Nearly four years of hard work into composing Burning Man: The Musical, it’s incredibly exciting to be invited to participate in one of the coolest theatre development programs out there. Getting ready for two weeks of figuring out how to best place our show with some of the most innovative people in the industry. Check out more details about the other shows and info about THEatre Accelerator here!
Official Website
Excited to share new co-write, "Countdown Forever" by Berlin-based artist, Jinka
As the artist herself describes it: Happy Trip Pop. "Countdown Forever" was actually the first song we've co-written together. And expect more to come. We wanted to convey the idea of weightlessness, as if drifting into space in convoluted space-time. All pulled in together under the production world of Tobias Kuhn.
Special shoutout to "Cake" directed by Anne Hu, from Bushwick to Taiwan
Having had the pleasure of scoring the music for this film, "Cake" has now shown (and continues to show!) at more than a dozen festivals around the world, with several awards attached. The amazing director, Anne Hu, is literally making waves at the Women Make Waves festival in Taiwan, and if you get a chance to see the film a screening near you, you owe it to yourself to follow the Facebook page/blog! www.cakethefilm.com
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Scoring "The Wolf" Featuring Christian Slater
Excited to have been part of this new short film from HP Studios, featuring Christian Slater, titled "The Wolf." The trailer gives a sneak peak at the score, which involved lots of synth, fx processing, and rethinking how I look at my printer. Sounds funny, but you'll see why when the full film comes out Feb 14!
"Dear Angelica" from Oculus' Story Studio at Sundance
What happy holidays can mean on a whole other level
Honda really brought it with this campaign, where they provided amazing holiday VR magic to kids in the hospital. An inspiring and emotional video to work on. Wishing everyone a happy and compassionate holiday season.
Bringing out the big strings on Mercedes Benz
Featuring celebrity chef Dabiz Munoz and the new GLC Coupe, this one references Handel turned up to 11. Figuring out ways to amp up the Baroque sound into something huge and modern is not something one gets to do everyday, so this was especially fun to compose and record. Also, switching between multiple overdubs of violin and viola made me appreciate how small the violin really is.
Drumroll, and presenting, Burning Man: The Musical "A Burning Mixtape"
After months of hard work and serious multi-tasking, we (Matt Werner, writer/ myself, composer) are proud to release the first album of songs for Burning Man: The Musical! For those just hopping aboard this crazy train, check out Broadway World's preview.
Composing and producing the music has been a uniquely fun and challenging task, juggling between EDM, fugue, 60s folk, psychedelic rock n' roll, and hip hop, all the while maintaining some of that Broadway tone. BTW if you can figure out which Mozart piece we re-purposed into a contrapuntal dance anthem, and why we chose this particular piece, you'll see where our head's been at lately. And this is just the beginning...
Listen/Download for free at burningmanthemusical.com.
Making soundtrack DEWcisions for Mountain Dew's new VR Campaign
Making music flavors for this NASCAR themed campaign took a bit more than what genre fit the best. Between setting the mood with some head banging hard rock as you're sitting next to Dale Earnhardt Jr., punching out surf punk during "Baja Blast," and laying down futuristic electro in "Pitch Black," making sure all these cues blended together with accompanying slo-mo cues was the real fun. Check out Mountain Dew's interactive YouTube videos where you can rotate the screen as you drive.
Flexing sinister synth work for Met-Rx
Excited to have worked on Met-Rx's new and furious ad campaign, this one required pulling out tricks from the engineering toolbox. The slow minimal includes menacing low strings, deep percussion, synthetic sound design elements, a continually evolving synth theme, and plenty of sound modulation/filtering. Gotta love the monster.
Some quick slaps, snaps and funkiness with new Dick's Sporting Goods spot
Making the soundtrack for this one was a fun challenge. This cool new spot features quick footwork from across the spectrum of sports. And since the piece gets faster and faster, recording multiple takes of the thigh slapping and snapping by the end worked a few muscles.
Fun times from working on soundtrack for hilarious new video featuring Andy Samberg
With monsters getting ready for the big game, GB soundtracking kicks in for the second cue starting at :55 with some soft electric guitars transitioning into a full blown inspirational brass filled jam.
End of Winter Highlights. Hooray for Spring.
A few soundtrack highlights from the last season. Coming soon: new "Burning Man: The Musical" tracks, some VR action, a couple short films, and more ads.
Featured on the Ad Club of New York Insider front page with Wakey!Wakey!
A crazy coincidence brought an old friend, Mike Grubbs of Wakey!Wakey!, and I together to play a short set for an awesome event on music in advertising, presented by the Advertising Club of New York. Back in the old days I used to play violin for Wakey!Wakey!. And now as an Ad Club member, this little live reunion couldn't have been more fun and appropriate! Check out the interview and videos in time for Wakey!Wakey!'s new record release, which also features some GB violin action.
"Burning Man: The Musical" begins its first round of online music videos
It's exactly what the title suggests...Burning Man: The Musical! A project that started a few months ago in collaboration with the musical's executive producer/creator, Matt Werner, the opening sequence has now been made into a music video for YouTube. Composing and recording the music brought a unique GB challenge to bring unlikely genres of music together, such as EDM, dub step, drum circling, and epic power ballads. We're on track to release more videos, and who knows, take the whole thing to Broadway? Visit www.burningmanthemusical.com.
Wrapping up Amazon Audible's "Stories That Surround You" Artist Profile Campaign
Honored to have worked on a project involving such amazing artists, Audible's "Stories That Surround You" Artist Profile campaign comes to an end with a great behind-the-scenes video. The Artist Profile series features original GB soundtracks and variations tailored for each individual artist, including the finale video below.
Original soundtrack for the official int'l trailer of "Queen of the Desert" starring Nicole Kidman, directed by Werner Herzog
This international trailer of "Queen of the Desert" – the latest feature film directed by Werner Herzog starring Nicole Kidman, James Franco, and Damien Lewis – features an original GB soundtrack from start to finish. Elements include epic orchestral arrangements, themes to help support the historical and cultural contexts of the film, and some serious drama. Check out the film website and the trailer below.
Soundtrack for Amazon Audible's "Stories That Surround You" Artist Profiles
This GB soundtrack for Audible's "Stories That Surround You" Artist Profiles is the first of a series: featuring light melodies, live strings, pizzicatos, and soft synths to help support shots of amazing illustrations by the featured artist, Victo Ngai.
Two original pieces composed for "...or Something Like That" by Pencil Head Industries
Check out and contribute to the Kickstarter page (Staff Pick) for this amazing project, which involves really original interview storytelling, sound design and accompanying art, which will be shown in galleries soon. The videos give you a small glimpse into the great minds of the project's creators, Travis Abels and Marc Girouard.