Meet the British Composer Taking Cowboy Western Soundtracks Into the 21st Century

From working on music for Hollywood blockbusters including Titanic (yes, including “My Heart Will Go On”), Avatar, and Skyfall, to scoring this year’s The Magnificent Seven, English composer Simon Franglen has one of the most impressive resumes in the business.

Currently making the rounds at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, the Antoine Fuqua-directed cowboy Western flick stars Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt, two of seven bounty hunters in the 1870s preparing for combat after the Civil War. With the amount of drama and dynamic characters introduced throughout the movie, Franglen says it was important that his score “referenced back to classical Western movies, but it also had to have that 21st century feel because it’s a 21st century movie”.

Talking to Daily VICE’s Amil Niazi before the film’s opening night, the composer discusses talks about working with directors’ feedback, “big sweeping cinema sounds,” and his favorite grime artists.

Watch the interview below.

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