Music Movies – Page 4 – We Are Movie Geeks

Z FOR ZACHARIAH Soundtrack From Composer Heather McIntosh Available Digitally August 28; On CD Sept. 4

Varèse Sarabande will release the Z FOR ZACHARIAH – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack digitally August 28 and on CD on September 4, 2015.

The album features the original music composed by Heather McIntosh (COMPLIANCE, MANSON FAMILY VACATION).

“This is my second time working with Craig Zobel, so our director-composer language is pretty well developed,” explained McIntosh. “With our last collaboration (COMPLIANCE), the ensemble was super minimal, super biting, but minimal. This time we wanted to push ourselves with the score and it’s thematic development. Really go for it, you know? Though it is a chamber work, we wanted the sound to be full and orchestral.”

McIntosh had the opportunity to write for organ in a scene where Margot Robbie’s character plays the instrument on screen. “We knew that we needed to get the tone of this right. It needed to feel like a timeless hymn and also be a defining theme for Ann. I started working on this after reading an early draft of the script, long before the film was shot,” McIntosh described.

Before Heather McIntosh composed her first movie score, she was already leaving a permanent mark in the music scene. She toured with Lil’ Wayne, played bass for Gnarls Barkley, created music with indie bands like Animal Collective, Norah Jones, and St. Vincent, and has performed on stage with a variety of artists, such as Bright Eyes, of Montreal and Cat Power. An indie rocker at heart, she collaborated with the Elephant 6 Collective on various projects.

Heather’s first two feature-length narrative films were accepted into the Sundance Film Festival - in 2012 COMPLIANCE (directed by Craig Zobel) and then again in 2013 THE RAMBLER (directed by Calvin Lee Reeder, co-composed with Scott Honea and Jed Maheu). She was one of only four women who made the Academy Awards shortlist of composers for Best Original Score for the 2013 Awards for her score to COMPLIANCE, which was included in the “Best Scores of 2012” by Film Music Magazine and “Top 10 Film Scores” by Sound on Sight. TheNew York Times cited her score as “ominous, cellodriven…plucks our nerves and stirs our stomachs.”

In the wake of a disaster that wipes out most of civilization, Z for Zachariah is about when a young woman who believes she is the last human on Earth meets a dying scientist searching for survivors. Their relationship becomes tenuous when another male survivor appears. As the two men compete for the woman’s affection, their primal urges begin to reveal their true nature.

“This work has a very pastoral tone, even though we are depicting the end of the world, it takes place in the only part of the world unaffected by the apocalypse,” said McIntosh. “Along with lush chamber strings and horns, there is also an subtle underlying tension developed by the use of electronic and acoustic manipulated sounds.”

Roadside Attractions presents Z FOR ZACHARIAH in theaters August 28, 2015.

Composer Junkie XL Discusses His Score For RUN ALL NIGHT; Listen To Four Tracks

Opening in theaters on Friday, March 13th is RUN ALL NIGHT. The action thriller stars Oscar nominees Liam Neeson and Ed Harris and is directed of Jaume Collet-Serra (NON-STOP).

Brooklyn mobster and prolific hit man Jimmy Conlon (Neeson), once known as The Gravedigger, has seen better days. Longtime best friend of mob boss Shawn Maguire (Harris), Jimmy, now 55, is haunted by the sins of his past—as well as a dogged police detective (Vincent D’Onofrio) who’s been one step behind Jimmy for 30 years. Lately, it seems Jimmy’s only solace can be found at the bottom of a whiskey glass.

But when Jimmy’s estranged son, Mike (Joel Kinnaman), becomes a target, Jimmy must make a choice between the crime family he chose and the real family he abandoned long ago. With Mike on the run, Jimmy’s only penance for his past mistakes may be to keep his son from the same fate Jimmy is certain he’ll face himself…at the wrong end of a gun. Now, with nowhere safe to turn, Jimmy just has one night to figure out exactly where his loyalties lie and to see if he can finally make things right.

RUN ALL NIGHT also stars Nick Nolte, Bruce McGill, Genesis Rodriguez and Oscar winner Common.

The film’s score is from Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum producer and composer Junkie XL (Tom Holkenborg).

He previously scored 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE and his additional works include Robert Luketic’s PARANOIA and the young adult film DIVERGENT, based on Veronica’s Roth’s successful trilogy.

The foundation for this new career path was laid in his native Holland, where he created multiple film scores. Earlier in his composing career, Junkie XL also provided music for such films as “Bandslam,” “DOA: Dead or Alive,” “The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury,” “The Animatrix” and “Resident Evil.”

He later continued to grow under mentorships with celebrated composers like Harry Gregson-Williams, on the films DOMINO and KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, and Klaus Badelt on CATWOMAN. From there, Junkie XL formed a highly successful association with Hans Zimmer. They have collaborated on films including the 2013 blockbuster MAN OF STEEL, Christopher Nolan’s THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, the MADAGASCAR films, MEGAMIND and INCEPTION.

Junkie XL’s music accompanies the night’s journey with Jimmy and Shawn facing the ultimate sacrifice for their sons.

“I’ve always had a soft spot for the tapestry of family conflict in movies, especially if you can wrap it up in a little bit of action, and I believe this movie has all of that,” says Liam Neeson.

Collet-Serra notes, “I think if audiences come for the action, they’ll get hooked in by the emotion, and they’ll enjoy quite a ride.”

In my recent interview with the composer, Junkie XL and I discussed his latest score as well as his upcoming music for some of the most anticipated films in 2015 and 2016.

Warning: Movie plot SPOILERS ahead.

WAMG: Where’d the name Junkie XL come from?

Junkie XL: From my teens, because I was spending too much time listening to music, playing drums or on the guitar. The XL I added later which stands for Expanding Limits.

WAMG: I was wondering how one goes from Tom to Junkie XL.

Junkie XL: You don’t get born a Junkie, you become a Junkie.

WAMG: Director Jaume Collet-Serra said, “It was very important that with a movie called ‘Run All Night,’ we don’t just run from Brooklyn to Queens. You want to run through all of New York. We made a big effort to go into Manhattan several times, as well as Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx. We really shot almost everywhere.”

Audiences haven’t seen an action movie like RUN ALL NIGHT in some time. Your score doesn’t overpower the chase scenes.

Junkie XL: When I saw the movie the first time, I thought the more interesting part to tell was not necessarily the action but the story of two dads having a troubled relationship and the two sons. When I started writing the music for the movie, they were actually very emotional themes. The movie opens with that, the movie ends with it – ultimately you need some big action music every now and then. When you have 15 helicopters over a building with a 150 FBI agents looking for two guys, you really can’t score that with a piano and a flute.

There were a lot of moments where I basically advised the director not to use music at all. The chase scene through New York City between the cop car and Liam Neeson, I said let’s basically go back to some really cool chase scenes that we have in the 70’s with just the sounds of bullets like in THE FRENCH CONNECTION – let’s not use music at all.

Another scene where Liam Neeson chases Ed Harris through the train tracks. It was another spot that I wanted to go scoreless and only go with some cool sound effects. Have the music start once Harris’s character is killed.

I think it’s an interesting movie too like you said. There’s not really an action movie at this point that does it like this and there’s some really proper acting in it. My favorite scene is in the restaurant during the conversation between Ed Harris and Liam Neeson. It was another example where I said we don’t need music here – just let the actors act.

WAMG: Fans of this genre will appreciate your themes for Jimmy and Shawn Maguire and as well as Jimmy and his son, Mike. Both are very subtle moments of your score.

Junkie XL: There are two main themes – one is for Jimmy and one is for Shawn. Then it gets sprinkled down to their sons. The theme for Michael is very much related to Jimmy, while the theme for Danny is very much related to his dad Shawn. It seems to make a lot of sense to have just those two. In a movie like this you could go with almost too many themes and then it becomes cluttered. I wanted to make it very clear what the intention is and what these characters are going through.

WAMG: The movie is about surviving the night, but it’s also about redemption.

Junkie XL: The movie is totally about redemption and the most beautiful part of the theme that I hint at, at the beginning, comes at the very end when Liam Neeson’s character dies and his hand falls to the right that we see the card with all the names of the people he’s killed. Plus his son Michael and the FBI agent need redemption too, so at the very end everyone finds some kind of peace. That’s why I took the thematic material from Jimmy and Michael and turned it into a warm, fuzzy motif because at that point in his life he’s fine where he is, and he got to have that moment with his dad. Jimmy’s only got one shot at redemption, at having his son not hate him anymore.

WAMG: How much of the movie did you see or even know about before composing the score?

Junkie XL: They waited quite a long time and I got in really late in the mix. I received a call somewhere in November from Darren Higman (Vice President of Music at Warner Bros.) and he said that the movie would be opening up soon and would I be interested. I said yes. He then asked if I could write a small demo theme of a couple of minutes that could help convince the director that I was the right guy.

He then told me the story of the film and I was so inspired that I wrote twenty minutes of music. I went to Warner Brothers where I saw the film, and realized the music I wrote would fit perfectly with it and then went back and wrote another 35 minutes of music. I ended up having 55 minutes of a sketchbook.

I met the director for the first time and handed him 55 minutes of music for the film. He listened to the whole thing and Collet-Serra said, “this is like the story of the movie!” He called me back later that night and said it was perfect and exactly what he was looking for.

After I got the job, we started turning it into cues and we only ended up having two meetings about the music because he was so convinced because I got what the movie needed. That’s a very important task for a composer to take that kind of stress off the director. They have a lot of things on their mind and by making a sketchbook of the music, that’s one less thing for them to worry about.

WAMG: The interesting transitions of jumping from one part of the city to the next through visual effects are very compelling. Did you see that before you started composing?

Junkie XL: That was as we went. When I saw the movie for the first time, it didn’t have those shots. At that specific point, the movie was testing so well with audiences, they were able to add those clever special effects. I think it’s important to the story because it shows the audience what’s going on in different parts of the city and correlates to the previous scene. The violence in the film is very personal – it’s not just a bunch of random shootings with people dropping like flies. The music didn’t need to be big during those scenes and it needed to feel personal.

The score gets the biggest halfway through the film when Jimmy and Michael are stuck inside the apartment building with the hired killer (played by Common) and the police are surrounding them, that’s where the music gets really big. It’s also the moment in the film where if they can’t make it through here, there’s not going to be a future to begin with. After that scene, it kind of mellows down again and the violence becomes personal again to the one on one situation. I thought it was great to score that scene really big then go back to small.

WAMG: Nick Nolte’s unexpected cameo is pretty cool. The music is very gritty like the classic hit man films of the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Junkie XL: I’ve been doing a lot of research on these older movies. I went as far back as “Le professionnel” with Jean-Paul Belmondo with a score from Ennio Morricone, or even THE GODFATHER – all these movies were scored with a very emotional theme. We’re talking about a modern 2015 movie and it’s hard to make films for a big audience where there’s mostly no music and just music only where it counts.

Unfortunately that’s not the case and people want to be thrilled constantly, but I do feel RUN ALL NIGHT has a high level of 70’s quality to it and how it’s composed. Plus, how it looks and how it sounds – the sound effects are not overpowering either which is usually the case in an action movie. It’s nice for a composer to fill the blanks with music that tells the story, especially on this film. It was great to make music that was actually going to be heard.

WAMG: You covered the gamut of instruments for the score. What was your go-to instruments for the score?

Junkie XL: The signature instrument for Liam’s character was the piano. The signature instrument for Shawn (Ed Harris) was a solo cello. I used a distinct signature rhythm especially for Mr. Price (Common), the hired hitman.

Then I used a lot of unique sound designs from voices and choirs that I recorded a long time ago which was a very signature sound along with synthesizers and certain melodies and harmonies.

WAMG: What other film scores are you composing for?

Junkie XL: I’m going to be writing two during the rest of the year.

I’m starting on the reboot of POINT BREAK. That movie comes out in December so I have some time still.

I’m also working on BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE which I will be doing with Hans Zimmer. He will do Superman and I will do Batman. We did MAN OF STEEL together, plus MADAGASCAR 3 and MEGAMIND. We have a track record of collaboration.

My score is finished for MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. It comes out in May, and while I can’t say too much on that, the movie is spectacular.

The RUN ALL NIGHT original motion picture soundtrack is available now from Water Tower Music.

http://www.amazon.com/Run-All-Night-Original-Soundtrack/dp/B00U27Y4RQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426213605&sr=8-1&keywords=run+all+night+soundtrack

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/run-all-night-original-motion/id968926190

Interview – WAMG Talks To CINDERELLA Soundtrack Composer Patrick Doyle

On Friday, March 13, Disney will release the live action version of CINDERELLA from director Kenneth Branagh.

The original animated movie opened on February 15, 1950 to universal acclaim and 65 years later, CINDERELLA has become one of studio’s most treasured titles.

Branagh has once again turned to the Scottish composer Patrick Doyle for the score. The album features original music by Doyle marking the eleventh time he has teamed with Branagh.

In 1989, the director commissioned Doyle to compose the score for HENRY V and they have subsequently collaborated on numerous pictures, including DEAD AGAIN, MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, HAMLET, AS YOU LIKE IT and THOR, and most recently JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT.

Doyle scored RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES for 20th Century Fox and BRAVE for Disney Pixar, which was awarded Best Original Composition for Film at the International Music and Sound Awards.

From the worlds of Asgard to the Highlands of Scotland, Doyle’s various scores have whisked audiences off to distant lands, past, present and future. With an enchanting score full of magic and musical color, as well as creating a new Disney song, this time the Oscar-nominated composer takes us to the fairy-tale kingdom of CINDERELLA.

WAMG: CINDERELLA is such a beautiful film and your score is just wonderful. It sounds like a fairytale.

Patrick Doyle: Thank you very much. I think it’s a gorgeous, sumptuous film. It’s a classic movie – a timeless movie. It’s enchanting and it’s funny. It’s magical and very emotional. It’s a wonderful opportunity for a composer.

WAMG: The story is very familiar as well as the music. What was your first thought when you found out Kenneth Branagh was doing a new version of CINDERELLA?

PD: It’s a classic story. Number one, knowing Ken, I knew it would be a completely different approach to the iconic animated version. I think he’s done a wonderful job transferring from animation to live action. There’s always a thought that people will compare the two. I have been through this in the past with HENRY V and I knew Ken would have new approach to the film. I think he did a tremendous job.

WAMG: Your score is very romantic and while reminding the audience of the original, it takes you into this new adaptation.

PD: I’m glad you agree. I tried to write a classical score and hopefully it will have a classic feel to it. The reaction to the film, and the score, has been fantastic and it’s a tremendous opportunity to write for a symphony orchestra. Any reason to employ a symphony orchestra in a movie is always welcomed, especially when it’s the calibre of the London Symphony Orchestra.

The movie is from the original Charles Perrault’s French interpretation of the tale entitled “Cendrillon, or the History of the Little Glass Slipper” which introduced the fairy godmother, the pumpkin carriage and the glass slippers. We also come from a culture where we have what’s called Pantomime in Scotland, England and Wales. It’s an annual event – they’ll show Puss and Boots one year and Cinderella the other. Cinderella is a wonderful story and goes back to Greek times. It deals with diversity and it’s universal to every culture – it resonates to every culture the world.

It has a wonderful happy ending that everyone knows, but it’s the journey along the way is what’s so traumatizing. It’s cathartic in the end to watch her dream come true where she finds someone who’s a good person. It’s the best possible circumstances where people fall in love for themselves and not what they are.

WAMG: I loved Cate Blanchett’s theme – she makes quite the entrance as Lady Tremaine with the cat Lucifer in tow. Did you go with theme cues first or melody cues first for the character?

PD: (Sings the cue) I worked very hard to have a sort of chromatic theme – to roll around in the lower register of the instruments in the orchestra. I wanted to have a very distinctive theme for her.

The CINDERELLA waltz music at the ball, “La Valse de L’Amour,” was heavily plundered and mined by me throughout the score. (Sings the cue) I like to weave all these themes throughout the score. There’s waltzes and polkas, along with a plethora of dances, so there was a wonderful opportunity for me to write real classical music.

WAMG: You can hear it all through the film. With that classical theme in mind, what instruments, whether it was percussion, strings, brass, were you keen on using?

PD: It was an absolute mixture of everything. That’s the joy for a score like that – you can choose and strategize so that the sound can influence the viewer to see specific things. You can use the oboe for the mystery with the lower register, the bassoon for the entrance of the step-mother, the harp for the magical qualities. The whole symphonic voice comes into play and every instrument is utilized. The palette was wide open. I used the percussive sounds to give off wonderful colors.

My objective was to capture the magical enchantment and emotion in order to give it a timeless quality because the Disney canon is timeless. It survives generation after generation and that was in the back of my mind. I wanted to honor that great musical tradition of Disney.

The first film I saw on my own was FANTASIA. I went on my own at age 14 to Glasgow to see that film. That turned me onto music and animation – I was amazed by the marriage of the two.

In addition to the score, the soundtrack also includes end credit tracks by Lily James (“Cinderella”) and Helena Bonham Carter (“Fairy Godmother”), plus the end credit original theme song “Strong” (written by Patrick Doyle, Kenneth Branagh and Tommy Danvers) performed by Compound/Motown recording artist Sonna Rele and produced by TommyD (Kylie, Kanye West, Corinne Bailey Rae, FUN). Sonna was chosen by Kenneth Branagh to record “Strong.”

WAMG: Along with the score, fans have always liked that Disney made it a point of adding songs to his animated & live action films. In this CINDERELLA, there is the song that your wrote, “Strong.” How did that develop for the movie?

PD: The tune is totally based on all the themes in the film. You’ll hear the melodies and motifs, which I’m very proud of because all the score was first and then the song came in based on all the material in the score.

TommyD Is a great producer and writer and Ken worked on the lyrics and we worked very hard on it. I’m very proud to be part of that tradition to have written a Disney song. It’s really lovely.

I’ve also been the only one to write a Gaelic song for Disney with the movie BRAVE. I loved being involved in “Strong.”

WAMG: If I may ask you about BRAVE for a moment. When you first found out the movie was being made, being from Scotland, did you get choked up?

PD: Talk about being choked up! When the Pixar people invited me to San Francisco, after my initial meeting, to talk about the movie, I walked into a conference room and they had rocks, heather and little twiglets and branches and pictures beautifully displayed for me. Pictures of Scotland and the glorious Highlands – my wee eyes got choked up.

“I can’t believe you’ve done this to me,” I said. My life flashed in front of me! I was very proud to be asked to do that score.

BRAVE (L-R) Producer Katherine Sarafian, Composer Patrick Doyle and Director Mark Andrews amongst bagpipe musicians. Ph: Jonathan Prime ©2012 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

WAMG: Your music for RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES goes so well with the Jerry Goldsmith’s original 1968 score. The movie was such a success, especially for fans of the APES franchise. In APES and CINDERELLA, there are a ton of sound effects to accompany the visual effects. Did you work closely with the Sound Department on both movies?

PD: It was a fantastic opportunity to work on such an iconic franchise. I remember on RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, I asked the sound department to let me hear the early recordings they took of the real apes and I used one of their cries and turned it into a noisy musical cue for the percussion parts. It also became the running string motif in the film driving all the action sequences.

When thematic sounds come from an organic source, I think it has far more resonance so hopefully it connects people to the film.

I worked very closely with the sound department on CINDERELLA. I did a facsimile of the score, as I was going along, to give them so they were able to shape their sounds around the music and to tune the effects to the key of the orchestra. I had to work very closely with them to get an inter-organic marriage.

WAMG: You wrote the score for the silent movie IT starring Clara Bow, commissioned by the Syracuse Film Festival, which received its world premiere at the Syracuse historic Landmark Theatre in October 2013. How was it to score a film after the fact?

PD: I’ve always been a great fan of the early days of cinema. When I was a kid we had only two television stations in Scotland. There was the BBC and an independent station, and that was it. They would show lots and lots of movies from the 1920’s and 1930’s through the 1940’s and 1950’s. When I look back on it, I watched silent movies that were only about thirty years old.

I’m very lucky to be in that transition period to have written in the 20^th and 21^st century. When I was approached to commission the score I leapt at the opportunity. I loved the film and I’m very aware of Clara Bow. I took great care to write a contemporary score.

I’m quite excited because there’s going to be a Scottish premiere in June and I’m working with young children from my old Shire. I’m tremendously pleased and other movie industry people are doing workshops with these kids, so I’m very proud to be working on that.

All young kids from North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire where I was educated will be there. I remember as a very young kid going on weekends where I played in the youth orchestra and to be able to go back after working on this for a number of years, is a nice feather in the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, so we’re very excited about it.

Walt Disney Records will release the original motion picture soundtrack for CINDERELLA on March 10, 2015.

The score was recorded at Air Lyndhurst Studio in London, and was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Shearman and produced by Maggie Rodford. The film arrives in theaters on March 13, 2015.

CINDERELLA track list:

1. A Golden Childhood
2. The Great Secret
3. A New Family
4. Life and Laughter
5. The First Branch
6. Nice and Airy
7. Orphaned
8. The Stag
9. Rich Beyond Reason
10. Fairy Godmother
11. Pumpkins and Mice
12. You Shall Go
13. Valse Royale
14. Who Is She
15. La Valse de L’Amour
16. La Valse Champagne
17. La Polka Militaire
18. La Polka de Paris
19. A Secret Garden
20. La Polka de Minuit
21. Choose That One
22. Pumpkin Pursuit
23. The Slipper
24. Shattered Dreams
25. Searching the Kingdom
26. Ella and Kit
27. Courage and Kindness
28. Strong Performed by Sonna Rele
29. A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes Performed by Lily James
30. Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (The Magic Song) Performed by Helena Bonham Carter

The album is now available for pre-order at iTunes http://smarturl.it/cnsa1 and Amazon http://smarturl.it/cnsama1.

The digital soundtrack includes 3 bonus instrumental tracks (“Strong,” “A Dream is a Wish,” “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo”).

Photos by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney

Composer Patrick Doyle (L) and director Kenneth Branagh.

Actor Richard Madden, composer Patrick Doyle and actress Lily James attend the World Premiere in Hollywood.

Composer Junkie XL Creates Score for Warner Bros. Thriller RUN ALL NIGHT

Grammy nominated producer and composer Junkie XL provides the raw, gritty score for Warner Bros. crime thriller RUN ALL NIGHT starring Liam Neeson, Ed Harris, and Joel Kinnaman.

Directed by Jaume Collett-Sera, the film follows Brooklyn hit man Jimmy Conlon (Neeson), who finds himself haunted by the sins of his past when his estranged son becomes a target of his longtime best friend, mob boss Shawn Maguire (Harris).

The film opens in theaters nationwide March 13th, 2015. The RUN ALL NIGHT original motion picture soundtrack will be available on Water Tower Music on March 10th, 2015.

Junkie XL‘s recent credits include the box office hits DIVERGENT and 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE. Junkie XL’s upcoming projects include the highly anticipated MAD MAX: FURY ROAD in theaters on May 15.

He is also re-teaming with Oscar winning composer Hans Zimmer to score the upcoming film BATMAN v. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE. Junkie XL will score the music for Batman with Zimmer composing the score for Superman in the film.

Inspired by the film’s storyline before being brought on as the composer, Junkie XL created a 55 minute sketchbook of music that he envisioned for the movie. “First, Darren Higman (Vice President of Music at Warner Bros.) explained the story to me in detail. He did it so well that I got very excited and was inspired to start writing music for the movie. The suite became a musical sketchbook that I later could pull from. After five days of writing, I was able to see the film. Funny enough, it felt like all of the music I wrote would work very well for the film. When I met with the director, Jaume, and played the music for him, he was very excited. All of the main themes that I came up with ended up in the film,” explains Junkie XL. This sketchbook will be included as a bonus feature on the RUN ALL NIGHT soundtrack release.

Junkie XL musically approached the film as a character study, creating a layered score for Run All Night that goes beyond the traditional musical genre of the crime thriller. “I wanted to write music that was reflection of the psychological state of the characters as opposed to just the action on screen. The music needed to underscore the characters’ wide range of emotions. To accomplish this, I incorporated deep, brute feeling drums with cello solos,” explains Junkie XL. Channeling the classic “hit man” thrillers of the 60s and 70s, the composer didn’t want the score to overwhelm the action sequences. “There is a great chase scene in the film where I purposefully didn’t want to use any music. The action and sound effects drive the scene, so the score came in at the end of the sequence to put you inside of the character’s mental state in a way that is not typically explored in modern action films,” explained the composer.

Junkie XL (Tom Holkenborg) has built a reputation on musical experimentation. The Grammy-nominated multi-platinum selling producer and composer’s versatility puts him on the cutting edge of contemporary music, as well as at the vanguard of film composition.

Holkenborg’s music career began when he founded the industrial band NERVE, while producing bands like Sepultura and Fear Factory. Drawn by electronic breakbeats he became Junkie XL debuting with the album “Saturday Teenage Kick.” Junkie XL went on to produce five more albums while headlining shows worldwide. The producer/remixer scored a number 1 hit in 24 countries with his rework of Elvis Presley’s “A Little Less Conversation”. Following the success, Junkie XL collaborated with celebrated artists including Dave Gahan, Robert Smith, Chuck D, and remixed artists including Coldplay, Britney Spears, and Justin Timberlake.

Interview – WAMG Talks To KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE Composer Matthew Margeson

If there’s one film you need to see this weekend, it’s KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE. It’s funny, it’s fast-paced and it’s one insane, entertaining experience. Catch this one in the theater and with a crowd!

Based upon the acclaimed comic book and directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kick Ass, X-Men First Class), KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE tells the story of a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into the agency’s ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.

Composers Henry Jackman (CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER) and Matthew Margeson score the spy action adventure comedy. This is the second collaboration between Jackman and Margeson, who had worked previously on KICK ASS 2. The duo supplied the soundtrack for the star-studded KINGSMAN with Oscar winners Colin Firth and Michael Caine, Oscar nominee Samuel L. Jackson, and newcomer Taron Egerton. The film also features Sophie Cookson, Mark Strong, and Mark Hamill.

Matthew Margeson’s additional music is also featured in video games such as Monsters vs. Aliens, Lego Universe, Socom U.S. Navy Seals: Combined Assault.

Jackman and Margeson’s score for KINGSMAN delivers nail biting action sequences while emphasizing the heart of the film which lie in the relationship between Firth and Egerton.

Listen to a few tracks HERE.

During my recent phone conversation with Mr. Margeson, we discussed the importance of music in all of Matthew Vaughn’s films, how to “Vaughnesize” a movie, the use of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” during one memorable scene, as well as his work on the upcoming SCOUTS vs. ZOMBIES.

WAMG: The film is quite a ride. Your score is a nod and wink to spy movies.

Matthew Margeson: We wanted to make it our own thing, but we definitely needed to remind ourselves it is a spy genre film.

WAMG: You’ve collaborated on KICK-ASS 2 with Henry Jackman and now on the KINGSMAN. How did the two of you get involved in Matthew Vaughn’s film?

MM: It goes back quite a few years. There were four composers on the first KICK-ASS – Marius De Vries, John Murphy, Ilan Eshkeri and Henry Jackman. There are a couple of cues where Henry was brought in, for whatever reason, and there were four of them on the project.

I think one of Matthew Vaughn’s producers went to school with Henry, so that was the initial introduction. On KICK-ASS, one of the cues on the score at the end, in the fight between Hit-Girl and Frank, Matthew was still a little unhappy with this cue. All the other composers were recording with the orchestra – they were past writing and were all on the stage recording for a week straight. There was a big question mark – how are we going to get this cue right? Henry was trusting enough to say to Matthew Vaughn, “I’ve got this friend I’ve worked with back in Los Angeles, we should give him some direction over the phone and see if we can whip something up in the next 24 hours.”

I got this phone call at eight, nine p.m. and Henry says, “listen, we’ve got a bit of an emergency and we need to rework this fight cue and send a pass back to Matthew in a day.” I did this piece and Matthew reacted really well to it. Henry worked with him throughout the film and that was my first introduction to working with Matthew Vaughn, even though it was in an indirect way.

When it came time to do a sequel to that movie, he really enjoyed what Henry did and his contribution to the pie, so he called Henry to do the score. Henry was on a couple of different projects at the same time and really wanted to do it. He said he couldn’t prepare to write an hour and twenty minutes worth of music for this score by himself, but suggested co-composers on the film with the young lad who wrote the “Frank fight” on the first KICK-ASS and Matthew took a little bit of a leap of faith. It let me take a big part of the responsibility off of Henry’s plate and we put our heads together and got it done together, while splitting the workload.

WAMG: From what you’re describing, it sounds like Matthew Vaughn really takes a vested interest in the scores for his films.

MM: He’s more involved than any other filmmaker I’ve worked with. The other extreme being someone who shoots the film and edits it, and hands it over to you and says, “here, do your thing.” What I love about working with Matthew is he’s invested in the whole entire process in post. He’ll be sitting there with the editor for days and days. We’re in Los Angeles and he’s in London, where we’ll skype or face chat, and we’ll have these daily meetings with him and he’s very clear in steering us on what he wants.

He really likes to be involved with the music. When we go to the final mix for his films, a lot of the times if you’re doing action or chase cues, with massive explosions and bullets flying across the screen, I know music is not going to win that fight. We take that into consideration. But on a Matthew Vaughn movie, when I say there’s a huge explosion there and I’m not going to win, he’ll be the first to say, “I’m in charge of what’s going to win and make the music louder.” We never have a problem with not being able to hear any of the music in a Vaughn film. An awesome position for us to be in.

WAMG: It’s a dark film. It’s a funny film. The soundtrack is very over-the-top, while being a fairly traditional score.

MM: Yes! I hate to use this cliché, but that’s part of the wink in the score and something Matthew wanted us to keep in mind the whole time we were writing. No matter what’s up on the screen, you should always be having fun. Part of the way we accomplished in this one are those moments that are so over-the-top, that you’re laughing with them. You are feeling for those characters, but at the same time it is a comic-book film. You’re always enjoying yourself and you can’t put the popcorn in your mouth fast enough, because you’re trying to keep up with the pace of the film.

WAMG: There are some great percussion cues throughout, especially in the “explosive heads” scenes.

MM: We experimented with a lot of different cues over that scene and we found what really worked was re-recording “Pomp and Circumstance.” We needed to “Vaughnesize” it and basically took Elgar’s orchestration and added some extra percussion, some extra guitars and gave it a slightly contemporary, bit more edgy theme for this world. It was an opportunity to work with the visual because everything is synced up with the explosions, so we were able to get involved with the visual effects department. We were able to tweak little things here and there to make it become a set piece. It was definitely a lot of fun.

WAMG: Who chose the songs that show up throughout, such as “Free Bird” and “Money for Nothing”?

MM: The music supervisor usually goes through a whole catalogue of songs to see what fits. I usually get involved to see if there’s an underscore cue that goes into the song or for technical consideration to make sure what key it’s in and tempo – that kind of thing. Because MARV films, the production company, in one of the five majors, Matthew will sit there and throw different things up there.

With “Free Bird,” that was one of those things that was placed in there very early on and it stuck. We tried different arrangements of “Free Bird” and since it’s set in a Baptist church in the middle of the U.S., we tried a blue-grass version. Ultimately it was just getting the multi-track from the original and doing our own deconstruction of it, because that scene is quite long.

Even though I wasn’t involved with picking “Free Bird,” I was eventually given the film because if you remember, at the very end, it breaks down to almost a piano/choir version of it when Harry is coming out of his trance and that was one instance where I did have to get involved to write with the song, so I guess I can now say that I’ve worked with Lynyrd Skynyrd. (laughs)

WAMG: The use of vocals and choir really add to the score.

MM: We had to pick and choose our moments for that because once you use a choir, there’s immediately an epicness about it. And there are moments for that in this film.

WAMG: Samuel L. Jackson’s bad guy, Valentine, has a unique sound and theme. How did that come about?

MM: As far as thematic material, his vibe was one of the most difficult times we had to really nail down. We had a tune for him that we wrote very early on, but we had to rewrite it a few times to crack the encasement of it and how it’s presented. Valentine is basically a little boy, a cartoon character – his hat is sideways and he’s funky dressed. Henry and I felt we had to play against that and make his music extremely serious – almost Wagnerian.

Although Matthew liked the tune, he felt we weren’t having enough fun. He said, “he’s a tech mogul with plans of taking over the world.” Playing out his evil scheme is with his cell phones, so Henry and I started thinking about telephones. What are some of the components we think of? Back in the 80’s and before, when you would call someone, and you couldn’t get on touch with them, you’d get a busy signal. We tried to recreate that – recorded some dial tones and busy signals and putting them through the effects chamber. Slowing them down and playing them backwards. Just doing all sorts of experiments with them in the lab here and eventually we came up with this weird, twisted reverse tone.

WAMG: It’s very effective – it really works.

MM: Thank you very much. I can proudly say it hasn’t been done before and we managed to come up with one kind of sound that you’ve never heard before in a film. It was a way to remind the viewer that Valentine is from that kind of world of cell phones and tech and how we can sprinkle that throughout the score, especially in his areas.

WAMG: After you hear it a few times, you realize it’s done on purpose.

MM: You kind of latch onto it after a while.

WAMG: How did you originally get into music? Were you the typical “band kid” at school?

MM: Yes. I started playing the piano really young. I did the whole band thing in school and at a certain point did a lot of musical theater. I was in the pit band and directing small orchestras for regional theater, and then ironically, I was working at a small video rental store in my hometown, so I was able to sit there all day and watch films. I noticed there was music throughout these movies and somebody has to be doing it. The John Williams and Alan Silvestri scores really stick with you when you’re that age while you’re watching Indiana Jones and Back to the Future. I think all those random thought processes, and being involved in directing musical theater, led me to drive out to LA and to see how I could get involved in film music.

WAMG: This must have helped with your work on INTO THE WOODS.

MM: It was such a fulfilling job to be part of INTO THE WOODS. I’m such a huge Sondheim fan and being from that world many years ago, it was really nice to get the opportunity to dive into some of those scores and to work with Rob Marshall who’s on the top of that game as far as musical theater and those movies go. It was a real treat to work on that film.

WAMG: Is there a KINGSMAN 2 in the works?

MM: I would love to tell you that I have some inside information – I know we’ve always joked about it, but a lot of it depends on how the film does. If Matthew is up for it and wants to do another one, I think we would. It’s a lot of fun and we’ve gotten a lot of good buzz from the screenings.

WAMG: How’s your upcoming project, SCOUTS vs. ZOMBIES, which I can’t wait for, coming along? (Stars Tye Sheridan and Logan Miller – slated to open October 30, 2015)

MM: When I first got involved with it, I was a little skeptical and when I sat down to watch the film I said, what do I need to do to work on this project! It is absolutely hysterical and absolutely scary at the same time.

I can promise you, it’s got some really great laughs and some awesome creepy moments too and you have Boy Scouts and Zombies, so it’s a good recipe.

WAMG: I was glad to see the movie is being released at the end of October now.

MM: After many meetings, they decided they had great success in releasing this kind of movie at Halloween. It’s a good time of year for that film and after everyone Trick-or-Treats, they’re going to want something to do.

I’m pretty sure there will be an R rating, so it does have some good action and some good chases, while at the same time, again like KINGSMAN, you’re laughing with the film. It’s a hoot.

WAMG: Is the score done, have you started recording it?

MM: Today I’m starting the last cue of the film that I need to write and get approved. We’re on the very tail end of it and we’re recording with the orchestra at the beginning of March. Some of it has been shipped off to orchestration, getting it on paper and we’ll be recording in two or three weeks.

WAMG: Thanks to Matthew Margeson for taking the time to talk to us.

The KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE soundtrack will be released on La La Land Records, February 17, 2015.

Order it here: http://www.lalalandrecords.com/Site/Kingsman.html

Order it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kingsman-Service-Original-Picture-Soundtrack/dp/B00T76W2ZY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1423772330&sr=8-2&keywords=kingsman+soundtrack

The movie opens in cinemas Friday, February 13, 2015.

Read Jim Batts’ review here.

Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson Providing Score For Matthew Vaughn’s KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE

Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson score KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE, from 20th Century Fox, a spy action adventure comedy directed by Matthew Vaughn, which debuts in theaters February 13, 2015.

This is the second collaboration between Jackman and Margeson, who had worked previously on Jeff Wadlow’s KICK ASS 2.

The duo have taken on the star-studded Kingsman with Oscar winners Colin Firth and Michael Caine, Oscar nominee Samuel L. Jackson, and newcomer Taron Egerton. Based on a comic book by Mark Millar, the story follows a veteran secret agent (Firth) who takes a young protégé (Egerton) under his wing.

The score album will be released on La La Land Records, February 17, 2015.

Jackman and Margeson’s score for Kingsman delivers nail biting action sequences while emphasizing the heart of the film which lie in the relationship between Firth and Egerton. The deep brass notes exemplify the grandeur of the secret society and the score boasts melodic strings to bring the intensity of the scenes to life.

Matthew Margeson is part of Hans Zimmer’s exclusive Remote Control team, and is known for his powerful arrangements and his ability to make audiences fall in love with the music instead of the movie. Margeson composed Position Music Orchestral Series Volume 5, and has recently provided additional music to the scores of Kick Ass, The Expendables, and X-Men: First Class. He also ventured into television contributing additional music to the scores ofTransformers: Prime, and Pushing Daisies. Furthermore, Matthew Margeson’s additional music is also featured in video games such as Monsters vs. Aliens, Lego Universe, Socom U.S. Navy Seals: Combined Assault.

Margeson’s upcoming project, Scouts vs. Zombies starring Tye Sheridan and Logan Miller is slated to open October 30, 2015.

In just over five years, Henry Jackman has established himself as a highly successful and prolific film composer. He has scored three Oscar nominated films (Big Hero 6, Captain Phillips, and Wreck-It Ralph) and has composed numerous box-office hits. His accolades include an Annie Award for his score for Wreck-It Ralph, many ASCAP Film and TV Music Awards, and a World Soundtrack Award. At an early age, Jackman developed a deep love for music. After years of classical training at St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir School, Eton College and Oxford University, he moved to Soho and immersed himself in the underground rave and electronica scene. Jackman’s eclectic background allows him to produce unique and captivating symphonies, which was admired by Hans Zimmer. Jackman joined Zimmer’s team at Remote Control Studios and has since formed his own Sacred Tiger Productions.

In addition to Kingsman: The Secret Service, Jackman scored Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen’s most recent controversial comedy, The Interview.

Jackman’s upcoming projects include Clifford the Big Red Dog and Captain America 3.

KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE hits theaters FEBRUARY 13, 2015

http://www.kingsmanmovie.com/

https://www.facebook.com/KingsmanMovie

https://twitter.com/KingsmanMovie

WAMG Checks in With Composer Christopher Lennertz On THE WEDDING RINGER, HORRIBLE BOSSES 2, “Galavant” And “Agent Carter”

Scoring Sessions

From scores featuring Horrible Bosses, Marvel Agents, and Knights to movie soundtracks starring Kevin Hart and more Kevin Hart, Christopher Lennertz hasn’t slowed his TV/film composing pace since we last interviewed him during the release of THINK LIKE A MAN TOO.

With audiences embracing HORRIBLE BOSSES 2 after its November 2014 opening (as of Dec. 28, 2014: $93M worldwide), I recently spoke with Lennertz about the sequel, his upcoming films THE WEDDING RINGER and RIDE ALONG 2, as well as composing for ABC’s new musical comedy, “Galavant” and “Marvel’s Agent Carter.”

WAMG: Coming up on January 16th is THE WEDDING RINGER. Audiences from the early screenings are saying it’s very funny.

CL: It’s getting really great feedback. The NSFW red-band trailer is absolutely hilarious. The movie is described as THE HANGOVER meets SOMETHING ABOUT MARY. The funny thing about it is it looks like a crazy guys movie the way OLD SCHOOL or ROAD TRIP was. If you go with a date, it’s also got a romance to it. It has Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting in it – it’s really a movie for everybody. The great thing about THE WEDDING RINGER is that people will be talking about it for weeks.

Both it and HORRIBLE BOSSES 2 have some great lines that people will be quoting for the next couple of months. This film is more fun than you’re supposed to have in a movie theater. It’s a fun ride.

WAMG: You wrote the score for the original Horrible Bosses and people loved seeing what Bateman, Day and Sudeikis have been up to since we last saw them.

CL: And Jennifer Aniston

WAMG: She steals the movie, doesn’t she?

CL: She’s perfect!

WAMG: Was it good to be back on the second film?

CL: Yes! When I heard they were making it I knew I wanted to be a part of it. Sean Anders knew he didn’t want to change the characters at all and a continuation of their story. I was totally on board with that. Sean really respected what the first movie did. He was really great!

WAMG: Being that you worked on the original movie, how did you approach the score for Horrible Bosses 2?

CL: I’ve come to learn through my own love of movies, that I want to feel comfort. When I see ROCKY 3, I want to hear the ROCKY theme. When I go to a James Bond movie, I want to hear the Bond theme. I wanted the sequel to feel like HORRIBLE BOSSES and sound like the original HORRIBLE BOSSES. There were some new twists that were easy to do with new characters like Chris Pine and Christoph Waltz.

Plus the guys are in a different situation because they felt they had gotten rid of the horrible bosses and had it figured out. We learned very quickly that’s not the case.

Scoring Sessions

WAMG: Audiences really loved the song choices. They fit perfectly with all the physical comedy that included Pearl Jam guitarist Michael McCready and Dave Matthews Band bassist Stefan Lessard. It added a rock-n’-roll edge to the sequel.

CL: What we started on the first movie, and continued on in this one, was that we wanted viewers to feel the music in the movie would be the songs the guys would be listening to inside their own heads. Like when the guys are thinking about the kidnapping, what music would Charlie Day be listening to on his own iPad if he was doing a kidnapping? That was the way we figured out what the sound was supposed to be. It was mix of Beastie Boys meets Pearl Jam meets Black Keys as well as The Clash’s POLICE ON MY BACK, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis CAN’T HOLD US plus BRIAN KILGORE on percussion.

Screenwriter/executive producer Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love, Tangled, Cars) teams up with Broadway and Hollywood award-winning musical team — composer Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast) and lyricist Glenn Slater (The Little Mermaid, Tangled) — for 4-week comedy extravaganza. Once upon a time, the dashing hero, Galavant (Joshua Sasse) lost the love of his life, Madalena (Mallory Jansen), to the evil King Richard (Timothy Omundson). Now, our fallen hero is ready to take revenge and restore his “happily ever after.” But it won’t be without a few twists and turns along the way.

WAMG: Judging by the trailer for “Galavant,” the show looks like so much fun.

CL: It is and a whole different thing for me. I have the opportunity to work with Alan Menken who revitalized Disney over the last couple of decades. Nobody writes better songs and melodies than Alan. I get to work with him on that and write the score for this crazy show that’s basically the closest thing anyone in America has ever done to Monty Python.

It’s pretty fantastic and so very different. “Galavant” is really for adults – it’s not a kids show.

I have that plus the new show from Marvel – “Agent Carter” – premiering the same week. It’s a 1940’s-period TV show with Captain America’s kickass girlfriend. I’m working on a lot of different things right now. I’ve got a lot of projects coming out in January.

“Marvel’s Agent Carter” – It’s 1946 and peace has dealt Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), a serious blow as she finds herself marginalized when the men return home from fighting abroad. Working for the covert SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve), Peggy finds herself stuck doing administrative work when she would rather be back out in the field, putting her vast skills into play and taking down the bad guys. But she is also trying to navigate life as a single woman in America, in the wake of losing the love of her life, Steve Rogers – aka Captain America. When old acquaintance Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper, “Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger”) finds himself being framed for unleashing his deadliest weapons to anyone willing to pony up the cash, he contacts Peggy — the only person he can trust — to track down those responsible, dispose of the weapons and clear his name. He empowers his butler, Edwin Jarvis (James D’Arcy), to be at her beck and call when needed to help assist her as she investigates and tracks down those responsible for releasing these weapons of mass destruction. If caught going on these secret missions for Stark, Peggy could be targeted as a traitor and spend the rest of her days in prison – or worse.

WAMG: Has work started on RIDE ALONG 2?

CL: It is already shot and in the can. I’ve seen a screening of it – it’s great and has turned into a huge action movie which is kind of fun!

Most of this one takes place in Miami, so it’s beautiful to look at along with some great boat chases. I’ll be writing the music for it in January or February. The movie will be out in 2016.

RIDE ALONG 2 stars Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Benjamin Bratt, Olivia Munn, Sherri Shepherd and Ken Jeong. Tim Story will direct.

http://instagram.com/icecube/

“Galavant” premieres Sunday, January 4 on ABC. http://abc.go.com/shows/galavant

“Marvel’s Agent Carter” premieres Tuesday, January 6 on ABC: http://abc.go.com/shows/marvels-agent-carter

THE WEDDING RINGER opens in theaters on January 16. http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/theweddingringer/

HORRIBLE BOSSES 2 soundtrack album is available on WATERTOWER MUSIC. http://www.watertower-music.com/releases_spotlight.php?search=WTM39615_horrible2

Henry Jackman Creates An Epic Action Score for THE INTERVIEW

Award-winning composer Henry Jackman delivers an epic score to North Korea’s favorite comedy THE INTERVIEW, directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen.

Jackman’s score is ironically-serious and over-the-top, qualities the directors enjoyed from the score for their previous film, THIS IS THE END.

In THE INTERVIEW, journalists Dave Skylark (James Franco) and Aaron Rapoport (Seth Rogen) land an interview with North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong Un, for their popular tabloid-TV show. As the duo prepare for their journey, the CIA enlists them to carry out an incredible mission: Assassinate Kim Jong Un.

This film marks the second collaboration between Jackman and the film’s directors Goldberg and Rogen, previously scoring their apocalypse comedy THIS IS THE END.

THE INTERVIEW opens in theaters on December 25th. The soundtrack will be released on January 13th 2015 by La-La Land Records.

Jackman began his solo career in 2009, and in just five years, he has established himself as a dynamic and prolific film composer.

His music is featured in films in all genres, scoring animated films (Big Hero 6, Wreck-It Ralph), action-adventures (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass 1&2), comedies (This is the End) and dramas (Captain Phillips).

Read our interview with him HERE.

Henry Jackman began composing music from age six and after studying classical music at St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir School, Eton College, and Oxford University, he immersed himself in the underground rave and electronica scene. Jackman’s broad music sensibilities is evident when creating music, and his ability to invent compelling scores as well as co-write and produce songs caught the attention of acclaimed film composer Hans Zimmer. Under Zimmer’s wing, Jackman contributed additional music on films such as The Dark Knight and the Pirates of the Caribbean films before developing his solo composing career.

Jackman’s upcoming projects include the British action-spy film Kingsman: The Secret Service, in theaters February 13, 2015, and the third installment of the Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War.

Composer John Powell Talks HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 & His New Oratorio

In June 2014, moviegoers traveled to the village of Berk once again in HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2. The film’s composer, John Powell, recently won Best Score – Animated Film for the movie at 5th Annual Hollywood Music in Media Awards.

Powell has scored films including Antz, Chicken Run, Shrek, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and X-Men: The Last Stand and has frequently collaborated with directors Doug Liman and Paul Greengrass, on films including the BOURNE trilogy, UNITED 93 and GREEN ZONE.

His infectious score for HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON earned him his first Academy Award nomination. Powell has also lent his voice to the score of DR. SEUSS’ THE LORAX, and ICE AGE 4: CONTINENTAL DRIFT. Most recently, audiences heard his music on the scores to RIO 2, directed by Carlos Saldanha, as well as the DRAGON 2 sequel.

With the latest adventures of Hiccup and Toothless released on DVD in November, we caught up with the composer to discuss his music on DRAGON, his break from film scoring and his oratorio called “The Prussian Requiem” to commemorate World War I, premiering in London in 2016.

WAMG: For those who follow what’s going on in the world of movies and film composers, you’ve been in the news a lot lately. You recently won Best Score – Animated Film for How To Train Your Dragon 2 at 5th Annual Hollywood Music in Media Awards. The sequel came out on DVD in November. You went to the Governors Awards ceremony.

John Powell: I seem to have been at everything recently, I must admit. Our producer, Bonnie Arnold, she’s been taking me to all these things. We went to the Britannia Awards – I think she just took me because I’m British – then the Governors Awards.

We went to the Hollywood Film Awards where we won Best Animation, which was great.

WAMG: What was it like to be there, because watching from home, it looked hilarious.

JP: It was great fun. I sat behind Keira Knightley and Benedict Cumberbatch and Harvey Weinstein. It was kind of like hanging out inside your TV, it was very odd.

WAMG: It was really funny when Jennifer Lopez got up on stage and called it “How To Drain Your Dragon.”

JP: We’ve called it all sorts of names, much worse than that. (laughs) Yeah, that was cool.

WAMG: DRAGON 2 is another fantastic score. You’ve really outdone yourself with the music and it’s a really sophisticated kind of soundtrack. Were you surprised initially on how well the first movie was received?

JP: Yes. I said this at the time – you try your best on every movie – whether it’s a good movie or a bad movie. I absolutely give it my all. And that one I absolutely gave my all to. The interesting thing, I worked for so long with Jeffrey Katzenberg, but I’d always been in collaboration with other composers – Hans (Zimmer) and Harry (Gregson-Williams) – and strangely enough this was the first one I had done on my own. So it was a slightly different environment I found myself in. I probably felt that I had to show Jeffrey that I can do it on my own, in case he thinks I can’t.

He’s never even suggested he didn’t have complete faith in me, but because I had always been there with somebody else, it would always be kind of a game we’d play about who can re-write a cue better than each other – whether it’s Hans/me or Harry/me – we’d constantly battle over these cues together with Jeffrey and really try and get something good.

On the first DRAGON, I thought I’ve got to make sure I get every cue right and the tunes as well. Often when you’re with Hans, and you’re working on tunes – he’s very good at tunes, he sorts out tunes easy – if you’ve got a problem with a tune or Jeffrey doesn’t like a tune, you just throw it to him. With HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, I had to get the tunes just right and it was a struggle. Often I spent quite a lot of time finalizing and getting the balance of the tunes as I wrote the cues. But with DRAGONS 2, obviously it was really a question of we had all the tunes from the original movie and Jeffrey liked those, but my director rather smartly had denied everybody the first movie’s soundtrack temped into this film – he just wouldn’t do it, he refused to do it.

There was lots of BATMAN BEGINS and all sorts of things (laughs). Until very near the end, there was no music from DRAGON 1. That made it harder for them as filmmakers and would have made their lives easier to have that initial relief that the score was going to work the same way. Until I really started writing it, they couldn’t relax and it gave me a chance to write a whole load of new material and a new way of working. I think it gave us a chance to mature the score as the film matured, as you say, make it a little more sophisticated, while hanging onto the same “heart” that it comes from.

WAMG: There are many new emotional elements to the story and score. You have the mother-son story and your lovely track “Flying With Mother“. How’d that track in particular come about.

JP: They had lots of material, nothing from the first film except a little bit in the front and they had a song by Jonsi written for that moment that you’re talking about and it was light for quite a long time until near the end. There was something about the structure of the film and having a song at that point, everybody kind of tuned out because it was a song, I suppose it may be felt a little bit less like you were you’re inside the scene.

Right at the last moment, I had to score that moment as well. I hadn’t expected that and it’s a tune I call “Lost and Found”. It starts when you see Valka being taken away – where Hiccup loses his mother as a baby. That tune starts there and it runs throughout the movie. I was really trying to make sure it worked when Hiccup and Toothless get back together after his hypnotic state with Drago.

Then I have to make this joyful moment with is mother and that was a real puzzle as I hadn’t expecting it to be joyful. It had been desgined to be honorable and heroic and tragic at some points. I never thought of it as being upbeat, so it took me awhile to get that tune to work there. I was pleased with it myself.

WAMG: Who said, “we need to get together with Jonsi for the end title song, Where No One Goes?”

JP: Jonsi is a very good friend of Dean’s (DeBlois), our director, and they’ve known each other for years now. Dean is a huge fan of the band Sigur Rós. When it came to the first movie and Jonsi gave us this song off his new album, “Stick and Stones,” I just liked it because it was so different. Not what you expect in an end title, because they can be awfully kind of sickly and sloshy. I was very pleased we went that direction.

When it came to this film, Dean said to me, “Would you like to work with Jonsi on some things for the movie?” Of course I said yes because I’ve always liked Sigur Rós and their music. So we got to write the song that the mother and father sing together and we got to work on the end song which is basically a remix of some of the material from the first movie for the Hiccup and Toothless flying tune. I gave Jonsi a load of new versions of that and he wrote a song around it. It feels like the DNA of the movie and Jonsi’s style for the end titles of DRAGON 1. We did a fully finished version of that for the end titles as well where we rolled into that through that last section as they’re wrapping up the movie.

WAMG: The drums really tie it all together.

JP: Yes, very much. The drummer is from Finland that Jonsi loves and lets him go wild. There’s all this crazy drumming going on. I just threw in some of the string licks and some of the melodies from the flying stuff. It sits well under dialogue that way as you hit the end title and we can go into the song proper as Jonsi comes in singing.

WAMG: The choral parts streamed throughout gives it this operatic feel.

JP: Right! I’ve always loved working with voices. Voices give you this instant humanity. You can write them nondescript and they’ll blend into the background like an orchestral color. But if you bring them forward, you can use them a little more aggressively within the orchestration style.

One of the ways to do that is to put words with it. There’s a few places where they are singing words. You were talking about the mother and child reunion as it were in the middle of the movie that has some words in Gaelic which is a Scottish language. I found some poems from the 17th century and I used some lines from those. That whole section is sung in Gaelic and allows the voices to use a little more rhythm once they’ve got words to hang onto.

It’s not unconnected that I’m working on an oratorio, so I probably wrote quite heavily for the choir as an experiment.

WAMG: If I can go back to one of your earlier works, CHICKEN RUN. The film and score are still lively and funny. How has writing for animation films changed for you over the years?

JP: I was brought up watching all sorts of animation – Disney, Warner Bros., Chuck Jones – Tom & Jerry. Then I became a teenager and I really loved “Ren & Stimpy” and “The Animaniacs”. My favorite is “Freakazoid!”. I’ve never been into Anime. I must admit that’s the only animation style I’ve not really liked – I don’t know why. Except for Miyazaki, he transcends the style. All this other animation that I was brought up on, it went in without me thinking about it. I get to Hollywood and I’m looking around for gigs and Hans introduces me to Jeffrey and we start working on PRINCE OF EGYPT. I just fell into animation and it happens that I really enjoy it! I love the artwork, I love the styles of animation that DreamWorks has done, that Blue Sky has done. I’m a huge fan of Pixar.

There are such great animators around at the moment – it’s a real Golden Age. I’ve really loved working with all these people. I’ve loved the way they tell stories. In a way, I love them more than live action because often it’s not so obsessed with a warrior and fighting and violence, I mean I’ve done my fair share of that. I’d like to see if I can bring something into the world that’s more about beauty or joy.

WAMG: One of your other scores is DRUMLINE. The drums seems to be prevalent in many of your films. Do you tend to gravitate to a heavy percussive sound in general?

JP: I’m not sure I do it deliberately. With everyone’s style, if you look at how people sound – why is it I sound the way I sound, why does Hans sound the way he sounds, why does John Williams sound the way he does? Over our lives, you experience lots of different types of music and it’s during those moments – and it doesn’t matter if you’re 3 or 30 – you’re struck by some special piece of music or one sound in a piece of music that it becomes what I call a fetish and you just love it so much. The trumpet solo from AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, from the sexy kind of dance in that. That trumpet sound to me is perfection. It’s a moment when one trumpet is playing a tune, admittedly by Gershwin, a genius, but the playing of it as well expresses every longing any human being has ever felt. It was the deepest and most earthly lustful sound I’d ever heard.

For my whole life, if I have a trumpet line, I’m forever obsessing about how close to that sound I can get. You don’t do it in the front of your brain, you do it in the back of your brain. In the ten thousand moments in my life, up until now that I’ve loved obsessively just as a listener and they’re all in there and they’re all trying to get out all the time. That’s what’s constantly within the sound of anything I’m trying to do.

As far as percussion, when I was at music college, I remember being introduced to the room where they had record players and a collection of World Music and I’d never heard any World Music before. I’m in there listening to the drummers of Burundi and lots and lots of West African drumming, and Tibetan Music and all of it was eye opening. I was in college studying music composition and Brahms and Beethoven, but to have this access to all this World Music, which at the time was hard to find and I didn’t have the money to have big record collection, was remarkable. What I had amassed up to that point was only Classical records and suddenly here was a thousand records that I would have never bought on my own and I’m sifting through and l listening to these amazing things.

That particular fetish started then. (laughs) The strange thing, when it came to DRUMLINE, I was offered it because the director liked something I’d already done. For me being British, and it was quite a while ago when I did it, a marching band was not something that you would ever think of as the pinnacle of musical achievement. The marching band is something you would try to avoid. I didn’t realize there is this incredible tradition, so the director and Fox said, “No, no, we’re going to send you a DVD” and it was all these Southern bands. I couldn’t believe it, they were funky as hell! This was not my expectation and I didn’t know any of this world at all.

Getting this DVD and hearing this stuff, I was completely surprised. I said yes immediately. I met with the director (Marc Lawrence) and we started work on it. It opened my eyes to another source of really interesting drumming styles and percussion styles that I’d never have gotten to otherwise. That was a really lucky moment and that style has definitely been filtering into my scoring every year since. It was a seminal moment for me as far as percussion goes. Any appearance of my disapproval of that style of music was completely blown apart once I saw this.

One of the things I had to do a lot of was matching the percussion players. Every time you’re seeing people playing the big bass drum, they sound great if you’ve got fifty of them playing out on the field – you can’t get that bottom end from them. Every time you see it and it sounds nice and rich and warm, that’s me with a 808 drum kit. We went back in to make sure it really kicked and there are all sorts of fun tricks we had to do to make sure it sounded really good. There’s a little bit of the Earth, Wind and Fire horns going on whenever you hear the hero band and they stayed as funky as the band in the film – they just added a little tuning perfection that allowed us to push it up a little more.

A lot of the drum battles, between the drummers, were rerecorded with a very famous drummer who was the only one who could watch them and listen to them and then recreate what they were doing so we could get the sound better sometimes. There were little tricks but the drumming you see is as it was. We kind of gave it that Hollywood thing.

WAMG: Sounds like you really enjoy going between the two genres.

JP: I seem to have gotten out of live-action recently. Partly because I was getting bored with the music I was being asked to write for. They tended to be trying to get the music to be less and less. One film I was doing where I’m asked to come up with a three note tune and the director asked me if I really needed all three. At that point, I wondered if I really want to do this.

Again, you tend to get stuck into action films, they tend to be violent, they were getting pernicious. I didn’t feel as if I was doing myself or the world any good. I found I was enjoying writing for all these animation films. It’s very hard work and more notes, but you get to write more tuneful music, more joyful music.

WAMG: Will you do DRAGON 3 before your oratorio that you’re working on?

JP: Well yes. The idea is that 2017 now is DRAGON 3 and I’ll definitely do that one. Between now and then, I’ve got the oratorio in London in the spring of 2016. We’ll record it at the end of next summer.

WAMG: So you’re still working on it.

JP: Yes. Absolutely.

WAMG: Will you score KUNG FU PANDA 3?

JP: I don’t know about that one. I doubt that very much. There are plenty of people who can do that.

WAMG: IMDB has you listed on ZOOTOPIA.

JP: Ah no. But if it’s a sequel to ZOOLANDER, I’ll definitely do that! (Laughs)

WAMG: Your oratorio – if you had to compare it to classical, traditional composers, will it sound like Handel or Bach?

JP: That’s a very good question. Does it sound like me in Hollywood or does it sound like me before? Before I came to Hollywood, I was a little bit more radical sounding so I’m not really sure yet. One of the things that I’m fascinated by at the moment is polyphony, so I’m studying more polyphony and I think I’m trying to make it sound more polyphonic than one would expect these days. I’m trying to see if I can do something interesting with that idea now – maybe refresh it. It hasn’t been used an awful lot.

The piece itself is a story driven by a man who took a moment in history and stood between the chance of peace and the chance of war. His own pride made us go to World War I and basically destroyed the 20th century. Everything bad that is still happening, you can trace to this one moment in history at the end of July in 1914. The Kaiser had the option to negotiate with France and/or Russia so that he wasn’t fighting on all fronts. If he had only fought on one front, the whole first war may have been very different. Maybe it wouldn’t have become a world war with so many Allies being brought in. It may have become a war but not a war that setup the whole of the 20th century’s downfall in a way. It may have not led to the second world war, the rise of Hitler, the rise of Communism, it goes on and on and on. There’s a whole political view I have of the 20th century.

It’s what we’re still dealing with based on the futility of this moment of a man with hubris and pride. He worked on the Schlieffen plan for ten years and he came from a hugely famous Prussian military family, he had a lot to live up to and there was no way he was going to let them negotiate peace at that moment before the war started. He wanted his place in history and he wasn’t going let any of it stop him. At that moment when all the negotiations could happen, he was persuaded that it was never going to work.

The final name of the oratorio is called “The Prussian Requiem” because Prussia, where he came from and was part of Germany, was basically wiped off the map at the end of the first world war. It had such a political hold over Germany the Allies decided this is where all the problems were coming from, so they got rid of it as a place and it became just Germany. Prussia was a country until 1918, so we call it “The Prussian Requiem”. It’s a requiem for the 20th century, for the people that died and I’ve wanted to write about it for a long time.

The main thing is that I wanted to make sure I had the time to make it right and that we had the right choir and the right orchestra playing it, which is the Philharmonia Orchestra – one of the most exquisite in the world. We’re doing it at the Royal Festival Hall as part of their season and I’m very pleased when it’s going to happen. We’re recording it next year.

I’m also hoping with the orchestra to try and record an album of suites of film music. I’m going to reinterpret some of the music I’ve done from films – some quite radically. There are moments in some of the pieces that are like suites and you just want to end them differently to finish the musical idea, tie them all up as well as add a few fun things that people haven’t heard before. Probably eight movies, eight suites that we can perform live with orchestras around the world and make an album of it. It will come out at Christmas next year.

The How to Train Your Dragon 2 soundtrack is available on Relativity Records.

Interview: THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING Composer Jóhann Jóhannsson Discusses His Emotional Score

From Focus Features comes the inspirational drama THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING. Starring Eddie Redmayne & Felicity Jones, the opens in select cities this Friday, November 7th.

Starring Eddie Redmayne (“Les Misérables”) and Felicity Jones (“The Amazing Spider-Man 2”), this is the extraordinary story of one of the world’s greatest living minds, the renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who falls deeply in love with fellow Cambridge student Jane Wilde.

Once a healthy, active young man, Hawking received an earth-shattering diagnosis at 21 years of age. With Jane fighting tirelessly by his side, Stephen embarks on his most ambitious scientific work, studying the very thing he now has precious little of – time. Together, they defy impossible odds, breaking new ground in medicine and science, and achieving more than they could ever have dreamed.

Based on the memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, director James Marsh went with Icelandic composer and musician Jóhann Jóhannsson for the movie’s score. Prior to the film’s release, Mr. Jóhannsson spoke with me over the phone about capturing the emotional themes for the moving and unusual love story that is THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING.

Mr. Jóhannsson started studying piano and trombone when he was 11 years old. In high school, he ceased formal music studies. At age 18, he started performing in rock bands in Reykjavik, and continued to for 10 years after studying literature and languages at university; he concentrated on feedback-saturated compositions, using layers of guitar to sculpt soundscapes. Setting the latter instrument aside, he started writing music for strings, woodwinds, and chamber ensembles – and combining acoustic and digital electronic sounds for a unique, seamless blend.

Among Mr. Jóhannsson’s notable compositions is “IBM 1401 – A User’s Manual,” incorporating sounds that his father, one of Iceland’s first computer programmers, created. He has recently done two ambitious multimedia projects with filmmaker Bill Morrison, including an expanded Calder Quartet interpretation of the latter composition; and “The Miners’ Hymns,” which pays tribute to the coal-mining culture of Durham, England, and which he performed with the American Contemporary Music Ensemble and brass bands at venues in the U.S. last winter.

His varied discography also includes Virthulegu Forsetar, a fanfare for pipe organ and brass; Fordlandia, a cinematic ode to the city that Henry Ford tried to build in the Amazon jungle; and “Copenhagen Dreams,” a visual and musical reflection on the city and its people.

In 1999, Mr. Jóhannsson was a founding member of Kitchen Motors, an art collective that encouraged collaboration among practitioners of jazz, classical, punk, metal, and electronic music. His first solo album, Englabörn, was a suite based on music written for the troupe’s theater piece of the same name. Writing music for plays, and for dance and theatrical performances, led to film.

He has since scored a number of movies, including Eva Mulvad’s documentary feature The Good Life; Marc Craste’s animated short Varmints; So Yong Kim’s For Ellen, starring Paul Dano; Lou Ye’s Mystery; Josh C. Waller’s McCanick, starring David Morse and Cory Monteith; János Szász’s Le grand cahier (a.k.a. The Notebook); Phie Ambo’s documentary Free the Mind; and Denis Villeneuve’s hit PRISONERS, starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal, on which Mr. Jóhannsson cultivated large string and woodwind presences as well as the distinctive Cristal Baschet and Ondes Martenot instruments.

WAMG: I was listening to the soundtrack again last night – it’s absolutely lovely. It has an old world classical charm about it, as if it was from a film in the 1960’s.

Jóhann Jóhannsson: Oh thank you.

WAMG: The film’s warm, romantic look about a scientist was further enhanced by your score – what made you choose the piano to convey the story?

JJ: We went with the piano as the lead instrument because it’s a film about an astrophysicist, a cosmologist, but it’s also very much a love story. The story about the relationship between Stephen and Jane – it’s this odd love story at heart. We needed to emphasize the emotion and humanity of the story.

Of course, the science of the physics is also a part of the story and a part of Hawking’s life and character, but the relationships are really the heart of the film. I didn’t formulate the piano – it kind of suggested itself naturally. When I tried to analyze it, I found it to be very expressive and precise instrument. It has this mathematical and mechanical kind of quality to it which unites the emotions and human aspects with the cerebral, scientific parts.

WAMG: You can hear a four-note piano ostinato throughout the film’s score – it’s so simple but it’s a lovely theme.

JJ: Yes, the first track on the soundtrack, “1963,” which is the music for the intro of the film, was a theme that came early on in the process. It’s a theme that needed a kinetic, driving quality that suggested a young Hawking in the full vigor of his youth as a young doctoral student at Cambridge. We had to capture that energy and the first theme shows him cycling at full speed through the cobblestone streets. That four-note motif needed a lot of power and the way that I harmonized that motif became the building blocks for many of the subsequent cues.

The four-note motif is deconstructed, played in a minor mode to break it up and used throughout the score. Regarding the harmony, I used it from the first to the last cues. It’s this lecture theme at the end of the film where Hawking is being acclaimed as this great scientific mind and he delivers this lecture where he’s demonstrating his ideas about life and God and the Universe.

The intro appears there again in a very thoughtful and philosophical mode for a much more serene kind of version.

WAMG: A few of the tracks like “The Spacetime Singularity” and “The Theory of Everything” mix in orchestral instruments along with synthesized sounds. With those themes, did the director James Marsh tell you what he was looking for beforehand and were you going for a lofty tonality?

JJ: A lot of the score is very orchestral, but there are cues like “The Spacetime Singularity” that are more ethereal and studio creations.

WAMG: I like the blend of the music with the mechanized sounds.

JJ: I love doing that. It’s my signature sound in many ways. For example, the score I did for PRISONERS is much more in that vein where I do a lot of blending of orchestral instruments with electronic sounds. They’re not really electronic, they’re more of an acoustic recording which I treat and process and create these soundscapes out of.

I love these homogeneous textures that work well with a live orchestra, so it almost becomes one sound. It’s something I really enjoy doing.

WAMG: Who are your favorite film score composers?

JJ: There are so many but one of the first I got obsessive about, way back, was Bernard Herrmann. He’s remained one of my favorites. I really love his writing. His relentlessness and beauty the of his harmonies – Also his simplicity. He’s a very minimalist composer, even though he predates minimalism.

I love Ennio Morricone. I’m a huge fan. I love his 60’s and 70’s scores. Amazing experimentation he went through and creating his amazing sounds in the studio. Of course, his melodies and orchestrations are remarkable.

I’m a huge fan of some of the European composers like Nino Rota and Georges Delerue.

WAMG: What other projects do you have coming up?

JJ: I’m in the middle of a film score right now with Denis Villeneuve from PRISONERS. He’s doing a new film called SICARIO (2015) starring Benicio del Toro, Emily Blunt, and Josh Brolin and that’s very exciting.

WAMG: My thanks to Mr. Jóhannsson for taking the time to discuss his score for THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING.

Check out his score on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/theory-everything-original/id930744739 and on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Theory-Everything-Johann-Johannsson/dp/B00NOWAM7C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415375434&sr=8-1&keywords=the+theory+of+everything+soundtrack

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: