We chat to Composer Kris Dirksen about creating the right score for Cinemax’s Quarry & Banshee…
Credit: Leah BelfordAs with a lot of television shows, the score that accompanies it can easily make or break the show. The most recent example being Kyle Dixon & Michael Steins’ much buzzed about score to Netflix’s Stranger Things which has been labeled by critics as spellbinding, spine-chilling & haunting. In Cinemax’s newest 1970’s drama, Quarry and the now completed fan favorite, Banshee, composer Kris Dirksen knows this process first hand as he was given the task of creating these pulpy, genre pushing programs’ distinct tone. We chatted with the Kris to understand the unique challenges that come with making the music for these niche shows, working with Greg Yaitanes & more.
You have working with director Greg Yaitanes on both Banshee and now Quarry. What is your process like working together?
It’s been fairly seamless over the course of five seasons of work. Once the basic sound of each of those worlds was established, Greg was very trusting and gave me a lot of space to explore and experiment. He doesn’t micro-manage the process, as is often the case with music, which is refreshing. As a collaborator he’s very open to trying unexpected directions with the score, making it the type of situation that most composers dream of and usually don’t encounter.
How does Quarry being set in the 70s change the sound of the show?
There was a concern that the period and setting would distract from the story being told, so the initial idea was to keep the score very modern and current. The show already had all of this great Memphis music from the era and the producers didn’t want the score to lean on any ‘70s clichés. Even though the viewer’s aware we’re in 1972 Memphis, there wasn’t a need to continually call attention to that fact and take your focus away from the story. I also didn’t want to make a weak version of Southern soul or a half-ass white boy version of the blues, that felt a little boring and obvious.
That said, Memphis at that time was such a crucial place in the history of music I wanted to find a subtle way to touch on that aspect. The concept I came up with was something I thought of as a “time machine” approach. What would it sound like if you sent me back to Stax or Royal studios in ’72 and asked me to write a modern 2016-sounding score? I wouldn’t be attempting to recreate familiar retro sounds, but you’d be hearing what I create through the filter of the recording gear and instruments of the era. To that end I surrounded myself with old tape machines, organs and keyboards and used that as a set of limitations to work within.
Do you have a specific sonic palette of sounds you use for Quarry or does the show’s sound continue to evolve as we get deeper in the season?
Once we established the palette for the show I tried to work within that box. There’s not a ton of score in Quarry, and when the score comes in it’s being used in a very specific way. Much of it is tied into Mac’s experience and evolution as a character over the course of eight episodes. Rather than just addressing the threats that come into Mac’s life in each episode, I tried to use the score in a broader way, viewing it like an eight hour movie. One of the main themes of the show is Mac’s struggle with PTSD and you hear the seeds of that being planted in the pilot and grow throughout the season.
In a few words how would you describe your Banshee score?
Impending, imperfect, irreverent.
Banshee just had its series finale over the summer. What will you miss most about the show?
I liked the fact that though it was always over the top, Jonathan Tropper and Greg always balanced that out. On the surface it’s a fun, pulpy, Friday night watch, but they gave it a depth and didn’t neglect the storytelling. It became a much better show than it ever needed to be.
A few of Banshee’s action sequences in Season 3 were ranked by some critics as television’s best (AV Club). Is it easier or harder to score these scenes in comparison to a love scene?
Action scenes are a little tougher just in terms of the sheer workload because there are so many cuts and accent points that the music needs to hit. It’s always a bit of a jigsaw puzzle trying to work out how to hit those points and still create a piece of music that flows and evolves. In typical Banshee fashion, the action sequences were often very long so they were usually fun to work on but never easy!
I read you score a lot of trailer music. How is your writing process for writing trailers different than for television shows?
Trailers are always different, sometimes we score to picture, other times editors cut in existing songs so there’s no scoring involved. I’m a partner in a company called Methodic Doubt Music, and we’re constantly creating new music for our trailer catalog. Often music is being written in a certain style and the focus is just on creating a decent piece of music rather than having to find a way to make that work against the picture.
What would be your ideal TV show to score?
I’ve only worked on a couple of shows so far and I’ve been fortunate that they’ve both been stimulating creatively. It’s easy to rehash and mimic whatever the popular sound of the day is but that’s never satisfying. I enjoy creating a unique sonic world for each project I’m involved in, so hopefully I can keep working with people who are of a like mind.
Learn more about Kris at http://www.krisdirksen.com/
Quarry airs Friday nights at 10pm on Cinemax. http://www.cinemax.com/quarry/
Originally published October 20, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
