Thinking in Sound: Anne Booty on the Adaptable Nature of Music
Anne has worked in the music industry for 20 years, starting out as part of an electro duo back in 2002. Since then, she has played shows around the world supporting the likes of Tinie Tempah and Paloma Faith, and has featured on albums with Nancy Sinatra, Scott Walker and Paul Epworth. Her music has been synced on commercials (e.g., Target, White Claw) and a number of TV shows and promos in the US and Australia.
In 2012 she joined Audio Network’s TV department and went on to set up their film division. She left in 2015 to launch the internal catalogue at SixtyFour music before moving to supervision in 2018. She works across film, TV and advertising.
LBB> When you’re working on a new brief or project, what’s your typical starting point? How do you break it down and how do you like to generate your ideas or response?
Anne> If we’ve been tasked to make an original composition, the first step will always be working out the best composers for the job. It’s very much a team effort at SixtyFour, and it’ll be all available hands-on deck when we have a deadline to hit. This is really important if the route we’re looking at is sourcing a commercial track. As supervisors, we all have our strengths when it comes to our knowledge of certain genres, styles and eras and we like to tap into that. First steps on a track search will be donning the cans to cultivate a solid playlist, then coming together to discuss and fine tune ideas.
LBB> Music and sound are in some ways the most collaborative and interactive forms of creativity - what are your thoughts on this? Do you prefer to work solo or with a gang - and what are some of your most memorable professional collaborations?
Anne> That’s very true and its actually really difficult to explain the difference sometimes, as it can get really fluid. We’ve had composers who have been tasked with creating something that feels like sound design; think sampled, clipped vocals, claps, syncopation etc. Equally we have advised sound designers to get certain pieces of work registered for royalty collection as its transitioned into something that feels more like a structured piece of music.
LBB> What’s the most satisfying part of your job and why?
Anne> Bit of a cliche, but I love the variety. No two days are ever the same. I do pinch myself sometimes that I get paid to listen to music all day. I love the people I work with too. Getting to nerd out about music with people who also like to nerd out about music is the best.
LBB> As the advertising industry changes, how do you think the role of music and sound is changing with it?
Anne> I mean the obvious thing to say here would be budgets. Over the past ten years or so music budgets have been shrinking a lot, but on the flip side more content is being made so it sort of spreads everything out a bit. I do wonder how the next six to twelve months - and beyond - will pan out with the cost of living. We’ll see though. Ever since sheet music transitioned into radio, vinyl into CDs and into streaming… we’re probably the most adaptable industry in the world and continue to be so.
LBB> Who are your musical or audio heroes and why?
Anne> I know she’s flavour of the month right now - and rightly so! - but Kate Bush is my ultimate musical icon. Her and Bowie. Growing up in Australia, I think the reason they resonated with me so much was not just the music but their visual presence too. Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance’ was filmed in Australia with two dancers, Stephen Page and Joelene King, that he’d selected from Sydney's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Dance Theatre. It blew me away as a six-year-old on so many different levels. It was one of the first times Australian indigenous people had been given a platform quite like it. Ridiculous really that it took some white English bloke to come over and do it.
LBB> And when it comes to your particular field, are there any ideas or pioneers that you go back to frequently or who really influence your thinking about the work you do?
Anne> Of course! There are always iconic adverts that you return to as reference for their excellent and unusual choice in music. In terms of wider media though, Tarantino’s music supervisor, Mary Ramos, is a bit of a ledge. And there’s a tonne of composers whose work I consistently return to for inspiration; Michael Nyman, Cristobal Tapia De Veer, more recently Natalie Holt, but honestly the list is endless.
LBB> When you’re working on something that isn’t directly sound design or music (let's say going through client briefs or answering emails) - are you the sort of person who needs music and noise in the background or is that completely distracting to you? What are your thoughts on ‘background’ sound and music as you work?
Anne> I can work with or without music, but I think I’m more productive with. Podcasts are the only no go when I’m doing emails, something about words interfering with words. My husband can listen to podcasts; he’s a graphic designer. I like to think it’s the brain needing to have that symbiotic balance between words and music.
LBB> There’s the switch from analogue to digital and now we seem to be divided between bad-ass surround-sound immersive experiences and on-the-go, low quality sound (often the audio is competing with a million other distractions) - how does that factor into how you approach your work?
Anne> You always have to create on the assumption that 99% of people will be digesting content on tiny earphones. That doesn’t mean you don’t want it sounding the best it possibly can!
LBB> On a typical day, what does your ‘listening diet’ look like?
Anne> I wake up to 6Music. When I start work, I try and listen to submissions from labels and publishers, even if it’s just a handful of tracks a day and I try to vary this as much as possible. Obviously, this isn’t doable if we have a search on as I’ll be spending a lot of time researching whatever sound or reference the client is looking for. After work it’s the radio again. I spend all day curating; I like the jukebox nature of radio! Absolute 80s is unapologetically my go to cooking station. Nothing like ripping out a bit of Bonnie Tyler over your saucepans. Then its onto yoga or a run when I like to stick a podcast on for a palate cleanse. ‘Eli Roth’s History of Horror Uncut’ is my current fave. Before bed it’s the Cocteau Twins or some classical. Christophe Rousset’s score for ‘Farinelli - Il Castrato’ has been my go-to for as long as I can remember.
LBB> Do you have a collection of music/sounds and what shape does it take (are you a vinyl nerd, do you have hard drives full of random bird sounds, are you a hyper-organised spotify-er…)?
Anne> You have to be in our line of work. I keep all my searches in Spotify playlists and make a lot of notes in my notes app. I have vinyl, not a huge collection as I got a tonne stolen from our van on Kingsland Road back in the day, but I’m buying more now than I have in a while for a monthly DJ set that I do with my husband in Brighton. I also make music, so I have lists of ideas - whether that’s tracks to cover or just to reference - for that too. I also use voice memos on my phone if I have a melody I need to remember.
LBB> Outside of the music and sound world, what sort of art or topics really excite you and do you ever relate that back to music (e.g., history buffs who love music that can help you travel through time, gamers who love interactive sound design… I mean it really could be anything!!)
Anne> I write in my spare time and like to make playlists for my characters and narrative. I may or may not have nicked the idea from Irvine Welsh. I’m currently working on something from the 1860s set in Australia, so it’s all about researching what instruments were common back then amongst European settlers (the button accordion!) and of course sifting through some incredible indigenous music too. I have Aphantasia, which means my mind’s eye is blind, so music and sound have always been how I remember and relate to the world around me.
LBB> Let’s talk travel! It’s often cited as one of the most creatively inspiring things you can do - I’d love to know what are the most exciting or inspiring experiences you’ve had when it comes to sound and music on your travels?
Anne> I recently got back from Marrakech. The snort of a disgruntled camel out in the Atlas Mountains, kittens mewing for scraps of omelette, the tweet of a desert sparrow, the ghiata used to charm snakes in the main square, the hubbub of insane traffic, and of course the call to prayer… I’ve never encountered a place like it. I’m particularly attached to the dawn chorus of a place too. It’s the one thing I really miss about Brisbane, where I grew up. Nothing will ever beat waking up to the sound of kookaburra call.
LBB> As we age, our ears change physically and our tastes evolve too, and life changes mean we don’t get to engage in our passions in the same intensity as in our youth - how has your relationship with sound and music changed over the years?
Anne> Someone once said, ‘be careful what you get good at’ and there’s definitely something in that. I struggle to engage with and enjoy music in quite the same way as I used to. I need to de-tune my ear so I’m not all ‘Ohhhh that’d be fab for that commercial or scene!’, or ‘That hook is rubbish’. But yeah, it’s tough. I do find I’m returning again and again to my old school favourite albums. That said, I can still be blown away by a new artist. Hand me anything released on Soulwax’s Deewee label for example and I know it’ll be the best thing ever. I don’t think that thrill of discovery has ever left me, or ever will. It’s important to remain excited, you know?
