Cory Stillman
Rising composer David Stal has been working with Emmy-winning composer Carlos Rafael Rivera since 2017, but their collaboration has proven more fruitful than ever on HBO’s acclaimed comedy series Hacks. Stal provided additional music for the show’s first season, but has served as co-composer alongside his accomplished mentor since season two.
“Over the past three seasons we’ve just gotten more in sync,” says Stal. “We’ve come to understand each other’s strengths and how we can complement one another.”
The result of that complementary relationship has been a uniquely musical fourth season of Hacks, which sees Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) relocate to Los Angeles as Deborah lands her dream gig as the first woman in late night TV. This exciting new chapter in the series’ history also called for the addition of an onstage band for Deborah’s new late night show. Stal and Rivera worked with show-runners Jen Statsky, Paul W. Downs, and Lucia Aniello to craft the sonic palette for the in-universe music.
“They wanted the theme to evoke the big-hearted soul music of the 60s/70s, and we were glad to go down that road,” says Stal. “Then it was about writing a theme that could hopefully make the audience tear up when seeing Deb realize her dream, while also making them want to dance.”
That careful blend of emotions has proven increasingly crucial as season four has gone on, with Deborah and Ava facing new challenges in the pressure-cooker setting of late night. Episode 9 “A Slippery Slope” finds both women in particularly dire straits, not to mention Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) and Kayla (Megan Stalter) reaching a boiling point in their new endeavor to turn Dance Mom (Julianne Nicholson) into an overnight success. Fittingly, the episode opens with perhaps the most expressive cue of Stal’s career.
“Of course I had Carlos’s ear and guidance, but [Deborah’s] monologue scene was a cue I did,” says Stal. “It felt like a culmination for me as much as it did for Deb. I’ve arranged her theme so many times that this was the ‘final boss’ in a way…a chance to take it to a new place and express a new bittersweet sadness we haven’t had the opportunity to express yet.”
Check out our full conversation with Hacks co-composer David Stal below, in which he shouts out music supervisor Matt Biffa and several other talented collaborators on the hit series!
Hi David! Can you please walk me through how you arrived on Hacks and what it’s been like working on the show alongside co-composer Carlos Rafael Rivera for 3 seasons now?
I’ve been working with Carlos since 2017 when he hired me to help him on Godless. We get along great and have similar music instincts. Of course, I learned a lot from Carlos through the years on Godless and Queen’s Gambit and he started leaning on me more and more for help on his projects. When he got Hacks, we did the same process for season 1, and he told me if we got a season 2 that he would do his best to promote me to co-composer, which I’m grateful to say did happen. At first I was nervous to go from additional music composer (behind the scenes help) to co-composer, where I was interacting with the show runners on Zoom. But slowly I felt more and more like Carlos and I were a duo…and that was reflected in our composing process. We began bouncing ideas off each other, doing our own takes on a scene, and even giving each other feedback. Over the past three seasons we’ve just gotten more in sync, and also we’ve come to understand each other’s strengths and how we can complement one another.
How did the show’s shift to its new Los Angeles setting shape your creative approach to the score?
One of the great things about the teamwork present on Hacks is that Carlos and I know our role and the amazing music supervisor Matt Biffa knows his. He tends to be called on for the flavor and style needed to show location, whereas Carlos and I are called on for the emotional moments. There is an intermingling that happens, where Matt’s needledrops inspire our sounds, especially in the direction of soul/R&B. There is a warmth and nostalgia his choices provide that are really nice to work around. Between that and the transcendent writing of Jen, Paul, and Lucia, we get plenty of emotional beats to work with, regardless of whether the characters are in LA or Vegas.
Season 4 of Hacks includes more music than ever before, particularly with Deborah’s arrival on the late night stage. How did the two of you approach crafting the overall sonic palette for the show’s onstage band?
At first Carlos and I were thinking the onstage band music could use Deb’s theme, in a kind of meta nod to her arc throughout the series. But JPL (our affectionate abbreviation for the 3 showrunners) pointed us in a more emotional direction. They wanted the theme to evoke the big-hearted soul music of the 60s/70s, and we were glad to go down that road. Then it was about writing a theme that could hopefully make the audience tear up when seeing Deb realize her dream, while also making them want to dance. Thanks to some great LA musicians like Rob Schaer and Francisco Torres, we ended up with something that we are really proud of.
Can you discuss any particular cues or melodies that went into character themes or helped reinforce the ebbs and flows of Ava and Deborah’s fraught relationship?
Ava does have her own theme, but gradually as the show has evolved it seems Deb’s theme is the more powerful vehicle for showing the complicated dynamic between Ava and Deb. Particularly I’m thinking of the end of episode 6 where (spoiler alert!) Ava and Deb finally hash it out and the audience gets what they’ve wanted…a reconciliation. We tried a few ideas that strayed from Deb’s theme, but ultimately that scene needed just a simple, bare-bones version of Deb’s music to support the gentle rekindling of their relationship.
Episode 9 culminates in the most expressive cue of the series so far. Can you dive into your process around such an episode?
The showrunners had a conversation with us where they discretely told us how important episode 9 was to them. It is a huge moment for Deb (and of course Ava) and they knew music would play a big role. We immediately started on the big monologue cue. Of course I had Carlos’s ear and guidance, but her monologue scene was a cue I did and it felt like a culmination for me as much as it did for Deb. I’ve arranged her theme so many times that this was the “final boss” in a way…a chance to take it to a new place and express a new bittersweet sadness we haven’t had the opportunity to express yet. And this was true of our process for the whole episode. All of a sudden we fear Ava might be fired by Deb and that prompted a new sound for her rushing back to the studio. Jimmy and Kayla deal with new responsibilities as managers when they have to get Dance Mom on stage, and so all our characters are swimming in uncharted waters. That gave us the chance to try new things and take risks in the music. Shout out to our additional music writers Asuka Ito and Ray Kim for their help to round out the whole episode.
I am constantly fascinated by the meta elements of working on a show like Hacks. As someone working in the entertainment industry, do you find yourself taking inspiration from the show’s satirical perspective on the industry and its inner workings?
Absolutely! I feel that the showrunners are fearless when it comes to pointing out Hollywood’s blemishes and dark spots. But they also have been adept at countering some of these blemishes by talking about ageism, sexuality, and the drive for sales in an artistic pursuit. They put their money where their mouth is so to speak, and I find that very inspiring.
You have also worked on the music of hit shows including The Queen’s Gambit, Lessons in Chemistry, and Godless. How did each of these experiences compare to one another and ultimately prepare you for your more recent work on Hacks?
Carlos is a very talented composer, and I really admire his ability not only to write a good melody but to evolve it over the course of a season of television. Working with him on Godless, Queen’s Gambit, and Lessons In Chemistry were relatively similar experiences…Carlos wrote beautiful and strong melodies, and I practiced over and over ways to arrange them, change them, and inject my own musical personality into them. I was also given the freedom to write original music for those projects, which was so rewarding. Being in that creative space, I found myself writing my own melodies that became stronger, and this ultimately prepared me for Hacks and beyond.
Can you tell us what you have in the pipeline? Are there any upcoming projects we can expect from you?
I wrote additional music for two of Carlos’ upcoming projects, a crime//thriller series Department Q on Netflix, as well as They Will Kill You, a horror/revenge film. I’ve also written hybrid orchestral/electronic music for a short western film called The Last Ride. Lastly, I also write music for the concert hall, and an amazing choir called the LA Choral Lab will be premiering one of my pieces in their spring concert on May 31st.
Comments
Loading…