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Ray: So, what do you enjoy most about your job?
And you know, composing trailer music. What aspect do you enjoy the most?
Michael Nielsen: I like…
Michael Nielsen: I like the freedom of it.
I think there's lots of
room for experimentation
Kaveh: That's true Michael: that even even something that
typically that would never find its way on a
CD somewhere or in
other kind of music
because it's very interesting and ear catching and different
You can get out other and, you know, share this side of the music that you love
with other people through them watching the trailers
and then get that music out, of yourself
Kaveh Cohen: Every single day,
even if it's frustrating sometimes, at the end of the day you're still sitting in your studio
getting paid to write music
and be creative and be experimental
and, uh, it's very dynamic
-no two days are the same-
and the product
of every day is different
from another so
I think it's, uh, one of the most dynamic and rewarding
jobs you could possibly have.
Michael: There aren't many avenues that you could take
elements of all of your favorite music and
actually be able to do that. You know, most avenues,
like in the pop realm,
it's very
straightforward. 'Ok, I'm gonna do an RNB song...
…or I'm gonna do a sort of pop punk song'
There's big boundaries there
and
you know if you're writing classical music
there's boundaries there. You wouldn't
bring in a giant fuzz bass guitar
in the middle of your concerto.
So I think there's just
wild freedom to do nearly anything you want
from a musical standpoint as long as at the end of the day
you're still serving the the energy of
the music and
the momentum.
Kaveh: Yeah I think ultimately, you know, the thing is, one side of the freedom is the creative
freedom. The other is the the uh
schedule freedom,
and that is, you know, when we work on a TV show- like we recently finished co-scoring
'Wolverine and the X-Men'
-it's a new Marvel show-
that's the kind of situation where they want
very filmic large-scale orchestral music on a weekly basis, and we're talking twenty-two
twenty-three minutes of music a week.
Now if a composer's flying solo scoring a show like that you'd just get punished every
week because you have so much music to write.
You have no life, you don't see see your family
um
Whereas in trailer music, we have self-imposed deadlines- of course unless it's a
custom-cue situation,
like Michael said, where they need something
turned around quickly.
Ray: Considering your success with the Full Tilt series
do you have any plans to
cross that boundary into film scoring?
Kaveh: I think so, um..
Our intent is to get into
um, all avenues. I mean we both have a great passion for
many other things outside of the trailers.
Um
We recently finished scoring Splinter Cell, for example the next Splinter Cell game,
that's coming later this year,
which was a terrific experience. We got to record with the Hollywood Studio Symphony
at Warner Brothers.
So that was an amazing experience. I know that both Michael and I would love to do more of that.
You know we would love to co-score a television show. Personally,
I've had a passion for feature films and scoring feature films
since childhood so I know that that's something
that um
I and I believe Michael as well would love to get into.
So I think, yeah, I think there's a lot of room for growth into other avenues.
Ray: How interconnected are the composers
throughout the trailer music industry? Do you guys personally know other composers?
Kaveh: We know
We've met or know many of the guys Michael: Lot's
Kaveh: Paul Denlitir over at Audiomachine is a dear dear dear friend of ours going back
you know better part of twelve thirteen years. We actually all worked together at Guitar Center
back in the mid nineties. That's where we all started
Michael: Yeah Kaveh: and that's where we all met.
Um...
And then we've also recently had the the pleasure of meeting
the gentleman from Immediate Music, and Music Junkies,
and Rip-Tide Music, and X-Ray Dog and so uh, yeah.
It's actually very nice to get everyone in the same room and-
Michael: It's a pretty small boat, and so you know,
you're bound to cross paths and
everyone's pretty cool.
Kaveh: Yeah, there's no like, you know,
cut-throat
sword wielding when we get in the same room.
It's a nice little hang.
Really because at the end of the day the music
is what has to speak for
itself you know.
Ray: The music you write for trailers, it's shown all over the world.
I mean millions and millions of people hear your music
you know daily.
Yet there is no-
There's a lack of recognition
I think, by the public so how do you guys feel about that?
Kaveh: Eh, it's just par for the course. Michael: Yeah.
Michael: It's uh, you know.
Things come up, and there's trailer music fans obviously, because we're doing this interview.
So I mean that's really nice to hear people that you've never met and say like 'I love this piece
of music' and
uh, it's also really rewarding when you write a piece of music and you know
Kaveh
or back and forth like
I really enjoy something he wrote or
um.
So you get a little of
of that
sort of pat on the back.
Even it just being
in a trailer, because there's so much music being pitched
into these
movies and
when your piece of music is the one that
gets picked and
you know for something as
high profile as
Wolverine or Transformers or G.I. Joe or whatever
it's really rewarding.
Michael: Feels good. Kaveh: Definitely, definitely.
I know that we've been told by
um,
you know supervisors at
major trailer houses that they receive, you know
probably something equivalent to hundreds of new
libraries, or you know, or artists or whatever
on a yearly basis and
they say that it sometimes takes you know up to a year to get around to even listening to
something so I think to be in a position like Michael said that
you know you're in regular usage, your music is something that the editors and
supervisors feel is a strong go to shot
and they use you regularly and
at the end of the day, if your
music gets chosen over hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of other pieces of music or possibilities
I think that
is a huge flattering
sort of pat on the head
Um. It's obviously not the same thing as, you know,
composing a feature film score and getting credit
on that and having a soundtrack release
but it's very rewarding in its own ways and the fanbase seems to be huge. I mean we were kind of shocked
to discover just how large the fan base
is. And that its global and there's all these forums and
and uh and uh you know
and fans sites. It's uh it's really really amazing and again very flattering
to see that people are enjoying our music even if it's
in the form of a trailer.
Ray: Do you have any final comments
for your fanbase
that's been developing out there?
Kaveh: I would say thank you! I mean you know we get dozens and dozens and dozens
of email
and correspondences on MySpace and Facebook and you know any other- on the forums and all
this stuff so I would say thank you, you know, it's great, it's a
pleasure for us to do what we do and
it's a pleasure to see so many people enjoying our work
and going to the movies and enjoying, you know, the trailers and
and uh, you know,
we'll keep
doing our best to... Michael: Put out good music.
Kaveh: Put out good music that everyone continues to enjoy.
So, thanks very much.
Michael: I'll co-sign that. Kaveh: Yeah.
Kaveh: Yeah, great. Ray: Ok. That's everything.�