Chatting with Creators

Chatting with Creators

By Sapphire Skye TothArtsMusicPerforming ArtsMusic Interviews
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Chatting with Creators episodes

  • Jeff Cardoni and WHITE HOUSE PLUMBERS | CwC S5E4
    Today we’re bringing Jeff Cardoni on to chat about his recent score for Whitehouse Plumbers! This five-part series tells the true story of how Nixon's own political saboteurs and Watergate masterminds, E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy, accidentally toppled the presidency they were trying to protect.The first episode contains more light and “heist-y” music, akin to Ocean’s Eleven, with band elements, flute, and keyboard. From there the music slowly gets darker and more dramatic to reflect the actions of the characters. Jeff created a character theme for Hunt and Liddy, musically emoting their friendship and how much stress it can take before it fractures. The score was a challenge, having to figure out how to score a real-life story without giving anything away musically. Jeff approached the score like it was a five hour movie, rather than a five part series. The musical arc takes place throughout the entire series, rather than each episode having its own musical arc. The melodies tie throughout the show, starting with a smaller string section and growing to a larger orchestra towards the end. WATCH THE TRAILERFollow Nate: linktr.ee/natebryant3Follow Jeff: linktr.ee/jeff_cardoni
    39 min
  • Giosuè Greco and WELCOME TO WREXHAM | CwC S5E5

    Today we welcome to the show Giosuè Greco to promote his latest score for Welcome to Wrexham the docuseries that follows the purchase and stewardship of Wrexham AFC, one of professional football’s oldest clubs, by two Hollywood actors, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Season one is available now on Hulu and FX, with a second season coming soon. His score is currently up for Emmy consideration in the Documentary Series category.Giosuè aimed to create a soundtrack that would capture the epic and anthemic energy of the UK football game and its passionate fans, while also incorporating the comforting folk sounds unique to the small town of Wrexham, Wales. To achieve this, he merged these two seemingly contrasting musical elements, resulting in a composition that embodies the spirit and character of the community. As Giosuè grew up in a small town, similar to Wales, he had an emotional connection to the series, giving him the idea to grow the music as the series progresses. The instrumentation includes piano, strings, bombastic drums, saxophone, and electronic elements, creating a versatile tone for the show.Follow Nate: linktr.ee/natebryant3Follow Giosuè: linktr.ee/soundslikegiosue

    38 min
  • The L Word: Generation Q | CwC S5E3
    THE L WORD: GENERATION Q. Now in its third season on SHOWTIME, the hit show has gone on to create a very special musical episode featuring the epic song, ‘All About Me’. The powerhouse writing trio came together in one room to create this powerful anthem, making sure to not only honor the story and characters that audiences have grown to love, but also to create a song (performed by Rosanna Zayas), that viewers who go through turbulences and challenges in today's world can relate to. Sophie finally breaks free and finds her authentic voice with ‘All About Me.’ The skillful song-writing trio explained that Sophie stands for all of us who have or are going through life’s transformations. "This song is all about Sophie but it represents all of us, not just as individuals but our voices as women, as a black woman, and as a lesbian woman. Once we go through the ‘it’s about me’, it becomes a collective about us.”For more from Sapphire check her out here: https://linktr.ee/sapphire.toth
    39 min
  • EA Day 2023 | CwC S5E3
    EA Day 2023 Part 1:This past Monday, I was given the unique opportunity to be invited as a composer and journalist to EA (Entertainment Arts) Day at Berklee College of Music. It’s a great first step, let’s keep talking.
    5 min
  • Max Aruj and THE TANK | CwC S5E2

    After mysteriously inheriting an abandoned coastal property, Ben and his family accidentally unleash an ancient, long-dormant creature that terrorized the entire region-including his own ancestors-for generations. The score represents the most primal of human experiences: survival. The sound palette uses scraping metals to reflect the cold, metallic water tank where the creature lies. Using a detuned orchestra, Max’s music ebbs and flows, mimicking the slow breathing of the beast. Max comments, “The predatory nature of the creature is mostly slow, and then it strikes quickly when it attacks, and the score is the same. We mimic the slowness of the creature. Then when it comes time to attack is when the whole ensemble plays together.”The score was designed to reflect the monster’s environment and characteristics, sounding like an ancient orchestra. The simplicity of the motif is like an ancient chant; one could imagine when the creature attacked people 50 million years ago, they would be hearing the same score.

    WATCH THE TRAILER

    Follow Max: http://maxaruj.com/

    Follow Sapphire: https://linktr.ee/Sapphire.Toth

    27 min
  • Walter Mair and LIAISON

    Follow Walter: https://www.waltermair.com/home/Follow Nate: https://soundcloud.com/nate-bryant-501806002Apple TV+’s first ever French & English multi-language series Liaison is here, February 24th, on the streaming platform starring Vincent Cassel and Eva Green. The series creators approached composer Walter Mair to bring a uniquely tense and textured score to the contemporary six-episode thriller. The Guardian says it’s a must-see new streaming series.The music had to encompass a wide range of emotions and connect stories told across several countries. From the hi-stakes espionage drama to the undercurrent love story that unites several characters of the series. On one hand, Walter had the suspenseful storyline centered around the London Home Office bureau and the French secret service DGSE. Both agencies required the use of lush themes with were rooted in an electronic score. From pulsing textures created by using Walter’s extensive modular synth rig to treating live recorded instruments with analog and vintage effects. The score embodies strings, percussion, ethnic flutes, and also features an original song. Lyrics written by Jack Beech and Josey Milner-Day and performed by Plumm.Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJXBdH1GfIcLiaison is a high-stakes, contemporary thriller exploring how the mistakes of our past have the potential to destroy our future, combining action with an unpredictable, multilayered plot where “espionage and political intrigue play out against a story of passionate and enduring love.”

    32 min
  • Anthony Willis and M3GAN

    When Gemma suddenly becomes the caretaker of her orphaned 8-year-old niece, Cady, Gemma's unsure and unprepared to be a parent. Under intense pressure at work, Gemma decides to pair her M3GAN prototype with Cady in an attempt to resolve both problems-a decision that will have unimaginable consequences. Breaking away from the films’ horror genre, much of Willis’ score uses warm strings, flourishing harps, and breathy, ethereal pop vocals, emulating the innocence of a child. The film’s subject of AI gave him the opportunity to experiment with metallic sounds, managing to mix euphoric tones with vibraphones and synths while still sounding organic. While much of the score is lighter, Willis still utilizes classic horror music with noir references and intensely sinister orchestral sounds. The first track Willis wrote was the original song “Tell Me Your Dreams,” sung by Jenna Davis. The song was used during filming, the lyrics programmed into the doll so the actors could interact with it on a more personal level on set. His cover of David Guetta and Sia’s “Titanium” was a viral TikTok sensation, with more than 4 million plays on the platform. LISTEN TO THE SOUNDTRACK

    37 min
  • CwC Special Edition with White Bear PR -- An unofficial Sundance Composer Panel
    Jordan Dykstra // 20 DAYS IN MARIUPOLTo score the unflinching véríte style footage, Jordan captures the unsettling and gut-wrenching horror of war by exploring the middle ground between dissonance and consonance in music.Heather McIntosh // CAT PERSONHeather balanced both the humor and horror inside the dating space with her music.Brian McOmber // FAIR PLAYBrian’s “bubbling anxiety attack” of a score avoids melody by abstractly abusing instruments in nontraditional ways.Dabney Morris // SOMETIMES I THINK ABOUT DYINGDabney’s score lives in both a vacation-like escapist space as well as a timeless, romanticized period of Old Hollywood, painting Fran’s world from her perspective, not from her emotions or feelings.Ryan Rumery // FOOD AND COUNTRYRather than being driven by the film’s region, Ryan produced music that was reflective of the audience’s emotions, resulting in a hands-on, tactile score with organic landscape sounds.Patrick Jonsson // SCRAPPERa film about a dreamy 12-year-old girl who lives happily alone in her London flat, filling it with magic when, suddenly, her estranged father turns up and forces her to confront reality. A direct reflection of the main character’s surrealist world, Patrick fabricated a score out of scrap metal, utilizing tin pan percussion, brass, wiry guitars, and a mellotron, while also using found materials such as bike wheels and chains.Nainita Desai // THE DEEPEST BREATH a thrilling documentary about the world of freediving. Given the gorgeous seascapes combined with the deeply interior nature of the freediver’s journey and the enormous stakes of this film the score had to traverse a wide emotional spectrum.
    46 min
  • Julian Scherle and MISSING

    From the minds behind Searching comes Missing, a thrilling roller-coaster mystery that makes you wonder how well you know those closest to you. When her mother (Nia Long) disappears while on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend, June's (Storm Reid) search for answers is hindered by international red tape. Stuck thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, June creatively uses all the latest technology at her fingertips to try and find her before it's too late. But as she digs deeper, her digital sleuthing raises more questions than answers...and when June unravels secrets about her mom, she discovers that she never really knew her at all.A continuation of his work with the filmmakers of Searching, Julian wrote an experimental score, exploring the musical possibilities of machine-learning. He wrote his own code, took audio files and recompressed them with the worst possible MP3 converter about 5,000 times. Julian researched studies about the psychological effects that compressed music can evoke in humans that may not be present without compression. The time and frequency-based music contained different artifacts of compression, common with Zoom or video chats, creating a synth-driven score, with additional percussive, piano, vocal, and string elements. He discovered a microphone that records electrical interference off any type or machine and integrated it into the score.Part of the film is set in Columbia so he explored Columbia instrumentation, including a pan flute and a berimbau, modified and distorted so the listener wouldn’t even recognize the instruments.

    25 min
  • SPECIAL MESSAGE: An Independent Statement from 2 BUGWU Members

    This is an independent statement from two members of Boston University Grad Workers United (BUGWU):

    On December 7th, 2022, BUGWU broke records winning their union election with 98.1% of the vote: 1,414 yes – 28 no (313 provisional ballots not counted). Matt and Sapphire decided to make this statement to briefly speak about the union’s historic win and its priorities while organizing to get us this far.

    BUGWU commits ourselves to creating livable, sustainable, and equitable conditions at BU. Over the past several years, thousands of conversations with our fellow grad workers have made it clear that conditions at BU are not meeting our needs. We are committed to fighting for racial and gender justice. In addition to issues like COVID safety and protections from harassment, transportation, and childcare subsidies, we will fight for: a living wage, comprehensive health care coverage, international student rights, workload protections, and housing justice.

    Use the hashtags #BUGWU and #UnionPower across social media and tell us about a graduate student or worker who influenced your life or your education. And hey, find a graduate student in your life and tell them you believe they deserve a living wage.

    Connect with us on social media: https://linktr.ee/bugradworkers

    Visit https://bugradworkers.org to learn more, or connect with a union rep.

    Get Involved and learn about caucuses: https://www.bugradworkers.org/take-action

    Press Inquiries: https://www.bugradworkers.org/press

    5 min

About Chatting with Creators

From the publisher's feed

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, I sought out a way to create content that, like Coffee With Composers allows people to connect to musicians on a personal level. During this time, I thought we needed it more than usual. When members of the Glenn Korff School of Music reached out to me about creating videos to help keep our community connected, I thought this would be a perfect idea. Going beyond the Flyover New Music Series, in Chatting With Creators, I connect with various creatives from the music industry to talk to them about how they’re dealing with the pandemic, their advice for students, and most importantly, how we all stay connected even when we’re apart.