S23 - Ep 2 - Zero Day - Score Composition

Conspiracy, power, and the sound of unease — scoring Zero Day means writing tension into every frame.

This week on Below the Line, Score Composer Jeff Russo joins Skid and co-host Louis Weeks to talk about building the musical world of Netflix’s Zero Day.

In this episode, we dig into:

• Coming aboard early with showrunner Eric Newman and director Lesli Linka Glatter to set the series’ tonal compass
• Treating the main theme as a texture — a sound that signals doubt — rather than a traditional melody
• Mapping George Mullen’s psychological point of view, including a recurring “wake-up” motif that threads through the season
• Blending electronics with acoustic instruments (strings, piano, guitar): where texture carries the story and where harmony takes the lead
• How Episode 1 “unlocked” the palette and became the musical template for later episodes
• Spotting sessions, deadlines, and recording logistics — balancing live players with in-the-box writing under a TV schedule
• What lessons from Ripley (restraint, negative space) carried into Zero Day without duplicating a previous sound

What emerges is a score built on restraint and perspective: Jeff writes to the characters’ doubt and the show’s creeping uncertainty — letting silence, texture, and carefully chosen motifs do the talking.

🎧 Press play and go Below the Line on Zero Day. For more, visit belowtheline.biz.