Composer Jeff Russo on Star Trek’s core sound, and possibilities for Star Trek 4
"Jeff Russo" by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Composer Jeff Russo has given a new interview in which he talks about his vision for the core sound of modern Star Trek.
Comicbook.com interviewed Russo over the phone, initially discussing his level of interaction with friend Noah Hawley over his upcoming Star Trek 4. Hawley was recently tapped to direct the next film installment for the franchise, which may or may not be another Kelvin Timeline film with Chris Pine, et al. Russo and Hawley have worked together on a number of projects, including Legion and Fargo, and they’re friends outside of work, too.
Russo has the distinction of composing the current sound of Star Trek, having written the themes for Discovery and Picard, as well as the soundtracks for both series. So will he be working with his friend, Hawley, on Star Trek 4? When asked that very question by Comicbook.com, Russo could neither confirm nor deny.
“We have had conversations about what it might sound like, what it might be, what he’s thinking,” said Russo. He continued, “Nothing is set in stone right now. The movie is still in development and still being written and there are lots of pieces that need to get put into place, so who knows what’s going to happen? [...] This was two people who are artistic talking about what the possibilities are for what the new Star Trek movie could sound like.”
Russo went on to talk more about the core sound of Star Trek and his vision for it. He described Picard as more focused on the individual, Picard, and Discovery as broader, focused on the group. But both shows, he said, share a common sound. “There’s a sound of Star Trek, there’s a sound to that swashbuckling space show,” he said, “and I try to inject that into both those scores.”
As for the sound itself, he described it: “There’s a certain tonality and a certain sound that I utilize in both shows, strings and big horns and I definitely try to bring a more emotional take to both those shows. And I think that’s simply because that’s the way I like to write music.”
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