(Cinema Musica interview continued)

Which musicians and composers do you admire?

There are many great composers. Of course, for me Jerry Goldsmith comes in first, followed by John Williams. They are extraordinary and very different composers. They both achieved to capture the essence of film music and music in general.
I’m also a great admirer of Ralph Vaughn Williams, Stravinsky and Shostakovich.

Have you written concert music as well?

Not since college. At the moment I am very focused on film music. Maybe at some point in the future I'll write concert music, but not right now.

Do you have an opinion on illegal music downloads? I think that’s a big problem.

Yes, it is. Composers want to publish their music because they want people to listen to it. And when I’m writing a score, which I’m really proud of, I want others to listen to it. I don’t support these illegal downloads at all. You know, good music doesn’t simply appear out of nowhere. We have talked about symphonic music and synthesizers and one of the differences between those options is the price. To produce an electronic score is much cheaper than  orchestral music, and if it continues in that way with downloads, we won’t stand a chance to refinance an orchestra because the market for soundtracks isn’t all that big. If you sell a thousand copies of your music, that’s quite good. (laughs)

What do you think about the usage of songs in films? Can they replace composed scores?

The best way to include songs in a film, is to use songs which were actually composed for certain scenes. If you take a song in, it should push and support the plot. If you succeed in doing that because the lyrics and the music fit the scene, it’s good.  If you just use a famous song to put it on the CD release to enhance its sales, then it’s not a good way to use songs in films.

What do you think are some of the biggest problems in Hollywood?

(thinks for a long time)

I don’t want to force you to say anything bad about your employers.

Thanks, I appreciate that. Personally, I would like the studios to be a little more open-minded. They often make decisions because those decisions are easy – not really creative and sometimes just not good at all. But that’s not only a musical problem. Why do they spend so much money on a single movie? There are a lots of stories waiting to be told. There are a lot of people, who rack their brains over this for a long time, but they just don’t understand it.

What have you learned during your time in the movie industry?

Not to get discouraged. You know, the last thing Hollywood needs is another film composer. I am composing and I want to do this… there are so many people who discourage you, who tell you: “That’s not our music. We don’t need you.” The thing I worked on the most is persistence and endurance. I hope that there are enough directors out there, who will give me the chance for a fruitful collaboration.

What do you think about the young Hollywood composers? We were talking briefly about Hans Zimmer et al. Are they the future of Hollywood?

I don’t know if they are the future, but it is interesting when you are going back a few years, back to the 60s. John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Lalo Schifrin, Quincy Jones and Henry Mancini all wrote film music at the same time, but their styles were very different and they made music for very different movies. They were all great composers and will always be famous for their quality. That’s what I’m trying to do – I am always trying to write the best possible score.

Alan, thank you very much for this candid and detailed interview!

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