Film and TV

“The beguiling relationship between music and the moving image began for me when I was about ten years of age. I remember watching television and wondering ‘why that music with those images?’

The Dr Who title music, for example, and a series called The Family, which I think was probably one of the first fly-on-the-wall tv series. And of course going to the movies and hearing sublime scores that seemed to so perfectly fit the pictures. The Deerhunter was one such evocative score that stayed with me long, long after seeing the film – its memory would bring back the film, the pictures, the story.

I think as a composer in general that I find myself conjuring up images and pictures in my head – I get comfort and help in seeing the music. And once again, the parents’ record collection played its part – the soundtrack to A Clockwork Orange was there at home – Beethoven gone clean mad, and that in itself opened up a whole new way of thinking about the interpretation of music.

All of these influences would have had a bearing on the scores I’ve composed for television and film. After all, it is only the accumulation of experience that enables us to create – we don’t draw from a void. Scoring Andy Kemp’s feature Hell’s Pavement was an important moment – hearing one’s own music off a big screen was a huge thrill. And my friendship and collaboration with the late film maker and singer David Hammond, taught me much about the language of film and how music can enhance film immensely.”