As awards season rolls on and the Oscars approach us, we're proudly celebrating all the talented artists we've spoken with who are having their hard work recognised by the industry.
From debut composers to seasoned veterans of the craft and bonafide Hollywood royalty, here's the full list of unique and incredibly creative musicians we've sat down with who are getting shortlisted, nominated and winning across the Emmy's, Golden Globes, BAFTA's and Academy Awards.
Best original score in a film
(WINNER) Ludwig Göransson — Oppenheimer
Jerskin Fendrix — Poor Things
Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Original Dramatic Score)
(WINNER) Cristobal Tapia de Veer — The White Lotus
Gustavo Santaolalla — The Last of Us
Nicholas Britell — Succession
Outstanding Music Composition For A Limited Or Anthology Series, Movie Or Special
John Debney — Hocus Pocus 2
Shortlisted for ‘Best Original Score’
Ludwig Göransson — Oppenheimer
Jerskin Fendrix — Poor Things
Kris Bowers — The Color Purple
Nominated for ‘Best Original Score’
Ludwig Göransson — Oppenheimer
Jerskin Fendrix — Poor Thing
(WINNER) Ludwig Göransson — Oppenheimer
Jerskin Fendrix — Poor Things
Ludwig Göransson — Oppenheimer
Fresh off his second collaboration with gargantuan Hollywood director Christopher Nolan, our 2023 November Cover Feature artist, Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson, spoke to us about his iconic score for Oppenheimer, explaining, "My first interaction with the project was actually after talking to Chris and reading the script. That was a very visceral experience because I've never read anything in the first person. You really feel like you’re Oppenheimer - and that was the inspiration."
Playing with more people and being around those with completely different cultural backgrounds — that’s broadened my musical ability.
Jerskin Fendrix — Poor Things
Making the most boldly impressive debut in recent cinema history, the first film score by British artist Jerskin Fendrix happens to be for one of the year's biggest art-house hits:
Poor Things. Despite being the seventh directorial effort from Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos, this film following a re-animated woman in an alternate Victorian world also marks the director's first time working with original compositions. As our January Cover Feature artist, Jerskin shared how both he and Yorgos "were working out how this should proceed for the first time," explaining to us that "it worked well for both of us. I'm glad it was both of our first times."
For 'Poor Things', we didn't ever speak about any other films, or composers or film music — the score was built completely from the ground up.
Cristobal Tapia de Veer — The White Lotus
With his score and theme for The White Lotus, Chilean-Canadian composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer's distinct and inimitable composition style was introduced to a much wider audience. For our third episode of S2 of the Composer Magazine Podcast, our hosts Charles Steinberg and Natalie Holt (Loki, Obi-Wan Kenobi) sat down with Cristobal to discuss his unique career. On returning to the HBO show, Cristobal explained "I don't do second seasons normally. But The White Lotus felt special — so I stuck around."
I’d had the voices in stock for a long time. Like a vision — they really felt like something to me. When 'The White Lotus' came up, they just seemed to fit so well with the concept, the place and everything.
Gustavo Santaolalla — The Last of Us
Naughty Dog's 2013 Playstation 3 game The Last of Us broke the mould when it came to narrative storytelling in the video game medium, and the score from Argentinian composer Gustavo Santaolalla quickly resonated with audiences as a key part of the brand's identity. It mesmerised millions of gamers and won universal acclaim, as well as a BAFTA nomination and ‘Excellence in Musical Score’ at the 2014 SXSW Gaming Awards.
A decade later, when game director Neil Druckmann and show-runner Craig Mazin released their live-adaptation for HBO, Gustavo's music was translated to the small-screen and introduced to millions more. As our March Cover Feature artist in 2023, Gustavo shared what the experience was like, saying "I’ve been in this world of music since I was a kid, and I’ve been lucky and blessed to collect fans along the way for all the different things that I did in my career, but the kind of appreciation that the fans of The Last of Us have for the music is truly something different."
When we got to the show, the music had already been created for the game! How could you change the main theme of The Last of Us? It would have been ridiculous.
Nicholas Britell — Succession
While the hugely popular family-dynasty-drama Succession has finally ended, that doesn't mean the love for Nicholas Britell's fantastic accompanying music has. While the composer has contributed some of the most exciting cinematic scores in recent years, including Moonlight, Vice and If Beale Street Could Talk, his music for Succession has been particularly iconic. Reflecting on his work to date, Nicholas shared with us his approach to crafting the score, explaining, "For Succession, on every episode, I write something different for the end sequences."
The stakes are high, so I wanted to convey a sense of fully heightened drama.
John Debney — Hocus Pocus 2
As a Hollywood institution and iconic composer behind countless classics including the first Hocus Pocus, many fans hoped that John Debney would return for Disney's Hocus Pocus 2. Luckily, the filmmakers behind the supernatural sequel had the common sense to bring him on board. As our September Cover Feature artist in 2022, John spoke about his experience on returning to the franchise and how, even at his stage of his career, he's continuously learning, explaining "With every score I do, I'm learning more. I am always driving to write better."
When I did Hocus Pocus, I didn't sleep much for two weeks. I just burned the midnight oil and drank lots of coffee.