The Film Scorer

Composer Tom Schraeder joins me for my first-ever in-person interview. Tom and I broke the ice by chatting for about an hour in my kitchen before heading downstairs and hitting record, and I think the comfort really shows up here. Tom has scored a number of horror films particularly, in addition to a long career as a folk musician, and we use both as jumping off points for our discussion, digging...

Composer Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch joins the show! Emilie's latest score is for the film All of Us Strangers, a sort of romance-fantasy-supernatural film that I found absolutely moving. As such, we primarily talk about her score for that film, including talking about striking an emotional balance (one that feels organic but not manipulative), avoiding falling into "period" piece clichés, and more...

The BAFTAs air on February 18 and the Oscars on March 10 - I know many folks don't necessarily like the awards season, but it's the time of year where film music has the spotlight on it and is celebrated in the mainstream. As such, here's a little peek into the seven nominated scores between the two awards. I've also done interviews on four of the seven nominated scores, so seek those out as well...

The Film Scorer Podcast is back from its season 4 mid-season break! To celebrate in this return, Sam Haft joins the show! As of now, Sam might be best known for being one-half of the duo The Living Tombstone, alongside Yoav Landau. Unsurprisingly, we dig a little bit into this, including how Sam got involved in the band (and his broader musical journey) and what his music-writing relationship with...

A few weeks ago Variety published an opinion piece about the use of Michel Legrand's score for The Go-Between in May December. The piece argued that not only was this choice ill-advised, but that reusing film music “is never a good idea.” It proved to be an interesting discussion topic, and a bit of a lightning rod, so I've given my thoughts briefly as well. Article: https://variety.com/2024/award...

Welcome to 2024, and welcome to another interview on The Film Scorer! Joining me to kick off the new year is harmonicist extraordinaire Frédéric Yonnet. Fred has toured and performed with an incredible slate of legendary musicians, like Stevie Wonder, Prince, John Mayer, Ed Sheeran, Erykah Badu, John Legend, The Roots, Usher, Talib Kweli, Yasiin Bey (f/k/a Mos Def), De La Soul, and A Tribe Called...

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

Pulitzer Prize winning composer Michael Abels (Get Out, Nope) joins the show to round out 2023! Not surprisingly, Michael and I spend a fair amount of time talking about his work with Jordan Peele on the films Get Out, Us, and Nope, including a broad look at their working relationship and how it fulfilled Michael's long-time dream of working in film. But Michael also scored a couple films this yea...

As 2023 starts to close, and the awards season begins to heat up, I'm joined by the composer for what's being widely hailed as one of the best film scores of the year: Jerskin Fendrix. Jerskin's latest score is for the film Poor Things, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. But not only is Poor Things Jerskin's latest score, it's also his first. And it just landed him a Golden Globe nomination. Unsurprisi...

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

I'm getting closer and closer to having conducted one hundred composer interviews, and yet I don't think I've ever covered a Marvel score in one (let alone any superhero score). With Laura Karpman (Ms. Marvel, What If...?) joining the show, that all changes. Laura is fresh off of scoring the latest MCU film, The Marvels, starring Brie Larson (Captain Marvel), Iman Vellani (Ms. Marvel), and Teyonah...

I've been familiar with Yair Elazar Glotman ever since I heard his score for Last and First Men, which he co-composed with the great Jóhann Jóhannsson. As such, it's great to finally have him on the show! Yair and I primarily talk about his score for the new Netflix crime thriller Reptile, for which Yair has composed a fairly dense, abstract, and textural score. The score - and the film overall -...

In this somewhat Halloween-flavored episode, Rostam Batmanglij (Rostam) (ex-Vampire Weekend, The OA) joins the show! Taking a little detour from his solo and collab music, and writing and producing for other artists like Haim, Charli XCX, and Frank, Ocean, Rostam and I primarily talk about his new score for the film The Persian Version. Rostam's score is quite subtle and restrained, marrying ancie...

To keep the newly-launched season 4 momentum rolling, I'm joined by composer Christopher Willis! Chris is actually responsible for some of my favorite scores in recent years, like The Death of Stalin and The Personal History of David Copperfield, as well as the excellent series Veep (among other things). However, I managed to keep the fan side of me at bay until the very end of our chat. Instead,...

Season 4 is here! Charlie Clouser (the Saw series, Nine Inch Nails) joins the show to kick-off the latest season. Charlie and I talk about not just his score for the latest Saw film - Saw X - but his work throughout the series, including the famous and essential "Hello Zepp" themes found in each film. Near the end, Charlie indulges me on my personal curiosity regarding the surprising number of 90s...

Season four of The Film Scorer Podcast is almost here! The new season launches on Sunday, October 1st, with new episodes continuing every other Sunday after that (more or less). Given the breadth of guests in season three, including Daniel Pemberton, Tim Hecker, and recent Oscar winner Volker Bertelmann, you never who will show up this time around - all I can say is I already have some great guest...

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

Even though Season 3 is over and Season 4 has yet to begin, The Film Scorer podcast returns with a new interview. This time, I'm joined by composer Sherri Chung! Sherri (Riverdale, Kung Fu) and I intended to chat about her three latest projects, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, Based on a True Story, and Happiness for Beginners, but got sidetracked for quite a bit. As a result, we spend a while ta...

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

To celebrate the season 3 finale, I'm joined by Grammy winning composer Steph Economou! Steph's latest score is for the Dreamworks animated film Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. As such, we primarily talk about Steph's score, including her choice to approach the score with a "cinematic dream pop" palette, implementing unique instruments like conch shells and the Bohemian Cristal Instrument, and the d...

  In one of the last interviews of Season 3, composer and director Mark Jenkin joins The Film Scorer podcast! First off, and something I forgot to mention in the intro, but I appreciate Mark persevering through some major audio issues - our interview went for nearly an hour, but a lot of the audio wasn't salvageable! Mark recently released his experimental folk horror film Enys Men (Cornish for St...

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

Fresh off the back of scoring the smash hit Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse composer Daniel Pemberton (Enola Holmes 1 & 2, Steve Jobs) joins The Film Scorer Podcast! Not surprisingly, Daniel and I spend the majority of our interview talking about his score, including: the significant amount of time Daniel had not only to write and record, but also to do what he calls R&D; expanding the...

  As season 3 of The Film Scorer podcast slowly comes to a close (only a few episodes left), Chad Cannon (Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island) joins the show! Chad and I primarily talk about his latest score, which is for the documentary miniseries Algiers, America, following a high school football team in New Orleans (the Edna Carr Cougars). The score mostly features Chad's modern classical composition...

After a brief hiatus, The Film Scorer podcast returns with guest Nitin Sawhney! Nitin and I originally planned just on discussing his latest score, which is for the film What's Love Got to Do with It? but coincidentally timed the interview to coincide with the announcement of his next album, "Identity". As such, we start off by discussing his new album and the recently released single, "Darling Bo...