We hear music during TV shows and movies all the time. Sometimes we remember a scene forever solely because of the music chosen to play beneath it. When that takes place, the music supervisor has done a fantastic job. Liza Richardson has made that happen numerous times. Richardson is a successful music supervisor and certainly has the ear for the job. Music is as important to a film or TV series as any other component. It is of the most important tools used in conveying what the director is feeling. Needless to say, the music chosen to accompany a TV show or film can make or break the project. The songs used in a soundtrack can leave us with a long lasting impression or, if done improperly, could fail to evoke viewer emotion during a powerful or moving moment.
Richardson is currently working on the Friday Night Lights soundtrack and has worked on several other TV series including “Parenthood”, “Melrose Place” and “Life”. She has also worked on such feature films as the music supervisor or consultant as “Nacho Libre”, “Curious George”, “Syriana” “Failure to Launch”, “Lords of Dogtown” and “Push”.
Buzz – Right now you are currently working on the soundtrack for Friday Night Lights. You’ve worked on so many projects as a music supervisor or music consultant. What comes into play when putting a soundtrack together?
Liza Richardson – Well, every one seems to be different for whatever reason. Obviously there are commonalities so films are different than doing television and ads are totally different. The difference is that, as a music supervisor, when I work on ads I’m strictly doing research and handing in a ton of tracks but I don’t usually get involved with negotiations or deal making. Whereas you work on films for a long time and there’s a lot of thought and labor put into it and things change, but for the most part it’s a long process. Television is more ephemeral - more immediate. It happens quickly. But all three of those mediums are totally different. I’ve never worked on a video game or anything. I don’t know what that’s like.
Buzz – So let’s take Friday Night Lights for example.
Liza – Basically in the beginning, which is a long time ago – about four or five years ago now - you get together with the show runner and the director and editors and the people that are working on the show and you kind of formulate what the musical landscape of the show is going to be. And then what I do is put together a collection of tunes – usually pretty big, like 300-500 songs that I think are in the ballpark for the show. Like on Friday Night Lights we use a lot of hard rock for football, we use some twangy country, we use a lot of indie rock for montages or score-like songs. And we use a lot of hip-hop for the more urban or ghetto type things that are happening. So you just put together a lot of university music and then as the show goes along I’ll get scenes given to me by the editor and I’ll work on them and try to suggest stuff from that pool of music that I gave him because it’s a lot of music for them to go through. So each scene that goes across my desk - I get ideas from that, or maybe I have some new ideas that I throw in and I’ll usually present between three and seven ideas per scene. I’ll pitch them and maybe they’ll choose something from that, but it doesn’t always work out like that. It’s all very collaborative. A lot of times the editors bring songs to the table or the director who’s working on the director’s cut will want to try something.
Buzz – So do they ever come back to you and say, “Uh uh, this is just not going to work?”
Liza – Oh, yeah. Sometimes they just give me a scene and they’ll just say, “Here’s the scene!” But they won’t have time to say what they are looking for and I’ll just have to interpret it without any direction and sometimes – yeah, I’ll get it wrong and I’ll just have to do it again.
Buzz – Is it easier to work on a feature film because it may not go off on as many directions as a long-running TV series?
Liza – Feature films are like…the bigger the budget the less work it is because you probably have back up on clearances and that kind of thing, whereas if you do an independent film you’re responsible from everything from soup to nuts. So the lower the budget on a film the more work it is. But I don’t know if I would say easier. There are certain films that are easier and there are some TV shows that are really a pain and some that go smoother.
Buzz – Do you ever find a great song for a scene and then go to the artist and they’re like, “No, I don’t want my music associated with that project.”
Liza – Oh, absolutely, which is the job of the music supervisor to navigate that whole thing for the producers. The idea is that you are so on top of the music you are pitching and that it comes from these reliable sources that are known to be ok with it. It happens. Songs are denied all the time and sometimes it’s for budget reasons and sometimes it’s for creative reasons.
Buzz – How often does a friend of a friend of a friend somehow get their music to you thinking it may be something you could use in a soundtrack?
Liza – Everyday. Constantly. I mean, it’s a constant situation that I try to navigate – who’s giving me what and keeping track of it and making sure I know where I found it – making sure I tag all my mp3’s with the source of it so that I can find it when I need it. I’m constantly getting pitches everyday. I don’t know how to quantify, but emails, digital downloads…
Buzz – Have you ever used a song from a no name band that made its way to you?
Liza – Yeah. Oh, yeah, totally. All the time. I met a girl at a party last year and we got into a conversation and – sometimes I just do it to be polite – “Oh, yeah, send me your stuff.” Because so often you get music submitted and it’s terrible. But I met this girl and thought she was cool and checked out her tunes and they were really beautiful and I got her a really cool spot in Friday Night Lights. So it happens all the time.
Buzz – Wow, that’s great. So you are also a DJ on a radio station. What kind of show do you host?
Liza – Yeah. I’ve been a DJ on KCRW since 1991. I’ve had various shows on the station and for about the last ten years I’ve been on Saturday nights from 8pm-10pm. The evening starts off from 6pm-8pm with Henry Rollins so he plays a lot of punk rock and intense world music – really wild and challenging. I come on after him with my show – I think – in the hopes challenging as well. It’s totally different than Henry’s show. I play a lot of indie rock, jazz music, world music - a lot of African music, reggae… It’s just sort of a jam session – a lot of current stuff and a lot of retro stuff. It’s just really fun. I just totally love it. It’s just once a week. I dedicate my Saturday to it. It’s not what I do for a living though.
Buzz – I read that you were selected as the DJ for the Academy Awards.
Liza – I was! In 2007 they decided to try having a DJ in the house. I guess the problem in the past was that during the commercial breaks a lot of people get up and move around. They just wanted to make it a little bit more inviting to stay in the theater so they wouldn’t have to rally everybody to get back into their seats after the break. So that was the concept. It was fun and it was an honor. I had a great view of all the celebrities and it was really, really fun.
Buzz - You were previously and A&R scout for Geffen Records. That seems like something you would take with you into music supervision.
Liza – Well, it all comes with DJ-ing. I started DJ-ing about twenty years ago - at least. I spent so much time with music – and had the time. My first couple radio shows I was on midnight to five Monday through Fridays in Dallas, and that gave me a lot of time to learn and explore music. When you think about it, when you’re on the air at four in the morning, who’s listening? So why not throw on this folk record or this blues record…? I had a lot of time to dig in and learn about music. So I think everything in my musical career started from that. It’s not so easy to make a great living in radio so I was trying to think of other ways to bolster my income and stay within my passion, which is music. So then I made a presentation and got a job as a scout for Geffen. But I am glad I never took A&R as seriously and switched over to music supervision.
Buzz – There are probably a few things in common with those two jobs, I would imagine.
Liza – Oh, yeah. You’re always looking for the next thing. They’re very similar. Both jobs are about discovering music, but A&R is more about developing it and turning your talent into a real record or real artist, whereas music supervision is more about taking something you find and finding a place to use it.
You can check out the Friday Night Lights soundtrack at http://www.fridaynightlightsvol2tvsoundtrack.com/.
