August 2021
Siân Rogers is an award-winning producer & music supervisor at SIREN, heading up all supervision.
She got a taste for the music industry, starting her career at XL Recordings / Beggars making copious, but rather wonderful, cups of tea, followed by a three year stint at EMI.
In 2012 Siân joined the SIREN team and quickly fell in love with the process of producing music to picture. She has since worked on global advertising campaigns for top agencies & brands such as W&K, Nike, Droga5, Under Armour, BBH, adam&eveDDB, Google, 72&Sunny and Samsung, to name just a few.
Working directly with artists & composers on bespoke compositions, as well as sync, she’s developed a solid reputation, both in the UK and overseas, for expert client and artist management, and an on-point musical instinct.
As well as a vast array of high-end advertising projects, Siân has also been heavily involved in longer form music supervision, including the BAFTA winning ‘Home’ and score supervising on ‘Kissing Candice’ and ‘River Runner’.
Let’s hear more…
MASA: Can you tell us a little about your career path so far... ?
SIÂN: I’ve loved music for as long as I can remember; from dancing around the front room with my brothers as children (and well into adulthood), to a sublime mix of Carnival of the Animals, Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder & The 1812 Overture (the parents’ record collection was eclectic to say the least), and car journeys belting out The Lion King at the top of our lungs. I played in orchestras, went to gigs, sung in choirs, including The Bach Choir and National Youth Choir (aka Choir Camp)... you name it, I was there geeking out.
I left university uncertain of my next steps when one of said choir camp friends mentioned that she had recently completed an internship at a record label which she bloody hated (she’s an incredible singer and was always destined for that) but thought it would be right up my street! And that was me, off on my way to the big smoke.
After starting at Beggars record label, making tea, sending mail-outs, writing album summaries for radio, generally learning the ropes, I found a marketing and synchronisation position. I knew then I was moving in the right direction and, following a stint in the licensing team at EMI, I joined the SIREN team in 2012 and fell in love with the art of elevating images with music.
Over the years I have been incredibly fortunate to work with some very talented artists and composers in some of the best studios in the world including Abbey Road, Air and British Grove. I have worked on global campaigns for top agencies & brands such as W&K, Nike, Droga5, Under Armour, BBH, adam&eveDDB, Google, 72&Sunny and Samsung, to name just a few. More recently, I have also been heavily involved in longer form music supervision including the BAFTA winning ‘Home’ and score supervising on ‘Kissing Candice’ & ‘River Runner’.
I am currently the Creative Director and Head of Supervision at SIREN, a member of the Guild of Supervisors and sit on the Jury for MAS Awards, CICLOPE Africa & Creative Circle 2021.
MASA: What’s a typical working day like for you at the moment? How has Covid impacted things?
SIÂN: At SIREN, no two days are ever the same. Luckily, we realised that we were able to quickly transition to remote working throughout the pandemic. Like many of our contemporaries, the biggest impact on us were shoots and projects being cancelled and consequently the domino effect of that. It really feels like people have pulled together during this time, both colleagues and clients. Obviously nothing can replace in-person interaction and collaboration so we’re loving being back in the office with some IRL interactions.
MASA: Can you tell us about the projects you're currently working on?
SIÂN: Well it’s now the end of summer so Christmas is a-coming for advertising! We finished a brilliant campaign earlier in the Summer with Rogue & Imagine Neverland for Ladbrokes which involved hundreds of drummers in stadiums, bars, toilets… drummers as far as the eye could see! The whole team was fantastic. It was great to bring so many musicians together especially with the live music industry having been hit incredibly hard over the last year and a half.
MASA: Do you have any projects you’ve overseen in the last few years that are particularly special to you?
SIÂN: Ladbrokes would definitely be one. It was a pretty big job in terms of logistics with the sheer number of drummers on set. I got to work with two incredible arrangers in Ash Soan and Josh Campbell as well as the drum coordinator extraordinaire that is Mike Dolbear, but the biggest thing for me were all the amazing drummers and the drum community as a whole and how special it felt for them. It couldn’t have come at a more needed time with everything that live music has been through.
Another example, though not recent, is Target Christmas, one of my first big Christmas campaigns. It was a behemoth so that will always have a special place for me.
I absolutely loved score supervising the feature film Kissing Candice. It was directed by Aoife McArdle and I worked with the composer and sound designer, Jon Clarke. It was a really collaborative project between SIREN and our sister company Factory Studios and I think the soundscapes we created are really something to be proud of.
We’ve also scored and licensed music for a feature documentary called The River Runner which landed on Netflix 25th August, so go check it out!
MASA: On the jobs you’ve worked on in the last five years or so, can you give us a rough idea of the ratio of original compositions vs. existing music used?
SIÂN: This is a really tough one to work out as it really fluctuates through the year. I reckon it probably leans slightly in the favour of original composition but lots of projects transition between one and the other as we’re working on them so it’s a tricky one to assess.
MASA: Have you noticed any trends in the type of music being sought at the moment?
SIÂN: Following Bridgerton there was definitely a spate of orchestral re-records of modern songs at the start of the year. Having just got into The White Lotus I feel like the incredible theme and score from Cristobal Tapia de Veer will be a reference we’re hearing a lot in the coming months. It’s safe to say that there will always be something happening in the current zeitgeist that filters into our work.
MASA: How do you source new artists and bands?
SIÂN: We find new people to collaborate through a multitude of ways; going to gigs (when we can again), recommendations, friends, colleagues, meetings, Spotify, blogs, forums, Soundcloud... the list could go on and on! We also accept submissions through the ‘workwithus’ email on our website which has proved to be a really successful way to meet new collaborative partners.
MASA: What have you be looking for whilst judging? From your perspective, what makes a piece of work worthy of a Music+Sound Awards?
SIÂN: Mostly, I’ve been looking to see how the piece has been crafted and how it adds to and elevates the project. Originality and innovative sounds, techniques and approaches are always something I look out for. I’m really proud to be part of the Music+Sound Awards Jury this year and can’t wait to hear all the great work.
MASA: Thank you so much Sian for your time. It’s been great hearing about your background and what goes on behind the scenes at SIREN.
