Soundtracking With Edith Bowman

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is Melissa Parmenter. Not only has Melissa worked alongside the great Michael Winterbottom for many years as a producer, she's also a composer who scored The Killer Inside Me and Genova. In addition, she's released the Scandinavia EP and a new album, Messapica.  We talk to Melissa about her creative process, and how she balances her time between making films and TV shows like The Trip and making music.

Edith's latest guests on Soundtracking are a couple of documentary makers whose work she absolutely loves. She first met Ian Bonhôte & Peter Ettedgui following the release of their debut feature, McQueen, based on the life of British fashion designer, Lee Alexander McQueen. Now Ian and Peter have turned their attentions to paralympians with Rising Phoenix, which is streaming on Netflix now. Scored by our old friend Daniel Pemberton, Rising Phoenix plays like a superhero movie, a device that really hits the mark.  The three of them also discuss Michael Nyman, who allowed Ian and Peter to use his music for McQueen.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking first came to Edith's attention with his barnstorming lead performance in Richard Ayoade's coming-of-age drama, Submarine. Craig Roberts has since broadened his horizons and turned his attention to writing and directing - first with Just Jim and now the wonderful Eternal Beauty. Starring Sally Hawkins, Eternal Beauty tells the story of Jane, a young woman suffering from depression and schizophrenia in 80s suburbia following the trauma of being stood up at the altar. It's an audacious bit of filmmaking - dealing with the difficult subject mental illness with remarkable deftness of touch. The movie is scored by Michael Price, who has been incredibly helpful in supplying us with his music - so thank you Michael, we'll get you on soon.

Our guest on this latest episode of Soundtracking is a world-famous frontman with a genuine passion for score. SImon Neil is a guitarist and lead vocalist for Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro - whose most recent album A Celebration Of Endings went straight to the top of the UK album charts. But as you're about to hear, he really does know his stuff when it comes to movie music too. Man, do we cover a lot of ground! He also scored Jamie Adams' wee gem of a film, Balance, Not Symmetry, and hopes to do more scoring in the future.

Our guest on this latest episode of Edith's screen music podcast Soundtracking is an actor known for his roles in Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, Velvet Goldmine, Little Voice, Brassed Off, Star Wars and ... well, the list goes on and on and on. Ewan McGregor's latest project sees him reunited with his good friend Charley Boorman for Long Way Up. Available now on Apple TV, Long Way Up accompanies the pair as they attempt to motorcycle all the way from the bottom of Latin America to Los Angeles - on electric Harley Davidsons! It really is a wild and hilarious adventure - and Edith is absolutely loving it. The show features some brilliant tunes too, from familiar rock and pop to songs specific to the countries through which Ewan and Charlie travel. We also find out the unlikely band that he had in his headphones under his helmet ...

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is a hugely entertaining composer who has worked on tens and tens of movies, TV shows and video games. Among Harry Gregson-Williams's many credits are an apprenticeship under Hans Zimmer, a long-term working relationship with the Scott brothers, the Shrek series, and an unlikely collaboration with Trey Parker and Matt Stone on Team America. The story behind how that came to pass is hilarious, by the way. His latest project is the live action animation remake of Disney's Mulan, which is based on classic Chinese folklore and tells the story of a girl disguised as a man who becomes a great warrior. And you can watch it on Disney + right now!

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is a composer I've been trying to pin down for yonks - so often has his name been mentioned on the podcast. Ludwig Göransson is best known for his work with Childish Gambino, Ryan Coogler, on Disney's The Mandalorian and most recently the Christopher Nolan blockbuster TENET. And for all the wrong reasons, it's fitting that we speak to him now, given he won an Oscar for his score to Black Panther. Edith recorded this interview before we learned the tragic news about Chadwick Boseman, who died of cancer last week aged just 44. But given Ludwig's connection to the film, it seemed only right we paid tribute to its star. Thus you'll also hear an extract from Episode 77, in which Marvel executive producer Nate Moore recalled a lovely story about how Chadwick was cast in the film. Then, of course, there is the usual smattering of Ludwig's music at relevant points throughout the conversation.

We love a good actor on this podcast, and we have a seriously good one for you in our latest episode in the shape of Tim Roth. Tim's credits are too numerous to list, but he can currently be seen in the thoroughly gripping pulp crime drama Tin Star on Sky.  He's also worked with Quentin Tarantino on several occasions, and had the honour of meeting Ennio Morricone too.  Edith takes a deep dive into his career and the music that's featured in it along the way.

You may not know Glen Ballard, but you do know Glen Ballard. For Glen is a songwriter, lyricist and producer who's worked with some of the biggest names in the business, including Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, Anastacia and Alanis Morissette - with whom he co-wrote Jagged Little Pill to great critical acclaim and commercial success.  His latest project sees him team up with Damian Chazelle (among others) for The Eddy, which centres on a jazz club in contemporary Paris. Not only was the Netflix series Glen's brainchild, but he also wrote all of the songs for it with composer and pianist, Randy Kerber. As well as playing plenty of music from the show, Edith also drops a couple of classics from his illustrious career.

We have a proper legend for you on our latest episode of Soundtracking in the shape of virtuoso trumpeter and composer, Terence Blanchard. A well-established jazz musician in his own right, Terence was given a break scoring Jungle Fever by Spike Lee, for whom he's subsequently become the 'go-to' guy. Malcolm X and The BlacKkKlansman are just a couple of the movies they've joined forces on. Their latest collaboration is Da 5 Bloods, which you can watch now on Netflix. He's also just provided the music for HBO's Perry Mason - with the score for that available via our good friends at Water Tower Music. As ever, we'll sprinkle plenty of Terence's music throughout the conversation, so sit back and enjoy.

One of the things that helped Edith and her family no end during lockdown was having access to the entire Pixar back catalogue through Disney Plus. She and her two boys watched virtually all of the movies and shorts again for the umpteenth time, so it was a real joy for us to welcome to the animator, writer and director Dan Scanlon to Soundtracking. Dan joined Pixar in 2001, and worked on Cars and Toy Story 3 as a story artist before directing Monsters University. His latest work was the deeply personal suburban fantasy, Onward. Based on his own experience of losing his father, Onward tells the story of two elf brothers who go in search of an artefact that will temporarily bring their deceased dad back to life. It's both visually and emotionally beautiful, and if you haven't seen it already, watch it now! The film is scored by Mychael and Jeff Danna, and we'll hear plenty of their work throughout the conversation, as well as that of Pixar stalwarts Randy Newman and Michael Giacchino.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is an award-winning playwright and theatre director, now turning her hand to cinema. Jessica Swale's first play Blue Stockings premiered at Shakespeare's Globe in 2013. She went on to win an Olivier Award for Nell Gwynn in 2016, a comedy initially starring Gugu Mabatha-Raw - and then Gemma Arterton when it transferred to the West End. Fittingly, both women take leading roles in Jessica's debut feature, Summerland. Spanning half a century, Summerland tells the story of Alice, a reclusive writer who is forced to take on a young evacuee called Frank during World War II, totally against her wishes.  It's a genuinely moving tale, complimented beautifully by Volker Bertelmann's music - aka Hauschka. Speaking of which, we'd like to say a huge thanks to Jess Barry at Lionsgate - and indeed the filmmakers - for providing us with his score, given that it's yet to be commercially released.

We are eternally grateful to our latest guest on Soundtracking - who ended up speaking to Edith twice for the podcast following a computer malfunction. But that's the kind of guy Rob Delaney is. Best known for bringing us the multi-award winning Catastrophe with Sharon Horgan, Rob is an actor, comedian and writer of formidable talent - who's appeared in a whole host of films including Bombshell, Deadpool 2 and the forthcoming Home Alone reboot. Rob's also a huge music lover, which is why our good friends at Invada Records invited him to put together one of their celebrity playlists.  We also discuss his love of the music in Alex Garland's Devs and The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg, among many other things.

Edith's guest on our latest Soundtracking is a truly inspirational actor, writer and director, whose credits include Belle, A United Kingdom, Where Hands Touch and Mrs America. Amma Asante's big break came in Grange Hill, in a role that saw her invited to the White House by Nancy Reagan as part of the Just Say No anti-drugs campaign. She subsequently wrote for television before making her first feature in 2004, A Way Of Life. We hear about the music that's featured in Amma's work, and also her trip to Washington and the after-party thrown for her by none other than Prince. 

Edith's guest on this latest episode of her film music podcast Soundtracking is a composer who's worked with the likes of Kenneth Branagh, Alfonso Cuaron, Mike Newell, Brian De Palma, Robert Altman and Ang Lee. It's fair to say Patrick Doyle has compiled quite the CV since writing his first movie score at the end of the 1970s. His latest project sees him collaborate with Branagh for a 10th time on Disney's adaptation of Artemis Fowl. They also discuss his work on Sense & Sensibility, Brave, Carlito's Way and Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.

Edith has a lot to thank her latest guest on Soundtracking, who cheered her up no end during lockdown with his gloriously batty new comedy, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga. David Dobkin is a writer and director who brought us Shanghai Knights, The Wedding Crashers and The Judge, as well as numerous music videos for the likes of 2Pac and Maroon 5. This latest endeavour stars Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams, Pierce Brosnan and Dan Stevens - and tells the story of an unlikely Icelandic pop duo who get the chance to represent their country at Eurovision.  We absolutely loved it, and you can see why on Netflix right now.

We can barely believe we're uttering these these words, but welcome to the 200th episode of Soundtracking. 200! That's a lot of great guests, stories, creative insights and - perhaps most importantly - music from the world of film and television. And we're delighted to be celebrating our birthday with a brilliant female composer, given that it's still an industry dominated by men.  Pinar Toprak is a Turkish American musician, best known for her work on smash video game Fortnite and Captain Marvel. She joined me from her home in the US to discuss all manner of things, from the CD that inspired her to pursue a career in film scoring to the industrious way in which she landed the Captain Marvel gig.

We have another Soundtracking Live for you this week, recording at the Glasgow Film Festival back in February before lockdown came into effect.  Edith's guests were Simon Bird and Stuart Murdoch, discussing their collaboration on Simon's gorgeous directorial debut The Days Of The Bagnold Summer, for which Belle & Sebastian provided the music. Starring Monica Dolan and Earl Cave (son of Nick), Days of The Bagnold Summer is based on a graphic novel by Joff Winterhart, and tells the story of a single mother and her 15 year-old son as they navigate the stresses and strains of a school summer holiday in each other's company. It's a beautiful piece of work, and you can watch it now on home entertainment formats. As we'll hear, Belle & Sebastian furnished Simon with loads and loads of music, some of which had lyrics, some of which did not - instead serving as more traditional instrumental score. You can listen to the album in full via Matador records.

We've a real Hollywood heavyweight for you on our latest lockdown episode of Soundtracking in the shape of Judd Apatow. Judd is a director, writer and producer who's had a hand in some of the funniest films of the last 20 years, including The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Bridesmaids and Anchorman. His TV credits include Freaks And Geeks, Crashing and Girls, which is some list. Judd's latest project is The King Of Staten Island. It's a semi-biographical take on the life of Pete Davidson, who lost his firefighter father to 9/11. Pete takes the lead role a young man who must get his life together after his mum starts dating a new guy, who is also a firefighter like his deceased dad.  And the great news is, you can watch it NOW on home entertainment formats.

We have a real treat for music aficionados this week, as Edith is joined by Andrew Slater and Jakob Dylan to discuss their brilliant documentary, Echo In The Canyon. The film celebrates the popular music that came out of L.A.’s Laurel Canyon in the mid-60s as The Byrds, The Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, and The Mamas and the Papas cemented the California Sound. Andrew and Jakob explore the interplay between these artists in a string of informal interviews with many of the key players, and discover how interconnected the creative process became during this now legendary period. Jakob also covered a number of classics from the era with contemporary artists - including Fiona Apple, Cat Power, Regina Spektor, Beck and Josh Homme.