In this exclusive interview with Breaking Bad Greece, Thomas Golubic (music supervisor on AMC's Breaking Bad) talks about the final episode of the first half of season 5, how he get started on the music business and much more! Hit the jump below to read more!
Q : How did you get your start in the music business?
A : I started an internet magazine in 1996, which failed miserably. When a local radio station that I loved (KCRW 89.9 FM) announced they would be updating their website, I volunteered, hoping to help them avoid some of the mistakes that I had made. I enjoyed the experience and when they asked me to volunteer in the music library at the station, I agreed. When the DJs weren't using the music library there, I would explore and find wonderful music from their massive collection. One of the DJs heard what I was playing and suggested I put together a radio program demo. I made one, they accepted it, and I was a DJ at KCRW from 1998 to 2008. Thanks to folks listening in to my radio show, I was offered jobs doing A&R (artist & repertoire) for record labels. I decided that a better direction would be in music supervision, so I met with and interned for a working music supervisor named G. Marq Roswell. He taught me the ropes and later I partnered up with my friend and fellow KCRW DJ Gary Calamar and formed 'SuperMusicVision', my company. Gary and I worked on the HBO series 'Six Feet Under' together and a number of film and television shows and then amicably parted ways. SuperMusicVision is now myself, Yvette Metoyer and Michelle Johnson.
Q : What made you choose the specific songs that played during the mid-season finale's two montages? What were you trying to achieve, totally? How do you think they worked, overall?
A : I should mention that 'Breaking Bad' is very much a group effort, and music ideas come from variety of resources. In the case of the mid-season finale, it was Vince Gilligan who found Nat King Cole "Pick Yourself Up". We threw a lot of different ideas at the montage, but that's the one that stuck. It's so completely unexpected, and works strange magic against the brutal on-screen violence. I think it's great. We had been sitting on "Crystal Blue Persuasion" by Tommy James and the Shondells for several season now, just waiting for the right moment. Moira Walley-Becket wrote the episode and found the perfect place for it, and Michelle MacLaren directed the scene with the song in mind, and it all came together quite beautifully.
Q : How did your work as a music supervisor for Breaking Bad compare to your stints with Las Vegas and Six Feet Under.
Α : Each project is different, and challenges a music supervisor in unique ways. I find 'Breaking Bad' to be the most challenging project, but also the most creatively rewarding. I think my best work has been in 'Breaking Bad', but I can't help but look back in pride at Sia's "Breathe Me" closing out 'Six Feet Under' or the many other beautiful music moments in my career. When you are in the moment, you do the best job that you can, and work hard to find the best answer imaginable, and if you keep your standards really high and work with talented and open-minded collaborators, you create those moments that speak powerfully to the story you are telling, and offer a spark of inspiration for the audience.
Q : Do the actors of Breaking Bad influence the music you source ?
A : Absolutely. It is perhaps the actors that guide the music choices the most. The writers create the outline of the world our characters live in and it is the director of photography (Michael Slovis) and our incredibly talented production team that fill it in, but it is Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul and our cast that bring it to life. The chemistry that happens on-screen between them is what guides the decisions of what feels right or wrong with music, and often when not to use music at all. Music is the last element brought to a production, and myself and my team watch sequences over and over in dialing in our choices. It's the sparks that fly between the actors that guides our choices more than anything else.
Q : On a personal level, what’s your best sync or the placement that you’re the most proud of?
A : That's impossible to say. A parent can't choose their favorite child any more than a music supervisor can choose their favorite music moment. I'm sure the ones that were the hardest to get right are sometimes the favorites, and other times it's the ones that feel perfect from the very first moment. Ultimately, they are all loved equally and it's up to others to decide what they think is best.
Q : How you came to choose that obscure Monkees song Goin' Down for the Walt/Todd cook?
A : That was another writer choice. Tom Schnauz wrote and directed that episode, and when working with the editor tried that song against picture. We had thrown a number of ideas at the scene before it was shot, but once it was in the editing room, "Goin' Down" was the one that stuck.
Q : Last scene of episode 411 was phenomental! Bryan Cranston was amazing on this scene-best actor on the planet, hands down. Can you please tell us something for this scene?
A : It's one of my favorite moments in the series. Everybody did absolutely stunning work on that scene and Dave Porter's dark bold minimal score just fuels Walt's complete freak-out moment. It's a great example of what makes 'Breaking Bad' so great. When watching the scene for the first time, you don't notice all the individual parts - the striking photography choices (Marie in silhouette, Skyler walking down the hallway toward the phone, the crane shot of Walt framed in a box in the basement), the stunning performances (everyone is in top form), or the music - but when finished it all comes together into one breathtaking 'Breaking Bad' moment. Who could ask for more?
A : I started an internet magazine in 1996, which failed miserably. When a local radio station that I loved (KCRW 89.9 FM) announced they would be updating their website, I volunteered, hoping to help them avoid some of the mistakes that I had made. I enjoyed the experience and when they asked me to volunteer in the music library at the station, I agreed. When the DJs weren't using the music library there, I would explore and find wonderful music from their massive collection. One of the DJs heard what I was playing and suggested I put together a radio program demo. I made one, they accepted it, and I was a DJ at KCRW from 1998 to 2008. Thanks to folks listening in to my radio show, I was offered jobs doing A&R (artist & repertoire) for record labels. I decided that a better direction would be in music supervision, so I met with and interned for a working music supervisor named G. Marq Roswell. He taught me the ropes and later I partnered up with my friend and fellow KCRW DJ Gary Calamar and formed 'SuperMusicVision', my company. Gary and I worked on the HBO series 'Six Feet Under' together and a number of film and television shows and then amicably parted ways. SuperMusicVision is now myself, Yvette Metoyer and Michelle Johnson.
Q : What made you choose the specific songs that played during the mid-season finale's two montages? What were you trying to achieve, totally? How do you think they worked, overall?
A : I should mention that 'Breaking Bad' is very much a group effort, and music ideas come from variety of resources. In the case of the mid-season finale, it was Vince Gilligan who found Nat King Cole "Pick Yourself Up". We threw a lot of different ideas at the montage, but that's the one that stuck. It's so completely unexpected, and works strange magic against the brutal on-screen violence. I think it's great. We had been sitting on "Crystal Blue Persuasion" by Tommy James and the Shondells for several season now, just waiting for the right moment. Moira Walley-Becket wrote the episode and found the perfect place for it, and Michelle MacLaren directed the scene with the song in mind, and it all came together quite beautifully.
Q : How did your work as a music supervisor for Breaking Bad compare to your stints with Las Vegas and Six Feet Under.
Α : Each project is different, and challenges a music supervisor in unique ways. I find 'Breaking Bad' to be the most challenging project, but also the most creatively rewarding. I think my best work has been in 'Breaking Bad', but I can't help but look back in pride at Sia's "Breathe Me" closing out 'Six Feet Under' or the many other beautiful music moments in my career. When you are in the moment, you do the best job that you can, and work hard to find the best answer imaginable, and if you keep your standards really high and work with talented and open-minded collaborators, you create those moments that speak powerfully to the story you are telling, and offer a spark of inspiration for the audience.
Q : Do the actors of Breaking Bad influence the music you source ?
A : Absolutely. It is perhaps the actors that guide the music choices the most. The writers create the outline of the world our characters live in and it is the director of photography (Michael Slovis) and our incredibly talented production team that fill it in, but it is Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul and our cast that bring it to life. The chemistry that happens on-screen between them is what guides the decisions of what feels right or wrong with music, and often when not to use music at all. Music is the last element brought to a production, and myself and my team watch sequences over and over in dialing in our choices. It's the sparks that fly between the actors that guides our choices more than anything else.
Q : On a personal level, what’s your best sync or the placement that you’re the most proud of?
A : That's impossible to say. A parent can't choose their favorite child any more than a music supervisor can choose their favorite music moment. I'm sure the ones that were the hardest to get right are sometimes the favorites, and other times it's the ones that feel perfect from the very first moment. Ultimately, they are all loved equally and it's up to others to decide what they think is best.
Q : How you came to choose that obscure Monkees song Goin' Down for the Walt/Todd cook?
A : That was another writer choice. Tom Schnauz wrote and directed that episode, and when working with the editor tried that song against picture. We had thrown a number of ideas at the scene before it was shot, but once it was in the editing room, "Goin' Down" was the one that stuck.
Q : Last scene of episode 411 was phenomental! Bryan Cranston was amazing on this scene-best actor on the planet, hands down. Can you please tell us something for this scene?
A : It's one of my favorite moments in the series. Everybody did absolutely stunning work on that scene and Dave Porter's dark bold minimal score just fuels Walt's complete freak-out moment. It's a great example of what makes 'Breaking Bad' so great. When watching the scene for the first time, you don't notice all the individual parts - the striking photography choices (Marie in silhouette, Skyler walking down the hallway toward the phone, the crane shot of Walt framed in a box in the basement), the stunning performances (everyone is in top form), or the music - but when finished it all comes together into one breathtaking 'Breaking Bad' moment. Who could ask for more?
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