Corey Wallace is a film and television composer with over 15 years of experience under his belt. Regardless of the project, Wallace’s goal is to give a character musical depth while also bringing the right amount of emotion to the forefront. Examples of this can be heard on Wallace’s projects, including NBC’s Siberia, Epic Pictures’ Artik, Vision Films’ The Hybrids Family and Anchor Bay Films’ Shadow People, just to name a few.
Corey Wallace
Wallace’s latest project is the horror comedy Cursed Friends, which is available now to stream on Comedy Central. Written by Aaron Eisenberg and Will Eisenberg and starring Will Arnett, Rob Riggle and Nicole Richie, Cursed Friends follows four thirtysomething childhood friends who wake up on Halloween following a drunken reunion to realize that a predict-your-future game of M.A.S.H. (Mansion Apartment Shack House) that they played in 2002 is starting to come true for them in hilarious and disturbing ways.
We recently spoke with Wallace about what his creative process was like on Cursed Friends.
What was one of your biggest challenges/points of pride on Cursed Friends?
We only had four weeks to create this score, only two with a locked picture, which is an insanely short amount of time for a feature film score. Not only did we manage to get it done, but we also recorded a full orchestra for some of the biggest moments of the movie, as well as strings and other instruments throughout to help bring the score to life.
We used the Budapest Scoring Orchestra. Orchestrating (Jeff Tinsley), recording, music editing (Ryan Castle) and mixing (Satoshi Noguchi) can be very time-intensive, but thanks to the experienced team, we worked very efficiently and were able to take the film to the next level. I’m proud of that, but I’m even prouder of what that shows me about my growth and development as a film composer. I could not have achieved this a decade ago, especially not with the same quality.
Throughout the scoring process, I was very conscious of the techniques and tricks I was using — things I’ve developed over the last 15 years working on feature film scoring, horror, animation, musical sound design and orchestral composition. All that hard work and dedication led me somewhere very tangible, and that’s a wonderful feeling.
What would surprise people to learn about your Cursed Friends score?
I think people would be surprised just how unfunny the score actually is. Listening to the main titles, you might think this story is a gothic epic rather than a comedy. Yes, there are some cute cues and some animation techniques, but overall, the score is about the spooky aspects of a Halloween story. The score brings energy and atmosphere, and we can leave it to the comedians on-screen to do what they do best.
Can you walk us through your workflow?
I start by writing themes, sometimes away from picture, starting with a scene or two that will help me find the right tone and language for the score. I like to start with scenes that let a theme play through as much as possible without needing to sync too much with the picture, such as the main title, if there is one.
Once the main themes are written, I’ll write the cues where I think a theme will play well and will be dramatically meaningful. I’ll continue to discover what is working musically with the story, and that usually leads me down other paths to other cues. I usually don’t just write one cue at a time. I try to write several at once in order to keep an eye on the bigger picture as much as possible. As I’m writing, I look for dramatic threads in the film that can be tied together by music. This not only helps create dramatic continuity, but it also makes the composing process more efficient.
For example, in Cursed Friends, I originally wrote a motif for Nicole Richie’s character Lizzie and her asylum setting, but later I realized that Lizzie is locked up because Stacy (Kathy Griffin) had influenced her thinking and actions. This led me to create a “possession” theme that ties to other situations, like the literal demon possession of Shamrock (Will Arnett) during the seance or when Andy (Harvey Guillen) confronts Mr. Knight (Rob Riggle) at Camp Wanna-bang-me. There are also several scenes that I call “Goofy Josh,” and there is a similar musical vibe for those.
What would you consider to be your big break?
Some people can point to that big break, but for me it’s been a series of little breaks that have each led to the next and so forth. My biggest break so far, though, was when NBC picked up Matthew Arnold’s series Siberia. We started working on that show as an independent project, but when NBC picked it up, I became a prime-time network TV composer overnight. That job allowed me to step out from being a composer’s assistant and become a full-time media composer.
How would you say you have changed, musically, from your time scoring NBC’s Siberia to now? Is your approach the same?
My approach is generally the same, but with more experience I’ve become more aware of it and better at it. Over the years there have been lots of changes in my workflow and production driven by technology, but my tastes and style have stayed pretty much the same. My approach to sound design has improved by adding many analog tools, like tube distortion, spring reverb, and going deep into the modular synthesizer rabbit hole. I’ve also gotten way more into orchestral mockups than I ever thought I’d be.
I used to consider mockups a burden, but newer sample libraries are so much better than when I started out. They are now an absolute joy to play and create with. I’d say the biggest change since Siberia is definitely my confidence. With time and experience, I’ve had the privilege of scoring so many different types of projects and genres, working with a lot of different people and playing many different roles. I just feel more prepared than ever to tackle whatever comes next.
What plugins you are currently using? Are there any new ones that have recently caught your eye?
My go-to plugins include the Soundtoys 5 bundle. I use them every day, and they are definitely some of my “desert island” plugins. I also lean heavily on the Universal Audio plugins, especially the Pultec and Neve EQs. The Distressor emulation is amazing, and so is the Neve 33609 compressor. I also use their tape emulation plugins quite often.
Waves Soundshifter is another desert island plug for my sound design scores. For sound design reverbs, I love anything Lexicon, especially UAD’s 480L and 224 emulations, and I absolutely adore Eventide’s Blackhole and Vallhalla’s Plate. I love the less conventional plugs from Freakshow Industries, like the granular reverse engine Backmask and their weird AF pitch shifter Dumpster Fire. The most recent plugins I’ve picked up from Sound Particles are a sound designers dream. They add so much movement and life to ordinary sounds; they’re quite addicting.
You have worked with composer Bear McCreary on numerous projects. Has there been a tip he has given you that has helped?
I love that there are so many different points of view from different composers, whether it’s on drama, musical style or technical workflow. It seems like every time I talk to another composer, I come away with some tip, trick or insight that I didn’t have before. All the composers that I’ve worked with (Christopher Young, Jeff Toyne, Clinton Shorter, Bear McCreary) have all made lasting impressions on me in some way or another. Specifically, Bear is a tremendous dramatist, and I’ve really appreciated his guidance when it comes to maximizing the emotional effect that a cue can have on a scene.
Can you tell us what led you to become a composer?
I started in music playing trumpet in the school band. My earliest memory of composing was at around 11 years old, plunking at my brother’s piano and writing music in a little sketch book. I remember thinking, “Composing is easy, just write something on top and the bottom and put something in the middle.”
That’s obviously simplistic and naive, but it turns out there’s a lot of truth to that. I composed and performed jazz lead sheets in high school, but I didn’t start classical composition until college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I began there as an engineering student but continued to play jazz and take composition courses as electives.
By my second year, I realized I was spending most of my time on music, and after scoring my first student film, I was hooked and decided to study music full-time. From there I got a traditional conservatory-style music education and absorbed as much as I could about film music from books, CDs and DVDs, such as those special features with isolated scores.
In Jeff Rona’s book “The Reel World,” I first heard about the ASCAP Film Scoring Workshops. Attending one of the NYU workshops was my first time meeting other film composers, and I loved being part of that community. That book also led me to USC’s graduate program Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television, and I graduated from there in 2009.
What advice would you give to people first starting off in the composing world?
Be open, be patient and be likable. Be open to new ideas and opportunities. Be patient about developing your network, credits and skillsets. And be a likable person that others want to be around.
Starting with the last point, composing for film and television is a team sport, and sometimes we spend months in the trenches with our team, so being able to get along with many types of people is critical. Be a problem solver, not a troublemaker. People love to work with their friends, but they love it even more when somebody makes their job easier. Whether as a composer or an assistant, be the person that improves other people’s lives, and you’ll go far.
Recently, a young man visiting LA from Switzerland reached out to me on Instagram. He was having a really hard time finding an assistant job — I told him to be patient and that it takes a long time develop a network and even longer if you’re not going through an academic program.
One great thing about my experience at USC was that it condensed about five years of education and networking into one. Is USC or Berklee the only way in? No, but you’ll need to find ways to learn and connect with peers, young filmmakers and professional mentors. And know that it could take some time, so be patient. Especially when starting off, you never know what connection or opportunity will lead to the next, so be open to possibilities and see where it takes you.
I just completed scoring director Jamie Winterstern’s debut feature Supercell, but we first met when I scored his student film at USC. After school, he made a short with all licensed music and no score, but he asked me if I could music-edit some of the songs to better fit the picture. Even though that’s not what I normally do, that job helped solidify a working relationship and friendship that has continued for the last 13 years… and hopefully many more to come.
