I associate colors with music, or music with colors.
I started out on an apprenticeship in Hollywood working as an assistant to Hans Zimmer and another composer Klaus Badelt. That's how I got my foot in the door.
As a film composer, you have to be a good collaborator.
In the case of 'Game Of Thrones,' I've been to set a couple of times, and it's really exciting and inspiring for me to see the set and the actors in action, meet them and talk to them, so it definitely helps. If I can go to set, I will.
What I love about film music is the variety. On one movie, you might be asked to do a completely electronic score, and then another might ask you to do orchestral only.
I wanted to play in bands and get signed by a record label and tour the world and stuff, but that never really worked out.
A lot of people have said, 'Do a Westworld tour!' I definitely have ideas, because we could do a whole concert from just the first season. The player piano plays such a huge role in that one, so it's a must-have as a centerpiece.
What I love with 'Game of Thrones' is, every season, I get to continue to develop the existing themes; every season, I also get to write new themes.
In 'Westworld,' I really got to explore new areas, stylistically. We had the Indian world, we had Shogun world, so I got to play with new instrumentation - and also, a lot of new themes.
With 'Game of Thrones,' the most dominant instrument would definitely be the cello. That's something I just felt really captured the mood of the show very well.
The piano is not really in the language of the 'Game of Thrones' score.
The piano has a huge dynamic range that almost no other instruments have. It can play very low, and it can play very high.
I love performing on my own scores. I do it quite a lot.
What I love is that 'Game of Thrones' is always up for surprises.
I love getting time to write a piece of music that can settle in and set the tone of the show.
What's amazing about 'Game of Thrones' is that it's set in a fantasy world; it's a fantasy story. So I always say that with the score, we're open to do whatever we want.
When I work on my music, I always kind of just try to do my best work.
What I love about 'Game of Thrones' is that the positioning of the music is so well done, because it's not overdone. When the music cuts in, it really has something to say.
I've worked with Jonah Nolan on several projects. I really love collaborating with him.
I'm usually pretty good at remembering the melodies that I wrote.
