Over his thirty years of scoring for film and television, Theodore Shapiro has been one of the most consistently reliable composers in delivering emotional and tonal evenness and depth to his various projects. Yet his recognition, and appreciation of his talent have never been greater thanks to his Emmy winning score for the hit show Severance. Executive Producer and Director Ben Stiller is right in saying Shapiro’s music defines the world of Severance, guiding its audience through the existential mystery of identity, love, and loss, pushing us to re-examine what we believe about all of these themes. Shapiro talks to Charles about how he landed on and gave life to one of the more identifiable TV series scores in recent times.

Right in time for the Halloween run-up, we're talking horror scores with emergent composer for the genre, Cornel Wilczek. His scores for Talk to Me, Bring Her Back, and most recently, Together, have added a fresh voice to the lineage in three distinct expressions. Wilczek gets into why horror films are saving cinema, locating his personal line of extremity, and also shares a very cool story about Keiji Haino.

New kind of artist alert! The Blank Chat welcomes another member of the music department into the mix. Charles speaks in depth with Emmy winning Music Supervisor Trygge Toven about the glory of old school soundtracks, his award winning and recognized series work for Fallout and Westworld, and how music supervision for film and TV goes way beyond liking all genres of music.

In this episode, acclaimed composer and synthesist Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith traces how changing environments, like her new locale of Lisbon, spark a sense of neutrality and openness, fueling innovation far from the ambition-driven cities of the US. Kaitlyn shares formative experiences with sound awareness, a kind of synaesthesia where music is felt as much as heard, and how time spent in nature nurtured her love for music. Blending modern and vintage synthesizers with the focus in practice of martial arts, Kaitlyn explores music’s potential to give meaning to ambiguity with in irrepressible optimism of where it can all go.

Carlos Rafael Rivera's score music is a reliable conduit of shivers and chills. The Emmy and Grammy winning composer's signature graceful style has amplified the drama of shows like The Queen's Gambit, Hacks, and Godless and his passage through the rigors and rewards of academia have made him a true student and teacher of his craft. You might be surprised how much of this goes out the window in favor of instinct when it's time to tell a story.

We're launching The Blank Chat podcast with Hrishikesh Hirway, well known as the creator and host of the best music podcast out there, Song Exploder. Less well known – for now – as a score composer. Hirway and host Charles Steinberg have a revealing talk about cracking the code of music journalism with Song Exploder and how Hirway seized the opportunity to score his first major feature film –Companion.