David Schwartz is known best for scoring the TV series “Arrested Development”. He was nominated in the 2013 Emmy for the Outstanding Music Composition for A Series for Original Dramatic Score for the show’s revival on Netflix. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with David about his work on the show.
Mike Gencarelli: Were you shocked when you found out that you were nominated for an 2013 Emmy for the Outstanding Music Composition for A Series (Original Dramatic Score) category?
David Schwartz: More surprised than shocked. It was particular great to be nominated for Arrested Development. Comedies are rarely nominated in the Original Dramatic Score category. I think the category represents a lot of great music this year, so I’m proud to be a part of it.
MG: Working on “Arrested Development”, how does it compare to be working on the first run of the show and now the Netflix series?
DS: It’s been a little different in some ways we were doing all 15 shows at once. In the first three seasons, we’d usually have about a week to turn around a show, finish it, and then immediately start on the next one. During season 4, we were often dealing with multiple shows at the same time. The episodes being longer also allowed me to further develop some musical ideas which wasn’t possible in the shorter format.
MG: What was the most challenge aspect of working on season four?
DS: After six years it was a challenge to get back into that musical head space. Once I had rough cuts and was writing it for real, it all came back to me.
MG: Going from a TV series like “Arrested Development” to a documentary like “Gonzo: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson”, how does it compare?
DS: The Gonzo documentary was a really fun project. Alex Gibney, the director, really encouraged me to write bold and wild music in the spirit of of Hunter Thompson himself. Often documentary music is subtle and plays in the background. Alex inspired me to write bolder and more challenging music for this film.
MG: Tell us about your work with Lucy Schwartz on her upcoming full length record?
DS: I’m very proud of the work Lucy and I did together on her new Timekeeper record. I think these are her best songs yet and we had a great time producing this record together.
MG: Of all the great scores of 2013 so far, what has been some of your favorites?
DS: I’m still catching up on this year’s scores. I was a big fan of Michael Dynna’s “Life of Pi” score and Thomas Newmann’s score for “Skyfall”
MG: What else do you have in the cards for this year and on wards?
DS: I’m working on the soundtrack album for Arrested Development. It’s going to have some extended versions of the more popular songs from Arrested. There are some scoring projects in the works, but I won’t talk about it and risk jinxing it until it’s final.
