based on a True Story, and Happiness for Beginners, but got sidetracked for quite a bit. As a result, we spend a while talking about: the current writers' and actors' strikes, and the impact that those have on film and tv composers; trying to find the opportunity to write music for herself and her personal projects; and "loyalty" between composers and directors, including what it feels like when a director chooses someone else to work with on their next project. Fortunately, I eventually find a little time to slip in some questions about Gremlins, and Sherri discusses working in the shadow of Jerry Goldsmith's excellent scores for the two films while crafting something wholly new and distinct.

For those wondering, Season 4 is still at least a couple of months away. Sherri and I had been scheduling this interview since mid-June (prior to Season 3 ending), so I still wanted to get this conducted and released. That said, there may be a few other one-off interviews here and there prior to next season officially kicking-off. Stay tuned for more...

You can find out more about Sherri on her website. Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai is currently on HBO Max, Based on a True Story is currently on Peacock, and Happiness for Beginners is currently on Netflix and Sherri's scores, as well as many of her other scores, are available digitally on all major platforms.

In one of the last interviews of Season 3, composer and director Mark Jenkin joins The Film Scorer podcast! First off, and something I forgot to mention in the intro, but I appreciate Mark persevering through some major audio issues - our interview went for nearly an hour, but a lot of the audio wasn't salvageable! Mark recently released his experimental folk horror film Enys Men (Cornish for Stone Island) earlier this year, as well as his corresponding score. As such, we primarily discuss the film, including Mark's score, how filmmaking and composing process, and much more. Along the way we touch on imposter syndrome and what constitutes a "musician", Mark's appreciation for good film criticism, and scores Mark's been digging lately (like Nick Cave and Warren Ellis's Wind River).

Enys Men is a tough watch, and likely won't be for everyone, as is the case for most unorthodox/non-traditional films, and the same can be said for Mark's score. It's a very droning, atmospheric piece that slowly pulls you into the nightmarish isolation of the film. Mark also chose a strange sonic palette, starting with recording a tiny, old Korg synth into a tape loop before adding elements like rocks, locally sourced scrap metal from Cornwall's post-industrial landscape, and Mark's voice sung into a mic with heavy reverb. I love it.

You can find out more about Mark on his website. Enys Men is available for purchase, and may still be in some specialty theaters, and Mark's score, as well as his score for Bait, is available digitally on all major platforms.

Better late than never - The Film Scorer returns for the annual tradition of covering the ten "best" film scores of 2022. There's also an eleventh honorable mention of arguably my favorite film score release of the year. These scores aren't presented in any particular order, and are really just favorites - who's to say what's "best"? 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!

One note: I mention that two composers are on their third collaboration, while I meant to say that the score marks their third collaboration with the film's director.

Fan of the show and prolific film composer and solo artist Andy Fosberry joins The Film Scorer Podcast! We spend a significant time locking into Andy's composing and recording process, which has allowed him to write and record several scores in the span of two weeks each! Afterward, we cover a wide swathe of topics, including a shared love of Mica Levi and Cormac McCarthy, differing thoughts on the Friday the 13th film series, and plenty more.

In a rare twist, I've also included some snippets of Andy's film and solo music in the interview. If you like what you hear, be sure to check out Andy's many scores on your streaming service of choice, including his Bandcamp - he has dozens of albums up there, giving endless listening opportunities! You can find more about Andy on his website, watch several of the films he's score on YouTube, and even listen to some of the "rediscovered" albums he's re-mastered via Spun Out of Control.

As season 4 draws to a close, I'm joined by someone all of you should know: Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings, The Road)! One thing you might not know about Viggo - it was certainly news to me - is that he's also a musician, making a number of albums with famed guitarist Buckethead and even scoring a couple films, including his latest directorial effort The Dead Don't Hurt. As such, we discuss his musical history, his score for The Dead Don't Hurt, his first foray into making music for film in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, balancing various behind-the-scenes roles in the same film, and plenty more. Even though this is a pretty short interview, we cover a surprising amount of ground.

Candidly, this was the most surreal, hard to believe interview I've ever done. When I saw Viggo pop up on video to chat with me, I was certain I was being pranked, or maybe just dreaming; I'm sure I'll wake up at any second...

Viggo's score is available on all major platforms, while The Dead Don't Hurt has just finished its theatrical run and will likely be coming to home video soon.

I also want to flag that I accidentally attribute a (poorly) paraphrased quote to Ernest Hemingway that's actually from Mark Twain.

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.

Welcome to 2024, and welcome to another interview on The Film Scorer! Joining me to kick off the new year is harmonicist extraordinaire Frédéric Yonnet. Fred has toured and performed with an incredible slate of legendary musicians, like Stevie Wonder, Prince, John Mayer, Ed Sheeran, Erykah Badu, John Legend, The Roots, Usher, Talib Kweli, Yasiin Bey (f/k/a Mos Def), De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest, among many others. Even if you haven't heard of Fred before, you've definitely heard his harmonica. With all that said, why is he chatting with The Film Scorer? It's because his work doesn't end there.

Fred has lent his virtuosic harmonica playing to various film projects, including the Robbie Robertson composed scores for The Irishman (where his harmonica channels death) and, most recently, the Golden Globe nominated Killers of the Flower Moon (where his harmonica channels greed). As such, while we start off talking about his love of the harmonica and performing with various music legends, our conversation ultimately leads to Robbie Robertson, The Irishman, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Fred's playful run-in with Scorsese at Cannes.

Killers of the Flower Moon is currently available for digital rental, and releases on Apple TV+ on January 12 with a physical release expected sometime this month. You can hear Fred's harmonica on the film's score, which is widely available digitally or via physical release, and you can find out more about Fred on his website.

NOTE: A prior version of this had audio issues, which should now be resolved.

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.

To kick-off the new year, Catherine Joy joins The Film Scorer Podcast! We discuss a number of her projects, as well as (among other things) the Joy Music House, her work with the Alliance for Women Film Composers, and the differences between composing, orchestrating, and score supervising! We actually conducted this interview back in August of 2021, so a couple references may be slightly dated (such as the Oscar shortlists), and I'm glad I've finally gotten around to releasing it.

Catherine has composed a number of scores for TV shows, features, and documentaries. She's also worked on major projects like Wild, Wild Country, Minari, and Homecoming in various capacities, such as orchestrating and score producing. You can find out more about Catherine by visiting her website. Some of this work has come through her company, the Joy Music House, which is a full-service score production company. Catherine is also the president of the Alliance for Women Film Composers, a great organization advocating for women film composers globally and its membership is open to anyone!

Composer Nainita Desai joins the show to talk about her new score to the feature documentary The Reason I Jump, as well as her composing process, the differences between scoring for film, tv, and documentaries, and the role of awards acclaim in her work.

Find out more about Nainita on her website.

The Reason I Jump is currently available through Kino Lorber and Nainita's full score is forthcoming (although singles from the score are available).