Illustration by Ali Bachmann
Milwaukee-area musicians have a history of contributing to film and TV, going all the way back to Liberace. Four decades later, ex-Violent Femmes drummer and current Nineteen Thirteen member Victor DeLorenzo teamed with John Wesley Harding (aka Wes Stace) to write music for the 1992 film The Paint Job. Recently, multi-talented musician Josh Schmidt undertook writing music for seven films. Some musicians, such as Milwaukee expatriate Joe Wong, an in-demand film and TV composer now in Los Angeles, credits the Brew City for a solid foundation to build from.
Others have had the luxury of having their song placed in film and TV. Recently, Trapper Schoepp had his song used in a trailer for HBO’s reboot of “Perry Mason.” In 1994, Mike Hoffmann’s band, the Carnival Strippers, placed a song in the film Speed. Around the same time, The Yell Leaders had songs in TV shows such as “Dawson’s Creek,” and The BoDeans’ “Closer to Free” became the theme song for “Party of Five.” These are just a few examples.
For locals trying to make their way in a COVID-19 world, finding a way to express oneself and pay the bills has never been more important. Without the luxury of concerts, musicians have had to get creative in how they connect musically with the outside world. For many, writing music for TV and film have unlocked new possibilities. It’s a form of music that’s been hospitable to all walks of life.
Several local musicians—a mix of veterans and newcomers—spoke about why that music has limitless appeal.
Illustration by Ali Bachmann
Sam Ecoff
When he’s not teaching at the Waukesha County Conservatory of Music, Sam Ecoff is busy composing music for television, film and other media. His compositions have appeared on a variety of shows, including “The Today Show,” “American Ninja Warrior,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “American Idol,” “ CSI,” “The West Wing” and “The Teen Choice Awards.”
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It’s a far cry from his classical and music theory-trained background. “I quickly discovered there was a real disconnect between the training I received in college and what the world of music for TV and film demands of a media composer,” he says. “Whereas art music is about innovation and compositional technique, media music focuses on groove, emotion and scene-setting.”
Ecoff feels there’s a misconception that film and TV music needs to be hummable or epic. However, most work goes by unnoticed and barely heard. “If the music in a production is well constructed, it sets the emotional scene for the viewer without drawing a lot of attention to itself,” he says. “The music tells you the moment you’re watching is especially triumphant, poignant, or heartfelt. If I’ve done my job as a composer well, you’ll never stop to think about the music behind the images you are seeing. You’ll feel the emotion of the moment without stopping to consider if there was even music playing.”
He uses session musicians and exotic instruments to further breathe life into his collection of sounds. “At the end of the day, I’m just a guy sitting at a computer in a corner of my basement, but when you hear music I’ve written, hopefully you hear something more than that,” he says.
Ecoff was once asked on the spot to fill in for another composer without time to prepare. He brainstormed six pieces. “I recall walking away, wondering if anything I just did would be even marginally useful,” he says. “Those six pieces have since appeared over and over again, in film trailers, hundreds of TV shows and all over YouTube. I guess the moral of the story is to be prepared, since your moment might come at any time.”
Justin Krol and Quinn Scharber
Illustration by Ali Bachmann
Justin Krol and Quinn Scharber have spent the better part of the past decade touring and recording in various bands. However, finding their ability to tour limited due to their growing families, they wanted a new way to challenge themselves. After getting songs on network TV, they decided to start writing for TV and film.
The biggest challenge at first was on the technical side, figuring on how to time code and composing directly to picture versus just free form recording like they were used to. However, it quickly became second nature. “It took us a minute at the very beginning to find our niche—and trust me, we’re still always working on it—but I think that we've developed a certain aesthetic that comes through, no matter what the genre is,” says Krol. “We’re always looking for a tonality and feel that aligns with the picture. It can be as simple as a single piano note or a complex combination of elements to create a certain pad to put a melody over.”
So far, they’ve written over 100 songs ranging from film shorts to commercials. Their work includes music for well-known brands such as Coach, Ford, Nobull, Chase Bank and Yeti. One of their Coach ads, which came as a result of connection to a music license agency, features Jennifer Lopez. “The J-Lo deal was part of a post-Super Bowl spring campaign for Coach,” Krol says. “There were four or five spots that they used one of our songs for.”
They’ve also scored two documentaries—Let This Be Therapy, out later this year, and 2019’s Who I've Always Been. Scharber says they’ll “enthusiastically try anything at this point,” and they pride themselves in “being reliable and delivering good, consistent work.” Versatility is most important as is knowing one’s strengths and weaknesses. “If I can explore all sorts of not just genres but sound in general, I’m the happiest I can be in terms of creativity,” he says.
“It's been super fun for us to be able to constantly switch mindsets within any given day,” says Krol. “Every day is completely unpredictable in the best way possible… You’re free to experiment in every genre, and you should. Some of our best stuff has come out of playing with genres that were completely uncharted territory for us.”
Photo by Tom Grimm
Jordan Davis
Jordan Davis
Jordan Davis is constantly looking for new ways to express himself musically. In addition to fronting his Milwaukee-based band, Space Raft, and creating chiptune music for video game developers, Davis has found exciting new challenges writing for TV and film. So far, he’s worked on two indie films, Brian Perkins’ Speed of Sound and Cris Siqueira’s documentary Ape Girl. “Both were films directed by friends of mine and were able to coach me through what was needed for the project,” says Davis.
Speed of Sound was work culled from another film project of Perkins that he had written music for called You Poor Thing. “The initial film project was abandoned, but it resulted in songs that I used for the first Space Raft LP and set up a working relationship between Brian and myself,” says Davis.
“Cris was aware that I was working on this project for Brian and asked if I would be interested in also writing the main theme to her film about a Brazilian sideshow attraction that migrated to US carnivals… I wrote a ballad with lyrics called ‘Lowland Gorilla.’ I recorded several versions of the song on different instruments to give varying moods for different applications.”
These experiences have given him a chance to expand his musical skills. When he’s writing for his band, he envisions what would be “gripping for an audience member, and then creating interesting parts for the musicians to play to provide that experience.” With film, there’s “much clearer directive to reinforce the narrative and not get into the way.”
“I found it very liberating to rid myself of the expectations of how a piece of music would sound on stage, or how a drummer would react to it,” he says. “That left me free to try more adventurous rhythms or break traditional harmonic rules and use dissonance for mood. Film music doesn’t have to pretend to make sense for the stage, it can just exist as music without a performer’s need to assemble for presentation. It simply exists in the ether, a place that I am very happy to reside in.”
Photo by Andrew Feller
Zach Pietrini
Zach Pietrini
Milwaukee songwriter Zach Pietrini hopes to release his new album sometime next year. In the process of working on it, he stumbled into another use for his music. Engineer Kyle White, who runs Cave Studios in Pewaukee and specializes in licensing for film and TV, suggested writing music in that format. With his help, Pietrini wrote several collections of songs that dabble in Americana, rock, experimental music and country. One set of songs sounds like The Black Keys, he said.
“We have been making these collections of about 10 songs and shopping them to different agencies,” says Pietrini. “Right now, they have all found a home with Atomica in Texas and BMG in Nashville. BMG is one of the biggest licensing agencies in the United States, so we're pretty pumped about that. Now, it’s a waiting game.”
The biggest challenge so far is adjusting to the fast pace that comes with writing for TV and film. “It’s a challenge to have to come to the studio with an idea and finish with a song in one six-hour session,” says Pietrini.
While it’s a new form of music, he hopes others get the same authenticity they get from his past work. “I hope my music embodies this accessible, very human, very open posture,” he says. “That’s what I try to bring in all of the projects that I work on.”
Joshua Miller is a music writer and frequent contributor to the Shepherd Express.
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