All posts by Erica Pope

Kid Moxie Spotlight: Celebrating Women Composers

April 5, 2021 Erica Pope

Elena Charbila is an established actor, composer, producer and recording artist under her moniker “Kid Moxie.”

Kid Moxie’s music has been featured in numerous indie films, television shows and commercials, including a national Victoria’s Secret ad campaign. She collaborated with renowned Twin Peaks composer, Angelo Badalementi, recording a new version of “Mysteries of Love.” Entertainment Weekly called her a “cinematic popstar” and Vice described her sound as “eerie, celestial, odd and exquisite.”

She collaborated with 2019 Palm D’Or award winner and Greek director Vasilis Kekatos for Greek Vogue Magazine’s video campaign Gucci Resort 2020, starring model Winnie Harlow, and five mini-movies for the perfume line KORRES – all five scored by Kid Moxie.

Recently, Kid Moxie pulled double duty both acting in and scoring the music for Not to Be Unpleasant, But We Need To Have A Serious Talk, soundtrack released on Lakeshore Records. Her music video “Big in Japan,” from the soundtrack, premiered in Under the Radar, in which they called it a “dreamy, palpable neo-noir vibe.” Apple Music picked the soundtrack as one of its top 10 soundtrack recommendations.

Last year, Kid Moxie wrote and performed three of the original tracks for CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077, released by Lakeshore Records. The soundtrack topped the iTunes soundtrack charts at number one.

We caught up with Kid Moxie to talk about her recent projects and what’s coming up next for this multi-talented artist.

SSM: You stated in an interview with Under the Radar that you began playing music when you were young. Can you speak a little bit about what pulled you in the direction of composing?

KM: It’s hard to trace exactly the why and the how as I started with classical piano at the age of 4 but at some point, while still in elementary school, I remember getting a lot of joy from combining my own notes instead of reading what was in front of me. I was probably also rebelling against the very structured and demanding way that I was being taught at the time. Perhaps it was my way of feeling “in control” of the instrument. I still feel the need of that kind of control. Composing your own music gives one a sense of freedom that feels invaluable to me.

SSM: You have such a unique and new-wave sound! Who are the artists or albums that inspire you in your music?

KM: Thanks! I love artists from all kinds of genres as long as their music creates an atmosphere I want to “live in”. I really like Burial, Grimes, Bjork, The Cure, Clint Mansell, Electric Youth, Trentemoller.

Some of my most cherished soundtracks that influence my sound are Blade Runner (Vangelis), Drive (Cliff Martinez), Twin Peaks (Angelo Badalamenti) and Three Colours: Blue (Zbignew Preisner).

SSM: You created the moniker Kid Moxie. How did you decide to create such an interesting and cool name?

KM: I wanted something that would sound playful and gender-less so Kid Moxie felt appropriate in that way.

SSM: Your tracks for the Cyberpunk 2077 soundtrack are awesome! Can you talk about collaborating on ‘Follow the White Crow,’ ‘Flying Heads’ and Simple Pleasures’ and the instruments you used?

KM: Cyberpunk was such a beast of a project and I was writing stuff at the time without knowing whether they would make the game or not. It was really fun for me to explore dark/industrial techno which is something I hadn’t really delved into in the past. I used both soft synths (I am a big lover of Arturia) and analogue instruments such as Moog Mother to create throbbing bass lines and Dreadbox Erebus for some of the drone sounds and screechy leads.

SSM: What do you have coming up next that we should know about?

KM: My next album titled “Better Than Electric” is due to come out later this year and I’m also writing the score for a film shooting in Greece that I’m really excited about.

Follow Kid Moxie on Instagram and listen below.

Soundtrack Available Now: [Listen]

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Ronit Kirchman Spotlight: Celebrating Women Composers

March 22, 2021 Erica Pope

Ronit Kirchman is a composer expanding the frontiers of film and television music. She is recognized in the press as “an extremely original voice” with “a virtuoso touch” and “a truly unique force in the entertainment industry.”

Ronit is perhaps best known for her innovative, genre-bending score for The Sinner — the acclaimed Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated anthology series executive produced by Jessica Biel, which is slated to premiere its fourth season in 2021.

Ronit’s score for The Sinner was named one of IndieWire’s Best TV Scores of 2020. Her other recent projects include the feature film Evil Eye (Amazon Studios / Blumhouse), for which she received a Hollywood Music in Media Award; and the episodic series Limetown on Peacock TV (based on the hit podcast of the same name). She has released several soundtrack albums with Lakeshore Records.

The recipient of multiple awards from the Sundance Institute and BMI, Ronit is a prolific songwriter, music producer, conductor, violinist, multi-instrumentalist, and singer. She also composes original scores for theater, dance, multimedia installations, and the concert stage. Ronit has performed and recorded internationally in a range of contexts including free improvisation, classical, live electronica, rock, pop, jazz, world, blues and country. She is a poet, author and visual artist.

We reached out to Ronit to discuss her recent projects and what’s next for this multi-talented artist.

SSM: What inspires you to work on a film or television project? Are there particular topics that you are drawn to more?

RK: I’m most inspired to score a film or tv series when the creative team has a meaningful perspective, curiosity, intelligence, and a spirit of camaraderie and collaboration. A lot of times, it’s the answers to “who will my creative partners will be?”, and “how are we are going to tell the story?” that get me excited about a project – even more than the “what” of the story’s subject or genre – because the “who” and “how” most fundamentally define the journey we’re going to go on. That begins with the script and the framework built by the writer, and naturally extends into the scoring process.

I love working with directors and producers who are interested in discovering what music can do in their story, and who are eager to find an original, impactful musical and sonic approach for their film. In terms of the content that I’m drawn to, it often depends on what I’ve last worked on! I like to take on a variety of stories, so that I can keep things changing and give myself a chance to explore different aspects of myself as a person and an artist. Each story also tends to emphasize different aspects of composing and technique, and variety in the content keeps me flexible and awake to new possibilities.

SSM: Is there a particular genre that you find more challenging to craft music for?

RK: Each genre area presents its own challenges, which create opportunities and catalysts for new ideas and structural invention. Sometimes the most challenging (and enjoyable!) projects are those that shift tone quickly, or encompass a range of tones. I find dark comedy very appealing and interesting, because you have to get people on board with a certain tone, and then keep them immersed in the story even when the tone changes drastically.

The music creates permission and a context within which to feel deeply, or to laugh, or to feel fear or horror, often in complex juxtaposition. You get to go deep and play things in an unexpected way but you have to be very nimble to get it right.

SSM: You are a poet, author, visual artist among many other talents. How do you see the relationship between composing music and your other vast visual artistic talents?

RK: What we make is very much a reflection of how we perceive and imagine. My experience is definitely synesthetic when I’m creating something. When I’m composing, for example, and I imagine a sonic texture or melodic gesture, it often comes with a dynamic sense of color, space, and movement as well. It’s not a one-to-one correspondence of meaning, but there’s a multi-sensory conversation in my mind as I articulate my ideas. And in my artwork, I often investigate questions of scale, motion, and iteration that have very musical qualities as well.

When I score a film, I feel like all of my creative avenues are activated through storytelling. The story world is a unique microcosm of human experience. So it’s really how everything comes together – the characters’ journeys, the visual language, the sound and music – that generates your experience of it in the audience. Approaching composition from that integrated, holistic point of view allows me to find the musical voice for each project that brings it to life.

SSM: Evil Eye is about the pressures that women can sometimes face to get married and how that can play out with falling for the wrong person. The music is quietly haunting and beautiful. Can you speak a little bit about your creative process with creating the score?

RK: There’s a wonderful, complex mother-daughter relationship at the heart of Evil Eye. Usha and Pallavi share a lot of love and connection, as well as a generational push-and-pull over tradition, custom, fear, faith, and family secrets.

Their story also illuminates the bigger picture of what you might call collective karma, and social structures that evolve through the individual experiences of many generations. As a composer, there was a lot I could relate to in giving voice to both women’s experiences and exploring the full emotional range. It starts out in a very lyrical space, escalates into outright horror, and still offers room for contemplation.

SSM: What’s coming up next for you that we should know about?

RK: I’m looking forward to an exciting fourth season of The Sinner, which is going into production again this spring. Since it’s an anthology series, I have a chance to reimagine the musical palette and create a lot of new material and themes for the show each season. The new episodes will premiere later this year on USA. I’m also in music production mode, mixing an album for a friend and composing new music for a future release. I’ll be sure to keep you posted!

[Download/Stream]

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Kate Simko Spotlight: Celebrating Women Composers

March 5, 2021 Erica Pope 1 Comment

Photo credit: Rui Pignatelli.

Kate Simko is a London-based composer and electronic music producer. Originally from Chicago, Illinois, she attended Northwestern University’s music school and is formally trained in classical piano and jazz.

Simko interned in Los Angeles on feature films while her electronic music career simultaneously began to soar. Her 2011 house track ‘Go On Then’ appeared on the Beatport Top 10 Deep House Chart.

Simko moved to London where she completed a master’s degree in composition for screen at the Royal College Music. She created the London Electronic Orchestra while in attendance. The LEO has performed worldwide and released a self-titled vinyl album to much critical acclaim.

Simko’s recent film and television projects include the 2017 LA Film Festival premiere 20 Weeks; PBS Sacred Journey; PBS Independent Lens We Believe in Dinosaurs, soundtrack released in 2019 by Lakeshore Records; and the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival premiere Underplayed, soundtrack released today by Lakeshore Records!

We reached out to Simko to discuss her start in music and her recent project, Underplayed.

SSM: You stated in a previous interview that you became interested in house music while you were in college at Northwestern University. Can you speak into why that genre of music first caught your attention?

KS: I first got into house music as a teen going to underground raves in Chicago and the Midwest. It was a really exciting time in Chicago for house music, as well as post rock combining electronics with rock instruments (bands like Tortoise, the Sea and Cake, etc. on Thrill Jockey).

I was always was more naturally drawn to electronic beats, and loved how it was mainly music without words like classical music. At Northwestern I took over as the head of dance and hip hop music at the radio station, and that’s when I first started DJing on the radio and went from being a fan of the music to a DJ and couple years down the line releasing my own records.

SSM: You attended the Royal College of Music in London, England, to study composition for screen. What was it about film scoring that pulled you in that direction?

KS: Ever since I started learning how to produce music I wanted to score for film. I studied Music Technology at Northwestern and my final graduation portfolio project was to self-teach myself Pro Tools and score a student film. A couple years later a film faculty member requested me to score my first feature film, The Atom Smashers. It was an amazing experience, and also made me realize my limitations as a composer. I moved to London to learn how to properly write for orchestra and take things up a level.

SSM: Underplayed explores the gender and ethnic disparities within the electronic music scene by interviewing some of the genre’s female pioneers and next-generation artists. How did you come to score this film?

KS: Gabe McDonough (at MAS in Los Angeles), who I’ve known for almost 20 years from Chicago days, contacted me to do this score. We’ve kept in touch and he knew I had a background in electronic music and scoring so put me forward to score a demo scene.

SSM: Can you speak about the conversations you and the director, Stacey Lee, had with how to incorporate a score in a documentary about electronic music, featuring such talents as Rezz, Alison Wonderland and Tokimonsta?

KS: The first conversations with Stacey had to do with creating a score that sat comfortably next to the various niches of electronic music in the film. We didn’t want the score to fit into a genre box, but instead weave in and out of the artists’ sounds. It was a lot of fun to score this film, and underscore the experiences of female DJ’s and producers that I could genuinely relate to. All of the artists in the film are so inspiring!

SSM: While in the UK, you created the innovative classical-electronic, all-female led ensemble London Electronic Orchestra, which has performed all over the world. How did the LEO come into conception?

KS: When I was getting my masters at the RCM, my composition professor, Howard Davidson, encouraged me to incorporate orchestral instruments into my sound as an electronic producer. To be honest, I expected to set aside electronic music during my masters and focus on classical composition. Instead, I was able to combine these two passions into one, which is how LEO was created.

In March 2014, I did a concert in the Britten Theatre at the Royal College of Music, alongside a 25-piece student orchestra. The 300-capacity concert sold out and a London-based management company contacted me after that show and helped me bring LEO into the real world. Looking back it was all pretty surreal and happened quickly.

SSM: You have had such a phenomenal career from DJing in clubs, creating an orchestra to scoring feature films. Who are the artists that are currently inspiring you?

KS: Ah thank you. It’s been such a strange and challenging year, but one perk has been more time to listen to music at home. I’ve been listening to a lot of jazz music. Classic albums from artists like John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver etc. Also London-based jazz artist Nubya Garcia, Kelly Lee Owens, Acid Pauli, oneohtrix point never, Jayda G, and Jamie XX.

SSM: What’s coming up next for you?

KS: Currently I’m finishing an orchestral-electronic album with Jamie Jones, and starting a new solo album. I’ve just joined the faculty of Composition for Screen at the Royal College of Music, teaching 1-1 composition to masters students. Excited for all of these projects and can’t wait for the next film score to come in either.

Follow Kate on Instagram and listen to the Underplayed soundtrack below!

Underplayed Soundtrack Available Now: [Download/Listen]

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Interview: Music Supervisor Laura Katz Talks Silk Road

February 19, 2021 Erica Pope

Los Angeles native Laura Katz is the founder of music supervision company Supe Troop, where she specializes in music supervision services for all types of media.

Prior to launching Supe Troop, Katz led Cutting Edge Group’s Los Angeles music supervision services division for feature films, television shows, video games, and other visual media projects, where she oversaw bespoke composition, creative supervision, clearance, licensing, soundtrack album releases, and more.

Katz’s notable film credits include The Grey, That Awkward Moment, Stuck in Love, Chappaquiddick and Big Time Adolescence. She also music supervised the Insomniac Games Xbox One 2014 release, Sunset Overdrive, which earned her a nomination for a Guild of Music Supervisors Award. Her upcoming projects include Stowaway and The Ice Road, and she is currently working on FXX’s television anthology Cake.

Katz collaborates with directors and producers to create opportunities for original songs in films, such as the original end title song from American Chaos, “All I Want,” by Matt Berninger (of The National) & Steph Altman, and “Requiem for a Private War” by Annie Lennox from A Private War, which was nominated for the 2019 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, Motion Picture.

We reached out to Katz to discuss music supervision and her latest project, Silk Road, score also out now on Lakeshore Records!

SSM: From Where Hands Touch, which is set in 1944, to Big Time Adolescence, which is current, you have worked on a wide range of films from different time periods. Are there general criteria with which you judge if a song will work for the projects you supervise?

LK: Music supervision is simultaneously very specific and always the same – each project will require certain criteria be met, whether that’s time period or genre or mood or all of the above and more, but all also just need to feel right and accomplish what the director is going for. It’s always a collaborative process, but digging for that right song is the best part!

SSM: What are you best tips to those who are looking to submit tracks for placement?

LK: I honestly think the best thing you can do as an independent artist is link up with a reputable third-party licensing company that already has working relationships with music supervisors and has already proven themselves a trusty resource. Other than that, make sure you know all the details of your music and have them organized – where all the rights lie, what the splits are, samples cleared (if there are any in the first place), etc., because what works creatively isn’t going to be something anyone outside the production knows.

Leave it to the supervisor to find the right music and just make sure you’re there with all the information and ready to seize the opportunity! I would also say make sure you have contact info very available and respond quickly – make it smooth for us to place your music!

SSM: Your latest project, Silk Road, is based on the true story of Ross Ulbrecht and his arrest for creating one of the largest underground black-market websites, the Silk Road. Can you speak about the process of narrowing down the music for the film and what mood you were looking to create?

LK: Tiller Russell, the director, had a clear vision of what he wanted, so we jumped in to find him options that hopefully ticked all the boxes of what he was looking for! There’s quite the variety of musical needs as the film progresses; we worked with Tiller and the film’s editor placing songs and I think we ended up with a great mixture of notable indie artists (like Temples, Liars, and The Rapture) and ones that are more under the radar. Early in the film we have a gem of a soul song called “I’m Sorry I Hurt You” by Nat Phillips that I loved immediately, and that’s an example of one we all agreed on pretty quickly.

SSM: What projects do you have coming up that we should know about?

LK: I’m continuing to work on a television anthology show called Cake on FXX that’s so much fun, and I’m also really excited about a film called The Ice Road starring Liam Neeson, Laurence Fishburne and Amber Midthunder. Another film I music supervised called The Marksman just came out and stars Neeson, as well. The first movie I ever music supervised was Neeson’s The Grey, so it’s a bit of a nice circle there!

Follow Supe Troop on Instagram!

Silk Road Soundtrack Available Now: [Download/Listen]

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Five Facts – Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Original Game Soundtrack!

February 3, 2021 Erica Pope

The Assassin’s Creed Valhalla game is out! Critics, gamers and soundtrack fans are loving the music in the game.

To celebrate game-titan Ubisoft’s assembling such a renowned team of talented musicians, including Jesper Kyd, Sarah Schachner and Einar Selvik, we wanted to list five cool facts about the music!

Check out five facts below and listen to the soundtrack, released digitally worldwide by Lakeshore Records on Nov. 13, 2020!

#1 Although Jesper Kyd and Sarah Schachner have worked on other Ubisoft game soundtracks, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is the first time they collaborated on a title together.

#2 The ACV composers come from all backgrounds but have an interest in the Viking culture from the Danish Kyd who stated he saw this project as an opportunity to connect with his Scandinavian roots to Schachner who grew up with a full-sized replica of a Viking ship in her backyard, and for which her mom wrote a children’s book about called Yo, Viking!

#3 For the ‘Assassin’s Creed Main Theme,’ Kyd devised the initial vibe and melodic motif. Schachner expanded on the melody and structure, producing it into a full arrangement and Einar Selvik lent his voice.

#4 Some of the instruments used on the soundtrack include a Carnyx (ancient Celtic war horn), horse-haired bowed, bass and alto tagelharpa, tagelharpa cello, crwth (bowed lyre), animal hide drums, rebec, and metal drums.

#5 In interviews, Kyd and Schachner stated they wanted the theme to transport the listener to another time and place, filled with mystery and uncertainty, evoking Eivor’s journey – the drive, the bond with family, and the character’s search to find something.

Soundtrack Available Now: [Download/Listen]