S. Peace Nistades
Composer
He was tapped in 2008 to honor the Princess of Thailand, HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana, with an original composition. Flash forward to Los Angeles where the up-and-coming composer has worked with several indie filmmakers, writing scores for various genres, from psychological thrillers (Dark Woods) to dark comedies (The Buffalo Son). Currently at work on his next indie feature, Peace (aka Sornsanti Nivasanont) sat down with director Laurene Williams to talk about his career journey from his native Thailand. Along the way he reveals his love of Cubase and his approach for unveiling the complexities of the title character in Phil Cobb's Dinner for Four.
What was your first gig in Los Angeles?
My first gig in LA was to do a short horror film for a Japanese director, Shun O’hara.
In Los Angeles — but doing a gig for a director in Japan? How did that happen?
It came out of coincidence actually, because I knew a Japanese composer, who I really admired and he was supposed to score the film. But he got stuck on another project and recommended me to Shun. We met at my studio in LA to discuss ideas and such and I eventually scored the film.
Those kinds of connections always help a career. But how did you map it all out. Or did you? Did you study music in school?
Yes, I come from a classical music background and was a concert pianist in Thailand before I started composing. I completed the Associated Board of the Royal College of Music programs in piano, music theory and voice and participated in the Bangkok Opera for several years as well.
And on the film front?
On the film music front, I attended the UCLA Extension Film Scoring Program when I moved to LA several years ago.
And that made you want to become a film composer?
Honestly, it was a merge between two parts of me. I was part of the music scene back in Thailand and, as my parents would say, film was the most natural thing for me. My dad was a big film music fan as well so I grew up listening to lots of Miklos Rosza and Elmer Bernstein to Hans Zimmer and John Williams. And for me, film music was the merging of these two passions.
Did you work on films in Thailand?
A friend at school was directing a short film and I was just hanging around the set as they were shooting and I had my laptop with me and started getting musical ideas. So I pulled out Garageband and started jotting down some ideas. Eventually, I showed them to the director and he put them in the movie! It was called Pool Party! and it was a black comedy with a rather dark score, which he interspersed with Mozart, among others.
So what's your process like? How do you approach a film score?
Although my approach changes subtly depending on the project, my general approach stays the same: creating a unique sonic landscape for the characters and the story, whether that be with one piano or an orchestra or with sounds of my own creation.
So when you screen a film you might hear a specific melody for a specific character?
Sometimes I’ll find sounds for my palette that would represent different emotions or characters and at other times I’ll start with a melody or harmonic structure. But all in all, it’s always about the story and the arc of the film. I think in the end, music is one of the things that help guide the audience emotionally. So there has to be cohesion.
What's the biggest challenge scoring a comedy/drama?
Weaving an intricate score that can flow around and support the dialogue and still keep the lightheartedness and provide comic relief when necessary. In other words, the music has to wear many hats, which is true for a lot of genres, but comedy dramas in particular. Another challenge is to weave a cohesive score around a variety of songs that you may find in a film like this. This was certainly the case with Phil Cobb's.
You tackled that with three main themes for Phil.
Our first theme, which we call the lullaby, shows his deep emotional side; the second, is a more jazzy, playful side of him and the third is an atmospheric ambience that gives us his ‘third’ dimension.
Your score opened up the film while taking the viewer on a real internal ride. Tell us about all the gear you used to make it happen.
I use Cubase as my main sequencer, but I also use a lot of other software as well including Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Gigastudio, Logic and occasionally Mainstage.
Do you use ProTools to write?
I do most of my writing, recording and mixing in Cubase. I use Pro Tools to sync video and to ‘manage’ all the music cues as well as songs that may be used in a film. They are the backbone of my studio. And for those of you who are tech geeks, I run Cubase off a custom designed PC with an SSL Alpha Link. All my samplers run into the SSL via ADAT or Analog. I monitor through custom-designed Exakte DTS Speakers and use custom cables for just about everything from speaker cables to mic and guitar cables. We have several different mics including some Neumanns but our main preference is a custom-built mic by Howard Gale.
Aside from your own, who's got a truly great studio in town?
Hans Zimmer. His studio is amazing! Just an awesome place to create!
Who do you collaborate with?
Ken Goerres who has recorded, engineered and mixed all of my work. I've been collaborating fairly regularly now with vocalist Jennifer Cook from the band UNA, with whom I first collaborated on Phil Cobb’s, and composer/orchestrator Kasia Middleton. I also have a specialist group of musicians.
What's up next for you?
My first gig in LA was to do a short horror film for a Japanese director, Shun O’hara.
In Los Angeles — but doing a gig for a director in Japan? How did that happen?
It came out of coincidence actually, because I knew a Japanese composer, who I really admired and he was supposed to score the film. But he got stuck on another project and recommended me to Shun. We met at my studio in LA to discuss ideas and such and I eventually scored the film.
Those kinds of connections always help a career. But how did you map it all out. Or did you? Did you study music in school?
Yes, I come from a classical music background and was a concert pianist in Thailand before I started composing. I completed the Associated Board of the Royal College of Music programs in piano, music theory and voice and participated in the Bangkok Opera for several years as well.
And on the film front?
On the film music front, I attended the UCLA Extension Film Scoring Program when I moved to LA several years ago.
And that made you want to become a film composer?
Honestly, it was a merge between two parts of me. I was part of the music scene back in Thailand and, as my parents would say, film was the most natural thing for me. My dad was a big film music fan as well so I grew up listening to lots of Miklos Rosza and Elmer Bernstein to Hans Zimmer and John Williams. And for me, film music was the merging of these two passions.
Did you work on films in Thailand?
A friend at school was directing a short film and I was just hanging around the set as they were shooting and I had my laptop with me and started getting musical ideas. So I pulled out Garageband and started jotting down some ideas. Eventually, I showed them to the director and he put them in the movie! It was called Pool Party! and it was a black comedy with a rather dark score, which he interspersed with Mozart, among others.
So what's your process like? How do you approach a film score?
Although my approach changes subtly depending on the project, my general approach stays the same: creating a unique sonic landscape for the characters and the story, whether that be with one piano or an orchestra or with sounds of my own creation.
So when you screen a film you might hear a specific melody for a specific character?
Sometimes I’ll find sounds for my palette that would represent different emotions or characters and at other times I’ll start with a melody or harmonic structure. But all in all, it’s always about the story and the arc of the film. I think in the end, music is one of the things that help guide the audience emotionally. So there has to be cohesion.
What's the biggest challenge scoring a comedy/drama?
Weaving an intricate score that can flow around and support the dialogue and still keep the lightheartedness and provide comic relief when necessary. In other words, the music has to wear many hats, which is true for a lot of genres, but comedy dramas in particular. Another challenge is to weave a cohesive score around a variety of songs that you may find in a film like this. This was certainly the case with Phil Cobb's.
You tackled that with three main themes for Phil.
Our first theme, which we call the lullaby, shows his deep emotional side; the second, is a more jazzy, playful side of him and the third is an atmospheric ambience that gives us his ‘third’ dimension.
Your score opened up the film while taking the viewer on a real internal ride. Tell us about all the gear you used to make it happen.
I use Cubase as my main sequencer, but I also use a lot of other software as well including Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Gigastudio, Logic and occasionally Mainstage.
Do you use ProTools to write?
I do most of my writing, recording and mixing in Cubase. I use Pro Tools to sync video and to ‘manage’ all the music cues as well as songs that may be used in a film. They are the backbone of my studio. And for those of you who are tech geeks, I run Cubase off a custom designed PC with an SSL Alpha Link. All my samplers run into the SSL via ADAT or Analog. I monitor through custom-designed Exakte DTS Speakers and use custom cables for just about everything from speaker cables to mic and guitar cables. We have several different mics including some Neumanns but our main preference is a custom-built mic by Howard Gale.
Aside from your own, who's got a truly great studio in town?
Hans Zimmer. His studio is amazing! Just an awesome place to create!
Who do you collaborate with?
Ken Goerres who has recorded, engineered and mixed all of my work. I've been collaborating fairly regularly now with vocalist Jennifer Cook from the band UNA, with whom I first collaborated on Phil Cobb’s, and composer/orchestrator Kasia Middleton. I also have a specialist group of musicians.
What's up next for you?
I am currently in post-production on a paranormal historical documentary series and have several other international and domestic film projects coming up soon. I'm also in the midst of writing my first concert piece in many years. Aside from that my music production company and I are producing several new collaborations with various artists including the amazing guitarist Mitchell Marlow from the band "Filter" and phenomenal Swedish artist Krister Linder.
