Interview: "Wonder Woman 1984" Film Trailer Music Composer Sebastian Böhm

During a chaotic year of COVID-19 and our many worries about our careers, one constant is the blockbuster film’s return into theaters with Tenet and Wonder Woman 1984. Composer Sebastian Böhm, who has created music for BMW and Mercedes and film trailers from Star Wars: Rogue One to Aladdin, reworked New Order’s “Blue Monday” into an 80’s-orchestral mashup for the Wonder Woman 1984 trailer.

Congratulations on your music being in the new Wonder Woman trailer! I love how it is very lively and doesn’t distract from the trailer. It makes it more exciting. When the “Blue Monday” cover song was commissioned, were you told what the studio wanted or were you allowed creative control of everything? Because one decision can change the entire song, how did you carefully maintain the 80’s sound?

Thank you very much! Fortunately I had an incredible amount of freedom. I was basically only told which parts of the track they specifically like, that the distinctive intro synthesizer should be recreated and that my cover should be in the "epic orchestral" style with big drums. But other than that I pretty much had all the freedom one can ask for - I was even allowed to add my own twists to it (e.g. the ending etc.). So it definitely was a dream job in all aspects. :)

Good question, haha. I think one big thing that helps a lot is of course the main beat and the specific sound of the drums playing it. Other than that I tried to incorporate those iconic 80s synthesizer sounds and production techniques wherever possible.

In the comments on your YouTube channel with the song, some people were sad that you aren’t composing the whole film score. If you were given the job of the Wonder Woman 1984 film score, what would it sound like?

It's a really big honour for me to hear that people would like me to score the movie. As most people know, how the score for a movie sounds is not the sole decision of the composer - it's mostly a collaborative process between the director, studio etc. and the composer. But if I would have the opportunity to choose a sound, I would definitely go for my "Blue Monday" style. I really like this mixture of iconic 80s sounds, a big orchestra and big drums. Actually in "Blue Monday" there are some low and brutal 7 string metal guitars in there too, haha - to give it some extra oomph. ...and yes, I'm a metalhead originally. :)

However, I'm really looking forward to what Mr. Zimmer will create and I'm sure we all will be blown away once again by his incredible talent!

Your music being part of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is an amazing achievement with the legacy of the Star Wars brand. Which film franchises do you hope to create music for with marketing and film scores?

Yes, as someone who grew up with Star Wars and my childhood definitely not being the same without it - I am still completely overwhelmed that this has happened. My music played behind a scene with Darth Vader in it - my life is complete, haha.

I really love movies that are more on the "serious" side and that take the audience on an honest emotional journey. Movies, where as a viewer, you are able to create strong bonds with the characters. So the genre doesn't matter too much I guess - it could be a superhero movie but also a drama. For example Gladiator, Batman Begins, Interstellar and Man Of Steel - just to name a few - are movies that I admire a lot.

You have created so much music for the luxury auto brands. What do these companies such as BMW want in their marketing music styles that is unique to the auto industry?

For the specific campaigns of these brands that I worked on, they wanted to convey the luxurious, elegant, yet powerful feeling/emotion. To create something unique, they sometimes want you to blend the elegant sound of the orchestra with various other forms of current music genres, such as dubstep and metal/djent. Other times they want you to venture into completely new experimental sound territories, that cannot really be assigned to an existing genre. It's always a very fun and interesting undertaking to work on these projects, as you are allowed to - and should - push the limits.

When you work with music for video games, is it true that the game developers want more input than other types of clients? Is it true that the process is longer? Of course every video game is going to have an individual style you create the music around, but what is special to the music for video games?

In my experience it totally depends on the project and the type of persons you are working together with. So it doesn't really matter if you are working on a movie, a trailer or a video game. Sometimes the creator of the particular type of medium has a very clear vision of what he wants sonically and just wants you to steer the boat to get to his preferred island. Sometimes you get hired because of your musical being and they want you to inject your soul and musical language into the project. Most of the times - as far as I have experienced it - it is a mix of both of course - a collaboration.

However, the process of how the music for these different mediums is developed, is indeed completely different. Compared to movies and trailers, video games are non linear. This means that the music needs to be more adaptive. For example you usually need more variations/versions of certain themes, so that they can be dynamically implemented into the game, depending on how the player chooses to unfold the storyline. For movies and trailers you have a given structure and timeline, mostly resulting in less music that needs to be produced - not saying that one process is harder than the other.

Generally, you have some music ready to go for sale for commercials and film trailers, and some work is on commission, correct? What percentage of your music sold is on commission?

Correct. This distribution varies from year to year, amongst other things depending on what's "hot" in the current industry. For example in the last two years - in my experience - there was an extreme increase of commissioned/custom work. This means that you create a completely new piece of music for a specific trailer, or sometimes a client wants you to revise an already existing track of yours. These revisions can consist of implementing a main theme from the original score of the movie, adding new parts to the track or doing a conform to the picture etc.

The most trailers that I worked on in the last two years were custom work. But this was also due to a conscious decision of me wanting to do this custom work and trying to find opportunities, as I really enjoyed it. Over the years that I'm working in this industry, I would say that it's pretty balanced though. Sometimes it's more commissioned work, sometimes more album music licenses. But all in all very balanced I would say.

Your career with film trailer music is a spectacular example of how people do not have to live in Los Angeles to be part of the Hollywood film music scene. How do you recommend for people around the world to create opportunities for themselves composing for films and brands as working musicians, other than looking for a good agent? Can someone succeed without an agent?

Yes, we definitely live in extremely exciting times when it comes to technology. We can basically be connected all over the world through the internet, and also hop on the next train or flight tomorrow to travel to any city we want and meet with people. In person connections and meetings are still as important as ever, but it's definitely much easier to get your foot into the door in any industry these days, thanks to the internet.

When it comes to creating work opportunities for yourself as a composer, I think the most important thing is to focus on your craft and to try to deliver a quality product - as with any profession of course - but then also try to get your music out there into the world, so that people can see and listen to it. Fortunately I had multiple occasions where people found my work by accident or by it being on the right platform at the right time - and therefore a collaboration did arise out of it. And word of mouth is your friend here too of course. Make your music accessible for people and try to target your preferred audience as best as possible.

Also try to connect with people from the industry and try to form new friendships - not only with people from who you think they might hire you in the future - but also with your peers. Work opportunities can arise out of many different situations and networks.

Working together with agents etc. is very important in my opinion, especially when you are not living in the city where the industry, in which you would like to work in, resides. Especially in seasons or phases of your life, where for example you would like to focus more on your musical/production skills and practice more intensely etc. - working with people who take care of the other side of the business is extremely helpful. It's always important though to invest a lot of time into your craft and into your connections/network - as both things are very important.

I have been a fan all of my life of European music production because of the more risk taking material by European composers and producers. People in Scandinavia and Germany but also French musicians like Daft Punk with their film score music and radio hits. Is the music better because everyone in Germany is more passionate about trying new things? Is it a better work ethic?

Haha, that's a hard question to answer. I've had the same thoughts about certain genres, but in both directions - meaning that I thought why are e.g. Americans so good at type X music and why are certain Europeans (not to leave out the rest of the world) so good at type Y music? In some specific genres it might seem that certain countries have a foot forward, but it might be a subjective notion due to ones awareness of artists in that part of the world. This might of course be due to the ways labels/media and their promotions work, meaning what is put in front of you "on your plate" (on the radio or today on streaming playlists etc.). What I mean by that is that I sometimes still find artists and bands which create a specific genre of music, but they are from country X and not from supposed country Y. Certain things might be due to culture and the way people are raised, certain things just might be in your musical DNA? Maybe it's all just a coincidence and over the next few decades it might change, haha? I don't know. I'm just happy that there is so much fantastic music to enjoy.

What are your career plans for 2020 and 2021?

I am very grateful for all the wonderful people who chose to follow me and listen to my music - so I will definitely create more music just for "listening purposes". I will also continue to create music for the trailer and advertising industry, as I really enjoy doing that. Therefore my brother Tobias (a musician himself) and I just joined forces and created our own company BÖHM Music, to be able to handle the workload together and provide a custom service for our clients.

We also have something very exciting coming up for our musician/composer/producer colleagues in the industry: We are working on a drum/percussion sample library - which we recorded at the wonderful TELDEX recording studio in Berlin. Fortunately many people seemed to like my drum sounds and asked me about them - but I always had to tell them that these were my own custom instruments and that there is nothing like it on the market. So now Tobias and I thought that we would like to offer this type of sound to others who might be interested in it as well. We will announce more about this sample library soon! :)