Diego Peralta
Slow Horses remains the talk of the town in Hollywood due to how effective and consistent it is. In four calendar years, the Apple TV+ spy thriller has managed to deliver six seasons, with a seventh installment already on the way. Every detail about the production appears to run smoothly for Will Smith (not the one you might think, but the creator of this adaptation) and Apple TV+.
One of the most thrilling details from Slow Horses is the music that sets the tone for the action on the screen. Awards Radar had the opportunity to interview Toydrum, the duo responsible for the show’s orchestral score. Pablo Clements and James Griffith continue to deliver magnificent work every year. Here are some of the highlights from the conversation:
Pablo and James spent years of their musical career without being involved in any television production. Slow Horses has provided the duo with a consistent schedule, allowing them to focus their skills on Jackson Lamb’s (Gary Oldman) work. James mentioned: “We’re definitely not green anymore. We’re working on a lot of new things now, as well. It feels more at home doing television and action sequences.” Pablo added: “We’ve been doing it quite a long time. Now we’re learning to do a lot at the same time, if you know what I mean.”
James is aware of how Slow Horses has allowed Toydrum to grow as artists. The musicians were only supposed to work on the Apple TV+ series as a small collaboration, before everyone involved realized that the show could benefit a lot from the duo’s work. James and Pablo continue to work on the series because of the adoration and respect they have for the material: “We love the show. It started out as a collaboration. We came in towards the end of the first season before taking on a much bigger role in the second and third. We kept going and it’s still fun. We keep evolving the sound. The collaboration seems to have grown, it gets better every time. We get used to working with each other. Every year, it gets easier. We keep coming up with different ideas in order to keep it interesting. It’s a great show, we’re lucky to have one of these careers. It keeps going, and it keeps paying the rent.”
The concept of a steady salary was also joked around as one of the reasons why Toydrum and Slow Horses continue to work together. James lightheartedly added: “The money helps when you have kids and a mortgage.” Slow Horses is one of the few streaming shows capable of returning to the screen every year.
The innovative collaboration between Toydrum and Slow Horses requires the duo to utilize different tools in order to bring the sound of the series to life. Pablo was eager to talk about some of these tools, and how they’re used to accompany the action on the screen: “We’re always using samplers. Because the way that we work with is that we create a palette of sounds. Each season has its own sound We try to find what that is. Every season is something new.” James added: “We still have pedals all around. If you take a tour of our studio, you can see it.” During the interview, it was easy to observe the impressive amount of machines that are used to find the musical identity of Slow Horses.
It’s hard to pick favorites in a show as crowded as Slow Horses. Nevertheless, it was important to ask both members of Toydrum if they had a favorite character to write music for. Pablo stated that he wasn’t sure he had a favorite: “I wouldn’t say it’s a character thing.” James was more confident in his answer. The composer enjoyed writing music for one of Season 4’s most surprising additions: “In Season 4, Patrice (Tom Wozniczka), we had some great themes for him. Dan (Daniel Pemberton, the other composer behind the sound of Slow Horses), came down for a writing session. We have a room full of broken pianos. We did a bunch of hitting the piano wire. And that became the theme for Patrice. This unstoppable force, that was really fun. In Season 5, there was a very fun theme for the baddies. But Patrice is one of my favorites.”
Slow Horses could continue to entertain audiences for a long time to come. Apple TV+ remains confident in the adaptation, taking into account how many seasons have been produced over a relatively short span of time.
All episodes of Slow Horses are now available for streaming on Apple TV+. Season 6 of the show debuts on September 16. This interview was edited for length and clarity purposes.
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