My guests for this episode are the film-scoring duo Ryan Miller and Jay Lifton. Ryan is a founding member and the lead singer of Guster, who recently celebrated their 31st consecutive year of touring and recording. He has scored over 15 feature films and has worked with directors Colin Trevorrow, Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Lake Bell, and Zoe Lister-Jones.
Jay Lifton is a Brooklyn-based composer who has worked with Alicia Silverstone, Kirsten Smith, Sean Baker, Paul Feig, and Errol Morris. He somewhat recently scored an episode of This American Life as well as the documentary RABBLE ROUSERS, which is about the forces behind NYC gentrification and urban displacement.
Both Ryan and Jay have great resumes for their work in film and commercials. The pair teamed up to score Reese Witherspoon’s film “Something from Tiffany’s”, which premiered this past holiday season on Prime Video. The film follows the story of a woman as her life gets upended when an engagement ring that was for someone else leads her to the person she’s meant to be with. I watched the trailer and was struck by how beautiful it looked. Then, of course, I noticed the music.
We talk about “Something from Tiffany’s,” Guster, their respective journeys toward film scoring, the value of attending film festivals, music in video games, and more.
Please enjoy my conversation with Ryan Miller and Jay Lifton.
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Mentions and Related Episodes
Stephanie Economou’s soundtrack to Valhalla’s Dawn of Ragnarök
Lost And Gone Forever by Guster
Teaching Music Production Online—Liz Cirelli Part 2 (Ep 151)
Where Financial Fear, Elusive Fame, and Abundance Collide – Liz Cirelli
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Resources
The Unstarving Musician’s Guide to Getting Paid Gigs, by Robonzo
Music Marketing Method – The program that helps musicians find fans, grow an audience and make consistent income
Podcast Startup – The podcast learning platform for creative voices
Bandzoogle – The all-in-one platform that makes it easy to build a beautiful website for your music
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