Interview with The Spectacular Now composer Rob Simonsen

Check out this interview from FilmMusicMag.com with The Spectacular Now composer Rob Simonsen:

Simonsen’s subtly captivating music is totally in the headspace of these two characters, the hilarious boozy-brass opening of “Spectacular Now” gradually getting past the humor to reveal its drifting self in beautiful washes of melancholy melody. For “The Way Way Back,” an alternately lyrical and bouncy guitar-driven theme pushes Duncan out the door for his journey of water slide self-discovery, all while gentle, echoing chords and a piano show the dead-end his mom’s settled for with a passive-aggressive boyfriend.

Though each Simonsen score is character specific, they’re linked by an understated, highly melodic approach that links the films and their music as taking place in the same teen universe where quirky humor blends with the angst of invading adulthood. Their offbeat tones show that Simonsen has indeed learned well from time spent with Mychael Danna, a composer who set the bar for the musically offbeat with such scores as “The Ice Storm,” “The Sweet Hereafter” and “Little Miss Sunshine.” Fully teaming as composers for the quirky acoustical romance of “Management” and a surprisingly traditional orchestral approach that counted down the bittersweet “(500) Days of Summer).” While he’s remained just as busy with more grown-up concerns from a murderous heir in “All Good Things” to the cop family of TV’s “Bluebloods” and the ironic task of “Seeking A Friend for the End of the World,” “The Spectacular Now” and “The Way Way Back” represent the full graduation of Simonsen into Gen Y scoring as he translates the tunes its characters listen to into the entrancing scores of their lives.

Read the full interview here: http://www.filmmusicmag.com/?p=11552

Download the The Spectacular Now soundtrack now at: http://bit.ly/SpecNowSoundtrack and see the film, in Theaters Today!