The best podcasts for insights into Film and TV Music

Kara Talve and Anže Rozman are composers with Bleeding Fingers Music and together wrote with Hans Zimmer the acclaimed score to the incredible tv series Prehistoric Planet. I was so impressed by this series, and the first part of this episode digs into the unique instruments that were created for this powerful score, and the other part of this episode is a personal and in-depth conversation with Kara and Anže about their lives. They shared their individual stories about challenges, mentors, and have great advice for younger composers. In the show notes and linked to the podcast are 2 bonus tracks which are concert pieces by both Anže and Kara; these pieces are excerpted in the main episode as well. I’ve included detailed timestamps and you can listen to this on your favourite podcast player, watch the YouTube video, read the transcript and see the gallery of images related to this episode,all linked on my website: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/ane-rozman-and-kara-talve

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(05:10) creating the music for Prehistoric Planet with custom instruments

(19:23) help support this series through my Ko-fi page

(19:39) Euphone audio sample, more about unique instruments used in Prehistoric Planet

(22:46) Mark Deutsch Banzantar

(24:48) Bleeding Fingers Music, working with Hans Zimmer and Russell Emanuel

(31:08) Anže’s early years composing, challenges, networking

(34:08) excerpt from Flight/Death from Phoenix for Solo Flute and Orchestra by Anže Rozman

(34:49) finding opportunities to write for different instruments

(37:08) emigration: dealing with homesickness

(38:42) working with orchestras

(41:09) Berklee in Spain, networking skills, connecting with Hans Zimmer

(46:21) advice for people who want to move to LA

(49:13) Kara Talve experience of moving to LA

(51:57) composing for The Simpsons

(52:49) how Tara’s grandmother was saved from the Nazis by her piano teacher Andrée Levallois

(57:34) excerpt from “Winter Rhapsody” by Kara Talve

(58:45) mentors at Berklee Ruth Mendelson and Steven Hunt, Kara’s dad

(01:02:01) Anže reflecting on negative attitudes, advice about following your interests, Jani Golob

(01:08:07) Tara’s bad experiences with piano lessons

Pat Irwin is a renowned film and television composer; some of his scores include Dexter: New Blood, Rocko’s Modern Life, Pepper Ann, and Nurse Jackie. He’s also a multi-instrumentalist who was a member of the B52s for 18 years; he founded The Raybeats and 8 Eyed Spy, and more recently the band SUSS of which I’m a fan. Pat also teaches film composition at NYU, and Brooklyn College at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, and this conversation wove it’s way into important topics for all of us: a life well-lived, grief, the importance of creativity and of having a good hang. As always, I’ve included detailed timestamps, so if you want to jump to his days with the B52s or Dexter, go ahead, but I hope you’ll take the time to listen to this whole episode which is rich with music and stories. Pat is as articulate as he is creative. You may be surprised that the episode begins with his time in Paris interviewing jazz musicians and learning from John Cage.

Please buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman

Like all my episodes in this series, this is also a video, and the transcript is linked here as well: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/pat-irwin

Pat Irwin: https://patirwinmusic.com/

Rocko's Modern Life soundtrack album link: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4cxM57oL5yL3wIDlagQyOG

Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:51) Paris meeting Dexter Gordon, Bill Coleman, Mal Waldron, Steve Lacey, Nadia Boulanger, John Cage (09:54) intro to clip from Rocko’s Modern Life (10:21) clip from Rocko’s Modern Life the Pogo Stick Scenario (10:52) Nadia Boulanger, love of jazz (13:25) intro to Lost and Found albums (14:02) Swing Time from Volume 3 of New Sounds From the Lost and Found (15:51) Open Window from Volume 4 of Lost and Found (17:06) intro to Rocko’s Modern Life (18:11) Rocko Versus Food Boy from Rocko’s Modern Life soundtrack (20:11) Rocko’s Modern Life, Kevin Norton, Art Barron (22:12) Walter Hawkes, Long Island City, Ernie Brooks, Don Cherry, The Talking Heads (26:07) In Another Time from Wide open Sky with J. Walter Hawkes (30:36) NYC 8 Eyed Spy, The Raybeats, the B-52s, deaths of Ricky Wilson and George Scott (37:24) touring life and joining the B-52s (44:03) writing music for film and television, collecting instruments (47:12) Early Morning Song from volume 5 The Lost and Found (52:56) Dexter: New Blood (57:21) music from Dexter: New Blood Suite part 1 (59:12) SUSS, Gary Leib (01:06:06) Winter Was Hard SUSS (01:07:59) pedal steel, lap steel, Jonathan Gregg (01:09:00) teaching film composition at NYU, advice to young composers, the importance of the arts (01:17:30) SUSS (01:24:54) SUSS Across the Horizon (01:30:46) Pat’s start composing for film, changes in film composition industry (01:35:27) reflections on the importance of music

Today’s guest is the Emmy-winning songwriter, singer, producer and composer Kat Raio Rende. Together with her husband JP Rende she has a successful songwriting and production company Earworm Music company. This episode is a fascinating window into the world of music for children’s tv shows, jingles, working with celebrities, and music production in general. We talked about writing for Sesame Street, including “Friends with a Penguin” featuring Billy Porter and “We Don’t Walk Alone”, Baby Shark, how to write for characters as opposed to singers, her big break that led to singing backup for big stars, the benefits and challenges of having ADHD, advice for setting up an inexpensive studio and learning production tricks, family/work balance, parenting, and most importantly, expressing emotions through music to help children.Kat’s infectious delight in music, composition, and singing as well as her personal story and perspectives as a parent will fascinate listeners everywhere.

I'm an independant podcaster; could you help with a few dollars to keep this series going? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks!

Like all my episodes, you can listen to this on your favourite podcast player, (search Conversations with Musicians with Leah Roseman) watch the video on YouTube, read the transcript, and navigate with the timestamps: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/kat-raio-rende

Here are some videos we talk about during the episode, that Kat wrote the music for with JP Rende (her husband and colleague at Earworm Music https://www.earwormny.com/ )Billy Porter in Sesame Street's Friends with a Penguin, EMMY winning song: https://youtu.be/f-YxjLUnnP0?si=PPElVWAiKYR2Chie Sesame Street's We Don't Walk Alone: https://youtu.be/LNlAHNzd6WY?si=KHhBhHIA1pDKsWeX Cardi B in Baby Shark Does the Seaweed Sway: https://youtu.be/NHFLk7937dI?si=wyKbLWcN-uD6SQdN Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:23) writing for Billy Porter “Friends with a Penguin” for Sesame Street (06:56) clip from Friends with a Penguin (07:50) writing “We Don’t Walk Alone” for Sesame Street (10:43) clip from “We Don’t Walk Alone” (12:14) writing for Baby Shark, working with Cardi B (18:01) working with husband JP Rende, creative process (21:31) please support this independant podcast (21:47) writing songs for specific characters, creative process (25:39) Kat’s musical influences, singing backup and demos, SUNY Purchase (30:24) writing for Sesame Street, starting Earworm with JP, writing jingles (32:56) getting big breaks, singing backup in New York (39:05) benefits and challenges of ADHD, writing jingles, musicologist Sandy Wilber (47:26) parenting, kids shows (51:57) having to pitch, producing, advice for setting up an inexpensive studio (01:02:02) family/work balance working from home, helping kids learn music (01:11:00) Kat’s childhood music education (01:14:23) vocal producing and directing (01:21:31) expressing emotions through music to help children

This episode features the Venezuelan composer Sandro Morales-Santoro who composes for film, tv and new media and is based in L.A. In this episode you’ll hear lots of music and our in-depth conversation during which Sandro tells the inspiring story of how he learned to read and write music while attending law school in Venezuela, then was accepted into the Berklee college of music, and was awarded their achievement scholarship, then how moved to L.A. and created community both professionally and personally. Sandro is on the Executive committee for the Composers’ Diversity Collective and we talked about biases in the industry and increasing exposure for composers from diverse backgrounds. Sandro is the fourth film and tv composer I’ve featured so far on this podcast, please take a look at my complete catalog of episodes to check out episodes you may have missed. Like all my episodes, this is available wherever you listen to podcasts, is also a video on my YouTube channel, and the transcript is also linked: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/sandro-morales-santoro

I've included detailed timestamps below.

Please help me with a tip: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman

Sandro Morales-Santoro Website: https://www.sandromorales.com/

Composers Diversity Collective: https://www.composersdiversitycollective.org/

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(02:25) Sandro’s start in music and family’s resistance to his aspirations

(07:27) studies with Angel Balan to learn composition, getting into Berklee after law school

(18:33) The Shadow of the Sun

(19:04) music clip Slices of Bread from The Shadow of the Sun

(23:16) using Venezuelan traditional styles, different South American instruments, various influences

(30:07) music clip A Decent Job from The Shadow of the Sun

(32:12) process of writing music for The Shadow of the Sun

(34:08) music clip Late for Work from The Shadow of the Sun

(35:14) Vela, Dayana Gauthier, emigration experience

(41:50) trailer to Vela

(42:57) the making of Vela

(45:39) prejudice, and the founding of the Composers Diversity Collective

(52:04) please help support this series with a tip! Ko-fi link in the description

(52:20) Composers Diversity Collective, Michael Abels, Amanda Jones

(57:30) learning about the film industry, making Vela, the role of the film composer

(01:05:07) writing for orchestra, use of synthesizers

(01:11:20) benefits of modular synthesizers

(01:13:19) demo of Eurorack synth

(01:16:56) feeling and expressing emotion in music and acting, The Shadow of the Sun

(01:22:07) creating community

(01:28:26) Restaurants at the End of the World, including 3 music clips by David Benjamin Steinberg and Sandro Morales-Santoro, National Geographic Disney+

(01:40:09) reflections on different careers in music, other film composers

Like all my podcast episodes, you can watch the video on my YouTube and the transcript is linked here as well: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/emmolei-sankofa

EmmoLei Sankofa https://www.e-sankofa.com/ is a an American composer, producer, musician, and artist whose work spans music, visual media, and fine art. Detailed show notes below with timestamps!

You can sign up for my weekly newsletter ⁠https://mailchi.mp/ebed4a237788/podcast-newsletter⁠to get access to Sneak Peeks for upcoming guests on my website ⁠https://www.leahroseman.com/about⁠ where you can explore past episodes and support the show through my Ko-fi page: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman⁠

My socials are in my Linktree: ⁠https://linktr.ee/leahroseman⁠

In this episode we focused on EmmoLei's original music for Hulu's The Other Black Girl, the film score for Three Ways and her project Geometry, and we talked about her unique use of Morse code in her compositions, and the benefits of limitations in creative work. I asked her about her experiences in HBCU marching band culture, at the Savannah College of Art and Design, and being part of a positive community of mentors and peers through the Composers Diversity Collective. With her background as a percussionist and her use of Morse code, I was interested to hear about her creative process, and also about some of her visual art projects and collaborative installations. EmmoLei’s discography encompasses many albums and singles, and often integrates soul, jazz, classical, and rhythm and blues. Her single, Don’t Fight, was included on Adult Swim’s OPUS compilation album. EmmoLei has collaborated with many award-winning filmmakers, and through her creative audio company, Bèl Son, has worked with brands like Nike, Buzzfeed and Kamala Harris for the People. At the beginning of this episode, we dig into EmmoLei’s unique score for The Other Black Girl, which I watched and recommend. It’s based on a best-selling novel by Zakiya Dalila Harris, and the show is an edgy thriller that’s a social commentary with humourous twists, and shines a light on the expeirence of Black women in corporate America, specifically in the publishing industry.

Here's the link to the official Triangles Video (which is excerpted in the episode) ⁠https://youtu.be/5YGSMD547VE?si=1LS-y6EoFKP-SqGA⁠

Timestamps: (00:00) Intro(03:01) The Other Black Girl(11:49) using Morse code in EmmoLei’s compositions(17:10) marching band culture HBCU(20:52) SCAD Sound Design Masters(23:25) please help support this independant podcast!(24:04) Mentors and mentoring, the Composers Diversity Collective(33:37) African diaspora, Sankofa(36:33) Emmolei’s instruments and creative process(44:44) visual art, trip to South Africa(56:26) Geometry, filmmaking, producing(01:00:49) Three Ways(01:04:13) The Other Black Girl, Tonality vocal group, graphic scores(01:12:23) In Pursuit of Silence(01:17:30) EmmoLei’s well-rounded musical background