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Since his debut in 1999, Spanish composer Fernando Velazquez has scored a wide variety of genres in film and TV, but he’s perhaps best known for a a handful of horror and suspense scores, including BackWoods (2006) starring Gary Oldman, the Guillermo del Toro executive produced The Orphanage (2007), Devil (2010), and the box office hit Mama, directed by Andres Muschietti, which the director expanded from his 2008 short film after del Toro showed an interest in producing a feature length version. Unlike Devil, which featured a series of snarling suspense cues, Mama is a more layered work, and in our conversation recorded in late January of 2013, Velazquez describes his work in horror, writing for the cello, and avoiding musical clichés. Mama is available from Quartet Records (Spain) on CD, and as a digital album from Amazon.com and iTunes. Special thanks to Fernando Velazquez for his generous time, and Chandler Polling at White Bear PR for facilitating this podcast.     If you enjoyed this podcast, connect wit

After enjoying a successful music career in his native Iceland, composer Atli Örvarsson moved to the U.S. and studied music composition at Berkley. Örvarsson eventually landed a plum scoring position on the hit TV series NYPD Blue with veteran TV composer Mike Post (The Rockford Files, The Greatest American Hero, Hill Street Blues, Magnum P.I., Murder One, and Law and Order). Orvarsson eventually joined Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Studios, learning the ropes of composing for a wide variety of genres until he eventually landed several auspicious solo ventures, where he delivered a heavy, percussive design for Vantage Point (2008), and epic orchestral sounds for Babylon A.D. (2008). The Eagle (2011) is perhaps his strongest work, in terms of scope and experimentation with natural sounds and folk instruments, and in his latest work, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Orvarsson creates a kinetic mélange of orchestral, folk, and rock styles to match the transposition of the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale from w

Born in Bulgaria, classically trained composer Penka Kouneva has spent the past 13 years working primarily as a top orchestrator for some of Hollywood’s biggest composers. Her credits include theTransformers films, Angels & Demons (2009), The Hole (2009), and Hostel Iand II, plus a multitude of video games. As a solo composer, Kouneva’s tackled several indie productions (Midnight Movie), but her best work is the concept album A Warrior’s Odyssey, written for a fictional video game. Part demo CD and personal project designed to challenge her own skills, WO features a strong blend of folk themes and muscular writing which reflects her adeptness in the action genre. In our conversation, Kouneva recalls her entry into film scoring, her mentoring years, and the challenges of working within the demanding Hollywood system.   If you enjoyed this podcast, connect with us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Visit KQEK.com for additional film reviews, soundtrack reviews, interviews, and read the Editor's Blog by M

For over 20 years, Immediate Music has provided various media outlets with music specifically designed for commercial use – more specifically, trailer soundtracks – and if the company’s name or chief composer, Yoav Goren, don’t ring a bell, the music is instantly recognizable. Goren’s company, staffed with several composers, is known for a particularly epic sound – big orchestra and large choirs – and many of the cues are designed to provoke audiences using a mix of romanticism, rock, and liturgical harmonies. They’re tailor-made for films with sweeping character sagas, plights of the disenfranchised, and historical tales where a pivotal battle decides the outcome of a people / a nation / or one really athletic hero capable of single-handedly bashing down an army of barbarians with just a sword and a love for a hot princess. On CD, Immediate’s epic sound catalogue was previously available to companies via a 3-volume Themes for Orchestra and Choir. The collection included orchestral and mixed chorus tracks, do

Podcast with composer Lorne Balfe (Megamind, Assassin's Creed III) regarding his recent scoring of the BBC documentary Harry Welcomes Arctic Heroes (2011) in which four British war vets ski to the North Pole under the sponsorship of Prince Harry for the Walking with the Wounded charity.   If you enjoyed this podcast, connect with us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Visit KQEK.com for additional film reviews, soundtrack reviews, interviews, and read the Editor's Blog by Mark R. Hasan for additional info and related links. All podcast editing, mixing, and audio restoration produced in-house. For inquiries and demo reels, please visit Mondomark.com.

Podcast with composer Bobby Johnston (Mother's Day, No Impact Man: The Documentary), who discusses his preference for using acoustic instruments, and working with iconic independent filmmakers such as Stuart Gordon.   If you enjoyed this podcast, connect with us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Visit KQEK.com for additional film reviews, soundtrack reviews, interviews, and read the Editor's Blog by Mark R. Hasan for additional info and related links. All podcast editing, mixing, and audio restoration produced in-house. For inquiries and demo reels, please visit Mondomark.com.

Interview with film composer Tony Morales regarding his Emmy-Nominated score (co-composed with John Debney) for the History Channel's epic mini-series Hatfields & McCoys, and his ongoing career as an arranger and guitarist (Unstoppable).   If you enjoyed this podcast, connect with us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Visit KQEK.com for additional film reviews, soundtrack reviews, interviews, and read the Editor's Blog by Mark R. Hasan for additional info and related links. All podcast editing, mixing, and audio restoration produced in-house. For inquiries and demo reels, please visit Mondomark.com.

Interview with film composer Alan Ari Lazar (Jerusalema: Gangster's Paradise, TV's Sex and the City) regarding his film scoring work, and the founding of the Film & TV Music Library site Lalela.com, showcasing music from South African composers and musicians.   If you enjoyed this podcast, connect with us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Visit KQEK.com for additional film reviews, soundtrack reviews, interviews, and read the Editor's Blog by Mark R. Hasan for additional info and related links. All podcast editing, mixing, and audio restoration produced in-house. For inquiries and demo reels, please visit Mondomark.com.

Interview with TIFF Bell Lightbox Programmer & Curator Rae Ann Fera regarding the June 17, 2012 installment of the bi-monthly series Packaged Goods, of which the latest installment, "Girls on Film," features a collection of commercials, music videos, and animated short films directed by women.   If you enjoyed this podcast, connect with us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Visit KQEK.com for additional film reviews, soundtrack reviews, interviews, and read the Editor's Blog by Mark R. Hasan for additional info and related links. All podcast editing, mixing, and audio restoration produced in-house. For inquiries and demo reels, please visit Mondomark.com.