Composer Talk

Our next guest scored Hulu’s documentary series Sasquatch, which premiered on April 20, 2021; and recently scored CBS All Access’ Coyote; and HBO’s documentary miniseries Tiger. From composing the brooding hybrid orchestral score to Zipper, to his original song "Jamie Smiles" written for the cult comedy classic Just Friends, his ability to create a meaningful impact for a wide spectrum is showcased through his work. Past credits include National Geographic’s documentary Sea of Shadows, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019; Apple TV’s The Banker; Hulu's Baghdad Central; FX’s The Most Dangerous Animal of All; ESPN 30 for 30’s two-part documentary series Lance; Showtime’s four-part documentary series The Trade; and more. He has also contributed towards an impressive variety of notable projects including George Nolfi’s Birth of the Dragon and Cinemax's action series Warrior, both of which he co-composed with Reza Safinia; as well as the Academy Award-nominated documentary film Cartel Land, which he co-composed with Jackson Greenberg. In 2002, he became the youngest Grand Prize recipient of the Turner Classic Movies Young Film Composers Competition, and along with accolades such as the prestigious Cannes Lion, Clio, and BMI awards, his accomplishments have earned him esteem and recognition as a highly versatile yet specialized talent. 

The composer is... H. Scott Salinas

A music composition alum of Loyola University in New Orleans and USC’s film scoring program, our next guest has been described as a musical chameleon by composer Ludwig Göransson who he’s assisted and most recently worked alongside co-scoring Bad Trip now available on Netflix. With Göransson, he has contributed additional music on Angie Tribeca, The Mandalorian, and he wrote and performed Rainbows, Unicorns, Everything Nice for Trolls World Tour! He’s also currently working away on Disney Plus’ The Mysterious Benedict Society scoring the show with Teddy Shapiro.

The composer is... Joseph Shirley

Multi-award-winning composer KOVAS scores Netflix's hit original series On My Block, starring Sierra Capri and Jason Genao; and Tatiana Kelly’s up coming documentary The People vs. Vegas Dave. He received a Clio Award for writing, producing and co-starring in Dunkin’ Donuts campaign ad “Runnin’ on Cold Brew” featuring three-time NFL Pro-Bowler Odell Beckham Jr.. As a recording artist, KOVAS can be heard on several features, tv shows and top-selling video games including Netflix’s Golden Globe-nominated series Glee; Hulu’s Emmy-nominated series American Dad; Oscar-nominated thriller Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks; Columbia Pictures’ 22 Jump Street; EA Sports’ Madden NFL and Saintʼs Row IV. KOVAS has also produced and remixed for some of the biggest names in music including Justin Timberlake, Usher, De La Soul, M.I.A, Chris Brown, and more.

Music supervisor Joe O’Riordan, has lent his expertise to creating unique sounds on shows such as Adult Swim’s Loiter Squad; MTV Network’s Ridiculousness and Greatest Party Story Ever; Bravo’s Vanderpump Rules; Dakota Pictures’s Imagen Foundation Award-nominee for "Best Comedy Primetime Television Program" Lopez; Netflix’s hit original series The Comedy Line Up, starring Aisling Bea; Nickelodeon Network’s The Dude Perfect Show and Crashletes; Science Channel’s The Explosion Show; and many more.

I'm very excited to welcome them on the podcast!

Our next guest is best known for scoring the drama series The Fosters, as well as several films including The Art of Getting By, starring Freddie Highmore, and Higher Ground, directed by Vera Farmiga. A veteran of the indie film world, he composed the music for the comedy All Nighter starring Emile Hirsch and J.K. Simmons, and A Happening of Monumental Proportions, Judy Greer's directorial debut.

In 1996, he formed the rock band Deadsy with longtime friend Elijah Blue Allman and Renn Hawkey. After their first album was released, the band embarked upon several world tours, opening for bands such as Linkin Park and Stone Temple Pilots. During his time with Deadsy, he also began composing music for various films and television shows. Since 2007, his film work has been a regular fixture at some of the world's most integral film festivals, from SXSW to Cannes to the Tribeca Film Festival.

He also founded Gramoscope Music in 2006. Some projects they have created music for include the new theme for Real Time with Bill Maher, American Horror Story, So You Think You Can Dance, Running Wild with Bear Grylls, Wicked Tuna, Glee, and Burn Notice.

The Composer is... Alec Puro

Thanks to Ian Carvalho Traphagen for editing this episode!

Our next guest is a film music composer with more than 50 film productions. He studied in Boston at Berklee College of Music where he obtained Summa Cum Laude with a double major in Composition and Film Scoring.

His latest worldwide release on Netflix has been the film “BAJOCERO” by director Lluís Quílez and starring Javier Gutiérrez and Karra Elejalde, which has been the highest rated Spanish premiere in Netflix, being number one worldwide in its first week.

His multifaceted style has led him to compose soundtracks covering very different genres. As for animation, in 2004 he composed for the first short of TADEO JONES (Enrique Gato) and its sequel (both won the GOYA FOR BEST ANIMATION SHORT). In 2012 he was nominated for the Goya Awards for the soundtrack of “TAD THE LOST EXPLORER” and in 2017 he composed the sequel “TAD THE HEROE RETURNS” for which he received several international awards.

One of the genres he likes the most is drama / thriller. In 2014 he worked on his first American co-production, “AUTÓMATA”, a science fiction film produced and starred by Antonio Banderas and directed by Gabe Ibáñez that won several international awards. He also worked on the Franco-Spanish co-production, “EVOLUTION” by director Lucile Hadzihalilovic, which won the special prize of the Jury at the San Sebastián Festival 2015. In 2016 the psychological thriller “PET” was released, an American co-production directed by Carles Torrens and also the Argentine co-production “BLACK SNOW”, directed by Martin Hodara and starring Ricardo Darín and Leonardo Sbaraglia. In 2017 he composed for the American co-production “BENT” starring Sofía Vergara and Karl Urban and directed by Robert Moresco and in 2019 he did it for the American co-production “KILL TEAM” directed by Dan Krauss who has been nominated twice for his documentaries for The Oscar Awards.

The composer is... Zacarías M. de la Riva

I'm so excited to welcome on this next composer whose work includes the HBO Max series Looney Tunes Cartoons; the DreamWorks series Dragons: Rescue Riders, and the viral animated hit Sidewalk, directed by Celia Bullwinkel.

Born in Baton Rouge, LA and raised in the midwest, this composer credits the public school arts program in St. Charles, IL with helping him imagine a life making music. With an eye on joining the Chicago music community, he studied music at Northwestern University, also dabbling in literature, computer science and sound design. His time after school was spent performing in bands and collaborating with directors and improvising actors.

He further segued into scoring to picture as a fellow at the Sundance Institute Composers Lab at Skywalker Sound and the BMI Conducting Workshop. He has since operated studios from both coasts working on films, television and interactive projects.

His television work includes scoring the FX series Baskets, starring Zach Galifianakis; the Netflix series Special from Jim Parsons’ That’s Wonderful Productions; the Adult Swim series Three Busy Debras from Amy Poehler's Paper Kite Productions; Sky One’s Sick of It from Richard Yee & Karl Pilkington; and the main title music for the IFC series Documentary Now! starring Fred Armisen and Bill Hader.

On the feature film side, he has scored the Netflix film Happy Anniversary from writer/director Jared Stern, Good Enough from writer/director AnnaRose King, and Beneath Us from writer/director Max Pachman.

An early adopter of new technologies, he created the interactive ambisonic music and sound design for Google's Earth VR, which won a Cannes Lion for innovation and was recognized by Ars Technica as "VR's killer app."

The Composer is... Joshua Moshier

Our next guest is renowned for his live shows, where large-scale audience participation and interaction is often a major element of the performance. Since 2003, he has released five solo albums, including 2015's Gliss Riffer, released by Domino Records. His work as a film composer includes the original soundtracks for 2011’s Twixt (with Osvaldo Golijov), 2017's Rat Film and 2018's Time Trial, both released by Domino Soundtracks. He recently scored All Light, Everywhere; Strawberry Mansion; and Philly D.A. — all of which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

The composer is... Dan Deacon

Named one of the Society of Composers and Publishers’ “Film Composers to Watch,” our next guest has won numerous awards, including the World Soundtrack Award for “Best Composition by a Young International Composer,” the ASCAP Jimmy Van Heusen Film Composer Award, the Alan Menken Composer Award, and the distinguished Elmer Bernstein Film Scoring Award.

Brivik recently scored Wild Indian, starring Michael Greyeyes, Jesse Eisenberg and Kate Bosworth, which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 30th as part of the U.S. Narrative Competition lineup. Other upcoming projects include Justin P. Lange’s horror film The Seventh Day, starring Guy Pierce and Keith David.

The composer is... Gavin Brivik

I'm so excited to welcome this phenomenal game composer who has worked at Jackbox Games (nee Jellyvision) since it sprang from the mind-loins of Harry Gottlieb in 1995. Starting out as a writer, he meandered into editing, directing, sound effecting, and finally music composition. He's had a hand in every game Jackbox has created and is one of the most innovative and creative composers I've had the pleasure of chatting with! I'm excited for this new season of Composer Talk starting with this conversation!

The composer is... Andy Poland

Check out the music for Jackbox Party Pack 7 here: https://jackboxgames.bandcamp.com/album/the-jackbox-party-pack-7-soundtrack

This RTS award-winning composer is also an Ivor Novello, BIFA, and Cinema Eye Honors nominee; a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit, and the IFMCA Breakthrough Composer of 2020. Amongst various BAFTA, Oscar, Emmy acclaimed productions, her recent projects include critically acclaimed Oscar 2020 nominated film For Sama, Sundance 2020 winning feature The Reason I Jump, American Murder Netflix's most watched documentary feature to date, Annapurna Interactive Film-Game Telling Lies and BBC drama series Unprecedented. She’s one of my favorite composer/sound designer hybrids and I’m very excited to meet her today!



The composer is… Nainita Desai