Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' influenced his favorite track in 'Light Cycle', says ConfidentialMX's John
Making music is a complex art. While spinning new tunes takes effort, so does turning it into a mix for a movie trailer. LA-based trailer music house 'Confidential Music' is behind the sound for some of Hollywood’s biggest trailers. These include Bee Gees’ cover of 'I Started a Joke' in 'Suicide Squad', The Who’s 'Baba O’Riley' remix for the Season 3 trailer of 'Stranger Things' and the music for 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' trailer.
All set to roll out their first album 'Light Cycle' under their artist name 'ConfidentialMX', the music house swears the new tracks are for everyone, whether you’re looking to zone in on work, sweat it out at the gym, or look longingly out the car window and pretend like you’re in a movie.
Composer John Samuel Hanson and mixer-producer Kyle Biane share their trade secrets, reveal how they decided to release their first album and why trailer music is the next, must-hear style in an exclusive interview with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW).
You've created quite a stir with the pop culture music. What are the elements you blend to make music suitable for an upcoming series or movie?
John: Film trailers are questions that are begging for an answer. The question has to be intriguing enough for you to want to know the answer, which, of course, is in the movie. So for us, it’s all about creating a musical question that intrigues the listener to look for more. Common pop songs or even music scores include moments of intrigue as well as a resolved musical answer. When we write originals, reimagine themes, or remix songs, the trick is to make it more ‘inquisitive,’ if you will, by ramping up the anticipation and intrigue till the very end. If this is accomplished, we’ve done our job.
How did you decide to release your first album? Tell us a little about what went behind putting it all together.
Kyle: By design, we have typically worked behind the scenes of the movie industry. We have amazing collaborators and clients and have been fortunate enough to be a part of many amazing projects. However, we did start to notice a fan base that was not only interested in the movies but very attentive and excited about the music. We finally decided that it was time to put out some selected tunes for the fans, and hopefully introduce some new people to our sound.
John: Following our cover of 'I Started A Joke,' which was written for the 'Suicide Squad' trailer, but made its way to the album, we’ve noticed a bit more widespread interest in this type of music than we expected. We collaborated with our friend and crazy-good music supervisor Bobby Gumm (who also hired us to do the 'Suicide Squad' trailer) to go through our music and put together a compilation, which turned out to be Light Cycle.
The team behind ConfidentialMX curated a list of their favorites for their album. What would you say is number one on your list and what's special about it that will attract music listeners?
John: 'View From The Voyager' is a track I wrote after reading the synopsis for Christopher Nolan’s 'Interstellar' over a year before it was going to be released. The Voyager 1 satellite had just crossed into interstellar space that month as well, so my inspiration was trying to envision myself as a passenger on that satellite. What would I feel like leaving humanity and entering the unfathomable depths of the unknown? When it ended up finishing in Interstellar’s third trailer, it was a pretty special moment.
Kyle: I think mine would have to be 'In Tides of Light.' There is a beauty in that track that melts into a demented cacophony. I think it has an ‘unexpected journey’ quality that listeners might have fun riding along with. It’s a weird piece of music, but I think it’s pretty cool.
Several music lovers actually have playlists of movie background scores and trailer music. Where do you think the future of trailer music is heading and do you see potential in it to become a separate genre altogether?
Kyle: I am not one to ever be big on genre definitions. However, I see this style of music gaining momentum and that is really exciting. Rather than trying to think of it as emerging independently from other styles of 'film music'. I am most excited about the people who are using this music as a soundtrack for their lives. Whether it be hiking through the mountains or driving to work. I hope the future brings more people writing their own stories to our scores.
Are there any upcoming or existing movies or TV shows you feel should have your music as their background score?
Kyle: That is a hard one, all of them would be cool. On the trailer side, there are so many moving parts and collaborators, it is sometimes hard to see what would be 'perfect' for us. We have so many amazing creative relationships. Most of the time our best result comes from a project being presented to us, than us trying to elevate it along with the team as best we can.
John: Couldn’t agree more and I think with Disney+ and others joining the streaming game, there is a ton of new content out there. I’m excited about the opportunities this will create for new campaigns and ideas.
As the duo chalks out their future plans, Kyle keeps it simple and suggests they're looking forward to “just keep making music.” John adds, “We enjoy what we do and are super-excited to get some music out publicly while continuing to develop pieces for film trailers.”
Get set to listen to some adrenaline-pumping tracks once the album is out on January 24, 2020.