WEBVTT - I Smell Pop Culture: Sam Phillips 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:17.880 I am all in again. Oh, I guess you. I 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:21.560 Smell pop Culture with Easton Allen and I Heeart Radio 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:24.840 podcast Everybody, Easton Allen, I amil and Podcasts one of 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:29.240 them productions. iHeart radio, iHeart Media, iHeart podcasts. It's I 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:32.800 Smell pop Culture. I Smell pop culture. And you know 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:35.240 what we're doing this week, everybody, we are hearing pop 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:40.960 culture too. We're incorporating another sense besides smell. Here's the 0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:42.800 thing about this podcast. If you're just joining us for 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:47.080 the first time. My name is Easton and I have 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:51.879 been appointed by our Lord and Savior Scott Patterson, to 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:55.480 go through the pop culture references in Gilmore Girls and 0:00:56.120 --> 0:01:00.040 dive deeper, talk to the people that created them, that 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:05.440 are them, that make these little moments, these permanent fixtures 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:08.039 of pop culture in our world. We're doing something a 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:11.479 little different this week. We're not really exploring a pop 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:16.000 culture reference. We're going bigger, baby, we got we got 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:19.200 no limits here. Where the sky is the limit for 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:22.600 what we're doing. Here's the thing with Gilmore Girls. When 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:26.360 you're watching Gilmore Girls, you'll hear these little moments, these 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:33.680 little musical pieces. An acoustic guitar, maybe a la la, 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:36.560 these little moments that set the mood in such a 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:38.759 perfect way. And I know what you're thinking. You're watching 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:41.600 this going like wow, this is These are such magical 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:45.520 little nuggets. Where did these come from? Who created these? 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:46.760 Did they just come out of the air? 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:47.320 No? 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:50.160 No, No, A person created these, A person just like 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:53.000 you and I, A person with a beating heart created 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:56.320 these little moments. And that is Sam Phillips. She is 0:01:56.360 --> 0:02:01.280 an incredible musician. She's a in our artists, a soul artist. 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:06.080 She's released a bunch of records, She's Grammy nominated. But 0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:08.320 the reason we're talking to her is because she is 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:12.200 the composer for all seven seasons of Gilmart Girls, including 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:17.440 the revival. She also worked on Bunheads, Marvelous, Missus Masel, 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:20.399 She worked on that beautiful Walmart commercial that we love 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:24.799 from the holidays. Sam Phillips is the leader of everything 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:27.360 musical in the world of Gilmar Girls. She composed all 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:31.560 those incredible musical cues and those that score that we 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:33.880 love so much. And we're going to talk to her today. 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:36.000 We're going to find out what inspired those things. How 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:37.840 do you put it together? How do you score a 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:40.200 TV show like Gilmore girls, like, how does that work? 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:42.560 We're going to ask all those questions and we're going 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:45.680 to ask so much more and Sam Phillips is here 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:48.240 with us. Thank you so much for doing this. We're 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:48.840 so excited. 0:02:49.360 --> 0:02:52.880 Aston. That's such a lovely intro. Thank you, thank you 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:53.480 for having me. 0:02:53.720 --> 0:02:55.919 So you know we're going to talk a lot about 0:02:55.919 --> 0:03:00.200 Gilmart girls obviously, but before we get into that, I 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:02.160 like going back to the beginning. I want to hear 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:04.720 the origin story of Sam Phillips. Did you grow up 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:08.720 in Glendale, California? Is that right? I did, not far 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:11.600 from where I sit right now. Glendale's a Beatle Yeah, 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:16.560 I'm in Burbank, the gem city Glendale. When did you 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:20.080 realize that you loved music? What point did that happen 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:20.400 for you? 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:21.320 Oh? 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:24.360 I think I was three? Yeah, yeah, I remember the 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:25.520 Beatles at three? 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:26.680 Yeah. 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:29.560 Was there a song that caught you? Caught your ear? 0:03:30.320 --> 0:03:30.560 Yeah? 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:33.480 I wasn't allowed to touch the record player, so I 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:34.239 there was a single. 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:36.120 I think it was I Want to Hold Your Hand. 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:39.320 And I made my older brother or my mom or 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:42.000 my whoever was around, I made them play again again. 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:46.120 I play it on the record player. So yeah, it 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:48.200 was it was early on. But you know, it's interesting 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:52.200 with musical, all the musical influences. A lot of people say, well, 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:53.120 what you grew up listening to? 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:55.520 Would you? And I feel like that. 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:57.920 You it's you've taken so much as a kid. You know, 0:03:57.960 --> 0:04:02.440 you're listening to commercials on TV. You're listening to kid music. 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:04.320 You know a lot of people the Disney Channel or 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:06.560 whatever I was there was the Sherman Brothers when I 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:08.560 was growing up, to all the Disney movies, you know, 0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:11.160 and so you just you get all these bits and 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:13.640 pieces as well as classical music or jazz music, whatever 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:17.080 your parents are playing around the house or on the radio. 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:20.400 Yeah, you know, it all blends together to create the 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:23.599 styles we love. I'm always so curious, like when people 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:27.440 become musicians themselves, like what what is that spark that 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:29.880 makes you go, I could do this. I want to 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:32.520 make my own like like I want to write songs. 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:34.680 Do you remember when you wrote your first song? 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:36.000 I do. 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:38.560 I was about fourteen when I wrote my first song, 0:04:38.600 --> 0:04:41.440 and I you know, this sounds terrible, but I think 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:43.440 that I got the courage because there were people that 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:49.520 I thought, well, they aren't that great. I could I 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:53.560 guess probably do like get close to that level, you know, 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:58.000 but alas my I don't know if my singing chops 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:02.320 ever got to a su perior level. I, you know, 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:06.120 seem to have a very specific as Amy Sherman Palladino 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:09.680 would say, I have a very specific voice, and it's 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:12.200 you know, it is what it is. But sometimes the 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:15.760 songwriter and me gets very frustrated with the singer. You know, 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:18.120 that the singer can't perform all the things that the 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:19.840 songwriter would like her to do. 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:23.760 Interesting, Yeah, I hadn't thought about it that way, that 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:29.240 that personality over here. Yeah. So you released four albums 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:31.280 as a as a Christian pop artist, and then you 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:34.839 switch to mainstream in nineteen eighty eight with the Indescribable 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:39.200 Wow and One album. But I want to something stood 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:41.080 out to me about the credits on that album is 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:44.400 Van Dyke Parks did some of the arrangements. I'm I'm 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:46.960 a huge Beach Boys Brian Wilson fans. That was really 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:51.200 exciting to learn. Yes, what was that like that? 0:05:51.360 --> 0:05:51.600 Well? 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:55.520 Well, Vandyke is one of the most lovely and one 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:58.040 of the funniest. It's it's like when when he came 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:00.640 to play on my record, we would you know anything. 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:04.039 He is always the host, he is always the cruise director. 0:06:04.160 --> 0:06:07.080 He's always been funny and this you know, and I 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:09.080 have to say and all love the strangest person in 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:12.599 the room. So that was fantastic. But I actually had 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:15.360 the chance to work with Brian Wilson a long time ago. 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:22.240 There was a record called Trios, and the bass player 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:25.920 for The Grateful Dead at the time was doing it 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:28.200 was a combination. He was a bass player, so he 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:31.680 would he and then two other guests would collaborate on 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:35.080 a song and then they would record the song. And 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:37.919 I didn't get a chance to record the song, but 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:40.920 I did write a song with Brian Wilson, but his 0:06:41.279 --> 0:06:44.920 daughter sang with him for the very first time ever 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:49.840 on sang my song, and I wrote it was quite 0:06:49.880 --> 0:06:53.280 a crazy experience and a great thrill and so lovely 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:56.359 to see father and daughter, you know, sing for the 0:06:56.360 --> 0:06:57.080 first time together. 0:06:57.200 --> 0:07:00.320 That's pretty cool. That is magical. Wow, what is you're 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:00.680 part of? 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:04.120 Van Dyke was not there unfortunately, because I mean, just 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:06.360 to have Van Dyke anywhere all the time is a 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:06.760 great thing. 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:12.400 So at that point in your career, what was like 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:16.400 when you make that switch? What like were there are 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:19.080 new sounds you wanted to explore musically, Like, what what 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:21.240 did you want to do at that point? 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:26.680 Are you talking about from the Christian Yeah? Yeah, that 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:30.040 is a this is a very involved story and I 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:32.160 think there's going to be a book at some point. 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:37.320 All right, Really it's a it's a crazy story. But 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:40.760 and and so many interesting experiences and you know, so 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:44.040 many great people and then a lot of nutty people and. 0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:45.480 Crazy people not so great people. 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:49.120 But I wanted to Uh yes, I wanted to move 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:53.600 on artistically. Wanted to be able to express a lot 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:58.200 of things artistically, and so I I just went to 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:01.920 a different label. It was basically changing and not really 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:06.680 starting over necessarily, but exploring some different ways of writing 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:07.880 songs and recording. 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:10.200 And you know, it was just it was growing. It 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:10.720 was growth. 0:08:11.800 --> 0:08:15.720 And U I mean speaking of growth. Nineteen ninety five, 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:19.120 you have an acting role and I heard with a Vengeance. 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:21.280 I thought that that jumped out of me. I thought 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:24.000 that was so cool. What did you enjoy that? Was 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:26.640 that something you had fun doing? I did. 0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:31.080 I loved crew. I thought the crew were fantastic. One 0:08:31.120 --> 0:08:34.200 of the crew had a potato gun shooter thing that 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:37.640 we would shoot it. I think it got close to 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:38.800 Bruce Willis's trailer. 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:42.480 I'm not sure. Well, yeah, but yes, it was lovely. 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:47.079 Jeremy Irons was wonderful, and yes it was a weird experience. 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:49.760 But I basically was in my trailer a lot writing 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:51.839 songs because I didn't have any lines. I was a 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:55.720 mute arrest who's I had been blown up or something 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:58.760 my throat, my vocal cords were detached, I don't know, 0:08:58.880 --> 0:08:59.400 something like that. 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:03.360 Wow. So some of this, like, if you listen to 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:05.959 a Sam Phillips song, there's a chance that you wrote 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:07.520 it in the trailer on the set of Diehard of 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:09.040 the Vengeance? Is that Is that right? 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:12.559 That? Yes, that could be. It might have been. 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:15.680 Like there's a song called Animals on Wheels that was 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:16.679 on a record that I. 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:17.439 Did in the nineties. 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:19.440 That that I think that was written in the trailer. 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:22.680 There are probably, yeah, a few others. I don't remember offhand. 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:24.480 How'd you get put in front of the camera? Like, 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:27.080 how did you get that part? I'm so curious. 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:31.160 Well, I think that I had a record out called 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:34.000 Martinez and Bikinis in nineteen ninety four, and apparently the 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:37.560 director saw the cover of that and thought I looked 0:09:37.640 --> 0:09:38.320 like a terrorist. 0:09:39.920 --> 0:09:43.679 I mean, what better compliment, seriously, the highest praise, like 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:46.880 a terrorist get her in here? And I was very 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:51.920 really Initially they wanted either they were trying to decide 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:53.800 between I was a mute and or I had a 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:56.000 German accent. And I'm so relieved that I was a 0:09:56.120 --> 0:09:57.439 mute because I really, you. 0:09:57.360 --> 0:09:59.160 Know, that was a lot to take on for a 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:01.720 non actor, for just a you know, a songwriter and 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:03.040 a singer person. 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:07.080 I love it so much. Sam Phillips is with us 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:10.240 from the composer of Gilmore Girls, and we're going to 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:12.840 take a visit to stars Hollow here on the IML 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:14.640 on podcast. We're going to take a quick break before 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:25.880 we do that. We'll be right back everybody. It's the 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:28.760 IML and podcast. I Smell pop Culture. My name is 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:31.360 Easton Allen. We are sitting here with Sam Phillips, the 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:35.600 composer of Gilmore Girls, all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls. 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:40.520 I mean, the mark you leave on that show is indelible. 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:43.840 It's one of like the music you wrote. Every Gilmore 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:46.440 Girls fan hums it on a daily basis. I know 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:50.640 this to be a fact. How did you get involved 0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:53.240 with gilmore Girls. How did that partnership begin? 0:10:55.400 --> 0:11:01.240 By default, I would say Valadino met with her. I 0:11:01.240 --> 0:11:03.559 think initially she told me she wanted Carol King to 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:08.520 do the score and the theme song. But Carol My 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:10.400 understanding of the story was that Carol did not want 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:12.160 to do the score, She just wanted to do the 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:15.600 theme song. So for some reason, I think Amy had 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:18.120 come to one of my shows in Los Angeles and 0:11:18.280 --> 0:11:23.320 she we met and we just kind of had to 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:26.160 hammer it out, you know, because she was saying she 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:29.080 wanted she wanted me to write these little pieces of music, 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:31.920 but wanted me to use my voice, and so I 0:11:32.000 --> 0:11:34.719 tried writing some lyrics and that, you know, with the 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:36.040 really funny and. 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:39.200 Rapid fire dialogue. Obviously that wasn't going to work. So 0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:41.400 I started I kind of went back to one of 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:46.200 my idols, and Harry Nilssen, the great Harry Nilson, who 0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:49.120 had done I think he'd done a score in the 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:51.560 sixties when I was a kid of a TV show 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:54.080 and he did a lot of background vocals, and so 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:57.360 I just started doing that and little melodies that I 0:11:57.400 --> 0:12:00.920 had had been working on, I kind of I just 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:03.760 took them into gilmore Land and Amy had said, I 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:07.040 want this score to be or your voice to be 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:10.240 the voice inside Laurla and Rory's heads. 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:14.040 Which is a very interesting concept. 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:19.160 And I love Amy and Dan Palladino and you know, 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:21.640 for being so they love music so much, and I 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:24.160 really appreciated that they knew a lot of music and 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:27.640 that they wanted to do something very different and experimental, 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:32.120 because I think at the time their network was connected 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:36.120 to Warner Brothers record Company, and there was a lot 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:38.559 of push it, like, you know, just play our new music, 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:40.560 you know, all the way through, just you know, from 0:12:40.559 --> 0:12:42.600 start to finish, because that was done a lot, you know, 0:12:42.679 --> 0:12:44.960 and it's still done a lot where there's music just 0:12:44.960 --> 0:12:45.720 through everything. 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:47.800 But I kept saying, you. 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:49.440 Know what, let's just maybe take a break because we 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:53.440 want you know, there's that great dialogue and just some breaths, 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:56.600 not music throughout the whole thing. So then there are 0:12:56.640 --> 0:13:02.600 these little mini you know, songs. But it's interesting, it's 0:13:02.720 --> 0:13:06.880 I never would have thought that people would have listened 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:08.760 to it. I in fact, I know one of my 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:12.400 friends because the Gum Girls in the beginning, you know, 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:16.240 was had been classified as a chick show by many guys, 0:13:16.480 --> 0:13:20.439 and one of my friend's husbands said, you know, what 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:22.480 is that? Like she was watching Gimbore Girls one time 0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:23.960 and he said, from the other room, what is that? 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:24.280 What is that? 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:30.560 Terrible lala music? What is that? That was me, so 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:31.640 I didn't know if. 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:34.680 Yeah, it's again it's a specific thing, and I'm I'm 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:39.400 glad that people did embrace it and it wasn't annoying. 0:13:39.440 --> 0:13:42.680 I certainly didn't mean it to be that way, but 0:13:42.880 --> 0:13:46.320 I just had so much fun doing those you know, 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:49.000 those cues, those little music interludes. 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:51.880 I mean, in terms of it be annoying, I could 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:54.280 not disagree more. I think that is like it's it. 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:57.839 Every one of those cues sets the mood so perfectly 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:01.560 and feels so it's so unique and distinct to go 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:03.880 more girls, And that's something that I don't think you 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:07.040 don't get that with so many television shows or movies 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:11.760 for that matter. When you were like figuring out the 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:15.120 sound and what this was going to be, I mean, 0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:18.040 you know, I know you got these notes like you 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:21.600 wanted to be the voice inside their heads and things 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:25.360 like that, but like, I'm just curious how you, like, 0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:28.520 did you try a bunch of different styles, different instruments, 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:31.080 like what was the experimentation process like trying to find 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:32.360 that kind of lane. 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:35.520 Well, it was interesting because I think that there was 0:14:35.560 --> 0:14:38.280 some kind of connection in the very beginning of what 0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:40.280 because I had done pop records, you know, in the 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:43.440 nineties and at that point, right at that point, I 0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:48.360 had had my own kid and I just made it. 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:51.440 I just kind of pivoted to something that was much 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:56.360 more stripped down, and I was working in that less production, 0:14:56.920 --> 0:15:01.080 I guess, and also at that time, working with my 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:03.520 producer at the time, was was doing a lot of 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:09.200 kind of country or Americana music, and so I think 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:12.440 we tried mandolin at one point, and you know they 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:17.000 were just like no, no, not country, you know, and guitars, 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:20.280 and I was very working with acoustic instruments, not really 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:23.720 working with a lot of you know, electronic instruments at 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:27.080 that time, and so that was kind of the that 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:29.360 was my world at the time, and I just proceeded 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:32.360 to do that and and just make it very simple 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:36.400 and that that seemed to work, even even trying to 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:38.560 I tried to put some strings on it, you know 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:41.040 a little bit, and that seemed to be you know, no, no, no, 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:45.040 too dark, too heavy. So you know, there wasn't a 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:48.080 ton of experimentation. I didn't try to, you know, bring 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:50.480 in like a lot of synthesizers or anything. 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:53.040 You know, it wasn't or drum machines. 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:55.920 So it was pretty straightforward what I was into, what 0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:57.840 I was doing at the time, and I was making 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:01.160 still making records at the time or for None Such 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:03.920 the Non Such label, So it was it was an 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:07.320 interesting time. I just was working a lot, you know, 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:09.640 composing a lot and singing a lot, and it was 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:12.320 really fun. And I'm so glad that that happened to 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:16.280 be what resonated with Amy. 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:18.520 I know that you were like you had your own 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:21.920 like music career going out at the same time, And 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:24.480 I was thinking about that this morning, going like, how 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:27.760 do you That must have been wild, because like you 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:31.720 have I imagine the Gilmore Girls production, Like when you're in production, 0:16:32.480 --> 0:16:35.280 you're just working NonStop on that, and then you have 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:38.000 to find time to like go home and like, oh 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:39.920 I will I want to write my own stuff, or 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:41.240 you have maybe you want to go on tour or 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:45.320 something like that. Was it hard to balance those two careers? 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:49.160 No, not really a little bit of the scheduling. Yeah, 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:52.560 sometimes the scheduling. But but it's sort of like you know, 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:55.400 when you're I think the more you work, the more 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:58.119 you work. And I think it was a really great productive, 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:02.280 creative time and I did. I did have a setup 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:05.720 at home, which was a lifesaver because I think it 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:07.679 you know, that would have been harder to have to 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:09.719 go into the studio all the time, you know, so 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:12.800 I was able to that made it a little bit 0:17:12.840 --> 0:17:15.840 more convenient. But it was really wonderful and I and 0:17:15.920 --> 0:17:19.600 luckily those one fed off the other, you know, there 0:17:19.640 --> 0:17:22.240 were you know, I felt the main thing I was 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:24.240 trying to do. I was trying to write melodies that 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:27.400 would really go to picture, which I found very difficult. 0:17:27.560 --> 0:17:30.120 It was really especially you know, especially with comedy. 0:17:30.400 --> 0:17:34.600 I think when you're doing like action movies or suspense, 0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:38.959 you know, or very serious you know movies or television shows, 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:40.919 I think it's so easy to be dark, you know, 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:43.679 it's really you could just you know, that's to me, 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:47.120 that's a lot easier than some of the lighter moments, 0:17:47.240 --> 0:17:48.560 you know, So it was a challenge. 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:49.320 I wasn't used to. 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:51.399 I was a little bit more serious, you know, in 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:53.919 some of my music, so to making it lighthearted I 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:56.000 tried to just use the melodies the best I could 0:17:56.080 --> 0:17:59.280 because I didn't quite know how to go about that, 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:02.159 but you know did and she was there to guide me. 0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:07.000 And I have to say she in the beginning, in 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:09.560 the first spotting sessions, which is where you find, you know, 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:12.760 spots for music you watch the show, and she was 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:15.800 there at all of them. I love that to guide me, 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:19.320 and of course was just we laughed a lot. She 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:23.480 was so funny and so great to work with, and 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:25.240 I was lucky to have her because you know, I 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:28.399 mean she was the showrunner, you know, the executive producer, 0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:32.399 the writer, the creator, she was doing everything, and I 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:37.280 respected that she wanted to shape her show, you know, 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:39.920 she wanted to be involved in all the different aspects 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:42.480 of it and wanted to have a lot of women 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:46.080 on the crew, you know, which is that's pretty unusual. 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:46.639 There aren't. 0:18:46.760 --> 0:18:51.520 I mean, there are more women composers now, but maybe 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:54.399 not as many then, you know, so I really respect 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:56.960 that and it was great to be. 0:18:56.880 --> 0:18:57.440 A part of it. 0:18:58.320 --> 0:18:58.560 Yeah. 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:02.320 I mean, there's so much really about Amy Sherman Paladino, 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:06.080 and like I mean, hearing all this is just so 0:19:06.119 --> 0:19:07.840 exciting because it's like things that I always kind of 0:19:07.840 --> 0:19:10.320 thought and then hearing you say it, you're confirming it 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:16.040 is awesome. But doing this podcast and like we explore 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:18.560 like the pop culture references on the on the show 0:19:18.720 --> 0:19:22.480 through these episodes, and I've come to like kind of 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:25.639 figure out what the music that Amy likes, like you know, 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:29.720 like B fifty two's xCC stuff like that. There was 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:32.440 there a lot of her like personal tastes that kind 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:36.040 of like came through in the score. Was there like 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:37.960 times where you'd be in those sessions and she'd be like, oh, 0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:40.199 we should do something like this band would do or 0:19:40.400 --> 0:19:42.359 did she kind of give you ultimate freedom? 0:19:42.520 --> 0:19:44.399 No, she gave me ultimate freedom. 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:49.600 And she said at the end that and it's you know, 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:53.000 made me tear up. She I think her at the 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:55.240 very end when she stepped off the show, she just said, 0:19:55.280 --> 0:19:58.280 thank you so much for all these little masterpieces that 0:19:58.359 --> 0:20:01.639 you created and meant so much to me. 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:02.960 Because you know. 0:20:03.000 --> 0:20:05.920 Amy's you know, she's a she's a tough guy too, 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:10.840 and but I I know she she and protected me. 0:20:10.920 --> 0:20:13.359 She protected me from a lot of the notes. Maybe 0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:15.840 that the network had they there could have been somebody 0:20:15.880 --> 0:20:18.800 that went that lady stinks, get her off of it, 0:20:18.960 --> 0:20:22.160 you know, stop that person from you know, doing the score. 0:20:22.359 --> 0:20:25.719 But I don't know, I'll never know, because Amy wanted 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:27.880 me to do it, and I didn't get notes. 0:20:27.920 --> 0:20:28.800 I just kept going. 0:20:28.920 --> 0:20:30.640 I mean, of course, you know, she would say maybe, 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:32.960 like I said before, you know, maybe that's too heavy, 0:20:33.000 --> 0:20:34.040 maybe you know. 0:20:34.040 --> 0:20:35.479