May 2024
Kara Talve is an Emmy-nominated composer for film and television and, as a leading composer at Bleeding Fingers Music, has strengthened a variety of projects through her extraordinary talent and keen collaboration abilities.
Most recently, she scored Apple TV+’s Prehistoric Planet alongside Hans Zimmer and Anže Rozman, which was narrated by David Attenborough and produced by Jon Favreau in conjunction with BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit.
For the past 5 years, she has served as principal composer on the iconic animated series, The Simpsons; her styles have ranged from the iconic orchestral sound of the show across nearly every other genre imaginable (including their famous annual Treehouse of Horror episodes).
Recent releases for Kara include Baz Luhrmann’s Faraway Downs, Adrift directed by Emmy-winning, documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy, and Sky TV/Peacock’s The Tattooist of Auschwitz.
Take it away, Kara…
MASA: Can you tell us a bit about your musical background and how your musical career began?
KARA: I was born into a family of musicians, and I began classical piano lessons at a young age, but it was a real struggle for me. I was a terrible sight reader, and unwilling to practice, so I found fun in going home and learning the piece by ear, to trick my teacher at the next lesson! She was quickly onto me, and ripped the titles out of my book so I couldn’t find them on the internet. I tried to power through my lessons and I eventually came to enjoy the process – but I’m still an awful sight reader!
I found my love for film music when I first heard Thomas Newman’s score for The Shawshank Redemption, and it became a dream of mine to learn about the craft at Berklee College of Music. While studying there, I had the honor of receiving the BMI scholarship award, which was, coincidentally, presented by Thomas Newman himself that same year. This is what gave me the confidence to try to make a career out of music and I made the move out to LA. I was juggling several internships and assistant jobs when I first came out here. I learned a lot about the business as a fly on the wall at Bear McCreary’s studio, Sparks and Shadows, while I was simultaneously assisting at Bleeding Fingers Music. I was eventually offered a full time gig at Bleeding Fingers and the rest is history. While I was assisting there, I learned so many valuable things from all the other in-house composers, and I’ll always be so grateful for their wisdom that I feel really aided in any success I have today. It’s a gift to be surrounded by such amazing musical minds day in and day out.
MASA: It would be wonderful to hear about your experiences scoring Apple TV+’s Prehistoric Planet, alongside Hans Zimmer and Anže Rozman. It was multi award-winning and nominated - including an Emmy and MASA nom! With 80 million streams of the soundtrack it would seem that it achieved the rare feat of hitting all the right notes with both fans and reviewers.
KARA: Prehistoric Planet was a dream project, and truly a special collaboration. Hans and Russell Emanuel (CEO of Bleeding Fingers, score producer), are always inspiring us to approach every score in a unique, unexpected way. Prehistoric Planet was no different. We were lucky to have the privilege to work on this completely awe-inspiring, other-wordly animation, and we needed to somehow make music that was worthy of such a thing. We decided to make instruments made of materials in which dinosaurs are studied today…dinosaur bone replicas, fossils, organic materials like petrified wood. It made the process even more thrilling and extra inspiring, and it was a privilege to work with the showrunners and directors at BBC and Apple TV, who were very open minded in letting us experiment with different sounds.
MASA: You’re the principal composer on The Simpsons. Firstly, how did you land this gem of a job? And secondly, it would be great to hear about some highs and lows so far?
KARA: Bleeding Fingers has scored The Simpsons since season 29, and It’s an honor that I’ve been their principal composer on the show for the past 5 years or so, with our score producer, Russell! It’s a wonderful experience as much as it is a great responsibility. The Simpsons has been on TV for longer than I’ve even been alive, and of course there is a lot of pressure to uphold the show’s musical legacy. The show has had a musical language since the beginning, and I have to make sure I am paying respect to that. Every episode is a challenge, and that’s a good thing, because it always keeps me on my toes. The showrunners are always doing really ambitious episodes, and I really believe The Simpsons is in a new era. Every episode makes me laugh. It’s fresh and inspiring. I always get to learn how to write in a new genre of music, even create an entirely new genre for a joke! I also learned a lot about comedic timing from working on this show. I love when the notes come in and the revisions the showrunners give make the scene even funnier. I feel honored to get to work with the best writers and producers in the business.
MASA: Have there been any specific female composers or mentors who have inspired you in your career?
KARA: There have been so many female composers that inspired me, but the first one who comes to mind is my good friend Jina An, my former classmate from Berklee. She’s an incredible composer who taught me so much about storytelling and music (and she helped me with many tech issues)... I am forever grateful for her guidance. Also, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Laura Karpman, Rachel Portman, and Stephanie Economou (to name a few!)
MASA: Do you feel the landscape for female composers has changed in recent years?
KARA: I do think that it’s changing for the better. We are seeing more and more female composers coming up in the industry. I think The Alliance for Women Film Composers does an incredible job of highlighting female composers and lifting us up. We have a long way to go, but it's inspiring to see progress!
MASA: Can you walk us through your typical creative process when composing for a project.
KARA: For me, the creative process differs from show to show, but most importantly we need to find the theme tune. Once you have the tune most things fall into place!
MASA: How do you collaborate with directors, showrunners, and other creatives to achieve the desired impact?
KARA: Before starting any project, there’s a period of brain-storming that is really crucial to the process. I really love collaborating with Hans because along with being an amazing composer, he is a genius storyteller. Both he and Russell really inspire my way of thinking before starting the score for a project. Communication with the directors and showrunners is key. To achieve the desired impact it's very important to listen and understand what they are trying to achieve, and remember that it's never about your music, we are just helping listeners access emotion, while immersed in the story.
MASA: Beyond film and TV scores, which other musical styles or artists have significantly influenced your work?
KARA: Alan Holdsworth, Bill Evans, Miles Davis, Max Steiner.
MASA: And lastly, what will you be looking for when judging? What makes a piece of work worthy of a Music+Sound Award?
KARA: I think if the music makes you feel something it is worthy of a Music+Sound Award. I love hearing a strong musical voice, originality, and emotion.
MASA: A big thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, Kara. And of course for being one of our jurors this year. Hope you enjoy the experience. We’ll be looking forward to hearing all your future work!
Visit Kara’s site HERE
