Daniel Pemberton Swings ’Across the Spider-Verse’

Fresh off the back of scoring the smash hit Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse composer Daniel Pemberton (Enola Holmes 1 & 2, Steve Jobs) joins The Film Scorer Podcast! Not surprisingly, Daniel and I spend the majority of our interview talking about his score, including: the significant amount of time Daniel had not only to write and record, but also to do what he calls R&D; expanding the sonic palette from the first film; and creating distinct, genre-appropriate thematic material and sounds for the primary characters while also balancing and integrating these pieces of music (asking himself “How do you write and create a score where all these can interact?”). Now, it turns out, the score has just landed Daniel a Golden Globe nomination!

 

We also talk about Daniel's writing process, which places an interesting weight on his initial impression, telling me “every time I read a script, the first hour afterwards can often be the most important hour because it’s so fresh . . . and if you look at Spider-Verse, one of the very first things I wrote becomes the opening and ending of the film”. Finally, we move fully beyond Across the Spider-Verse and talk about his score for last year's lovely Brian and Charles, which showcases his desire to explore new musical directions and take creative risks, his ability to write quickly (Daniel mentions a mystery film he just scored in one week), and the use of composing teams.

 

You can find out more about Daniel on his website. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is currently playing in theaters worldwide, and Daniel's score, as well as many of his other works, is available digitally on all major platforms.