Tag Archives: Justin Simien

On Cue With… Kris Bowers For ‘Bad Hair’ Soundtrack | Vehlinggo

The Grammy-nominated, Emmy Award-winning, and Juilliard-educated Bowers has created for Bad Hair a compelling array of New Jack Swing songs, straight out of the late 1980s and early 1990s, balanced with a nuanced and richly textured score laced with such elements as ambient synth foreboding, jazz-infused ruminations, cacophonous histrionics, and Penderecki-infused conversations, among other things. – Vehlinggo

Join host Aaron Vehling (Vehlinggo.com) for an episode of the Lakeshore podcast, ON CUE WITH… Kris Bowers!  With the recent release of his score to Justin Simien’s horror-comedy, Bad Hair, we’re certain film music fans are curious about how Kris created his exciting new score as well as how he and director Justin Simien came up with all the New Jack Swing-inspired tracks which sit firmly and perfectly in the film’s late-eighties period.  And if you’ve already watched the movie on Hulu, you may be curious about that music video song, “I Get It,” performed by Kelly Rowland; it’s also on the album.   Listen to the podcast below.

Bad Hair–Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is out now via Lakeshore Records: [Download/Listen]

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Interview: Composer Kris Bowers Talks ‘Bad Hair’

Kris Bowers is a Grammy-nominated, Emmy Award-winning, and Juilliard-educated pianist and composer who creates genre-defying music that pays homage to his jazz roots with inflections of alternative and R&B influences.

Bowers’ work as a film and television composer is a testament to his versatility as an artist. He established himself at the forefront of Hollywood’s emerging generation of composers and consistently champions the art guided by multidisciplinary collaborations.

Bower’s recent work includes Showtime’s Kobe Bryant’s Muse, Netflix’s Dear White People, Showtime’s Black Monday, Netflix’s When They See Us, FX’s Mrs. America and 2019’s Academy Award-winner for Best Picture, Green Book.

We reached out to Bowers to discuss his recent horror score for Bad Hair with music by Kelly Rowland and director Justin Simien, released on Lakeshore Records with the film streaming on Hulu – just in time for Halloween!

 

SSM: What inspired you to transition into composing for film and television?

KB: It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I actually told my parents when I was 11 or 12 that I wanted to start off as a performer in the jazz space and find a way to transition into scoring. Somehow, I’ve stuck to that plan haha.

 

SSM: Bad Hair is a horror satire set in 1989 about terror striking when a woman’s new hair weave takes a life on its own. This is also your second time working with director/ writer Justin Simien. How did your approach to this project differ or resemble the Dear White People television series with Simien?

KB: With this, it was really amazing to work on a full feature with Justin and see how our process of establishing and working with thematic material in the score can be applied to a feature. Justin is so incredible with not only his selection of temp music, but his trust in allowing me to interpret that in whatever way I want to musically. That it’s much more about the feeling than the sound, and because of the amount of time we’ve been working on Dear White People together, Justin and I have a trust that allows for a lot of freedom in the creative process.

SSM: With horror films, the score is so vital in creating the mood and tone for the audience. Can you speak about some of the instruments and choices you made when scoring Bad Hair

KB: We were really inspired by the horror movies from the 60s and 70s, so a lot of the score is very traditional in its instrumentation: strings, brass, lots of percussion, and choir. In addition to that, I went about adding a lot of analogue synths to the orchestral cues to give it an eerie/ambient texture. A lot of the sound-design elements you hear in the score itself are artifacts from tape delays and insanely long reverb tails.

 

SSM: What is the worst hair cut/style you ever received?

KB: I had a couple of instances of texturizing my hair when I was in middle school. Not the most fun process haha

 

SSM: What’s coming up next for you? 

KB: I’ve just finished a biopic about Aretha Franklin starring Jennifer Hudson and directed by Liesl Tommy, as well as a new TV show for Netflix called Bridgerton. I’m also currently working on the next Space Jam movie with director Malcolm D. Lee.

 

Check out the Bad Hair (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) and find Kris on Instagram @krisbowersmusic!

 

 

Exclusive! Bad Hair: Watch The ‘I Get It’ Lyric Video Performed By Kelly Rowland With Song Lyrics!

We are thrilled to premiere the lyric video to “I Get It” performed by Kelly Rowland from Bad Hair (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)! The album was released last week via Lakeshore Records, coinciding with Justin Simien’s film premiere on Hulu! The song is by Justin Simien and Kelly Rowland and produced by the film’s composer, Kris Bowers. Watch the video below with song lyrics!

If you haven’t seen Bad Hair, stream it now on Hulu as part of your #Huluween celebration!

Continue reading Exclusive! Bad Hair: Watch The ‘I Get It’ Lyric Video Performed By Kelly Rowland With Song Lyrics!

Bad Hair Soundtrack: Music By Kris Bowers, Kelly Rowland & Justin Simien Debuts Digitally!

“The Bernard Herrmann/Hitchock movie type score by Kris Bowers is effectively creepy as well.” – Chicago Sun Times

“Kris Bowers’ simmering score clouds ordinary scenes in menace” 
Entertainment Weekly

Lakeshore Records has released  Bad Hair (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), featuring score by Kris Bowers (“When They See Us”, Green Book), and music by Kelly Rowland and Justin Simien!  Find out what critics are saying about the soundtrack, which features Bowers’ “Hermann-esque” score (Indiewire) and New Jack Swing era-inspired songs featuring Kelly Rowland, Braxton Cook, and writer/director Justin Simien that provide the perfect backdrop to the satirical horror thriller set in 1989.

Simien wrote some of the songs many years back, reworked them and they eventually wound up receiving the blessing of the godfather of New Jack Swing himself, Teddy Riley.  Bowers produced the songs, bringing Simien’s vision of them to life.  Lakeshore previously released the single, “Tenderheaded,” as an instant grat track.

 

Continue reading Bad Hair Soundtrack: Music By Kris Bowers, Kelly Rowland & Justin Simien Debuts Digitally!

EXCLUSIVE! Preview Kris Bowers’ ‘Bad Hair’ Score To The Hulu Thriller, Film Directed By Justin Simien

Lakeshore Records previously dropped the single, “Tenderheaded” by EMMY Winner Kris Bowers (“When They See Us”, Green Book),  from the forthcoming Hulu Original Film, Bad Hair!  And now, Hulu and Lakeshore are giving us an exclusive taste of the forthcoming album, which features music by Kris Bowers, four-time GRAMMY Winner Kelly Rowland, and the film’s director, Justin Simien (Dear White People)!  Preview the album below.

Drop your comments below and let us know what you think of the score so far!

Continue reading EXCLUSIVE! Preview Kris Bowers’ ‘Bad Hair’ Score To The Hulu Thriller, Film Directed By Justin Simien