Music Dialogue

Hear the stories behind iconic theme songs, scores, jingles and soundtracks directly from the composers, music supervisors and sound designers who made them happen.

Creating the Folgers Jingle, “The Best Part of Wakin’ Up” 04/03/2021

Creating the Folgers Jingle, “The Best Part of Wakin’ Up” In this episode, composer and jingle writer Leslie Pearl tells the story of how she created the Folgers jingle, “The Best Part of Waking Up”. She’s written and composed songs for billboard chart recording artists as well as jingles for companies like Pepsi, Ford, Gillette and Heineken just to name a few. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/18591026

The Music of 28 Days Later & Sunshine - Composer John Murphy 03/09/2021

The Music of 28 Days Later & Sunshine - Composer John Murphy In this episode, composer John Murphy recounts how an evening at a pub with a friend turned into his first job as composer on a film which led him into a career working with directors like Danny Boyle, Guy Ritchie and Michael Mann. He also tells the story behind his iconic pieces of film music from 28 Days Later and Sunshine (In The House, In a Heartbeat & Adagio in D Minor) that has gone on to be licensed countless times for movies, trailers and advertisements. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/18256604

Creating the Frasier Theme - Composer Bruce Miller 03/08/2021

Creating the Frasier Theme - Composer Bruce Miller In this episode, Emmy-nominated composer Bruce Miller tells the story behind composing the Frasier theme, Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs. He also talks about his extensive work as an arranger and composing the music for shows like Wings, Becker and The Odd Couple on CBS. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/18225323

The Music of Nurse Jackie & Firefly Lane - Composers Wendy & Lisa 03/02/2021

The Music of Nurse Jackie & Firefly Lane - Composers Wendy & Lisa In this episode, Emmy Award-winning composers Wendy & Lisa tell the story about how they landed their first film as composers on the 1995 movie Dangerous Minds. They also talk about their work on Heroes, Nurse Jackie and the new series Firefly Lane on Netflix. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/18164837

Creating the Salute Your Shorts Theme - Composer Ed Alton 02/22/2021

Creating the Salute Your Shorts Theme - Composer Ed Alton In this episode, I speak with composer Ed Alton. Ed tells the story of how a phone call from a friend turned into his first job as composer on a series for ABC that ran for 5 seasons. Ed also recounts his experience writing the theme for the hit Nickelodeon show Salute Your Shorts and his time on the TBS show My Boys. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/18045128

The Music of Grey’s Anatomy & Ally McBeal - Composer Danny Lux 02/18/2021

The Music of Grey’s Anatomy & Ally McBeal - Composer Danny Lux In this episode, I speak with composer Danny Lux. Danny talks about how he got his start working with composer Mike Post on shows like Law and Order and Doogie Howser. Danny has gone on to score over 2000 episodes of television working on shows like Ally McBeal, Grey’s Anatomy and many others. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/18003143

The Sound of Bram Stoker’s Dracula - Sound Designer Leslie Shatz 02/15/2021

The Sound of Bram Stoker’s Dracula - Sound Designer Leslie Shatz In this episode, Sound Designer & Re-Recording Mixer Leslie Shatz tells the story about how his first job in the film industry at the American Film Institute propelled him into a career that spans multiple decades and hundreds of film credits. In the 1970’s Leslie was hired as the Dialogue Supervisor on Apocalypse Now. He recounts how he met Francis Ford Coppola and how he was moved into a creative Sound Designer role on Dracula. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/17948969

The Music of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical - Talent Agent & EP Christine Russell 02/09/2021

The Music of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical - Talent Agent & EP Christine Russell In this episode, Talent Agent, Artist Manager and Executive Producer Christine Russell tells the story of how she turned getting dropped from her record label into an opportunity that would propel her career into managing one of the greatest songwriters of all time, running one of the top composer talent agencies and becoming an Executive Producer on a multiple Tony-winning Broadway show. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/17890601

The Music of Napoleon Dynamite - Composer John Swihart 02/06/2021

The Music of Napoleon Dynamite - Composer John Swihart In this episode, I speak with composer John Swihart about how he developed his career as a composer and hear the stories behind the score for Napoleon Dynamite, How I Met Your Mother and his time as a musician in the Blue Man Group. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/17845520

The Music of Mad Men & Weeds - TV Music Exec. Russell Ziecker 01/30/2021

The Music of Mad Men & Weeds - TV Music Exec. Russell Ziecker In this episode, I speak with Lionsgate Executive Vice President and Head of TV Music Russell Ziecker on his career and the stories behind the themes for Mad Men, Weeds, Nurse Jackie & more. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/17751878

Creating the Kit Kat Jingle - Composer Michael A. Levine 08/27/2018

Creating the Kit Kat Jingle - Composer Michael A. Levine In this episode, I speak with composer Michael A. Levine on his career and the story behind composing the "Gimme a Break" Kit Kat jingle. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/6970890

Creating the Reading Rainbow Theme - Composer Steve Horelick 06/18/2018

Creating the Reading Rainbow Theme - Composer Steve Horelick In this episode, I speak with composer Steve Horelick on his career and creating the theme song and score for one of the most popular children's shows of all time, Reading Rainbow. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/6716462

The Music of Empire & Dietland - Composer Fil Eisler 06/14/2018

The Music of Empire & Dietland - Composer Fil Eisler In this episode, I speak with composer Fil Eisler on his career and scoring Fox’s Golden Globe-nominated drama Empire, the new series Dietland on AMC and the Netflix sci-fi thriller, The Titan. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/6704458

Creating the Carmen San Diego Theme - Composers Sean Altman & David Yazbek 06/11/2018

Creating the Carmen San Diego Theme - Composers Sean Altman & David Yazbek In this episode, I speak with composers Sean Altman & David Yazbek on their careers and creating the theme for Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. Sean also talks about forming the a capella group Rockapella and how he and David helped shape the sound of modern a capella. David briefly discusses the process of writing music for broadway. He won best score at the 2018 Tony Awards for The Band’s Visit. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/6691270

Creating the Ghostwriter Theme - Composer Peter Wetzler 06/07/2018

Creating the Ghostwriter Theme - Composer Peter Wetzler In this episode, I speak with composer Peter Wetzler on creating the theme and score for the PBS children’s mystery television series Ghostwriter that aired in the 90s. He talks about how the new music technology of the time helped shape the sound of the theme. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/6678985

The Music of Jason Bourne & The Town - Composer David Buckley 06/05/2018

The Music of Jason Bourne & The Town - Composer David Buckley In this episode, I speak with composer David Buckley on his impressive career scoring big action films like Jason Bourne and The Town, as well as hit television shows like The Good Wife and The Good Fight. He tells the story of how he took the opportunity to come to Los Angeles to work alongside celebrated composer Harry Gregson-Williams. David also talks about scoring the video games Call of Duty: Ghosts and Batman: Arkham Knight and how the process differs from film. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/6670947

The Music of Silicon Valley - Composer Jeff Cardoni 05/29/2018

The Music of Silicon Valley - Composer Jeff Cardoni In this episode, I speak with composer Jeff Cardoni on his career scoring shows like Silicon Valley, CSI: Miami and Girlboss. He also tells the story of creating the main title theme for Pimp My Ride. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/6645071

Creating the THX Deep Note - Composer James Moorer 05/28/2018

Creating the THX Deep Note - Composer James Moorer In this episode, I speak with James Moorer about his career at Lucasfilm, where he created the iconic THX Deep Note audio logo. He discusses the audio technology he built to enhance the sound effects in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as well as how he pioneered state of the art noise reduction techniques on the film Amadeus. As a bonus, at the end I ask James the most important question of 2018 - is it Yanny or Laurel? /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/6639765

The Music of Juno & Superstore - Composer Mateo Messina 05/22/2018

The Music of Juno & Superstore - Composer Mateo Messina In this episode, I speak with composer Mateo Messina on his career and scoring the 2007 hit Juno, Superstore on NBC and the recent comedy Blockers starring Leslie Mann and John Cena. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/6621886

Creating the SpongeBob Squarepants Theme - Composer Mark Harrison 05/21/2018

Creating the SpongeBob Squarepants Theme - Composer Mark Harrison In this episode, I speak with composer Mark Harrison about composing the main title theme for SpongeBob SquarePants. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/6619575

Creating the Saved by the Bell Theme - Composers Scott Gale & Rich Eames 05/14/2018

Creating the Saved by the Bell Theme - Composers Scott Gale & Rich Eames In this episode, I speak with composers Scott Gale and Rich Eames about creating the main title theme and score for Saved By The Bell. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/6589361

Creating the Seinfeld Theme - Composer Jonathan Wolff 05/01/2018

Creating the Seinfeld Theme - Composer Jonathan Wolff In this episode, I speak with composer Jonathan Wolff about his career that spanned 29 years and countless television series. Jonathan tells the stories behind how he created the theme songs for Seinfeld and Will & Grace. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/6543339

Creating the Roseanne & Home Improvement Themes - Composer Dan Foliart 04/24/2018

Creating the Roseanne & Home Improvement Themes - Composer Dan Foliart In my first episode I speak with composer Dan Foliart on his impressive career that has spanned over 40 years and countless television shows. Dan tells the stories behind how he created the theme songs for Roseanne & Home Improvement. /episode/index/show/musicdialogue/id/6515188

Music Dialogue

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