Chris Connor chats with The Mastermind composer Rob Mazurek…
Rob Mazurek is a celebrated musician on the jazz circuit as part of Chicago Underground. He has now made his film scoring debut with Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind. We sat down with him to discuss making his first film score, collaborating with Reichardt and how he found scoring the 70s set art heist film.
What is the first thing you do when preparing a film score?
Full immersion in each scene to get a feel for the general atmosphere. I like to think of the sound as a character in the film, so I treat it as such. I create numerous ways to approach the feeling of each scene by exploring the unique character of each actor, considering the cinematography, of course, for all films and especially Kelly’s films, have a deep respect for silence.
How involved was Kelly Reichardt in shaping the score?
Kelly was very active. I was sent a temp score with a lot of my music in it. Mostly music from my Chicago Underground projects. So the directive was to kind of copy myself, but in an appropriate way for each scene. We had 3-4 spotting sessions, where we went over each scene. Some I had nailed from the get-go and others we worked through until it was what Kelly wanted. But with a beautiful dose of collaboration that was very natural.
The film has a very 70s aesthetic and tone. Did you refer to any films or artists from the era for the sound?
Well, strangely, I was watching at the time those wonderful French Noir films by Jean-Pierre Melville like Le Cercle Rouge and Le Samourai, before I got the call to work on the film. I was listening to anything and everything with a Lalo Schifrin score, so this had a small impact on the way I thought about things.
To tell the truth, because Kelly had such a different take on the heist movie for The Mastermind, and she was so into the Chicago Underground recordings and especially Chad Taylor’s wonderful drumming and my own trumpet playing, and also these solo trumpet pieces I sent to her that highlighted this unique way of constructing sound that the Chicago Underground has developed over the years, which by the way is of course influenced by plenty of 70’s music…( a more east coast Chet Baker was actually one of the early directives, which means Chet Baker with a little more edge!) .
I think we came up with something that is not necessarily derivative of the classic 70’s sound, but a highly individual sound that the Underground has developed over time that fits very well with the film.
It is quite an atypical heist film. Did that affect how you prepared the score?
Kelly had such a unique way of approaching this. There is so much subtlety within the character of Mooney, especially and the story in general, this slow, deliberate buildup. I think the idea was to really let the thing breathe but also hit its stride when appropriate.
With so little dialogue, the music has quite a large role. Was that a challenge?
It was very interesting, because I am a lover of no music in cinema, as well as the big score for certain movies. Being a composer, this gets a little confusing. I was very aware and had seen most of Kelly’s films and subsequently watched them all, and they do have a lot of silences. A great example of low dialogue and how sound plays a significant role in the film is at the very beginning of the film. I come in with that low sustained piano note that sets the atmosphere of a beginning, but also this slight foreboding for what’s to come. This silence within the confines of the museum, with only the son of Mooney rambling on about how a certain game works. It’s really such a brilliant opening that sets the mood for the whole movie.
With so little dialogue, you have to be careful not to just jam some music in where it doesn’t need it. So pulling back on sound (especially in terms of using sound to help the viewer experience a feeling) is something I am very sensitive to. Less is more, but when you need that ‘more’ then you turn on that turbocharger… like in the very last scene, which is a Chicago Underground Trio composition of mine titled Nude Anthem.
What is the main difference for you between a film score vs your own material?
Well, I would say I have complete openness to do what I want for my own releases… where in film music you must serve the needs of the film and the director’s vision. This was a particularly wonderful movie to work on because the directive was essentially to compose music as I normally do. I have not had a situation yet that requires me to write K-POP songs or Country Western ballads but I am pretty sure I could pull that off with aplomb as well! I am always composing. It’s a natural phenomenon for me.
Were there any particular challenges presented by The Mastermind score?
There were a couple of simple walking scenes that were particularly interesting to get right. But for the most part, working with Kelly was so nice and wonderful. It went very smoothly from my vantage point.
Is there anything else you’d like to cover on The Mastermind’s score?
It was a deep pleasure to work on this film. I hope to do more in the future.
Many thanks to Rob Mazurek for taking the time for this interview.
Chris Connor
