The OC's Music Supervisor talks about the music...

eskimo_friendly · 04-13-2005, 07:58 PM

If you're interested! It's a pretty cool concept... [from The O.C. official website]

A conversation with THE O.C.'s Music Supervisor, Alexandra Patsavas

I work closely with Josh Schwartz, the executive producer and creator of THE O.C. and it has really been his love of indi music, demos and other sorts of new music (he's open to things he's never heard before) that have defined the sound for the show. It's been such a great opportunity for me to be able to find these new acts and reach out to bands that have small regional fan bases. Josh and the other executive producers have always been really open to smaller acts.

It's been incredibly flattering to hear that there is an O.C. sound. Josh, the editors and I work really hard to serve the picture first. We tend to gravitate towards indi artists and artists that, more than anything, just fit the picture and enhance the characters. That there has been a sound connected to that has been incredibly flattering to us.

We've been able to feature bands on the series in a few ways: in season one, Rooney had an appearance on camera, they performed four or five songs. It was a big BIG part of the episode. The O.C. also cast recording artist Jem to do some on-camera singing at Julie Cooper-Nichol's wedding. This season, Josh and the producers created The Bait Shop so we've been able to have a series of bands perform live. We have had The Walkman, The Killers, Modest Mouse, The Thrills and Rachael Yamagata, who all came off of tour and were able to perform live for us. Death Cab for Cutie will perform on the Thursday, April 21st episode.

We really look for a band that fits the character of the show. Actually all of the bands selected to be on camera this season, Josh and I had already seen live. So, we had a great sense of how they perform. The decision is always, however, made to highlight great songs that fit well with the show. We also typically license five to ten songs an episode so we have an opportunity to enhance a wide array of scenes.

I think the show's fans have always been very interested in the music used on the show as part of experience of watching. I know that after an episode airs the fans are anxious to find out who certain bands are and how to get a hold of the music. We were very interested in doing a soundtrack and were very happy to be able to do a soundtrack series. "MUSIC FROM THE O.C. MIX ONE" came out last March and had music that had aired until that point. "MUSIC FROM THE O.C. MIX TWO" and "MUSIC FROM THE O.C. MIX 3: HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISMAKKUH" came out in October.

"MUSIC FROM THE O.C. MIX FOUR" will be released in April (April 5), with music that's been featured in significant moments on the show. I think not only do the fans have a great song to remember, but also a great moment. I think that's why the fans have reacted so well to the soundtracks, not only discovering the bands, but also remembering the big moments.

All the bands on "Mix Four" have had their songs appear in episodes or upcoming episodes. We had an artist called matt pond PA cover an Oasis classic called "Champagne Supernova." Other bands included on the mix are The Futureheads, Flunk and Modest Mouse (who appeared singing their song live on camera), twelve songs in all.

Television has unusual time restraints so most of the time you're licensing demos or albums that pre-exist and flow into the office and we're able to hear material that's already been recorded. But occasionally a moment is big enough that Josh is able to have a song created especially for the show. We've had three such moments; Nada Surf created a cover of "If You Leave" for when Anna left THE O.C. to return to Pittsburgh... that was a cover of an 80's song from "Pretty In Pink"--a John Hughes movie. We had Jem cover Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed" for the finale's wedding and finally matt pond PA created the "Champagne Supernova" track.

Musically, I think we look at every situation differently and certainly I think Seth, Summer, Ryan, and Marissa are teenagers and as a result there is a certain feel to the music that they listen to. The music for THE O.C. tends to fit the show as a whole more than a specific character.

We get about 300-400 submissions a week, I have a very full mailbox. We've been very lucky, the music on the show has gotten a lot of attention. Small labels all over the world from Tallahassee, FL to Berlin, Germany find us and send music they think would be appropriate fit for us. I have a great staff and we try to listen to everything that comes into the office. I send out weekly compilations to Josh, the producers and our great picture editors, so we have a working base of music that we know is clearable and what Josh has intended the musical sound of the show to be. At that point sometimes Josh scripts a song and it is living in that particular episode THE O.C. from the script stage.

Songs actually make it into any episode in many different ways...Music can be pitched when the episodes are already shot, during the editorial process or Editorial will sometimes send me a scene and I will put up 10-15 songs and send them the three best. Other times, the editors--Norman Buckley and Matt Ramsey--select songs from the compilations. After we hear what songs are working for the episode, I look at the budget and see if we can afford all of the temped songs. If we can't, we start replacing a few things or maybe scoring a song. Of course, we have budget concerns, but that's sort of how it happens.

The music industry has been so supportive of the show. A few years ago it was much more difficult to convince bands that a TV show or license for TV was a positive thing. I've been really lucky since I started THE O.C. that bands have been really interested in having their music on the show.

I have so many favorite THE O.C. songs I think my very favorite were the songs we were able to create for the show. Additionally, we were able to license Franz Ferdinand's "Jacqueline" and Beastie Boys "Check, Check It Out" last season. Other favorites include "Play" by Flunk and "New Hampshire" by matt pond PA. I feel we have been able to convince lots of really great artists to contribute to THE O.C. I think it's a tribute to THE O.C. as a whole and that been a tremendous point of pride for me.

One of my very favorite songs is the band Bright Eyes doing a cover of "Blue Christmas" for our Chrismukkah episode in the first season. He is not easy to license for TV so that was a great coup as far as I am concerned.

I was always a music hobbyist, and lover of indi rock and new music as a kid. In college, I was a promoter and brought in a lot of acts to the college. I came to LA to work in the mail room of a big agency, after that I became a Music Supervisor working for Roger Corman's infamous B-movie studio We did a lot of low budget movies for the low budget master, which was a great learning experience for me. I learned how to supervise shows for extremely low money and eventually started my own company The Chop Shop and have really loved music supervising television shows for the last ten years.

04-13-2005, 07:58 PM	#1
eskimo_friendly Eskimo Regular Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Dublin Posts: 418	The OC's Music Supervisor talks about the music... If you're interested! It's a pretty cool concept... [from The O.C. official website] A conversation with THE O.C.'s Music Supervisor, Alexandra Patsavas I work closely with Josh Schwartz, the executive producer and creator of THE O.C. and it has really been his love of indi music, demos and other sorts of new music (he's open to things he's never heard before) that have defined the sound for the show. It's been such a great opportunity for me to be able to find these new acts and reach out to bands that have small regional fan bases. Josh and the other executive producers have always been really open to smaller acts. It's been incredibly flattering to hear that there is an O.C. sound. Josh, the editors and I work really hard to serve the picture first. We tend to gravitate towards indi artists and artists that, more than anything, just fit the picture and enhance the characters. That there has been a sound connected to that has been incredibly flattering to us. We've been able to feature bands on the series in a few ways: in season one, Rooney had an appearance on camera, they performed four or five songs. It was a big BIG part of the episode. The O.C. also cast recording artist Jem to do some on-camera singing at Julie Cooper-Nichol's wedding. This season, Josh and the producers created The Bait Shop so we've been able to have a series of bands perform live. We have had The Walkman, The Killers, Modest Mouse, The Thrills and Rachael Yamagata, who all came off of tour and were able to perform live for us. Death Cab for Cutie will perform on the Thursday, April 21st episode. We really look for a band that fits the character of the show. Actually all of the bands selected to be on camera this season, Josh and I had already seen live. So, we had a great sense of how they perform. The decision is always, however, made to highlight great songs that fit well with the show. We also typically license five to ten songs an episode so we have an opportunity to enhance a wide array of scenes. I think the show's fans have always been very interested in the music used on the show as part of experience of watching. I know that after an episode airs the fans are anxious to find out who certain bands are and how to get a hold of the music. We were very interested in doing a soundtrack and were very happy to be able to do a soundtrack series. "MUSIC FROM THE O.C. MIX ONE" came out last March and had music that had aired until that point. "MUSIC FROM THE O.C. MIX TWO" and "MUSIC FROM THE O.C. MIX 3: HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISMAKKUH" came out in October. "MUSIC FROM THE O.C. MIX FOUR" will be released in April (April 5), with music that's been featured in significant moments on the show. I think not only do the fans have a great song to remember, but also a great moment. I think that's why the fans have reacted so well to the soundtracks, not only discovering the bands, but also remembering the big moments. All the bands on "Mix Four" have had their songs appear in episodes or upcoming episodes. We had an artist called matt pond PA cover an Oasis classic called "Champagne Supernova." Other bands included on the mix are The Futureheads, Flunk and Modest Mouse (who appeared singing their song live on camera), twelve songs in all. Television has unusual time restraints so most of the time you're licensing demos or albums that pre-exist and flow into the office and we're able to hear material that's already been recorded. But occasionally a moment is big enough that Josh is able to have a song created especially for the show. We've had three such moments; Nada Surf created a cover of "If You Leave" for when Anna left THE O.C. to return to Pittsburgh... that was a cover of an 80's song from "Pretty In Pink"--a John Hughes movie. We had Jem cover Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed" for the finale's wedding and finally matt pond PA created the "Champagne Supernova" track. Musically, I think we look at every situation differently and certainly I think Seth, Summer, Ryan, and Marissa are teenagers and as a result there is a certain feel to the music that they listen to. The music for THE O.C. tends to fit the show as a whole more than a specific character. We get about 300-400 submissions a week, I have a very full mailbox. We've been very lucky, the music on the show has gotten a lot of attention. Small labels all over the world from Tallahassee, FL to Berlin, Germany find us and send music they think would be appropriate fit for us. I have a great staff and we try to listen to everything that comes into the office. I send out weekly compilations to Josh, the producers and our great picture editors, so we have a working base of music that we know is clearable and what Josh has intended the musical sound of the show to be. At that point sometimes Josh scripts a song and it is living in that particular episode THE O.C. from the script stage. Songs actually make it into any episode in many different ways...Music can be pitched when the episodes are already shot, during the editorial process or Editorial will sometimes send me a scene and I will put up 10-15 songs and send them the three best. Other times, the editors--Norman Buckley and Matt Ramsey--select songs from the compilations. After we hear what songs are working for the episode, I look at the budget and see if we can afford all of the temped songs. If we can't, we start replacing a few things or maybe scoring a song. Of course, we have budget concerns, but that's sort of how it happens. The music industry has been so supportive of the show. A few years ago it was much more difficult to convince bands that a TV show or license for TV was a positive thing. I've been really lucky since I started THE O.C. that bands have been really interested in having their music on the show. I have so many favorite THE O.C. songs I think my very favorite were the songs we were able to create for the show. Additionally, we were able to license Franz Ferdinand's "Jacqueline" and Beastie Boys "Check, Check It Out" last season. Other favorites include "Play" by Flunk and "New Hampshire" by matt pond PA. I feel we have been able to convince lots of really great artists to contribute to THE O.C. I think it's a tribute to THE O.C. as a whole and that been a tremendous point of pride for me. One of my very favorite songs is the band Bright Eyes doing a cover of "Blue Christmas" for our Chrismukkah episode in the first season. He is not easy to license for TV so that was a great coup as far as I am concerned. I was always a music hobbyist, and lover of indi rock and new music as a kid. In college, I was a promoter and brought in a lot of acts to the college. I came to LA to work in the mail room of a big agency, after that I became a Music Supervisor working for Roger Corman's infamous B-movie studio We did a lot of low budget movies for the low budget master, which was a great learning experience for me. I learned how to supervise shows for extremely low money and eventually started my own company The Chop Shop and have really loved music supervising television shows for the last ten years.