{"id":857,"date":"2010-10-20T14:56:59","date_gmt":"2010-10-20T18:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=857"},"modified":"2010-12-27T20:25:31","modified_gmt":"2010-12-28T01:25:31","slug":"daniel-pemberton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=857","title":{"rendered":"DANIEL PEMBERTON"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Exclusive Interviews & Profiles<\/a> \/\u00a0Composers<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Known in North America as <\/em>Huge Moves<\/em><\/strong>, <\/em>Impossible Moves<\/em><\/strong>, and <\/em>Mega Moves<\/em><\/strong>, <\/em>Monster Moves<\/em><\/strong> (the original title of the Windfall Films series) is a British-U.S. coproduction above moving Big Things, and perhaps the folly of man in wanting to do the impossible, and figuring out a way to actually accomplish the deed, be it moving a house from one part of Vancouver to another by road and barge, transporting a decommissioned submarine across an ocean to its new owners, or taking a 100+ year old brick building with fragile ventilation conduits and lifting the bloody thing above ground in order to transport it to a new locale on university grounds.<\/em><\/p>\n

Behind the scenes and part of the show\u2019s success is the music of Daniel Pemberton, the BAFTA-nominated British composer who\u2019s admitted love of composers such as Ennio Morricone have taught him there is no wrong way to score a film \u2013 it just needs to support the drama, and be fun.<\/em><\/p>\n

In our Q&A, Pemberton \u2013 whose other best-known work is the music for the videogame <\/em>LittleBigPlanet<\/em><\/strong> and TV shows like <\/em>Peep Show<\/em><\/strong> (2003-2008) \u2013 talks about some of the more daring musical choices of the series, as well as what makes the show so special.<\/em><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark R. Hasan<\/em><\/strong>: First the obligatory: how did you become involved in film scoring, and who are some of the composers you admire?<\/em><\/p>\n

Daniel Pemberton<\/strong>: I started off making abstract electronic music when I was a teenager. I had an album out when I was 16 and I met a director, Paul Wilmshurst, through that. I wrote my first score for him while I was still at school, and we\u2019ve worked together ever since, and now I have too many people to work for.
\nI like Ennio Morricone a lot, and then also John Barry and the usual suspects that always crop up. Of today\u2019s lot, I like Alexandre Desplat for his elegance and simplicity, Michael Giacchino, and Mark Mothersbaugh.<\/p>\n

MRH<\/em><\/strong>: I find <\/em>Monster Moves<\/em><\/strong> to be an interesting (albeit unofficial) companion to shows like <\/em>Building Big<\/em><\/strong>, because rather than dealing with the construction of massive projects (such as an obelisk, a suspension bridge), <\/em>Monster Moves<\/em><\/strong> covers the quandaries and different kind of complexities in moving something across unnatural terrains or extreme distances.<\/em><\/p>\n

That provides a different perspective for the composer, because the focus goes beyond the grandiose; there\u2019s an element of insanity in forcing the impossible and actually pulling it off. Was that one aspect of the show that appealed to you, if not the diverse characters who were determined to realize their extreme goals?<\/em><\/p>\n

DP<\/strong>: To start with, I wanted to make the music a lot more quirky and unusual. The company that makes the series, Windfall Films, is one of the greatest, truly independent TV producers left in the U.K. They\u2019ve always encouraged me to do whatever I like, and I owe them a lot for that. But there was a run-in with the American co-financers who wanted the music more \u2018by the book,\u2019 so it went from being quite wacky to being a bit more straight \u2018jeopardy\u2019 music for the first series, which didn\u2019t get me that excited. It wasn\u2019t really until the second series with the songs that I started to have some fun.<\/p>\n

MRH<\/em><\/strong>: I gather you score the episodes when they\u2019ve been edited, but I assume \u201cDeep Deep Down\u201d was written prior to shooting. I wonder if you could describe how that particular episode (or the church episode, with \u201cHere It Comes\u201d) was approached by yourself and the director, because you\u2019ve essentially got an entire town singling as they walk with their homes being transported down a snowy road to the town\u2019s new location, with onscreen captions for the witty lyrics. It\u2019s surreal, funny, and kind of epic, and the sequence is jaw-dropping.<\/em><\/p>\n

DP<\/strong>: I honestly still can\u2019t believe that has been shown on TV. They were moving a church and the series producer had this crazy idea about doing a big choral song to accompany it with the church\u2019s choir. I played along, not really thinking it would ever happen, especially after we had to tone down anything musically unusual from the first series.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d ask, \u2018How\u2019s that song going?\u2019 and I\u2019d go, \u2018Oh yeah\u2026 Erm, it\u2019s coming along\u2026 Is it really going to happen then?\u2019 and he\u2019d go, \u2018Yeah,\u2019 and I\u2019d not really believe it. But it did, and I wrote the song.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s really nuts. It got a mad response when it went out on TV. It\u2019s such a strange unusual piece of TV that we started doing more of them. I actually think it\u2019s a shame there\u2019s not more stuff like that on TV. You can do anything with music; it can be such a powerful tool and it\u2019s so rarely used to its fullest. I think with this it is. It\u2019s crazy, over-the-top, but it definitely makes you smile. (I think you just need to watch the clip. Hearing me talk about it is very boring compared to just seeing it.)<\/p>\n

Anyway, what usually happens is I write a theme and talk to the director, and then come up with some sort of phrase for the chorus. Then the crew comes up with a load of verses while they are shooting which I then rework and fit to the song. We then record it, or do a shit demo, and play that when they shoot. We haven\u2019t really got a great system worked out due to budget\/time\/etc., etc., so it changes each time, depending on the set up.<\/p>\n

MRH<\/em><\/strong>: The Brits have been very good in creating intelligent reality\/documentary shows for the world market, perhaps because of a tradition of making purposeful documentaries, and I feel that your writing is similarly flexible: it conveys the heart of an episode, informing the viewer, but it also draws from a very broad range of music styles without turning the episode into something that\u2019s commercially disposable \u2013 a common problem with reality and documentary shows on myriad specialty channels in North America. <\/em>When you\u2019re about to score an episode, what specific things do you adhere to, so that an episode\u2019s integrity is entertaining and informative?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

DP<\/strong>:\u00a0I just think, \u2018How can I have fun today?\u2019 so when there\u2019s an episode about a big submarine, I\u2019ll write a big male voice choral track. I just sort of let myself have fun and try and evoke some of the storytelling and emotions of the episode into the songs.<\/p>\n

I want to make things that will just excite anyone watching the show. TV and film music is so afraid of being bold these days, which I find a really shame. Listen to Ennio Morricone\u2019s scores \u2013 they are mental and so in your face. I love that kinda of stuff. Obviously there\u2019s a place for more subtle stuff, and I do that too, but sometimes it\u2019s really good fun to just let it rip.<\/p>\n

Ironically, U.K. docs and reality shows have been really good places to do that, as you don\u2019t have the same dramatic structures and disciplines to hold you back as you do with dramatic work, and people let you do more what you want to do and not what they think the exec, who is second-guessing an audience, wants.<\/p>\n

Also, recording live with a big choir and orchestra is great, great fun. The choir loves it. I turned up at a session a while ago, and as I walked into the studio, they said they still couldn\u2019t get a song we recorded a year ago out of their heads.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s fun to work with words and phrases rather than just \u2018oos\u2019 and \u2018ahhs\u2019 for once. It\u2019s silly, but also kinda emotional too. And you hear that stuff on\u00a0Monster Moves<\/strong>; it\u2019s the sort of show that\u2019s the last place you\u2019d expect to hear it, and it does blow you away, I think, if only for the surprise element.<\/p>\n

I mean, I would look at the show\u2019s soundtrack album, as I\u2019m sure many of your readers may do, and think, \u2018Why the hell would I want to hear music from that show?\u2019 But you hear it and you\u2019re like, \u2018What the hell is this??\u2019<\/p>\n

MRH<\/em><\/strong>: Unlike American shows, the British productions tend to run as long as they need, so they\u2019re not vulnerable to filler episodes just to deliver a 23 episode run with an aim to make the syndication minimums. Because dramatic and documentary series in Britain can run 6 or 9 episodes, does that make it easier for a composer to write and refine a score with less pressure?<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m also curious to know if the smaller run of episodes per season allows one to work on several shows, knowing you\u2019re not locked into a long and draining production schedule?<\/em><\/p>\n

DP<\/strong>: I just finished a great BBC series over here called\u00a0Desperate Romantics<\/strong>. We recorded it at Abbey Road, live orchestra, with a band attached. 6 episodes. 170 separate cues. All live, no overdubs. Glam rock bass guitars, saxes, strings, harps, the lot.<\/p>\n

It killed me, it was so much work, but I was still really proud of everything I wrote. If it was 23 episodes, there\u2019s no way I could have kept it up. I would have to start taking short cuts, coming up with different ways to cut corners.<\/p>\n

The show had a real unique sonic identity as a result, and I think the relatively \u2018small\u2019 number of episodes was a part of that. If you\u2019ve got to write, say, 680 cues, you\u2019re not gonna do it all live. It would just kill you. You\u2019d probably start using the same tricks \u2013 loops, drones, etc. \u2013 that you hear all the time, so it was nice to not have to do that. And it also meant that you can keep moving between jobs and stay excited. I did a number of other projects in the year, too, like this BBC Iraq War drama called\u00a0Occupation<\/strong> (I think it\u2019s coming to the U.S. later in the year) which was completely different stylistically.<\/p>\n

MRH<\/em><\/strong>: Although you\u2019ve scored episodes dealing with submarines, trains, Egyptian monuments, courthouses, and steamships, what are your three favourite episodes, and some of the music styles you were delighted to explore?<\/em><\/p>\n

DP<\/strong>:\u00a0My fav songs are \u201cThe Train from Bloemfontein,\u201d \u201cHeave Ho,\u201d and \u201cGold.\u201d They are just over the top, completely shameless big pieces of music. If you hear them, you will think, \u2018What the hell?\u2019 which I think is actually a good reaction these days. I wish there was more music that made me do that.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

KQEK would like to thank Daniel Pemberton for taking time out during his busy schedule for participating in this Q&A.<\/em><\/p>\n

For more information on Daniel Pemberton, visit the composer\u2019s <\/em>website<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Order the MP3 album <\/em>HERE<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Visit the official Monster Moves\/Windfall Films website <\/em>HERE<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

All images remain the property of their copyright holders.<\/em><\/p>\n

This article and interview \u00a9 2009 by Mark R. Hasan<\/em><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Related external links (MAIN SITE)<\/em>:<\/p>\n

CD: \u00a0Little Big Music<\/a> <\/strong>(2008) — Monster Moves<\/a> <\/strong>(2005-2006)<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Exclusive Interviews & Profiles<\/a> \/\u00a0Composers<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Exclusive Interviews & Profiles \/\u00a0Composers . Known in North America as Huge Moves, Impossible Moves, and Mega Moves, Monster Moves (the original title of the Windfall Films series) is a British-U.S. coproduction above moving Big Things, and perhaps the folly of man in wanting to do the impossible, and figuring out a way […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[26,22,46,4212],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-dP","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=857"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1988,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857\/revisions\/1988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}