Lucky, Good, Made: Rodney Alejandro on TV Theme Songs and Touring With The Script (Episode 34)

You learned how to make music. Nobody taught you how to make a living making music.

Rodney Alejandro has worn just about every hat this business hands out. In Episode 34 of The Career Musician, Nomad introduces him as a governor on the board of the Recording Academy, the music director and keyboard player for The Script, and the writer of the theme song for The Shield, which played in every single episode. Mailbox money, as Nomad calls it.

This is a long, generous conversation about writing TV theme songs, touring and studio etiquette, and the business side most players skip. Here is what you can take from it.

Decide early, then stack your skills

Rodney grew up in Houston going to arts magnet schools. Violin in first grade with the Suzuki method, trumpet in third grade if he kept his grades up, then jazz ensemble and string orchestra in junior high. His junior high jazz band recorded an album, and hearing the playback in the control room is where he fell in love with production.

He wanted to arrange, and he figured out piano was the instrument for that. So he told his band director he would not play trumpet in the top jazz band unless he could play piano in the second one. He had never had a piano lesson. He fell flat on his face on the first chart, came back the next semester and played the part, with his own fingerings, self taught. His first real piano lesson came around age 23.

He was signed to BMG with a band at 20. The record didn't go anywhere, so he walked into a junior college, then went to Berklee. He didn't get in as a player. He got in as a composer and arranger, which was the goal anyway, and left with a dual degree in production and engineering plus composition and arranging. Nomad's point: Rodney made a decision about what he wanted early, and it saved him years. Learn to speak the technical language and the creative language, and you can talk to the engineer and the artist in the same afternoon. His summary: stay diverse and remain a student.

The music is the art, the business is the game

Rodney splits this career into the love of the art and the love of the game. Only art, and the game takes advantage of you. Only game, and you might never create anything that lasts.

When he first moved to LA, he made a decision that still holds up.

"I'm gonna get in line. I'll be patient, work on my skills, be ready... I already know I'll be told no a million times."

Rodney Alejandro, 21:48

His first songwriting splits were 10 or 15 percent, because he was put in rooms with people who had more seniority. Ten percent beats nine. Slowly it moved up to fifty-fifty co-writes with artists and full productions. Meanwhile he kept learning sampling and every new piece of tech so that when the call came, he was ready on both sides. That is Luck = preparation + opportunity. You can't cram for the opportunity, he says.

Discipline is not built on mood

Rodney doesn't let mood run his day. He clears calls, school drop-off and the to-do list in the morning, and by one o'clock he wants to be creating. Notifications off. Emails wait until the end of the day.

He also separates the hats. Try to produce, arrange and mix while you are still writing, and you lose the whole picture. Play it down first, then listen as a listener. And don't settle, because in his words, good enough is the enemy of great.

Touring etiquette versus studio etiquette

Nomad asked about the two kinds of etiquette, and Rodney drew the line clearly. On tour, it is about personal attitude.

"When you're touring, it's more about personal attitude. It's more about, are you cool? Can you get on with the program, no matter what your position is?"

Rodney Alejandro, 36:35

The only one who gets away with everything is the artist. Everyone else has to get on with the artist, management and production. You still have to know your craft, but at that level, attitude is why you are there. Low maintenance / no drama. Fit how the artist wants to be presented, too. The Script like their songs played the way they were recorded, so you reproduce the record every night.

In the studio, you are there to facilitate someone else's vision. You are a vessel. If they want whole notes, play whole notes. Offering ideas is great, but you have to read whether the room is open to them, and you can't get offended when someone says no.

Create, submit, forget: the Shield theme story

A friend invited Rodney to a screening of a new TV pilot, just as company. He watched the brief go to the composers in the room, walked out with a phrase stuck in his head, and the two of them decided to be bold and submit anyway. He produced a 30 second clip over the weekend, brought her in on the lyrics, and sent it. Months of silence. Then: you got the gig.

He had no idea how the deal worked and took the terms. That one credit was worth more than any fee, because the show hit, and it opened the door to more pitches and more themes, including Thief with Andre Braugher on FX, which paid him more. He says it still pays residuals. Work begets work.

"The first time you're lucky, the second time you're good, and the third time you're made."

Rodney Alejandro, 54:01

Set up the business before the money shows up

One of Rodney's early hits made a fair amount of money, and he watched a lot of it go to taxes because he wasn't set up properly. Next time around he had an S corp in place, so when bigger opportunities came, he could take the business expenses and keep himself through the lean times. Find a great attorney and a great accountant. Know the going rate. Don't fight a fair union rate for double, because all you do is ruin your reputation. That is Make Music Your Business.

On saying no: know your limits, refer the gig to someone who can do it, and keep the door open. Everything is a relationship.

Running the spotlight, two weeks from the Temptations

After college, Rodney moved to San Francisco and took stagehand work just to be around the industry. One night he was running a spotlight at a corporate gig where The Temptations were performing, wondering if a career like theirs was even possible anymore.

He had been mailing music to producer Narada Michael Walden with no reply. Then a friend said Narada was looking for another writer and producer. Rodney drove straight to the studio and knocked on the door. Narada listened on the spot, handed him a cassette of five ideas on a Friday and said come back when you're ready. Rodney locked himself in all weekend and came back Tuesday with all five produced. None of that work got used. It was a test. The next week, the Temptations were in the studio and Rodney was helping write for them. Two weeks earlier he was taking light cues. Everything you do is an audition.

His live moment came much later: a sold-out stadium show with The Script in Dublin in 2015, 84,000 people, his family flown over, and Rodney playing fiddle on an Irish number. He remembers every note.

The takeaway

Pick your lane early, stack your skills, and get in line with patience. Separate your hats, know which etiquette the room calls for, and set up your business before the big check lands. When the door opens, whether it is a TV pilot or a producer's hallway, be ready to deliver over a weekend. If you want the playbook for landing that first call, grab the free Get the Gig guide, and check out Rodney's work at rodneyalejandro.com.

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

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