Score: The Podcast

Composer Mac Quayle (AMERICAN HORROR STORY, MR. ROBOT, GASLIT, AMERICAN CRIME STORY: IMPEACHMENT) talks about how he scaled up his music team to be able to take on multiple shows he loves. What he thought about Danny Elfman's Coachella performance and what it means for composers. Plus, how getting stoned in a college music theory class — he flunked the assignment — helped him discover the value of...

Composer John Lunn (DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA) talks about scoring six seasons of one of TV’s most prolific successes, and the transformation into a hit movie franchise. Why A NEW ERA (out today) is the score he’s most proud of, the joy of scoring at Air Lyndhurst with 70-piece strings, and why the quiche in the Air cafeteria is so delicious — as Robert can attest! Interview by Robert Kraft and Mat...

Hesham Nazih is a composer based in Cairo, and the first Egyptian composer to score a Marvel project with MOON KNIGHT. In this interview, Hesham details how he got the job, the spectacular vocal effects in the music, and the difference between the Hollywood sound of Egypt and the real thing — and how they’ve grown together. Plus, Hesham’s story of being unable to afford musical training, and...

Breton Vivian is an English-Australian composer known for his scores to Yellowstone (with Brian Tyler) as well as the recent miniseries 1883. We talk about how working at Brian’s studio (and helping him move it) helped Breton come into his own as a composer. Plus, the different ways themes, unique solo instruments, and orchestra can play together in western-inspired score. He also talk about his e...

Composer Joseph Stephens (EASTBOUND & DOWN, VICE PRINCIPALS, UPLOAD) talks about creating songs and score for the dark comedy THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES on HBO, how he works directly with Danny McBride on the songs and lyrics, and his strange path to scoring through several experimental bands. Plus, how he sources musicians and plugs in virtually, post-pandemic! Interview with Kenny Holmes and Ma...

The composing duo MONDO BOYS is behind some of the big breakout indie films of the last half decade (SHUT IN, FATMAN, SILK ROAD). They talk about their unusual path from experimenting as teenagers in San Diego in the late 1990s, to their process creating some of the most original and polished hybrid scores in Hollywood today. Mike Schanzlin and Mike Griffin discuss the origin of their MONDO BOYS m...

In this special episode of MORE SCORE on Patreon, Robert Kraft speaks to Russian composer Dmitry Selipanov about fleeing his home in Moscow because of the war. With his family now sequestered in a temporary home in nearby Georgia (possibly never returning to his home or music studio), Dmitry discusses the most difficult decision he’s ever had to make for his family’s well being, and his hopes that...

Composer Anthony Willis talks about his eight years working with John Powell, his discovery of his own musical passions as a kid, and how it led him to experiences working with people like Harry Gregson-Williams and Henry Jackman — and his breakout solo composer job on Emerald Fennell’s 2020 Oscar nominated PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN.

Giona Ostinelli & Sonya Belousova talk about the road from classical pianist to scoring films together, their strange instrument selection, recording slurping sounds for the score to NBC's The Thing About Pam, and The Witcher season 1. Plus, a special pig performance of their hit song "Toss A Coin To Your Witcher" (yes, it's as odd and wonderful as it sounds). Enjoy!

Composer Joe Trapanese talks about how long he can experiment to find a unique sound, why he doesn't mind long delays for his movies to come out, and his decision to take fewer scoring jobs, to ensure each one is something he can find fulfillment in. Plus, working for years on his upcoming thriller Spiderhead directed by Joseph Kosinski (TRON: Legacy, Oblivion, Top Gun: Maverick)

Tina Guo is an internationally known cellist (and composer!) known for her performing career on worldwide concert tours, including the upcoming Hans Zimmer Live! In this chat, Tina talks about leaving for the first post-pandemic tour, why the crowds in Dublin in particular get so excited for film music, and what it's like to enter a musical a trance on stage. 

Disney's ENCANTO composer Germaine Franco sits down to talk about its #1 soundtrack, working with Lin Manuel Miranda, her start with composer John Powell (and how she met Robert Kraft), and much more! 

Matt Sullivan has one of the most unique jobs in film music. He's a musical supervisor, but he prefers the term musical director, more similar to theater. He cut his teeth on musical-oriented films, overseeing the storyboards, early edits, and even vocal coaching for actors, as well as live recordings on set. For West Side Story, he worked directly with Steven Spielberg and composer David Newman f...

Just a few years ago, Joseph Shirley was a USC student from New Orleans. Then he got an apprenticeship with the up-and-coming Ludwig Göransson. His first project was CREED, followed by a string of massive projects including BLACK PANTHER, Christopher Nolan's TENET, and the hit Star Wars series THE MANDALORIAN. Now, Joseph is anchoring the music for his own Star Wars series, THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT,...

GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE composer Rob Simonsen talks about channeling Elmer Bernstein's original Ghostbusters music, going into top-secret studio vaults to read the script, and how he re-wired his musical brain in order to keep the music sounding true to the original. Then, he talks about how he knows when music fits the film, the rumored near-firing of his once boss, Mychael Danna, on Life of Pi,...

Kenny, Robert and Matt launch this offseason special talking about the Spitfire Audio Black Friday sale, and their success of the offseason show MORE SCORE, which is now available for $10/month on Patreon, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Subscribe to MORE SCORE on Patreon for year-round interviews, film music talk and even cool merch: http://Patreon.com/MoreScore ... in your Apple Podcasts feed: https...

Composers DRUM & LACE and IAN HULTQUIST join us to discuss putting their energetic synth-driven score to a vibrant cinematic ride through Los Angeles that you may want to, dare we say, sink your teeth into! How they found the sound, scored 70 minutes of music without the help of assistants or a team (!) and why the next few months will be the busiest of their budding careers!

The duo behind THE WONDER YEARS on ABC talk about their use of 50s and 60s Motown vibes to make the show one of a kind. Plus, Jacob & Roahn discuss their backgrounds, how they positioned themselves to get the job, and why experimentation is key to unlocking the perfect sound.

You might know JOHN DEBNEY from the poster of SCORE: A FILM MUSIC DOCUMENTARY.  Or the first episode of SCORE: THE PODCAST. (Or any of the dozens of hit films and beautiful scores he's written.) But he's also the king of the holiday movies!

You might know JOHN DEBNEY from the poster of SCORE: A FILM MUSIC DOCUMENTARY.  Or the first episode of SCORE: THE PODCAST. (Or any of the dozens of hit films and beautiful scores he's written.) But he's also the king of the holiday movies! It's been a few years since we caught up with John! He has a lot coming up — plus we'll talk his favorite holiday — Halloween — and HOCUS POCUS! Plus his...

MORE SCORE welcomes composer Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe — a sound artist, performing artist and experimental film composer. He's collaborated with composers Jóhann Jóhannsson and Hildur Guðnadóttir on scores for SICARIO and ARRIVAL, and his recent score for the horror film CANDYMAN refreshes the genre with an inventive score that manages to still pay homage to one of Robert's favorite composers...

Kenny and Robert begin this Season Finale joined by Composer Carol and Matt Schrader reminiscing on the best moments of Season 4 and recapping the Emmy winners in the music categories. Subscribe to MORE SCORE on Patreon for year-round interviews, film music talk and even cool merch: http://Patreon.com/MoreScore  Then, legendary songwriter and composer Randy Newman (Toy Story franchise, Monsters In...

Kenny Holmes and Matt Schrader interview Carlos Rafael Rivera about leaving an accounting degree to pursue music, learning about scores AND songs under Randy Newman, and shares a video he recorded in 2017 while going to see SCORE: A FILM MUSIC DOCUMENTARY in theaters in New York. Oh, and we discuss creating the music of Netflix's #1 all-time miniseries THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT.

What it’s like to play in Hollywood scoring sessions? Fernando Arroyo Lascurain is a violinist for film scoring sessions (and a brilliant composer as well, who composed the music for Blockbuster: The Story of James Cameron). He breaks down the current state of the scoring session world amid Covid-19 changes, as well as the magic that happens when 100 musicians get perfectly in sync. Is there anyth...

Andy Grush and Taylor Newton Stewart (better known as the composing duo THE NEWTON BROTHERS) preview their upcoming miniseries MIDNIGHT MASS on Netflix. How Andy came to be a series regular, and why they recorded the cover of a classic song inside a car. While Internet service in Los Angeles allows (there was a Spectrum Cable outage) we also talk about their rise with director Mike Flanagan on the...