Battlestar Galactica

1) Who are your musical idols?
My idols in the realm of film music are Elmer Bernstein, Jerry Goldsmith, Bernard Herrmann and Danny Elfman. However, I also need to include on that list Queen, Pink Floyd and Oingo Boingo.

2) How did you get into Battlestar Galactica?
Right place, right time.

3) Do you have favorite character and episode?
Cool question. My favorite character might be Col. Tigh. Even before recent revelations about who he is... Or may be. But, he's always been very interesting to write music for. As for a favorite episode, would it be fair to lump Occupation-Precipice and Exodus I and II together? The entire "New Caprica" storyline was just amazing.

4) Are there any favorite scenes from Battlestar Galactica? Either by music or by its content...
The battle sequence in Exodus II is incredible, but I have to admit the closing moments of Crossroads Part II probably take the cake.

5) What is your musical inspiration since there are so many different themes in your music?
The inspiration for the music comes from the show itself. It's hard to bring outside influences to a show as dynamic and ever-evolving as "Galactica." I just watch each episode and let the story dictate where the music should go.

6) What has been the most technical piece of work you have had to do?
I suppose that "Battlestar Sonatica" for "Torn" and "Battlestar Operatica" for "Tigh Me Up Tigh Me Down" really required a classical sound. I had to fall back on my classical training and brush up on sonata form and classical/early-romantic harmonic language. Most of the music in BG is obviously much more free.

7) How does the initial idea for composition grow to the final product?
Each episode is its own unique adventure. Sometimes, ideas will come while we're in the recording process, and we'll re-invent some aspect of the cue on the fly. You just have to stay open-minded about it, but also make sure that you don't improvise so much that you risk missing the incredibly important deadlines.

8) What has been your favorite piece to compose for the series?
A bit of a cop-out, since I didn't "compose" it, but my arrangement of "All Along the Watchtower." Even though its based on Bob Dylan's melody and lyrics, I was allowed to put so much of my own musical personality in it that I think it took on a new sound, unique to BG.

9) What's something you haven't used, but might like to? I mean, like jazz piano or something?
Jazz piano? We already did that! Check out "Colonial Day." :)

10) Of the characters that have never received their own Leitmotif, which one do you must want to give one to, and what would it be like?
Wow, this is a tough one since almost every character already has a theme... Or three. However, I'd love to write a theme for Romo Lampkin, the lawyer in the last three episodes of season 3. I hope he comes back next season.

11) Wasn't Katee Sackhoff supposed to sing a song for Maelstrom's soundtrack?
There was some talk of her singing a song on "Takin' a Break from all your Worries" but schedules didn't permit anything to happen. Hopefully we'll get her singing on something else.

12) How hard is it to resist the temptation to make new leitmotifs for exciting new guest characters, when there's a good chance they're only one-shot characters that won't appear again so that if you make such a theme it cannot be re-used?
Sometimes, it's impossible. There are times, like "Black Market" and "Hero" when creating a theme like that is clearly a necessity. It's kind of a bummer knowing that theme will probably end up in musical limbo after the episode ends, but that's life.

13) What was the most challenging piece of music you have written for BSG?
The scenes where Col. Tigh kills his wife and where Starbuck dies. Intensely difficult sequences to get through, because you have to spend so much time on the scenes, it can get truly depressing, but the scores have ended up being really good in those places, so I guess it's worth it.

14) There was a possibility last year, that you could release some unreleased music from Season One and Two. Is there still some chance?
There's a very good chance we'll be releasing extra material from each season. It will probably be on a disc that comes out after season 4, but it'll be worth the wait.

15) Did you write lyrics for songs like "Wander My Friend" or "Battlestar Operatica" yourself?
Yes, I write as many of the lyrics as I can. Sometimes, I'll take text from within the show and translate it to another language ("Kobol's Last Gleaming" / "Lords of Kobol"). I also wrote lyrics for the opening montage of "Occupation."

16) Any news on Season 3 Soundtrack release date? And will there be limited signed edition from La La Land Records like last year?
We're slated for a mid-August release now. And I'm sure La La Land will do the autographed copies for the early-birds as they always do.

17) What do you listen to in your free time?
What's "free time"? Just kidding... Well, kind of. Anyway, I listen to all kinds of stuff. Check out my answers to #1 and you'll get a good idea of some of the usual selections.

18) Do you have any new projects coming up?
I'm scoring the second season of Sci Fi Channel's "Eureka" this summer, and I did a film called "Wrong Turn 2" starring Henry Rollins that comes out this Halloween.

19) Can you tell us something about the musical surprise in Season Finale? (I will not post this interview until it aired)
Oops. I waited too long to answer this didn't I? :)

20) And special question: What is origin of your name "Bear"? :o)
What can I say? My parents were hippies.

Comments (Registered Users Only)

Bear McCreary sent out the mass e-mail below to his fans:

Hi "Battlestar Galactica" fans! I have to apologize for the late reply, but I hope you appreciate that I've never seen my INBOX overflow like this! I was on vacation and returned to find a million emails with the words "All Along the Watchtower" in the subject heading. I hate "mass emails," but I'm left with no choice. If I wrote each of you back personally, it would take me all week. I'm thrilled that so many fans liked the "Watchtower" arrangement and took the time to write me. Here are the answers to basically every question I got:

1). The first release of "All Along the Watchtower" will be on the "Battlestar Galactica Season 3" album in mid-August.

2). There will be no iTunes release, CD single, 45 or bees-wax cylinder of "All Along the Watchtower" before the soundtrack album in August.

3). No, I cannot send you an mp3 even if you pinky-swear that you'll never share it with anyone else, or offer "a million dollars," "beer," "womens" or "Uber cool hardware" :)

4). The soundtrack album will also include the instrumental version of the song when Tigh, Tory, Tyrol and Anders are wandering through the hallways.

5). Yes, the album version of "Watchtower" will include all 3 verses.

6). There are no plans to release a karaoke version of my "Watchtower" arrangement. (No joke, I got more than one email about this!)

7). The live concert this year will be in Los Angeles, in August, to coincide with the release of the season 3 soundtrack album. Details will be posted on my website in the next few months.

8). There are no immediate plans to take the live concert and tour the rest of the nation or the world. I hope to put together a touring version of the concert sometime in the future.

9). A 2-disc Season 3 album is unlikely at this point, but rest assured that the best of the best will make the cut.

10). There are plans in the works to release extra material from each season that did not make the cut on any album so far. Most likely, these tracks will be released after season 4.

11). Anything else I didn't cover can probably be answered here (click on "BLOG")

So say we all!