To be one’s true self is the goal in life. This blog series would not exist if it weren’t for a reunion with an old friend who had all the makings of a modern-day Mozart. But at a pivotal fork in the road, he chose the path behind a desk, instead of one behind a keyboard, which would’ve honored his gift - like Mozart did. Now, 20 years later, he’s unrecognizable, this friend who once had music radiating from every cell, especially when singing in random bursts of happiness. The years have taken their toll - not just in the added 20 pounds that don’t belong, but in the heaviness that comes when living someone else’s life, and not one’s true purpose. The life you came here to live.
As a writer, this inspired me to highlight the special souls who chose to follow their true path. The tougher path, but one that honors and expresses the powerful gift of music they’ve been given. To live the Mozart life. May some of their words help or inspire you to find your true calling in life.
As one of many fans upset at the abrupt cancellation of “Home Fires,” I was pleasantly surprised to find out the stories of these characters will live on in a three-book series.
Though we’ll get to see what happens to the characters, after such a big cliff hanger, we’ll miss the actors who brought the stories to life, and the unusual music that accompanied them. Composer Samuel Sim featured female choral music as the opening theme song for “Home Fires” and throughout. “Pat’s Freedom” theme has this bright, transcendent quality with the layered vocals that don’t seem to have any lyrics, accompanied by cello, giving a glimpse of light coming into Pat’s life. The music reflects the emotions the characters go through in war time England in that fictional town of Great Paxford. Sim has also since scored ITV’s “The Halycon,” which is also based in World War II England, though set in a hotel, with an opening theme that also isn’t instrumental, but offers a female vocal track.
Sam talks about what inspired his music for “Home Fires,” hoping to help others coming up in music, and how he grounds himself in this digital era.
“Home Fires” is perhaps the only TV show I can think of with the most unusual music – much of it is women’s choral music, not just in the theme song, but also scenes like when the village comes together to help with Steph’s corn crop when she couldn’t do it herself, it sounded like a chorus of angels would sound. How did you come up with that idea, what were you going for. They’re not singing any lyrics, right? And was it a female choral group that you enlisted for the show?
I was very close to my grandparents growing up. My grandfather was an RAF pilot in World War II and as a kid his stories left a profound impression on me. But since having my own children I’ve realized that possibly even more terrifying than going off to fight, would be to stay at home and watch your loved ones go. My grandmother not only had to contend with the horrors of The Blitz, but also with the constant fear that she may never see her husband or brother return home again. And that’s what “Home Fires” is all about.
I wanted the music to capture not only the sense of the fear and loss inherent in their situation, but also the stoic heroism of these extraordinary women. Despite the adversity, they came together to support each other and provide for the war effort in the only way they knew how.
The whole concept of a choir is about people coming together, unify their voices in counterpoint and harmony, and creating something that transcends the sum of its parts. Choirs also have a timeless quality about them, whatever the musical zeitgeist of the time, the human voice is the constant. So it felt like this was a natural starting point for the score. It was also important to me that I found a sound that could connect with a contemporary audience, rather than merely recreate a pastiche of the music of the time. In the opening main title theme the musical and lyric lines move independently of each other, overlapping and interweaving – but ultimately capture a sense of cohesion and solidarity when they come together.
The night harvest scene you mention was another one of those moments where everyone came together to help their friend in need, so it felt like a good opportunity to let the choir sing out. The main title theme has lyrics, but for this track the producers of the show didn’t want lyrics or words to detract from the drama.
How do you find inspiration for the music? Is there somewhere deep within where the inspiration comes from? It’s said that when we’re most connected to our true selves - for example, some of the best songs were written in minutes. What’s your take on that, do you feel that in those inspirational moments you’re most connected to your true self? Have any songs come to you in that way, with such ease?
It’s difficult to articulate exactly where inspiration comes from, but when I’m writing music for the screen it’s different from writing music for music’s sake. There are pictures, stories or scripts that spark ideas. Most of the time working on a film or a TV series there are incredible tight deadlines, and you can’t hang around waiting for inspiration to strike. It’s at that point you have to really immerse yourself in the story you’re trying to tell and the emotions that you and the film director want to convey.
When I write songs or concert music I normally set out with an idea or concept that interests me, or a certain sound I want to experiment with and build it from there. It’s rare for me to have the opportunity to craft something without the shadow of a looming deadline so I like to take my time with this kind of work and concentrate on the detail.
Do you have a daily musical process?
I find it extremely rewarding to work hard. I like that feeling at the end of a project knowing that I’ve given it my all. So I tend to do a lot of long days in the studio. I’ve picked up the work habit now so even when I’m not working to a deadline I still find myself writing away, or noodling on the piano.
When did you know you had this gift of music and how did it manifest for you? How did you start to do the human discipline it takes to channel your gift, hone it and bring it forth?
Both of my parents are very musical, but neither of them were given the opportunity to take up an instrument, so I think they were determined that I would. I started playing the violin at age three, the harp at six and guitar at nine. So for as long as I can remember, music and practicing music has always been a part of my life.
There are divine moments of serendipity, where a catalyst opens the door that leads to the path we’re meant to be on, the one where we live out the fullest expression of our true selves, when we are most true to ourselves. What was that moment for you and how did it happen?
There have certainly been moments of serendipity, a huge door opened for me when I was sixteen - I was doing the music for a small theatre production of A Midsummers Night’s Dream. It was a bit of a crazy, psychedelic production where I had to play the electric guitar in a rock band and then jump over to the concert harp for the dream sequences. I didn’t know it at the time, but the film composer Michael Kamen was in the audience – he came up to me afterwards and offered me a job! Michael became a great inspiration and mentor. He really set me on the path.
Life gives us catalysts, a release valve, which often is our lowest point in life, that allows us to push up to the next, hopefully better chapter. Like a desert, wilderness period in life, that helps raise our consciousness and stay true to yourself and your own path. What was that low point for you that helped you push yourself further, evolve and do better, and what did you do when you had that epiphany?
One slightly surreal moment that comes to mind. I must have been about 12, I was playing on this rope swing with some friends and I ended up smashing my head on a tree root. When they took the X-rays, my head it looked like a cracked boiled egg. I was ok but it was pretty serious. However, almost immediately after that I had quite a personality change, I went from a gregarious, outgoing kid to a complete introvert. This is when my obsession with music really started. I would write and practice all the time - music was the only thing I wanted to do. I guess I became the geeky music kid! But now I honestly think that if it wasn’t for that accident I wouldn’t be writing music today.
What inspired this blog series was seeing an old friend who has a special gift of music, but didn’t choose that path, who, 20 years later, isn’t living the life he thought he would live. People who make music and get to travel the world doing so are a rare example of a life where one is able to honor and channel their gift of music. What are your thoughts? And do you feel you’re consciously living the life you thought you would be living?
I feel very fortune to have a career in music, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a perfect fit for all musicians. I was chatting with a film composer friend of mine the other day, he was lamenting that he’d taken his two favorite things: films and music, and ruined them by turning them into a job! It was said in jest but there was certainly an element of truth in it. The entertainment business has no shortage of people who will tell you that things need to be done differently, so there are often compromises and frustrations a long the way. Ultimately I think the gift of music is there for everyone, whether you work in the industry or not, and who’s to say which is more fulfilling?
I’ve said in that blog post about living the Mozart life, that it may be a tougher road to choose, but you’re fully living your true selves, being most true to yourself. Do you resonate to that? You did not choose the 9 to 5 path.
“Living the Mozart life” makes what I do sound way too glamorous. I know a lot of composers and musicians and I won’t say they’re any more, or less, enlightened or true to themselves than anyone else. But most of them I know work much longer days than a 9 to 5!
To embark on this path you chose, was that difficult? You didn’t know you would get here.
I was pretty young when I started out, and I was naïve enough to go headlong into a music career without thinking of the consequences. When you’re young, you can afford to be broke. If I’d had kids and a mortgage at the time it would have been a much harder decision. But I’ve been fantastically fortunate that music has taken care of me this far and hopefully it will continue to do so.
How did you know that this is your life path, your calling? How does someone know when they’re on the correct path?
I can’t say that writing music always makes me happy, at least that’s not why I do it. It’s an obsession, an itch that I have to scratch. Where that desire comes from I don’t know, but now I can’t imagine doing anything else.
What is your idea of success, especially on the path you chose?
I can’t ever imagine saying to myself, “You’re a success now, you can hang up your baton.” It doesn’t work like that. I do a job, write a piece of music and I hope that people like it enough to ask me back to do it again.
It’s been a tough time for music, losing many of its legends or those we grew up with whose music was our soundtrack. What are your thoughts on time, how it seems to go by faster each year. Perhaps it’s made you reflect on what you want to achieve in the time we’re given here? Do you think about time much and what you want to achieve in the time we have?
I sometimes think about what advice I would give my younger self if I could go back in time, and also what advice my older self would give me now. In both cases, I think it would be - “chill out, don’t take life so seriously, and go and have more fun!”
Unlike any time in history, we’re in a overwhelming digital era. There is so much detritus, noise and schadenfreude. What’s your view on that, and how do you find quiet in this era? What do you do to connect with your Higher Self, your true self? How do you ground yourself, focus on your own life path and purpose?
I can easily get consumed in my work and my music, but I also have 7-year-old twins. There’s nothing like kids to make you focus on what’s important in life. And besides, drawing pictures of flying elephants and digging up the garden looking for treasure is a great way to unplug from the digital world.
I’m a firm believer in doing mitzvahs, especially in the tougher times of our lives. To give back, be of service in some way, to use our time most wisely, can only help us in the end. What are your thoughts and do you try to do your own mitzvahs to help others, even in the smallest way?
I’d love to be able to help a young ‘up and coming’ composer the way that Michael Kamen helped me. In many respects I feel like it’s my duty to do so. It can be very difficult starting out in the music business and so I make it a point to try and help young talented musicians find their feet. Hopefully I’m helpful rather than just annoying!
What advice do you have for people who have the gift of music, but don’t know how to start channeling it, to develop that gift and bring it out?
My advice would be to concentrate on producing music that you want to hear yourself and not on music that you think other people want to hear. There are a lot of composers out there writing very safe, familiar material, but there are also a lot of film producers and directors who want to hear something new and surprising. So strive to be bold and original. If you want to write the music of tomorrow, you’re not going to do it by emulating the music of today.
What do you do to help pick yourself up when you’re feeling down, and help you stay the course?
I drink wine, play music, and cook food with my family and friends.