How did you get into music and storytelling, and what inspires you to write? 

My interest in music and storytelling evolved during my previous career as a music therapist. During my degree I studied music, psychology, and how the two disciplines work together in a clinical setting. While working with people with Alzheimer’s Disease, many of whom had lost the ability to speak or use language to communicate, I would use live music to help tell their stories, watching them emotionally respond to the music of their past, work on muscle tone and cognitive skills, and briefly regain a sense of self. Quite a bit of my work was responding in the moment to subtle changes in a person’s physiology which might indicate how they were feeling or what they might be thinking. I realized that using these same skills to create music was something very special that I could bring to the world of film and media composition. 

Many of my early films were documentaries where I would support the people telling their stories and musically guide the audience through their experience in the same way that I would as a therapist. Soon I also began to find joy in creating and composing music for all types of stories, and developing a creative voice that brings together the nuance of emotional maturity with my playful side that loves exploring and trying new things. My musical background includes classical, jazz, marching band, musical theatre, popular music styles from the entire 20th century, and folk music from around the world. 

I take a lot of inspiration from visual elements such as the texture of the film, drawing style in animation, the pace of the edits, the colour palette, and of course discussions with the director on the story, characters’ motivations, and the experience they want the audience to move through while watching. It’s about collaboration and finding those unique moments where music can carry the story forward, amplify, or reveal something not present on screen.   

You recently composed music for the animated series “Millie Magnificent.” Could you describe your compositional process for the series and how you maintained freshness and excitement over 52 episodes?

“Millie Magnificent” (Nelvana) is an animated preschool series based on the book series “The Most Magnificent Thing” by Ashley Spires. 8-year-old Millie loves solving problems for her community by inventing things using everyday items. Featuring her adorable dog Wallace and best friends Ben & Maya, the series highlights the power of friendship, creativity, curiosity, problem solving, determination, and imagination. I felt a personal connection with the series since I had the same inquisitive spirit as Millie as a child and seeing smart creative women of all ages on screen in this series really resonates with me. 

Director Ruth Ramirez wanted the score to be energetic, upbeat, percussive, and inspired by pop music. I love to bring sounds and story elements into my scores so to tie in the idea of building and making things with your hands I incorporated body percussion such as clapping, snapping, leg slapping, and used wood, a cardboard box, glass bottles, a hammer, the plink of nails, and plastic bins to lay down the rhythm. Then I added layers of pop instruments such as bass, drums, plucky synths, muted guitars, ukulele, piano, and glassy synths for the magical “aha!” moments. The music for Wallace’s character uses a special combination of bongo drums with fast acoustic guitar runs, where Ben’s character loves “Scrap Mutant” comic books. I used some iconic electric guitar licks when he would act out super hero scenes from the books. 

I decided early on in the process that the music should be instantly accessible, which for this series meant that the melodies had to be super catchy and simple enough that you could sing them on the first listen. Paired with a driving beat the score feels like micro hits that help us feel the fun, humour, and emotional uplift in each story.

Each of the 52 episodes had some story-specific musical requirements so keeping the series music fresh while still feeling like “Millie” was pretty satisfying. In one episode we meet Ben’s grandfather who is demonstrating some traditional Chinese games so I used traditional harmonies and melodies with instruments such as Ruan, Chinese flute, bamboo sticks, and Ehru. Additional story lines needed scary mystery music, holiday music, pirate fiddle tunes, medieval fantasy music, old-timey detective music, and in one episode they actually create their own dramatic film so I was able to incorporate lush orchestral writing and create a heart-felt emotional film score within Millie’s world. 

Millie is currently broadcasting internationally in Australia (ABC), France (Canal+), Finland (YLE), Belgium (RTL), Denmark (DR), Israel (Hop), and others, and will be broadcast domestically later this year.  

As a composer for various media, including video games, how does your approach to video game composition differ from that of film and television?

My approach to music for interactive media is quite similar to linear storytelling, except that the technology dictates how the music and story comes together; how the vision is executed. Knowing how the music is going to be implemented is key to successfully crafting musical moments in interactive music. Will the music need to loop and provide a consistent mood while it plays or will it transition to another mood? Will new layers allow the track to grow or shift in the tension as the story unfolds? Do you need to guide the player in a specific direction using audio? Will you be able to trigger a “sting” to create a truly epic and memorable moment? 

What I love about crafting scores for video games and interactive media is that I’m often brought in earlier in the process than linear media and feel like the music is more closely tied to the user experience. I just finished creating the music and sound design for a live immersive video game prototype where the audio triggered haptics so coordinating how much the user would feel at any moment was paramount! Another example is the Canadian Screen Music Award-nominated score for “Loki’s Castle” (Sticky Brain) which was designed with those who are neurodivergent in mind and the music was composed to provide a relaxing non-triggering experience for the player rather than increasing tension or heightened sense of urgency that is typical for timed puzzle games. 

Often the artwork style and playfulness of the game mechanics lends itself to more unique music. The team from Games By Stitch developed a whole book of lore for “Rival Books of Aster” and used medieval artwork so I composed a Gregorian Chant which was sung in Latin with text about the dangers to be faced in the game. In another colourful cosmic world building game I whimsically combined Latin dance rhythms such as Mambo and Beguine with theremin and quirky distorted strings for something that was fun, familiar, yet distinct.  

“The Choice Chapters 2 & 3” premiered at SXSW and explores reproductive rights. Can you share insights into your experience composing for this project and how you selected an appropriate sonic palette for such a sensitive topic?

“The Choice” (Infinite Frame Media) is a 3-part immersive interactive documentary for VR. The experience uses special volumetric capture to place the documentary subject in an intimate conversation with you. You choose the questions you would like to ask as they share their story. Quill art and music help to provide context and set the emotional tone. 

With such emotionally complex and potentially polarizing subject material it was really important to work closely with director Joanna Popinska to ensure that the music captured the intention behind the interviews and would not be emotionally manipulative. There were moments where we wanted the music to be like a “warm hug” and create space for the viewer to listen and be open to the conversation, and in others the music heightened feelings of being alone or amplified the emotional struggle. Keeping the spatialization of audio and close placement of the music in mind, I wanted to carve out space for dialogue using a soft palette of warm tones like strings and synth ambiences, single guitar notes, shiny spring reverbs, and moody piano. 

SXSW was incredibly special as I was able to experience the audience’s first-hand response to “The Choice”. Seeing many people emotionally moved by the stories (even crying in headset) and hearing how impactful it was is both validating and inspiring. I had so many meaningful conversations which highlight how VR can truly be an engine for empathy. 

What advice would you offer to aspiring composers seeking to follow in your footsteps?

I love having such a varied career but in hindsight it’s easier for those hiring to think of you for a job if they know you specialize and do this one thing at an exceptional level.

Everyone has a separate career path so define what success looks like to you and keep aiming for that. Don’t be afraid to create your own opportunities.

Persistence: keep putting yourself out there, go to the events, make industry friends, be present, listen, and be a good person to collaborate with. That means don’t be precious about your music. Approach the work professionally but also with a spirit of fun. Being able to tell a good joke goes a long way. Have you heard the one about a screen composer? 😉 

Interview by Amanda Cawley

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