By Randi Altman

Max Aruj

Los Angeles-based composer Max Aruj began studying classical and jazz piano at the age of seven. After studying music composition at the USC Thornton School of Music, he was determined to make this his path, and he has. Most recently he scored the indie film Lansky from Vertical Entertainment.

This crime drama about the famous gangster Meyer Lansky, stars Harvey Keitel and takes place in two time periods — Lansky at the height of his criminal activity and as an old man in the 1980s. Aruj first collaborated with Lansky writer/director Eytan Rockaway on the psychological thriller The Abandoned. That experience helped with his work on Lansky.

Aruj used some “‘80s Max Vangelis ‘colors’ as the musical palette, mixed with orchestra. He he says he wanted to create “both a sense of darkness and sentimentality to capture both sides of such a complicated figure.”

Let’s find out more…

Can you describe the film’s score?
It is a thematic orchestral score within an ‘80s synth-scape. An emotional theme for Lansky’s life, often played intimate violins/celli that accompany Lansky with his family. His darker side often portrayed by dark synth colors, as he did his work with Bugsy (Siegel). The score needed to play an important role in this drama, telling the story of this triumphant and tragic figure.

Can you talk about your process on the film? How early did you get involved?
I got an email from Eytan at the end of 2019. I started writing after reading the script (and before they shot). I wrote some themes, none of which stayed in. The hard work began after I watched the first cut in April. I must say that no moment was wasted. Even in the early phases before the shoot, writing character themes — even if they’re wrong are getting me closer to the right one. Toward the end of the process, we did many versions of the end scene, trying things, retrying and shifting. Being involved in early cuts allowed me to watch the film morph into what it is today. Having Eytan and I get the music under our skin early on helped us create the musical narrative over time.

You’ve worked with Eytan in the past. How did that prior relationship help on this?
We knew how each other communicated, which can save a lot of time, especially at the beginning of a project. Getting to know someone takes time. Beyond that, getting a director feeling comfortable to tell you that they don’t like something is crucial step.

In that way, Eytan often has a gut reaction to a piece, whether it is right or wrong, not focusing on the particulars on first viewing. More notes come later, of course, but I’d have to say that important base of familiarity is very helpful. This movie is very different from his last, so we both had our work cut out for us to make this man’s story as impactful as possible.

How did Eytan describe what he wanted?
“More emotional, not scary enough.” That’s the kind of feedback film composers love. Not overly technical, but rather focusing on the intention of the scene. It gives me room to play, but enough information so that when I’ve written a new version, I can listen after, look at his feedback and ask myself, “Is this version really tense enough?” For example, he would give specific information about when the scene should shift — “When he gets up and starts walking over is when the tension should be ramped up.”

It’s a period piece, so how did that play a role in the sound of the film?
Older Lansky (Keitel) is telling his story in the 80’s, so having those colors felt appropriate. We tried early on — very briefly — to have ‘80s only in the ‘80s and orchestral in the earlier days ‘30’s and ‘40s scenes, but that didn’t work. It made the story feel fragmented, to no one’s benefit. Having a blend of the two throughout keeps us focused on that fact that despite two time periods, we are telling one man’s story. Blending the past and present with music as one brush stroke is the cinematic feel we were going for.

How did you start your path to music?
I started on jazz classical piano when I was seven years old, and never stopped. I took music therory in high school, and answered the question, “Why do I like it so much when it gets to this point in the piece?” That drove me to want to create that feeling.

Practicing piano was my passion throughout my teens. At first, that was it, just me and the piano. Then I used Logic music composition software toward the end of high school and scored a friend’s film. I loved it and thought, I want to do this.

Any tips for those looking to write music for picture?
That’s always a tough one… Fall in love with music first. Practice constantly. Then fall in love with movies, watch the best and then the real work begins. And that can mean learning to record yourself/making instruments/learning software, but I must repeat, first fall in love with music, and then learn and practice.