Score: The Podcast

Comedian (soon to be film composer?) Eric Andre and composer-producer Prateek Rajagopal (co-writer, executive producer, and the man whose range runs from The Mandalorian to India’s premier death metal export GUTSLIT) bring their new BLARF album “Film Scores for Films That Don’t Exist” to SCORE. An orchestral fever dream five years in the making, recorded with live players in Los Angeles and Budape...

The creators of ‘SCORE: A Film Music Documentary’ take you inside the studios of Hollywood’s most celebrated composers & musicians for in-depth conversations, theme breakdowns and studio tours, with hosts Kenny Holmes and Matt Schrader. Watch in 4K on YouTube and Spotify or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Composer-rockstar Danny Elfman invites SCORE into his state-of-the-art studio to discuss a lifetime of continuous innovation, from collecting macabre curiosities for his own inspiration to embarking on new musical pursuits with A$AP Rocky (even performing for the first time on SNL). Why Danny searches for the extremes to express human emotion in music, how a Coachella experiment launched a new pha...

Composer Dave Porter joins SCORE to discuss the musical storytelling of paradigm-shattering sci-fi series PLURIBUS on Apple TV, the process of working with creator Vince Gilligan on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, and why a tight-knit creative team is the key to never, ever letting a spoiler leak before an episode is out. Dave discusses his upbringing in the Washington D.C. area, and how his ea...

Drummer, DJ, producer, Oscar-winning documentary director, composer and musical director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson joins SCORE from John Mayer’s private writing room at Henson Recording Studios! Ahmir discusses the absolutely bonkers music mashup from 50 years of Saturday Night Live, featured in his Emmy-nominated documentary LADIES & GENTLEMEN: 50 YEARS OF SNL MUSIC. Plus, how he discovered SNL...

Superstar composers John Murphy and David Fleming finally enter the same room (you read that correctly) after an unusual but groundbreaking experience co-composing the score for James Gunn’s SUPERMAN. How John’s electric guitar-focused approach (he writes themes on a zany guitar he named Ned Flanders) harnessed the majesty of John Williams’ iconic theme — and why the trailer debut was nerve rackin...

Oscar and Grammy-winning songwriter and composer Finneas O’Connell breaks down his journey into film composing and working with Oscar winning director Alfonso Cuarón on the hit miniseries DISCLAIMER. Finneas dives into his work with Billie Eilish and how it led to meeting Cuarón, the frightening first steps and self doubt of getting started (VENGEANCE and THE FALLOUT), and how his album FOR CRYIN’...

Oscar-nominated experimental band/composing trio Son Lux joins Score after their breakout success on EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, and as their latest film, Marvel’s THUNDERBOLTS*, releases in theaters. How the solo project from Ryan Lott led to working as a trio with Rafiq Bhatia, Ian Chang — incorporating unique electronic instrumentation with crafty sound design (including unique percussio...

Scottish-born composer Paul Leonard-Morgan (Last Breath, Cyberpunk 2077, Tales from the Loop, Limitless) is a master of different mediums — from film/television to video games, concerts and working with recording artists like bands Belle & Sebastian and Snow Patrol, among many others. His latest, survival-thriller Last Breath starring Woody Harrelson, is his second score to this story — he als...

At 34, UK-based artist and composer Daniel Blumberg is the youngest person nominated for this year’s Best Score at the Oscars. His work on The Brutalist, nominated for 10 Academy Awards, is a continuation and evolution of Brady Corbet’s directorial talent — a longtime friend and collaborator. Daniel talks us through his formative experience at Cafe Oto in London — a hub for eccentric and inventive...

Oscar-winning filmmaker (The Last Repair Shop) and Emmy-winning composer Kris Bowers details a series of life experiences that propelled him to a groundbreaking score on his first animated film, The Wild Robot. How his parents’ nudge into music led to him developing a “life plan” he still employs today. Why his jazz origins are so useful in the way he approaches film music. Plus, how new emotions...

“Music that will bring Beethoven to his knees”We couldn’t pass up the chance to record with BOTH visionary director Robert Eggers and composer Robin Carolan, whose period-horror NOSFERATU released on Christmas Day. (Robert confirms for the record it IS — sort of — a Christmas movie.) This interview done remotely, with Robert and Robin together in the same room in London. How Robert’s breakout film...

Oscar-winning composer Volker Bertelmann (CONCLAVE, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT) explains his unique approach to creating analog textures, themes, and layered complexity. How a church piano led him to a breakout hip hop album in Germany, and then into his own musical experimentation with “prepared piano” — including albums and live performances with ping pong balls in pianos. How his prepared p...

Score: The Podcast returns for a sixth season with in-person interviews filmed in 4K, and new original footage inside composers’ studios. Presented by Vienna Symphonic Library In this season premiere episode, Benjamin Wallfisch breaks down his explosive blockbuster summer with TWISTERS and ALIEN: ROMULUS becoming sensations. The inside scoop on whether Glen Powell’s romantic ending in TWISTERS was...

In Score’s season 5 finale, composer Rob Simonsen talks about having the #1 and #2 films in the world on the same weekend (DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE; IT ENDS WITH US), and how one film led to the other being done inside of one month — the biggest time crunch he’s ever had. Plus, what is was like working with Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, poking fun at Marvel in the sound booth with Kevin Feige du...

Breakout composer Andrea Datzman (INSIDE OUT 2) talks about her initial rejection from film scoring industry, and what led her to persevere. How her struggle with Lyme disease threatened to upend her initial breakthrough with Michael Giacchino on INSIDE OUT, and led to a surprising new revelation about her own brain and neuropsychology. She also discusses her experience learning from Michael Giacc...

In this bonus interview episode, Andrew Gordon Macpherson talks about his music and TV editing skills leading to his career scoring video games and television documentaries, including the hit Vice series DARK SIDE OF THE RING, and WHO KILLED WCW?, produced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. How the world of professional wrestling drama created a canvas for an epic soap-opera-esque musical approach, fin...

Composer Andrew Lockington (ATLAS, MAYOR OF KINGSTOWN) joins SCORE to talk about Toronto, working with and under the tutelage of fellow Canadian Mychael Danna after wanting to start a rock band, and how his interest in orchestration led to his composing breakthroughs. Plus, working with Jennifer Lopez, creating “suites” of music, what makes temps so tricky to work with, and how he’s built a relati...

We catch up with composer extraordinaire Christophe Beck (UNFROSTED, ROAD HOUSE) for the first time in six years! Christophe shares how early piano lessons led to dreams of making his own album (now in the works). Plus, how years leading a composer team on major films refreshed his love of teaching and sharing, his creative rapport with director Doug Liman, and working with comedy icon Jerry Seinf...

Composer Chris Benstead talks about being Guy Ritchies’ musical maestro on multiple projects, including THE GENTLEMEN on Netflix and THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE. How his musical education led him into music mixing and eventually working in the “sound” departments on major projects, before his work with Patrick Doyle, Steven Price, Alan Menken and Hans Zimmer brought him back into the “co...

YouTuber Rudy Mancuso has been following SCORE for years, as a musician and composer in his own right. He joins Kenny Holmes and Matt Schrader to discuss his breakout hit film from SxSW ‘MÚSICA’ out now on Prime Video — a semi-autobiographic film, years in the making, that pushes musical possibilities to refreshingly brilliant musical storytelling. Directed as only a composer could, MÚSICA (also s...

Composer Laura Karpman joins Score to talk about her work on the Oscar-nominated score for AMERICAN FICTION, breaking down how jazz informed a story rich in satire and wit to give it a unique musical edge and voice intertwined with characters. Then, she discusses her path from likely music professor into at one point being one of the only women working in film and TV composing. Plus, Robert shares...

Composer David Fleming (The Last of Us, Blue Planet II) talks about his inventive score for Prime Video’s new Mr. & Mrs. Smith, working with Donald Glover, coming up through the Remote Control composer system with Atli Orvarsson, Steve Jablonsky and Hans Zimmer, and why the new Jim Henson documentary will melt everyone’s hearts. Interview by Kenny Holmes, Matt Schrader and Robert Kraft.

The Miami-based Carlos Rafael Rivera with two series releasing now (Griselda, Monsieur Spade) joins to talk about his massive breakout with The Queen’s Gambit, followed by Hacks and Lessons in Chemistry. Why Sofia Vergara's dramatic turn as a drug kingpin in Miami deserved an operative approach. How he manages to maintain his Miami location for an industry that is largely located in Los Angele...

One of the original members of the indie band Arcade Fire, Richard Reed Parry (THE IRON CLAW, EILEEN) discusses his jump into film scoring, the importance of finding “mojo” and “vibe,” and how the wrestling biopic The Iron Claw nearly stumped him musically — until he unlocked the rich, layered sound that carries the film. How Spike Jonze’s film “Her” prepared him for the next stage in his career,...