Words by Jim Ottewill

From gritty leftfield indie rock to starry Netflix hits, Anna Waronker’s musical creations have reverberated between seemingly contrasting galaxies of sounds.

The score for the psychological drama Yellowjackets falls into the latter category of streaming smashes and has proved to be a huge success for Anna and the content-providing giant. “The show is so extreme that I thought people were either going to freak out and love it or wish it away,” laughs Anna via our video interview. “It was either going to be big or flop and the same went for our score. Thankfully it went big.”

Yellowjackets charts the plight of a group of female high-school soccer players who survive a plane crash in a coming-of-age horror. It gets gory, there are some tragi-comic gags and stars the likes of Juliette Lewis and Christina Ricci. This potent cocktail makes up the latest chapter in a career that has seen Anna head up the leftfield band, That Dog, before immersing herself in soundtracks for shows like Shrill and cult classic film Josie And The Pussycats.

“I always knew that I wanted to do something with music and picture,” Anna says. “When I just did my band, it was all about me. That was fine but I didn’t feel comfortable living like that.” Since the group’s demise, Anna has made a name for herself by working on idiosyncratic projects such as Yellowjackets. This soundtrack spawned out of a collaboration with Craig Wedren, co-composer and former member of indie rockers Shudder to Think. 

“It has all been super organic and natural and it's very rare when that happens,” she explains of their musical partnership. “I know when to appreciate it. And I hope it continues. It's been a real highlight in our musical lives.”

Anna studied film theory at college and established her eclectic musical tastes before she formed That Dog. The band, which featured Rachel Haden on bass guitar and vocals, her sister Petra Haden on violin and vocals, and Tony Maxwell on drums alongside Anna, released three albums during the nineties before they disbanded to reform for a reunion album in the 2010s. “After That Dog ended, I was approached to do some songs for this television show, then a score,” recalls Anna. “I didn’t really understand what went into it but I said yes, jumped in headfirst and learned ProTools overnight.”

“After That Dog ended, I was approached to do some songs for this television show, then a score,” recalls Anna. “I didn’t really understand what went into it but I said yes, jumped in headfirst and learned ProTools overnight.” With her creative roots in guitar outfits, the compositional world offered new ways of working and processes to get to grips with and understand. But Anna snatched this baton and ran with it. 

“I wanted to tune out all the other noise and just dig into this,” she says. “That was partially because I ended up working on ‘Shrill’ with my good friend Craig. Shrill is a comedy-drama loosely based on Lindy West’s memoir, Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman with a darkness at its heart. Having both previously enjoyed stints in their own groups, this fresh compositional zone offered Anna and Craig the chance to uncover versions of their musical selves. “We know each other through our kids, have a very similar music history, and decided to work on something together,” Anna explains. “Then the show came along and we saw a really good opportunity.”

The compositional sphere has proved attractive to Anna with the freedom it allows her to let the music do the talking without any sense of ego encroaching. The idea of contributing to something bigger outside of her has been part of the allure. “I love the sense of receiving an assignment and working in different genres,” Anna says. “I don't want to just be this one thing, and I don't always want to be the boss. I want to work for somebody.” Despite not having complete control of a project, Anna feels this way of creating and “adding to people’s visions” helps her enjoy greater satisfaction than in past work. 

“I'm not a trained musician. I can't read or write music. I play by ear. And frankly, I'm not the greatest guitar player or piano player,” she states. “But composing within these limitations, I feel like it helped me really define a sound and what I’m about. It has definitely brought out the best in me.”

Yellowjackets is known as an instant cult classic and in turn, amplified Anna’s composing career. Made in collaboration with Craig, the pair had previous on Shrill alongside drama The Republic of Sarah. Set in the nineties, this most recent show plays to Anna’s creative strengths and experiences. “I thought we’d have to really dig into our guts to make this as Shrill was so light and lovely,” Anna says. “I watched the pilot, and was like, ‘I can totally see what we should do’. I absolutely want to do it. But I cannot work on the plane crash scenes. I'll do all kinds of blood. I don't care, but that? No thanks.”

Despite the squeamishness, Anna describes how the series’ music unfolded really quickly, unleashed amid the freedom she and Craig were given by the executive producers to go as far as they wanted to. A score from Theodore Shapiro existed in a pilot - but Anna and Craig attacked it and ripped it up.

“It was perfect for the pilot because it was so pristine, haunting and gorgeous. But then to be in the thick of where the show goes, it had to get nasty,” she says. “Usually, you can't keep doing what you want as it's too weird. But in this case, the executive producers were like: ‘No, go creepier. You know, that creepy, screeching sound you make in that cue. We want it in this one, too’.”

It was the sense of trust that Anna and Craig felt with the production team that inspired them to take these leaps. “It's amazing that a score we've turned in has been accepted and people are responding to it the way that they are,” she states. “It's crazy because it's us being as experimental and freaky as we can.”

Anna might cite soundtracks from drummer and founding member of the Police, Stewart Copeland and Wes Anderson movies as inspirations, but she tends to prevent her palette from moving too close to any other soundtracks, especially when gearing up to take on a new project. “I don't listen to a lot of scores when I'm getting ready for a new job,” she says. “I'll listen to what I've talked about working on, and whatever references the creative team has brought up. But a lot of the time, I avoid too much music. I just need no distractions.” 

When looking back at That Dog’s output, it’s the more experimental, textured tracks that stand out. The group split in the nineties, then reunited in 2011 for another record, Old LP. It proved to be an important pivotal collection of songs for Anna.“On the album, we did in 2019, I did the arrangements,” she says. “I feel like it put me in this headspace where I felt I could do this. We made a song that was only an orchestra and vocals and I wrote the arrangement. It was a really major moment for me and made me realise this is my landscape. It just felt like the tides were turning in a nice way.”

Despite the new found confidence instilled in her by this and the success of subsequent scoring work, there are still insecurities for Anna to work through, particularly when staring down the barrel of a new film or series. It’s the moments before the project starts working where concerns begin to vie for attention in a bid to distract from the creative process.

“Making music can be a wonderful experience but also terrifying in getting there,” she says. “But I actually do well under pressure. If I’m asked at 7pm to hand over some music the next morning at 9am, then there’s only so much I can create and I respond to that kind of deadline.” 

“I could talk myself out of getting on stage a million times over, but when you have to do it, you have to go all the way,” Anna continues. “What else do you have? Otherwise, it’ll be really humiliating. I have learned how to show up when the clock is ticking.”

In recent months, Anna’s diary has been running over with new work, everything from the comedy Harriet the Spy to the animated show Santa Inc and another series of Yellowjackets alongside the new series, I Love That For You. It’s hectic but hasn’t always been like this. 

“Until the pandemic, I wouldn't say I had the easiest time finding work,” says Anna. “So it's interesting that it took everyone being shoved into their homes for me to all of a sudden be able to blossom.”

For Anna, a domestic creative setting is part of the appeal of composing. She has her own home studio set up meaning she can write and record without having to step outside her front door. 

“I've always been very protective over having this space,” Anna explains. “Especially during the last few years where I’ve never worked on so many shows at the same time before.” 

This success hasn’t come easy. For anyone to follow in her footsteps, Anna believes it’s all about trying to get out of your own way and letting the music live and breathe on its own. “The hardest part is trying to avoid sabotaging yourself by thinking too far ahead, or anticipating some form of criticism,” she says. “Sometimes you just kind of have to let the situation gel and it's super uncomfortable. But don’t be discouraged. You can do it.”