Studio Solutions: Rob Kolar — Score Problem-Solving for “The Detour”
“It is always darkest just before the day dawneth.” – Thomas Fuller
Things were not going so well for Rob Kolar, not so long ago. The multi-instrumentalist producer/composer’s hand had been badly mangled, and his bank account was dead in the red. Morale, as you might expect, was at an all-time low.
TV really can save lives — “The Detour” did.
“I had severed tendons in my fingers, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to play piano or guitar again,” Kolar recalls. “I had just gotten married and I was thinking, ‘How am I going to support my family?’”
But then, like a knight spurred on by a clarion call, Kolar’s prolific past – and his offbeat musical talents – came riding to the rescue. As a co-founder of the Los Angeles band He’s My Brother She’s My Sister, his unique pop/country/punk/glam folk leanings had caught the ear of screenwriter/director Steve Pink (Grosse Pointe Blank, Hot Tub Time Machine), who proceeded to turn Kolar’s life around with one bolt-out-of-the-blue email.
“He said, ‘I’m a fan of He’s My Brother She’s My Sister, and I have a new pilot I’m directing with Jason Jones. Do you want to do some of the music?’” says Kolar. “I was like, ‘Sure! I’m not doing anything in my life right now.’”
Kolar got busy, and he’s stayed busy. The pilot was for TBS’ “The Detour”, an extremely funny series about a family road trip gone incredibly wrong. Turns out, Kolar’s mad-scientist approach to composing and recording was a perfect fit for “The Detour,” a successful match made apparent from the very first spotting session.
What feels so good about getting pushed harder by a show’s creators? How is Kolar’s LA studio setup built around spontaneity and immediate idea gratification? What’s his counter-intutive approach to making the songs as funny as the show? And when do alcohol and gang vocal recording make a fine mix?
Find out all this and more as Kolar sheds light on how he solved three noteworthy songs from The Detour’s terrific Season One soundtrack: The strange bravado of “We Won,” the tap-happy “Circus Purple,” and the future retro of “Your New Room Awaits.”
Rob Kolar came all the way back to compose memorable music for TBS “The Detour.”
Composer name: Rob Kolar
Composer Website: http://www.robkolar.com
Studio location: Los Angeles — Echo Park
Studio name: Tree House
The Show: “The Detour” on TBS; Jason Jones and Samantha Bee — exec producers, creators; Linda Cohen — music supervisor; starring Jason Jones & Natalie Zea
10,000 ft. view –what’s your preferred way of communicating with the show runner ahead of writing any score?
Generally we email. Sometimes I will get on the phone with Jason Jones to discuss song ideas and shoot the shit. We co-wrote several original songs for the series (featured on the Season 1 soundtrack — AKA a not-so-subtle-plug for the album) and he’d send me lyrics and we’d bounce back and forth with ideas.
Our first spotting session was actually via Skype, haha! They sat me down (as a laptop) in a swivel chair – I was in LA, they were in NY – and would turn me back and forth from Jason (Jones) & Samantha (Bee) on a couch to the screen in their editing room. It was pretty hackish but we all laughed about it and still managed to get some work done.
All sound sources are fair game at The Tree House.
Musically, what did the show’s creators tell you that they wanted, and DIDN’T want?
They gave me a lot of liberty with the music and score. It started with instrumentals of my band He’s My Brother She’s My Sister and evolved into this musical Frankenstein which was often one part tap-dancing percussion, one part roto toms, one part strings, one part nylon string acoustic, one part reverby guitar, and one part experimental weirdness.
There were moments where Jason wanted something that I wasn’t quite delivering which pushed me to take more cracks at his vision, and inevitably made the piece more interesting and fitting for the show. I always appreciated the challenge. It can be frustrating at first but when you find that breakthrough it’s so satisfying and you are grateful to not have settled.
Virtually Reality — how did that ultimately lead to the mix of live instruments and virtual synths that you employ?
Well, there is such an amazing world of virtual instruments but I never want my productions to be solely in the box.
I recorded all the tap dancing live in my studio. Lauren Brown, who also drums and taps in our band KOLARS, performed all the tap rhythms. She has a very unique ability to tap and drum at the same time. Anyway — most of that was live. Same with the guitars.
I used EastWest library for some orchestral elements and even some percussion because their samples sound so good and natural. I also love this library called SMACK which has all these awesome clap and percussion samples – it includes trash cans and tubs being hit, clanking bottles etc. Sometimes I’d use Vintage Horns which is another sound library for kontakt. They have some very natural horn sounds. I also love Attic which features all these awesome vintage keys and synths.
My Room: I love creating and exploring sounds in a spur-of-the-moment way. The studio setup is such that I can press a couple of buttons or plug in a cable and can get any number of sounds. Guitar, MIDI, live mics, bass etc… can all be accessed very quickly which allows me to knock out ideas and experiment in a spontaneous fashion.
I felt like the music on this show should have this kind of energy. The pace is quite quick and punchy with a lot of unpredictability, and the music should reflect that. Often I would find a tempo, a chord progression, hit “record” and wing it, essentially jamming as I recorded. Then I would save and edit the best bits.
The compact Tree House in Echo Park is “Detour’s” musical home base.
Studio Solution 1 – composing and recording “We Won”:
Yes! This was a fun track to do because the idea was that this restaurant (in the show) “Conquistador” had created this whole musical performance piece.
I tried to imagine how they would have hired local singers and a local composer to create it all. I wanted to find the balance of a somewhat low-budget hokey sound while still giving it an earnestness in the delivery. I never want the songs to sound too “jokey”. They should feel like they were created with a genuine devotion to the sound. I find they come off with way more humor and authenticity that way.
As for the vocals on this song, I invited my friends Tamara Yajia, Pat O’Connor, Natalie De Almeida and Lauren Brown to come over and be the choir on the track. We had a couple of drinks and I ordered everyone Zankou chicken. We all had a ball laying down the tracks. Pat and Tamara ended up being the stars and really added such an authentic texture to the vocals. I laugh every time I hear them on that track.
To get the gang vocal sound… We were having a party and I invited all out tipsy friends to come up and sing it together. I mixed it just low enough to disguise the pitchy notes and loud enough to give it that feel of many people singing together.
Studio Solution 2 — composing and recording “Circus Purple”:
All the tap was performed by the talented Lauren Brown (mentioned earlier). She is also the drummer in KOLARS and He’s My Brother She’s My Sister. Often we’d set a tempo and I’d just let her riff rhythms with her feet. Then I’d chop them up, arrange them and add elements on top.
I found the tap sounded especially good when I would crank my preamp or add harmonic distortion to fatten the sound. That and reverb made for a great tone. I love using Universal Audio plugins for that — the EMT reverb is essential for getting the right tap tone. I also love Decapitator by Soundtoys.
Studio Solution 3 – composing and recording “Your New Room Awaits”:
This episode (“The Hotel”) was really fun to do. Its director Brennan Schroff suggested, “Why not score the episode with Muzak like you would hear in a crappy motel?”
This piece was an example of that. It walks the line between needle drop and score. It almost sounds like something that could be playing over the hotel PA yet it propels the zaniness of the scene. I had never really created Muzak before so it was an awesome and hilarious challenge. For uber fans of the show and score… I did a Muzak version of the main theme song and snuck it in there as a little musical “cookie” for those who might pick up on it.
To All You Composers Out There… Keep at it. Keep creating. Do it because you love it. I spent years as a manny, after-school teacher, selling comedy tickets on the streets of NY, sweeping rat shit in an East LA warehouse to support my music and aspirations of being a songwriter.
My life was in a difficult place, I had a terrible hand injury and was basically broke when I got a random email from Steve Pink saying how much he loved my songs and asking if I’d be interested in scoring this pilot he was doing.
You never know who your fans are and when opportunity comes knocking. But it will! Have hope and stay the course. Find what you love and pursue it — no matter how hard logic might try and persuade you otherwise.
The tap master on “Circus Purple” — drummer Lauren Brown of He’s My Brother She’s My Sister.
500’s on file.
Keys 4 sleaze.
Ain’t we got fun? Better times have arrived!
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