Where do you dance? In my bedroom.
What was your first concert? Oh my god. I think it was Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Favorite decade of music? Ooh. I’m going to say… at the moment, the sixties.
What movie soundtracks your life? How can a movie soundtrack my life? Oh, god. This is a hard one. Interstellar?
What memory do you associate with the first song on your playlist: “Black Beatles” by Rae Scremmurd? I went to a concert when I was in New York filming Beach Rats and they performed. I didn’t know what concert it was. I just went along with a friend and it was like a festival. They performed, and I remember thinking, “Oh, rappers are rock stars,” like the way they were moving around the stage. Then that song was going to be in the film I made, but the scene got cut. I just remember feeling like that represented a certain time in culture as well, that song was really huge, and it’s got quite a cinematic feeling to it.
Do you have a favorite rapper? At the moment, I was just talking about Digga D–he’s a British rapper. He’s kind of been on the scene for a couple of years now. He’s pretty sick. I think Central Cee’s doing bits. I think Jay Cole’s doing bits.
What is your go-to karaoke song? I like doing “Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis.
What song on the playlist makes you cry? The Bodega track.
Bluetooth or wired headphones? Bluetooth.
What song reminds you of home? The Rod Stewart song.
What song from your playlist do you wish you wrote? “Toxic” by Britney Spears.
Who do you trust most with the aux? Me.
What’s your all-time favorite movie needle drop? Hang on, I need a moment. I’m not going to say my all-time favorite, because I don’t have one. But one that stays in my memory is Luca Guadagnino’s Queer from last year. When Daniel [Craig]’s character was walking down the street and I think he played a Nirvana song. I can’t remember exactly which one. It was either “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or it was “Lithium.” That always stuck in my head as a pretty iconic moment.
Are you spiritual at all? Yeah.
Can you describe Urchin in three words? Empathetic, funny, traveling.
What was the inspiration behind Urchin’s score? We wanted to experiment with heavy electronic sounds to oppose the more naturalistic side of the film. We wanted to be quite extreme with it. I love electronic music. I’ve got a big love of that scene and that world, and it was trying to make it big without being profound and overly heavy-handed.
How does music express something in Urchin that visuals or dialogue can’t? I think in this film, Frank has such good physicality, and there’s moments where he does so much by doing so little. Oftentimes, dialogue is expositional and forces too much narrative, whereas we can learn a lot about a situation by someone’s physicality.
Do you listen to music on set? In the makeup truck, it’s usually a group situation, so it tends to be like whatever everyone else wants to listen to. There’s some pressure picking something for the whole room, especially since you don’t know everyone’s mood. On set, I can feel overstimulated, so I prefer listening to music without lyrics.
What keeps you inspired? Being in New York, for example, experiencing life and the exuberant spirit of a city, the communities, and people that are all doing different things at the same time, to me, that’s quite inspiring. Just being out in the world, and observing shit, and being curious to stuff. I’m always very open to new experiences in that way.
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