Ricky Church chats Star Wars music with composer Kevin Kiner…
While many will recognize legendary composer John Williams for the music throughout the Star Wars franchise, composer Kevin Kiner has added just as much music to the galaxy far, far away. In fact, Kiner has added even more as his work on seven seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (along with its feature film), four seasons of Star Wars Rebels and the upcoming Star Wars: The Bad Batch means he has composed more hours in music than Williams has across the nine feature film Episodes. Through these series, Kiner’s stamp on the franchise is a very large one.
Kiner is the recipient of a 2021 Annie Award for his score in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars series finale ‘Victory and Death’ and in the lead up to the awards we had a chance to speak with him about the nomination as well as his legacy within the Star Wars universe. Our discussion ranged from his work on the final season of The Clone Wars, particularly the highly anticipated Siege of Mandalore arc, drawing on the music from the Original Trilogy for Star Wars Rebels and creating melodies for fan-favourite characters such as Ahsoka Tano and Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Also discussed was some of his live-action work for series like Narcos: Mexico and Titans and the enduring legacy of the man himself, John Williams, who not only created Star Wars‘ signature musical sound but has composed several of cinema’s greatest themes and soundtracks. Williams’ extensive resume includes Superman, Indiana Jones, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter and many, many more, serving as a huge source of inspiration and wonder for Kiner in his own career. We also talked of Kiner’s music for the upcoming Star Wars animated series Star Wars: The Bad Batch, where he experimented with some new styles for the series.
Many thanks to Kevin Kiner for taking the time to chat with us.
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
