Congrats to our associate in Phoenix, Jaime Reynolds, who made a great placement in this video for a fantastic cause, it was played at a dinner of the New York Academy of Medicine and is online. Great Music by Timothy Drury & David Hoffman

“Going The Distance”               Timothy Drury      — Viramore Music    BMI    
“A Soft And Embered Face”       David Hoffman     — David Hoffman     BMI

How did you feel when you heard your music in The Last Song?

TRACEY: It was unbelievable!  This is true — about 10 years ago we were at Disneyland watching the Main Street Parade.  The song “When You Wish Upon A Star” was played, and I said to Vance, “Wow!  That would be so cool to have a song in a Disney movie someday.  That’s my wish.”  It really was a dream come true.

VANCE: We didn’t know about the placement ahead of time.  Ironically, a friend of ours was the piano coach for Greg Kinnear, who plays the dad in the movie.  She sent an email telling everyone she got a credit. Tracey sent an email back congratulating her.  The next morning, our friend sent an email saying “Congratulations to both of YOU for getting ‘Carnival Lights’ in the film.  I saw your names in the credits.”  We thought she was joking!

TRACEY: So, we literally ran down to the movie theatre as fast as we could for the next screening to see if she was correct.  The movie had just opened the night before.  Within the first five minutes, the song came on as Miley Cyrus‘ character “Ronnie” and her friend are shopping for sunglasses at an amusement park.  It was so soft, but we recognized it.  We could hardly contain ourselves!  I think I saw a tear in Vance’s eye.  It was absolutely amazing.  We stayed until the end, and sure enough, there were our names, along with Music Supervisor, Inc.  At that point, we just lost it — we started jumping up and down and screaming.  Thankfully, by then the place was cleared out so no one witnessed our craziness!

VANCE:  We went out to the lobby and I asked the theatre’s assistant manager if he could take a photo of us by the movie poster…

TRACEY:  …even though we looked like we just rolled out of bed, which we practically did!

VANCE:  The guy looked all over the theatre but couldn’t find any posters.  They had just changed them out to make room for some of the summer movies coming up.  Then, he went into the manager’s office and came out several minutes later.  He found it!  He took some photos of us, but then said, “Hey, why don’t you just take it.  Congratulations!”

How did you ever decide to compose “Carnival Lights?”

TRACEY:  We originally wrote the piece for a cable TV sports show, but it didn’t make the cut.  I think they wanted something faster in a 4/4 tempo at the time.  We wrote “Carnival Lights” in a fast waltz tempo.  So, we put it on the Music Supervisor website and there it found a nice home.

VANCE:  That was about 2 1/2 years ago, and we’ve licensed that song dozens and dozens of times for theatrical shows, commercials, kids’ video games, you name it.  It’s even the theme song on this website for a “Toothpick Carnival.”  The guy’s grandfather made these incredible miniature ferris wheels, roller coasters, carnivals,    etc., all out of toothpicks while serving time in Folsom Prison back in the 1920s!  Even the prison wardens would bring visitors to see his creations.  It’s so funny hearing the song on the website.  You just never know where your music will go.

What is your background, how did you get into music?

TRACEY:  When I was little, my mom would bring me to movies like “Doctor Zhivago” and “Mary Poppins.”  I would come home and play the themes and most of the score on the piano.  She would also read books to me and I would go over to the piano and write a little song about the story.  When I was 4, she read a book called “The Five Chinese Brothers.”   She says I went over to the piano and wrote a song about it using all of the black keys, or the pentatonic scale.  I still remember that song.  So, she signed me up for classical piano lessons.  My teacher was a composer and had two grand pianos in his studio.  He would play Bach inventions his piano, then have me play them back all by ear on the other piano.  I didn’t learn how to read music until I was a junior in high school.  It was a real struggle.  I’m still not great at sightreading complicated rhythms, but if I hear it, I can play it.

VANCE:  I grew up in Hawaii and went to Kamehameha School on the island of Oahu.  They had an excellent music program, so I learned how to play all kinds of instruments in the band and I sang in the choir.  I also took guitar lessons and learned to play ukulele.  I started singing and playing bass and guitar in rock, country, and blues bands when I was 16.  The bands played at all of the military bases, which was great experience.  I always wanted to be a professional musician, but I never thought it would lead to doing what we’re doing.  It’s funny how all of the years of playing, arranging for my bands, finding gigs, dealing with contracts, learning music theory, have all lead to composing and songwriting.

How did you two become a producing-songwriting team?

TRACEY:  We met in a popular bar/concert venue in San Diego known as the Belly Up Tavern in 1995.  Both of our dates stood us up that night and I didn’t want to sit alone.  So I found Vance and sat behind him to look like I was with him.  I think he began to feel a little paranoid, so he turned around and we started talking.  He was there to see Pete Anderson and I was there to see the warm-up band that a few of my friends were in.  When the warm-up band took a break, it turned out Vance knew some of the members, too.  At first, he thought I was this “prissy pianist…”

VANCE:  …and Tracey said she thought I was this “scummy rock musician,” but the more we talked, the more we realized we had a lot in common.  We started playing at each other’s gigs.  Then, we started writing songs together and performing them in singer-songwriter showcases for things like NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International), then we took the dive and bought a ProTools studio and started composing and producing music together.

TRACEY:  It wasn’t easy at first.  In fact, it was quite frustrating!  I’d come up with an idea and Vance would start editing it right away.  That drove me crazy.  But after a few years — we can be a little slow sometimes — we found that it worked best when I came up with a theme, melody, riff, groove, etc., then Vance finished it.  Now, we’ve gotten to where we can both start and finish a song, but it’s so great to have instant, honest feedback.

VANCE:  Like Lennon & McCartney but without the bank accounts!  Feedback really helps.  Together, we eventually figure it out and get it right.

TRACEY:  We meet each other half way, which is funny, because I’m originally from Boston, MA.  We figured out it’s about 2,500 miles as the crow flies from San Diego.  Vance is originally from Oahu, HI, which is about 2,500 miles from San Diego as the plane flies.  So we continue to meet “half way” to this day!

VANCE:  But we can be relentless perfectionists, which gets in the way sometimes.  We’ve had to learn to sometimes “dummy it down” and not “overwrite” as one publisher told us.  That was not easy to do!

How do you get your music out there into the world?

VANCE:  Our passion, we discovered, is writing a variety of music for production music libraries.  We really love all genres of music, so it works for us.  One way to find music libraries is to Google “Production Music Libraries,” or check out Music Library Report, or ask other composer friends.

TRACEY:  Or watch the credits at the end of a film!

VANCE:  Also, over the years we’ve joined helpful songwriting and composer organizations like the SCL (Society of Composers and Lyricists), NSAI, AIMP, CCC; we’ve gone to countless conventions like the ASCAP Expo, THR Billboard Film & TV Conference, the TAXI Rally, MIMICON; we take composing classes at UCLA Extension; and we attend concerts like at the new Grammy Museum on a regular basis.

TRACEY:  You can never learn too much in this business!  We’ve also found that networking is essential to getting your music out there in the world.  There’s nothing like meeting someone face-to-face.

How has MusicSupervisor.com helped you?

VANCE:  Music Supervisor is great because we’ve gotten emails asking for special songs needed immediately.  When we have time, we try to fill that request.  It’s so easy to upload new songs onto the website and describe them.  It saves a lot of time.

TRACEY:  Honestly, we’ve never heard anyone say anything but great things about Music Supervisor.com.  In fact, at the recent ASCAP Expo, one our friends had a one-on-one mentor from Disney Music Publishing.  She told him about our placement in the film and he said that he loves working with Music Supervisor.com!

What are you goals for the future?

TRACEY:  I always dreamed of writing a song with the Bergmans.  Two married couples writing a classic, timeless song together — that would be really cool!  We’ve met them several times, and I appreciate their sense of humor and the way they are able to dig so deep to find just the right lyrics.

VANCE:  The Bergmans are funny!  Regarding a future goal…we just started composing for a company that provides music for Harpo Productions, so I’m hoping to get some music into as many upcoming shows as possible.

TRACEY:  And it would be great to have some of our orchestral pieces performed by a live orchestra.  We saw John Williams conduct the LA Phil in October at the Walt Disney Concert Hall — another dream come true — and I can’t imagine what a great feeling that must be.

VANCE:  But as far as the future goes, one thing we’ve learned is if you just hang in there, keep improving your craft, and accept constructive criticism, you should see results.

TRACEY:  My dad always says, “Even a blind pig finds an acorn now and then.”  I’m not exactly sure what that means, but I think it’s that “persistence and patience will eventually pay off!”

Interview by Julius Robinson

How did you feel when you heard your music in The Blindside?

It is always a blast to hear your music on TV or in a film, especially in a theater.  The Blind Side was just starting it’s run, and had attracted some attention fairly quickly.  The theater was full, and I didn’t know when the music would be in the film.  Trying to find your music in a film can be a challenge.  In this particular instance, the music is very much in the background, setting the atmosphere amongst the crowd noise of a football game.  With surround sound, music can be coming from anywhere, so your ears really have to be listening.  This placement was about 15 seconds, so it comes and goes quick.   When you are in a theater and hear your music in the middle of a crowd, it is a very unique feeling.  No one around you knows your wrote the music.  It is surreal.  When your credits go by, it is very thrilling as well.  I did pick up the DVD recently, and found the music again.  It’s great to start a collection of films and shows your music is in.  Your reel can become very impressive quickly, especially when the movie does well.  In this case, the film has won many awards, including an Oscar (making for a interesting experience watching the Oscars!).  It has done very well in theaters and even overseas (royalties!), considering it is a very American style film.  When the film gets on TV, it will likely be on multiple networks over time.  I have had the experience of having songs on different channels on TV, at the same time.  That is a true kick in the pants.

How did you ever decide to compose “Football Funk?”

I can’t remember what the pitch was for, but somebody was looking for Southern marching band-drumline style music.   That pitch never turned into anything, but the track became part of my larger catalogue.  For me, having a motivation to compose a piece is the best way to build my library.  In this case, what was a throwaway piece has really paid off.
I composed the piece using older keyboard sounds, and with older modules (pre-computer composing).  I used a TASCAM 8 track digital recorder.  With limited tracks, I divided the parts into upper and lower brass, and percussion.  I performed the sections as a unit, giving it a real live sound, rather that individual part-by-part arranging and performance.    Sometimes old school recording is best!

The percussion was performed on a very large drum set with lots of open toms that are great for simulating a drum-corps quad sound.  My strength as a percussionist really helped.  I don’t think loops or electronic drums would have cut it.  It is a cool funky sound.  The song has done well, and also appeared on “Scooby Doo, The Mystery Begins” last year (biggest Cartoon Network viewership ever!)

What is your background, how did you get into music?

I grew up in Evanston, Illinois, next to Chicago.  After trying the violin and trumpet briefly, I studied percussion privately from elementary school through high school (7 years).  My high school had a huge music program with bands, orchestras, jazz bands, experimental music, percussion ensembles, etc.  I went to Indiana University and got a degree in percussion.  I did dabble in composition at college (to the dismay of my percussion instructors!)  After college I moved to Seattle.  One of the first things I did was start an open style composer’s concert series.  It lasted about 4 years, and we even premiered music by Alan Hovhaness.    I have been performing, writing and teaching music ever since.  In the 80s I performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in NYC, playing a wide variety of classical, jazz and original music.  I have recorded with many artists over the years as a percussionist, and especially on mallet instruments (vibes and marimba).

How do you get your music out there into the world?

I’ve always been a PR nut.  I do a lot of marketing using postcards, emails, mailings, etc.  I have music in a few libraries.   It really got me going, and motivated me to write a ton of music.

How has MusicSupervisor.us helped you?

The Blind Side has been a great boost.  They have a great staff, and are very professional and informative.  I do get occasional pitches from musicsupervisor.us when they are looking for something particular. It is a library run by composers for composers.

What are you goals for the future?

I hope to do more scoring of shorts and features.  I am on the board of the Seattle Composers Alliance, a NW composer’s organization.  We bring directors and composers together with events and workshops.  I hope to significatly increase my library regularly, and hopefully become filthy rich on royalties!  My BMI check has been growing, and I hope to see big royalties for “The Blind Side” soon.

Interview by Julius Robinson

Click here to view the embedded video.

“My Oregon,” directed by David Winston for the Oregon Cultural Trust.

The Kristin Mainhart and Khromozomes song “Chomping At The Bit” is featured in the Lifetime Television feature film “Flirting With Forty”, starring Heather Locklear, Robert Buckley and Vanessa Williams.  The movie was rated as #1 on TV Guide’s TV Hot List. The movie drew in over 4 million viewers on its original air date, December 6, 2008, ranking it as one of Lifetime Television’s four most-watched movies in 2008.  Based on the novel by Jane Porter.

KRISTIN MAINHART.  A New York vocalist whose prodigious talent at the mic is equaled only by her striking ability as a songwriter. Singing almost before she could talk, Kristin’s musical sensibility has developed in the long tradition of sultry female singers whose inner strength is belied by a yielding sensitivity, startling in its intimacy. And a pretty face never hurts.

KHROMOZOMES. With a mixture of plush instrumentals and wicked beats, concocts an elixir of moody tracks guaranteed to soothe the boredom blues.

Steve Porcaro

Steve Porcaro was born into a musical family, so it’s no surprise that he started piano lessons at the age of four. Throughout his school years he played in various bands with his brothers, Jeff and Mike. At age 17 Steve joined Gary Wright’s “Dreamweaver” tour and went on to tour with Boz Scaggs in support of Scaggs’ “Silk Degrees” album. The core of that band became the genesis of Toto, of which Steve was a founding member and contributing songwriter.

In 1982, Steve and Toto won Grammy Awards for Album, Producer and Record of the Year. After Toto, Steve continued to be one of the most sought-after keyboard session players in Los Angeles. While working with such artists as Michael Jackson, Don Henley, Barbra Streisand and Elton John, Steve was twice recognized by Keyboard Magazine as “Session Player of The Year.” During that time, Steve also co-wrote “Human Nature” for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album.

Steve worked with composer James Newton Howard on a number of scores, including The Fugitive, Outbreak, and Waterworld. Steve also composed the underscore to Paramount’s series The Sentinel and scored Caravan’s feature film Metro, directed by Thomas Carter.Steve’s other scoring work includes TNT’s original feature film Hope, directed by Goldie Hawn, and Phoenician Film’s feature film The Murder of Crows starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Tom Berringer & Eric Stoltz, and directed by Rowdy Harrington.

How has your record songwriting and producing influenced your work in film/tv?

For me, it’s the other way around. I find my pop stuff imbued with more of a film quality than ever before. Pop music is where I come from. And yes, sometimes for film, especially a romantic scene, my pop sensibility is going to affect the fabric of the score.

If you think about Toto’s music, our bridges, our orchestral elements had a filmic quality. We were trying to tell grander stories. It may have come off as pretentious to some. But in Toto, David (Paich) and I were huge fans of movie music, especially composers like Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams.

Tell us about your collaboration with James Newton Howard.

I wouldn’t have any kind of film/TV scoring career if it weren’t for James. He turned to me one day and said, “Do you want to do this?” Frankly, I didn’t know if I could. The best lesson he ever taught me — be the guy who solves problems.

How do you get scoring work and handle the business side of composing with all the competition out there?

It’s all about relationships with other composers and music supervisors. As far as music supervisors go, I used to think they were just at a desk doing clearances for needle drops. It’s still part of their job, but over the last 10 or 20 years the music supervisors have the director and producer’s ear. If the director and producer don’t already have “their guy” that they are married to, the music supervisor has a big influence in selecting a composer.

Why does writing to picture differ from other composing or songwriting you do?

I’m always trying to find a deeper understanding of the characters. I love to play on the dramatic subtext not on the screen. You are able to say things with music that words and picture can’t. You want to expand the scope, deepen the impact in the most unobtrusive way.

Does writing for TV differ from film?

With film, you have time to get it right — at least a couple months. With TV, they need it by Thursday. The way Toto worked, we took nine months to do a record, if I got a song on the record fine, if I didn’t no one was mad at me. I had the synth gig in the band.

I found out with TV that not only could I have it done by Thursday, I loved having it done by Thursday! I love the pressure; I live for the deadline now. My song output over the last 30 years hasn’t been what I want. With TV work, there are times I don’t feel like it. I’d rather hang out with my kids, see a movie with friends, or go have lunch. I gotta say “no” to people, and go in the studio and work. And you know what — I still come up with some quality! You don’t know what to write, so you write down, “I don’t know what to write.” And suddenly you start writing something. Sometimes I’ll listen to other scores and songs, then write, and then re-write until it’s right.

Also, with movies, you are mostly trying to make the director happy. With TV the director is not the issue. When I show up he’s come and gone. It’s the four producers, the network, it’s the studio that all have to approve. There is conflicting input. We can have an esoteric talk about what a score is supposed to do — at the end of the day what I take pride in most is making everybody happy.

Have the advances in technology affected your writing for film/tv?

I wouldn’t ever been able to write for film or TV if there wasn’t the technology. When I was younger I took arranging and composition classes. But I never got a degree in music; I never went to college and had a college orchestra play my stuff. I embraced this tech stuff from the get-go. I needed to. It turns out it is not a bad thing. If it is the kind of score that requires a live orchestra, I do that. But these days almost nobody cares about how you do it; all they care about is the end result.

Steve Porcaro has a selection of scoring cues available on MusicSupervisor.com

Click here to view the embedded video.

Joel Evans wrote the music and Adryan Russ penned the lyrics to their song “Is It Me?,” which was recently placed by MusicSupervisor.com in the acclaimed film Doubt starring Meryl Streep and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Joel’s San Francisco-based company Cinemasters has music placed in over 250 television episodes and over 60 films including Wedding Crashers. Cinemasters’ library of custom music spotlights swing, jazz and big band. Adryan conceived and wrote music and lyrics for Inside Out, an award-winning  off-Broadway musical, co-written with playwright Doug Haverty. The show has played in New York and around the world. She also has had many covers including Barry White’s recording of her song, “The Better Love Is, the Worse It Is When It’s Over.”

What did you think about the usage of your song “Is It Me” in the film Doubt?

Joel: I was laughing because the actors were too boisterous in the scene and they were masking our music!

You are a true songwriter and musician. Those darn actors!

Adryan: And so rowdy too!

How did you both meet and come to write “Is It Me?”

Joel: We met at an industry event at the Society of Songwriters and Lyricists. Adryan was a row behind me.

Adryan: Actually we went out to get some water at one of the breaks, and we found each other.

Joel: I said I came to this thing to look for lyricists.

Adryan: And I’m here to look for composers! So Joel sent me a couple pieces of music and I instantly fell in love with his music. There was no doubt in my mind I wanted to write lyrics to this great music.

Joel: “Is it Me?’” came about because I was working on a project to replace 50′s pop. We listened to old records, picked out some songs to emulate. This song was somewhat in the vein of “Strangers in the Night.” Our vocalist Michael Dees is such a great singer, his vocal really inhabits the recording

Adryan: I also believe “Is it Me?” was selected in part because of the title. Obviously the music was perfect for that time period, and Michael Dees vocal is great. But because of the questions raised in the film (about a priest accused of child molestation), maybe the title helped, although the song is just about love.

What do you think of musicsupervisor.com or other companies like us?

Joel: I have some pieces with music libraries, in those cases you don’t participate in all the revenue streams. One of the great things about musicsupervisor.com is that we keep all our publishing. I was very pleasantly surprised to look online at my revenue stream from you and see that there were more than just a couple of zeroes behind the licensing fee! Sometimes even the very well known libraries will throw things in films for gratis or a couple hundred bucks. We all do that on occasion –  you never know if we might have the next Little Miss Sunshine.  With Doubt, you got us a reasonable fee, and our (100%) backend participation. Very nice! I’ve used Taxi and other services, and over time you learn where you want to gravitate towards. It’s important that you do as much research as possible, and try to meet as many people. You get the best advice from your peers.

How do you two work together as composer and lyricist?

Joel: Because I’m in San Francisco and Adryan is in Glendale, we do a lot of collaborating over the internet. I’ll dub mp3′s, and she’ll email back lyrics.

Adryan: Usually we’ll explore possible titles and go back and forth then pick something that seems the most appropriate.

Joel: Whenever I’m in L.A. we do get together around Adryan’s grand piano and map things out. Generally we don’t finish in one day like the guys in Nashville.

What is your opinion about film/tv music today?

Joel: It seems to me everyday I see another article about how important film/tv music is and how to get it in. With the advent of downloading and loss of sales of CD’s, everyone is now focusing on getting these placements. We’ve seen bands use it to further their careers and even to get gigs. I thought about doing it here in San Francisco; going down to a bar and make a sign: Songs as heard in: you name the film or tv show!

Adryan Russ has a new album of her songs on LML Records called Everyone Has a Story,” featuring a great lineup of singers, and available at Lmlmusic.com.