August 19, 2019
Feature Image Illustration by Bolora Munkhbold.
Film scores used to sound like John Phillip Sousa marches, full fanfare, horns, violins, cymbals—the works. But have you noticed that, recently, films are full of guitars? For Texas Monthly, I spoke with members of the band Explosions in the Sky, along with multiple Hollywood directors, writers, composers, and producers to talk about how the band from West Texas changed the sound of Hollywood.
Here’s an excerpt:
From the beginning, film has been integral to the group’s DNA. “Before we set out to be in this band, the four of us were all convinced that we were going to go into movies,” Rayani says. Initially Hrasky was working on a documentary, while the other three members would shoot Super 8 movies and write music to accompany them. “When we were scoring our own little Super 8 shorts, the music was coming a little easier than the filmmaking,” Rayani says.