I knew that the High Street Broadcast’s show numbered 30 was going to be something special.  When I was told that the subject was going to be War of the Worlds I was intrigued.

For previous shows the incidental music was always just brief reactionary music to the scene.  Sometimes a vamp, sometimes just a brief melody that would be played to set the mood.   But with show #30 I wanted to try and do it differently.  I wanted it to be more like an orchestral score for a movie.  I wanted themes that would play against each other and ostinato patterns that were quickly recognizable as “this is the bad guy” or “our hero just died!”

Of course there were several songs as well.  I had a good ol’ swing song, a rock anthem/march, a straight up musical-esque number and the happiest song about annihilation ever written.

Jezebel was such a song and was super fun to write.  It was inspired by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and was a super fun song to write music for.  The band had a blast playing it and it really got the show started.

While the monthly shows for the High Street Broadcast are taking a hiatus you can expect something spectacular for them in the fall.  Something utterly amazing and that I am honored to be helping with.

The High Street Broadcast is a production performed live in the tradition of a 1940’s radio show with a modern twist and a sense of humor that speaks to today’s audience.

It’s unique hour format includes zany character sketches, original and classic songs and a half-hour serial, all with our signature HSB comedic twist.

Originally responding to a request for a pianist, Brent quickly stepped in and started writing small parts underscoring some of the sketches. Each month a new show is performed and recorded in front of a live audience.

As the new High Street Broadcast music director, Brent is in charge of transcribing and arranging the songs performed by the voice actors. He also underscores the dialogue to help emphasize the moods of the scenes.

The first full show that Brent wrote music for was ‘Thomas Madigan and the August Circus’ — the Broadcast’s 25th show. It included five songs and close to 35 minutes of underscoring music. With a turnaround time of just a month (including rehearsals) the requirements for a show of this size was incredible — but everyone pulled it off spectacularly.

While attending “The Room” premier, the film editor, Eric Reinig approached me about writing music for a short film noir project he had a CSUN.  The only problem?  I had less then 24hrs to get something done.  I wasn’t sure if I would be able to get something but told Eric I would give it a shot.

The next day I spent about 3 hours and came up with a good bass riff and a dirty barri-sax line to go on top of it.  I added a couple other little accents here and there and drove the finished audio over to Eric later that afternoon.  This was by far the fastest turn-around I’ve done on any project.

Gritt on YouTube

Eric Reinig approached me about writing music for a video he had written, directed and filmed for the film school at Cal State Northridge.  I puzzled over this for several weeks as the music had to be the voice for the mimes.

Some of the music was thought out chord progressions (there were several days where I puzzled over what chord progression represented a box of chocolates).  Some of it was just improvised.  Everything was recorded live (mistakes and all!) like an old silent-movie.

Be Mime Valentine on YouTube