Hiring Is Casting: John Powell on Session Work for a Film Composer (Episode 5)

Everything you do is an audition.

Episode 5 of The Career Musician was recorded in the middle of a session. Film composer John Powell had brought in a trio of guitarists, Nomad among them, to do overdubs on the animated film Ferdinand. Between flamenco takes and Spanish-style strumming, Nomad sat down with John to find out what life looks like for a composer of his stature.

John's credits include Shrek, Happy Feet, Rio, the Ice Age sequels and How to Train Your Dragon, and Nomad has played on several of his scores. What came out of the conversation is a look at how a film composer thinks about the musicians he hires, and why your quirks might be the thing that gets you called.

Hiring musicians is casting

That day's session was an experiment. John hadn't written full arrangements for three guitars yet. He wanted to hear what each player brought, then decide what to rewrite, what to try another way, and who to bring back for their own session.

"It's really casting... there's things that you all do differently as musicians, the sounds you make and the way you play things. You're all unique."

John Powell, 3:35

That is a huge lesson for anyone doing session work. On the call, you are not only being judged on whether you can read the part. You are being cast for your sound. Everything you do is an audition, even the experimental takes.

One responsibility: the film

Nomad said working with John is a delight. From the moment you walk in, John makes you feel at home and appreciates what you bring to the table. But somebody has to steer the bus, and John was clear about whose job that is.

"The great thing is I have only one responsibility, and that's to the film."

John Powell, 6:14

As Nomad put it, it is the composer's responsibility to manifest the filmmaker's musical vision, and it is the session musician's responsibility to help the composer get there. Serve the project, not your ego.

The value of a little ignorance

John told the story of getting hired on Rio. He asked why a Brazilian director and a Brazilian music director wanted an English guy. The answer: they needed one person who didn't know anything about Brazilian music, to act as a filter for the rest of the world. When the sessions got harmonically deep, he could wave the yellow card.

His first session in Los Angeles was a jingle. He had recorded a fast, heavy guitar part by plugging straight into a Yamaha digital mixer and cranking the gain, which gave him a strange kind of distortion. For the final, one of LA's top session guitarists showed up with a truck full of guitars and amps. In the end, John used the sound from the mixer.

Nomad related it to his own work. Sometimes a producer asks him to recreate a songwriter's guitar part, and that writer's untrained approach is so unique it is nearly impossible to copy convincingly. Sometimes you are better off letting the artist play it. Quirkiness is hard to fake.

Squeeze everything out of school

John described himself as an economic migrant. He grew up playing violin, studied classical music at Trinity College of Music, and did jingles and TV work in England until he felt he couldn't get any further up the ladder. Before he made the move, he spent a year getting ready. In Los Angeles he became part of Hans Zimmer's studio, Remote Control Productions.

At college he squeezed every resource he could: the electronic studio, student films at the film school, pieces with choreographers at a dance school. And he noticed something about the students who would play on his projects for free.

The people who were genuinely interested in collaborating went on to become session musicians and experts in contemporary music. You could tell even then. Work begets work, and it often starts with the projects that don't pay.

Musical fetishes and the jack of all trades

Asked whether he copies himself, John talked about what he calls musical fetishes: the sounds that grabbed you young and never let go. For him, one is the way Bernstein uses a bass clarinet with two clarinets in the On the Town overture. Mix those fetishes with a bad memory, and you end up sounding like yourself every time.

Then came the question every versatile player wrestles with. John's father, a professional musician, told him not to become a jack of all trades and master of none. That is exactly what he did. Nomad admitted he had been torn about the same thing for years.

"You're becoming a master of the amalgamation, not individual things. You're becoming a master of the ability to take it all in and do what you like with it."

The table, 23:19

Versatility is not a weakness. It is the job.

The takeaway

Show up as yourself, because a composer is casting your sound. Serve the vision. Say yes to the collaborations that build your skills, and stop apologizing for playing a lot of styles. Nomad closed with his word for 2018: consistency. Whether you practice five minutes or five hours, make that time count. If session work or auditions are on your list, start with the free Audition Secrets guide.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

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