The Screen Composer's Studio

Originally from the Netherlands, Lodewijk Vos’ approach to music making is very much his own.  One half of the scoring duo Menalon (with Joseph Murray), the Canadian Film Center grad has worked on TV shows such as Diggstown on CBC, documentaries including HBO’s The Slow Hustle and Mr. Tachyon for VICE TV, and films like Level 16 and The Void.  We talk about the wild new instrument/effects box he’s building, his roots playing rock i...

Neil Parfitt’s wonderfully diverse career sees him working at the highest levels as a composer for animated series, as well as designing custom synth sounds for some of the biggest blockbusters on the planet.  He started out as a kid who was equally fascinated by how music was produced as he was with the technology that was used in the process.  Neil began his scoring journey in anime, with titles like Bakugan Battle Brawlers, and ...

Originally from Hamilton, Ontario, Carly Paradis has made a name for herself as a first call screen composer, scoring huge TV hits such as the BAFTA nominated Line of Duty, Sick Note, and Netflix’s The Innocents.  After a stint in Toronto’s burgeoning indie rock scene in the mid-2000’s, a cold email to Clint Mansell on Myspace turned into an opportunity to work with the famed composer on his score for Moon, and to tour in his ensem...

In this episode, we’re going to change things up a bit.  My guest is a composer, musician, and engineer, but his primary vocation is as an entertainment lawyer with a specialty in IP and copyright.  This is your hour of pro-bono legal advice, and a masterclass drawing back the curtain on some of the things most creative types fear and neglect: contracts, negotiation, and making sure the business of your art is well taken care of.

Alberta-born Jonathan Kawchuk is interested in where and how we live as a means to give his music context.  He completed a Bachelors of Music at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, worked with Nico Muhly, Ben Frost, and the Philip Glass Ensemble, as well as studying wildlife field recording with Chris Watson.  The environment, the sounds that arise from it, and how his own music interacts with the environment are themes tha...

At the tender age of 11, Rob Duncan dismantled a piano in his experimental music class.  This must have been a spark for him, as he is now known for recording scores on decommissioned nuclear submarines, finding his next instrument in a junkyard, or being asked by a producer to write a theme using a toilet.  Though he was equally interested in computer animation, he ended up pursuing music at York University, and worked writing jin...

At first, Winnipeg-born Ari Posner set out to build a career as a songwriter.  After discovering that perhaps his abilities as a lyricist did not match his musical gifts, he moved into the fast-paced world of ads, which gave him the training to work in myriad styles and deliver on a deadline.  Now, he is one of Canada’s most respected and prolific screen composers.  In collaboration with Amin Bhatia, he has scored award winning hit...

 Cristobal Tapia De Veer is a maverick whose consistently unique approach to scoring has finally, and deservedly, thrust him into the spotlight.  His family fled the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile shortly after his birth, and while they returned for a time, they eventually made a new home in Quebec, where Cristobal still lives and works.  While the folk music of Chile was “always in the background”, he was more into Michael Jackson...

Called “One of the most compelling acts Canada has to offer.” by Time magazine, Sarah Slean has been beguiling audiences since she first appeared on scene in the late 90’s, when she was signed to Atlantic/Warner at just 19 years of age.  Her infectious combination of piano forward pop and cabaret, and her singular voice propelled her to acclaim.  The 4 time Juno nominee with 11 albums under her belt was classically trained and fasc...

Michel Cusson established his reputation as a formidable guitar player and composer in the early 80’s with celebrated jazz-rock group Uzeb, whose tours were cultural journeys which gave Michel the opportunity to meet and play with musicians in places like Senegal, Morocco, and Southeast Asia.  In the early 90’s, the group disbanded and Michel turned his attention to scoring.  Early hits such as the mob-thriller series Omertà establ...

Todor Kobakov grew up in Bulgaria where at age 7 he was accepted into a music focused school so competitive that there were kids in the wings waiting to take your spot if you stumbled.  He began showing up to help out on the sets where his mother worked as a producer for the National broadcaster, sparking his interest in the intersection between music and the screen.  After high school, he moved to Canada and at age 20 completed a ...

Suad Bushnaq has long struggled to answer the question “where’s home?” in simple terms.  The Jordanian-Canadian composer and polymath with Bosnian, Syrian, and Palestinian roots grew up in Amman, studied in Damascus and Montreal, spent time teaching in North Carolina, and now makes her home in Toronto.  Her work reflects her experiences and travels, as she explores Western and Middle Eastern musical traditions, and some of the plac...

Brian and Caleb Chan bring a high level of emotional intelligence to everything they do, and believe that a focus on that growth is critical to success in both life and creative business.  When you understand that their attention to the inner world carries over into the work they do as musicians and storytellers, you realize it’s no accident that they’ve been so successful.  They also seem to avoid being pigeonholed, and their work...

Janal Bechthold’s musical journey started not on the piano playing Mozart, but rather on the organ playing 50’s swing and Tangos.  Again sidestepping more well-worn paths, she studied music therapy at Laurier and spent years alternately in that profession, and as a church organist.  These activities were, however, both informed by and are now critical to her work as a musical storyteller - work which has now been recognized with an...

Donald Quan sees his whole life, including his career and businesses, as an improvisation.  As a composer, he is known for his work on shows such as Relic Hunter, Mutant X, and APTN’s Moccasin Flats.  As a musician and recording artist, he has toured with Loreena McKennitt and Lighthouse, and recorded his own music at Peter Gabriel’s iconic Real World Studios.  His incredible studio, Q Music, once housed over 400 indigenous instrum...

Every time I chat with Peter Chapman (AKA Coins), I hear another amazing story, well told.  The pivotal moments in his life also connect in a narrative full of serendipitous events that have opened windows to let his talent shine through.  This multiple-Canadian Screen Award nominee started his diverse career producing hip-hop and electronic music, and got his breakout gig via the instructor of one of his electives, 8 years after a...

Steph Copeland cut her teeth in the Windsor/Detroit underground electronic and hip-hop scene, but her scoring career quickly developed alongside her successes as a songwriter and performer.  
With her dark, electronic sensibilities and production chops, she soon became known for her gritty work on indie genre films like Antisocial 1 and 2, Bite, I’ll Take Your Dead, and more recently the 80’s inspired, synth drenched Vicious Fu...

Andrew Lockington is known for the epic scale of the blockbuster films he’s worked on, as well as the incredible lengths he goes to to capture his sounds - things like venturing into the deepest jungle or risking injury and death to dismantle a piano.  But make no mistake - these sonic explorations are matched by his beautiful and evocative orchestral writing, and when you add all that to his humble, curious, and down to earth natu...