Thinking in Sound: Making Advertising Music to a Hollywood Quality
Symphonic is multi-award winning Irish composer, songwriter and music producer John Walsh.
Latest work includes original music for Jameson’s global advertising campaign ‘Widen the Circle’ featuring the BAFTA award winning actor, writer and comedian Aisling Bea while other recent projects include Pepsi’s ‘Forever Football’ commercial and a new version of the classic song ‘Everybody’s Talking’ featuring Loah for DAA.
John’s credits extend to original music for Expo 2020 Dubai, Guinness, Heineken, Tourism Ireland, Carlsberg, Ford, The Olympic Games and many others.
He has also scored and written songs for the critically acclaimed feature films ‘The Drummer and The Keeper’ starring Dermot Murphy (Bohemian Rhapsody), ‘Cherry Tree’ starring Naomi Battrick (Jamestown) and ‘Sea Fever’, the debut feature from director Neasa Hardiman.
Television work includes music contributions for the epic Discovery Channel series ‘Harley and The Davidsons’ starring Michiel Huisman (Game of Thrones) as well as notable programme themes such as The Six Nations opening title music for Virgin Media.
Awards to date include eight Kinsale Sharks, four ICAD Bells and an Irish Film & Television Awards nomination for ‘Best Original Score’.
Here, we hear from him about how he thinks about and approaches composing for advertising… And a bit about his classic car obsession.
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?
John> I view commercials as short films so I begin by asking myself a few basic questions like ‘What is the heart of this film?’, ‘What is the story?’, ‘What are the emotions?’
When I find the answers, I then distil these into a handful of words and that becomes my roadmap.
LBB> Music is in some ways the most collaborative and interactive form 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?
John> Well, it is always a collaboration in a sense because you’re taking direction from the creative team in the agency and the director. The conversation is based around the sort of questions I mentioned above though rather than specific details relating to music composition; it’s a discussion about concept.
My job then is to translate this into a musical approach and that is always a solo affair.
At times though, I record other musicians and performers and this is rewarding; for example recently I worked with a wonderful artist called Loah when she sang on a track I produced for a Dublin Airport Authority campaign created by Droga5 in Dublin.
LBB> What’s the most satisfying part of your job and why?
John> The final mix stage is the most satisfying as all the heavy lifting is done by that point and I can relax and enjoy playing with the studio toys… the blank page stage, not so much!
LBB> As the advertising industry changes, how do you think the role of music is changing with it?
John> I feel that the bar in terms of quality is the highest it’s ever been now with the production value of certain ads matching that of a Hollywood feature for those 60 seconds or so. Equally, the musical score has to reach the same level of perfection; the days of the ‘Shake ‘n’ Vac’ jingle are well and truly behind us, although that was quite the ditty!
LBB> Who are your musical heroes and why?
John> I’d find it hard to name just a few; there are so many. The role of a composer in the world of commercials is in a sense to be a musical chameleon; you have to be versed in lots of different styles and approaches and so you expose yourself to a lot of music in the process.
Having a chequered musical past like mine I feel really helps me in that I’m a band guy and a songwriter, but I’m also a classically trained guitarist, a piano player and I’m into technology… I was writing code for my own computer games at the age of 13… It all helps.
In terms of heroes, I’d have to confess to being a bit of a Beatle nut and I’ve always liked Bernard Herrmann’s unique approach to psychological suspense!
LBB> And when it comes to your particular field of composing, are there any particular ideas or pioneers that you go back to frequently or who really influence your thinking about the work you do?
John> Yes. There’s a school of thought that nothing creative ever comes from the conscious ‘thinking’ mind…and certainly not from the ‘over-thinking’ one. Instead, creativity only happens when you manage to switch that off and are able to be in somewhat of a ‘Zen-like’ state. At that point, and with the help of knowledge and experience, the ideas come of their own accord – I have found this approach to have had a very positive impact on my work.
LBB> When you’re working on something that isn’t directly 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?
John> I can’t do it, I need almost complete silence!
LBB> I guess the quality of the listening experience and the context that audiences listen to music in has changed over the years. 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?
John> It just means that I have to road-test my final mixes on various devices such as the phone, the laptop and quite often literally out on the road…through my car stereo!
That’s sort of always been a thing though with music producers going way back - when I first started out, I had my expensive studio speakers but then I also had the sound routed into a cheap old radio and I would audition the mix through that too.
LBB> On a typical day, what does your ‘listening diet’ look like?
John> On a typical day, I’m working on a track that I’m composing/producing for a project and I’m listening to that over and over. So when I’m not doing that, I like a good audiobook!
LBB> Do you have a collection of music/sounds and what shape does it take?
John> More often than not on projects, I’m playing real instruments or recording musicians - I started out as a guitar player so I have a fairly large collection of old guitars and other acoustic instruments in my studio. Knowing my way around the software and technology is also a key part of my job though and when it comes to that aspect of things, I have a massive bank of sounds that I’ve collected over the years which I refer to as my ‘virtual orchestra’. Film scores these days are quite often a combination of real players and the use of ‘programmed’ sounds.
I heard a story once about Hans Zimmer being in a studio with his ‘virtual orchestral’ in the control room and an actual orchestra on the other side of the glass – apparently he said to the conductor, “I think my orchestra sounds better than yours!”.
LBB> Outside of the music world, what sort of art or topics really excite you and do you ever relate that back to music?
John> I have a passion for classic cars, especially the American ones, and I have managed to acquire a few over the years. I own a 1967 Ford Mustang and a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air.
I love the shape, design and sheer character of these vehicles, they immediately transport you back in time to bygone eras and it’s always a great conversion piece when I’m chatting to creatives and directors alike. These cars are so connected with TV and movie culture and the music we grew up with, whether it’s Steve McQueen in his Ford Mustang in the movie ‘Bullitt’ or Prince singing about his beloved ‘Little Red Corvette’.
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?
John> Number one on the list would be seeing Prince perform in a small club in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve back in 2006 - he was absolutely incredible! The venue which was called ‘3121’ was at the Rio Hotel and Prince launched it to showcase new artists he had under his wing and he also made the occasional live appearance there himself - I was lucky enough to get a ticket for his NYE appearance.
The following year, he performed for 21 consecutive nights at the O2 in London; I also saw him there and it was great, but the Vegas show just couldn’t be beat!
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 with the same intensity as in our youth - how has your relationship with sound and music changed over the years?
John> I’m always listening out for new and exciting artists and I find platforms such as YouTube and Spotify to be great research tools in that regard. I love going to live shows too.
One thing that has changed though over the years is that I now tend to dissect and break down the components within a piece of music rather than simply taking it all in. For example if I’m at a gig, I’ll be honing in on just the notes the bassist is playing, or closely checking the lead singer’s vocal tuning. Or if I’m listening to it in the car, I’ll be saying to myself, “I like what the kick drum is doing” or ”a counterpart cello line would work well there”. It’s round about then that I realise it’s time to go back to the audiobook!