Breaking Bad - Interview with Music Composer Dave Porter

In this exclusive interview with Breaking Bad Greece, AMC's Breaking Bad's music composer Dave Porter talks about episode 411, his creative process and much more! Hit the jump below to read more!

Q : Are there any TV theme songs you wish you had written?
A : I’m not sure there are any that I wish that I had written, but there are certainly some that inspired me creatively. When I was younger the theme from Twin Peaks comes to mind, The X-Files, and even Miami Vice. Recently it seems that TV themes are a dying breed, which is a shame, but there are still a few good ones out there!

Q : When writing the music, how much is done before seeing the scene and how much after viewing it?
A : I don’t write anything at all before I have the scene to work with. I’ve always viewed the composer’s role as creating music that works in support of the drama on the screen and is therefore tailored very closely to the footage. In fact, a lot of creative decisions are made before I even write a note. For each scene we have discussions about the role of music and what it should try to convey. After that I often spend a long time working with tempos, meters, and designing and recording sounds before I actually get started scoring a scene.

Q : How much did you have to do with "Fallacies" by TwaughtHammer?
A : Twaughthammer, as you know, is a fictional rock and roll band comprised of several characters from Breaking Bad including Jesse and Badger. The band is referenced in several episodes. The concept for the band was conceived by the writers during season 2 and “Fallacies” is one of the band’s songs. Creator/executive producer Vince Gilligan and writer/producer Sam Catlin provided me with the lyrics, and I wrote all of the music and produced the recording. I performed the piece along with my regular guitar player Mike Pendleton. The lead vocals were sung by Matt Jones (Badger) with Matt, Aaron Paul (Jesse) and myself all singing backup. Our crew then created a music video for the song which appears on the season 2 DVD as a bonus, and the song itself is on our first soundtrack record which we released around that time.

Q : What it is like working with Vince Gilligan?
A : Vince is of course an enormously intelligent and talented guy, but what I admire most about working with him is the creative environment that he fosters around him. To his great credit, Vince welcomes everyone’s ideas and encourages discussion and debate about all of the creative decisions that go into making Breaking Bad. Just as important, though, he has a strong vision for his show and when it comes time to make a tough choice, he is decisive.

Source: Full Interview @ breakingbad-greek.blogspot.gr