All good things must come to an end and, sometimes, saying goodbye is the hardest part of the journey. It’s been a long time coming and the final season of Stranger Things was truly the end of an era. It was a monster hit, a high watermark for entertainment, and something that captured the heart of the world. It launched multiple stars into the limelight and made names for nearly everyone involved. We might just be done with 80s properties as the “cool” throwback time period where you could only remember cassette tapes, first crushes and battling trans-dimensional demons by looking in a photo album. Well, the world certainly embraced…
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Interview…Christian Lundberg’s Score Turns Up the Heat for Season 5 of ‘The Bear’
Composer Christian Lundberg is an anomaly in music and, his atypical career finds him breathing some of the rarest existing air in Hollywood. The Swedish born guitarist is proof that there is no “right” way to make it in Hollywood. The man who is bringing unbelievable amounts of chill and high intensity to The Bear on FX didn’t start out wanting to be a composer. He started off doing music tech services. As LA is the city of dreams, it seems quite fitting that he took the opportunities as they came and built upon that to get where he is. There is no rulebook for success, and that goes doubly…
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Interview…Rapper ‘Berner’ On Dedication and Work Ethic From Albums/Art to Cookies to the Big Screen
Gilbert Anthony Milam Jr., also known by his musical moniker Berner, is an American rapper and cannabis entrepreneur. He’s a Bay Area pillar and someone who is about as self-made as they come. From a young age, he had his sights set high as he literally burned his first joint to Cypress Hill. From there, Berner knew this was the life he wanted. From the streets of San Fran to collaborating with his idols on plenty of tracks across plenty of albums, Berner is a creative who is always itching to do something. So as the years went on, this would-be California king became a multi-hyphenate as an artist and…
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Interview…Reed Shannon on Creative Opportunities, Voice Work and ‘Splash City’
In Splash City, survival isn’t a theme. It’s a daily requirement. Set in the raw, unforgiving corners of San Francisco, the film dives headfirst into a city that doesn’t slow down and doesn’t forgive. This is a world where brotherhood collides with violence, ambition battles loyalty, and every choice carries a price. Against a backdrop shaped by racial injustice, economic disparity, and limited opportunity, Splash City pulses with urgency and truth. At the heart of the story are the Johnson brothers: Elijah “Slim” Johnson (Zach Sowers) and Julian “Juju” Johnson (Reed Shannon), two African-American siblings raised by a relentless single mother in a low-income apartment where simply getting through the…
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Interview…Composer Michael Wandmacher’s Unique Sound Palette and Working with Amy Lee on ‘The Seventh Turn’
It’s gotta be exciting and daunting being a composer. Many times they are asked to make a project better or give it life with some acoustic accompaniment. And it’s not often that there is a rule book or one singular path forward. Many of the brilliant people we’ve spoken with over the years have admitted to odd bouts of inspiration, dialogue with the filmmakers and many just kind of feel their way through the project. Art should evoke a desired emotion, and the best artists really hit us in the heart. Today we spoke with Michael Wandmacher about his revolutionary score to Eric D. Howell‘s supernatural short film. His work…
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Interview…John Paesano Crafts Terrific Terror and Nostalgia For Something Otherworldly in ‘The Boroughs’
From blockbuster cinema to interactive media and award-winning series, John Paesano’s work reflects a rare combination of emotional precision and scale. Though his music is already embedded in some of the most successful franchises of the modern era, his creative journey is still unfolding. What makes John different from other composers is that he comes at his profession as fan, that enthusiasm and reverence comes through in his spectacular compositions. Paesano grew up on the music of John Williams, James Horner, Jerry Goldsmith, James Newton Howard, and Alan Silvestri. Those composers wrote big, bold, thematic scores that were not afraid to be emotional, adventurous, and completely upfront. For The Boroughs,…
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[Tribeca FF Interview]…Rob Arthur’s ‘Frampton’ Is A Crowd-Pleasing Tribute To A Rare Rock Legend
Ahead of its premiere at the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival, we had a rocking good time with director Rob Arthur about Frampton. This insightful and crowd-pleasing doc about the one-and-only UK rock legend shows us the fun, fame, friendship, frailty and legacy of being Peter Frampton. The exceptional doc will screen on June 4 next month. It’s fitting that the film comes out in the same year as the 50th anniversary of Rocky. Following Peter’s ascendancy to golden god of rock in 1976 with the unparalleled live album, Peter is less an underdog but he was certainly up against the ropes following the massive success of ‘Frampton Comes Alive‘. The…
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Interview…Kirk Fox Talks Literature and Life Lessons In His Debut Novel ‘Palmdale’
It’s great when a story grabs your attention. In the case of Palmdale, Kirk Fox‘s fast-paced detective yarn, things start in a fury and never let off the gas. His novel is sharp, exciting, deep, and will surely win a lot of fans. They say that truth is stranger than fiction, so it might be hard to classify this as fiction, per se. Fox’s highly entertaining novel is a fantastic edition to the Meridia Books lineup. Also, the strength of the characters – powered by their uncommon-yet-relatable family dynamic – make this a story you didn’t know you needed in your life. And that’s worth noting because it’s written by…
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Interview…Christopher Lennertz & Matt Bowen on Themes, Cues and Emotional Resonance of ‘The Boys’
Gene Simmons once said, “if it weren’t for the fans, we’d be nothing.” and it’s something that all musicians and creatives can relate to. Whether a particular property in pop culture takes the world by storm or just one person considers it their Rosebud, when fans grab hold of something you can almost feel the Earth shift from the passion, fervor, and respect for it. After eight years and five seasons, The Boys has come to an end. Fans truly ate it up, and one reason the themes and characters resonated was the great music from Christopher Lennertz and Matt Bowen. We sat with this dynamic duo to talk about…
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Interview…’Metropolis’ Redux Jam Session with Jazzy Jeff Beal
Five-time EMMY winner Jeff Beal’s improvisatory method, sense of timing, and sophistication have made him a favorite of directors including Ed Harris, David Fincher, Oliver Stone, and Rob Reiner, and his contributions to powerful documentaries and dramatic scores for TV shows have shown him to be one of the most distinctive and recognizable composers working today. In addition to his distinguished scoring career, Beal is a prolific composer of concert music. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Beal’s grandmother was a pianist and accompanist for silent movies. An avid jazz fan, she gave him Miles Davis’/Gil Evans’ Sketches of Spain album that would influence his development as…
