Beyond the Disco: Scoring the music of The Martian

Today’s Slacker Sunday video features Jon Burlingame’s 17 minute conversation with Harry Gregson-Williams. Gregson-Williams, the composer of the score for The Martian talks about creating the musical landscape for the film.

For most of us, it’s the collection of disco songs Mark Watney is forced to listen to throughout the film, that stands out; a funky playlist that goes from spacey classics like David Bowie’s Starman to Abba’s Waterloo to Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive. 

But there is musical life on Mars beyond the disco, the real score, partly orchestral, partly electronic, partly choral, almost 80 minutes of actual original music, which is where Gregson-Williams comes in.  Enjoy!