EP. 25: INTERVIEW WITH COMPOSER JERMAINE STEGALL

Charles interviews composer Jermaine Stegall, an accomplished and versatile composer and conductor. With over 50 projects to his credit, Stegall is most well-known for the score to “Coming 2 America,” the highly anticipated sequel to the Eddie Murphy classic, with Murphy, Arsenio Hall and James Earl-Jones all reprising their roles. Jermaine recently completed the score for "Praise This" for Universal Pictures. Other scoring and conducting assignments have included “Senior Year” (2022) for Paramount Pictures, and the upcoming film “Oracle” for Universal Pictures.

As a musical conductor, Stegall led a live string orchestra alongside Grammy-winning artist Tori Kelly at the televised 2019 ESPY Awards. A year prior, he conducted the orchestra to Camila Cabello’s performance of “Consequences” on ABC’s American Music Awards. In addition to scoring 2 seasons of "Our Star Wars Stories,” an original digital series from Lucasfilm and StarWars.com, in which host Jordan Hembrough uncovers heartfelt tales of fans and families who have found inspiration in the galaxy far, far away, Jermaine was also nominated for a MPSE Golden Reel Award for scoring the animated Netflix short film "Canvas" directed by Pixar's Frank Abney III.

Topics

0:00 Introduction

1:30 Starting In the industry

3:14 Star Wars, "Our Star Wars Stories"

5:05 Scoring for various projects

7:52: Recording ideas as they happen

10:00 Improvising and creating as a composer

11:50 Jermaine’s favorite projects to work on

13:35 Composing for horror films

17:16 Working on the film "Praise This"

18:30 Using score vs licensing a piece of music for a film

19:07 Creating music and art, being ready for the moment

20:53: Exercises for composers to sharpen their craft

22:10 Telling a story with one instrument

23:10 Capturing emotion through chord progressions

26:00 Hans Zimmer and touring

27:10 Live shows to catch

28:00 Animated films and what to look for

30:47 Composing for film vs television

32:55 Scoring for television with respect to underscore

34:35 New projects in the pipeline

35:29 The creative process for "The Oracle"

37:10 Jermaine’s intention and drive as a composer

38:55 Working on short films and working with a team

40:00 Jermaine’s most creative time to work

41:20 Composing to picture

43:25 Composing for "Coming to America 2"

46:21 Preparing for a new film and the process

52:12 What’s on repeat at the moment

54:00 The work of John Williams

57:12 Closing Thoughts

Follow Jermaine Stegall on IG: @jermainestegall

On the web: https://www.jermainestegall.com/

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Music: "Flying Tigers" from Magic Tiger

Podcast produced by Blue Buddha Entertainment

This content is for educational purposes. We encourage others to conduct proper research, and if needed, consult an attorney for any legal advice regarding music licensing. (c) (p) 2023

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