Jason Brandt talks about his new movie Camp Hideout

And we've done maybe about 10 feature films, a ton of short films, and a ton of TV shows together. But the last three films, Freddy, Max Winslow and the House of Secrets, and now this one, Camp Hideout, is probably my three favorite of them all. And the It took a little while to get hired onto it because, you know, when you go from one, uh, group of producers to the next, to the next, uh, it's almost like starting a brand new business every time.

So, you know, you're hiring new people, getting all the financing in place and, uh, but all the producers have been fantastic. I absolutely love them. Uh, the process started with, uh, Sean first, you know, after he shot the movie, uh, he edited it and then he showed me a work print and, uh, we just discussed things, had a certain direction. Uh, there was a temp track that was.

A little more orchestral at the time, uh, but then As time went on, we started to realize we wanted it to be a little more specific to what the film is. It's a camp movie, it's a kid's film, and it's got Christopher Lloyd in it. And we grew up with him because of Back to the Future, and Adam's Family, and a bunch of other movies.

And so we thought it would be more fun to just, you know, every time you go camping, you know, there's always someone with an acoustic guitar, and there's some whistling, and some singing, and snapping, and clapping, and all that stuff. So all that's incorporated in there, plus an orchestra, and plus all these other things. You know, when you get to... to the emotional scenes.

So, uh, the way I approached this specific one, uh, the main character's name is Noah and he's a foster kid who is, uh, running away from two bad guys. are two guys that hire him to steal something and then that heist goes wrong. And so now he's hiding in a camp away from them. And so he thinks he's cool. And he thinks he's a certain kind of guy. So a lot of funk music, kind of edgy, uh, spy music from time to time. That's kind of the soundtrack in his head. That's kind of how I approach that.

And then, uh, you'll, a lot of people have mentioned kind of like Home Alone vibes and stuff like that. So you'll notice that the two, uh, two bad guys who are, you know, playful and fun their own way. Uh, this is definitely a family film. The music kind of follows their journey as well. And then when you meet Falco, which is the, Christopher Lloyd character. I mean, he creates an amazing character. He's as legendary now as he was back then. And I got to write very cool themes for him.

He's kind of, he starts off as the dark brooding guy. And, uh, I just, each one of these characters has their own theme. The camp has a theme, uh, as does, you know, these are all lyrical. They're more melodic, which is nice because, you know, as time has progressed, you know, it's not. A lot of movies want to be more neutral, and they want to have more ambient pulse, or those kind of things, or just let the drums push it forward. But in this case, it's vibrant. It's fun.

I mean, I'm using at least three or four different guitars for different themes, and then different ideas. It's got a huge palette, so you're not bored.

And I, uh, Decided to make an effort like I should probably do more things that they can see in fact They've been in one or two of them as extras and one of them was so upset that Uh, they weren't in it. I was like, you weren't born yet. Like, don't be upset. So I'm still trying to get an opportunity for that child. So if anybody needs a seven and a half year old extra, uh, that I could score, that'd be amazing.

But it has changed a bit more because now this audience, you know, we all chased our childhood, you know, you and I could sit here and talk about movies that changed us when we were kids, when we discovered it. And We're all kind of still kind of going back to that early magic, that little bit of fire that happens. And even when we get tired of, you know, all the crap that happens in Hollywood, you still go, well, what makes me tick? What, what made me want to do this in the beginning?

And it's those early movies, those early things. And I want to be a part of that narrative for all kids, especially mine. And, uh, one of the things I noticed in all those movies, they had melody and there was orchestras were live players. There was a little bit more. more fun. You know, it's kind of an exaggerated experience of what's going on in the narrative. Because if you were just to watch these things without music, you know, it'd be flat. It wouldn't be as interesting.

But when the music comes in, it's much more vibrant. It moves. And, uh, I want my kids to see that. And that piece of my childhood will show up in everything I'm working on. And then hopefully they like it and hopefully we can talk about it. But they've seen this movie. They laughed out loud. So, and we'll see it again. Again this weekend. I hope they're excited.

And yeah, and especially in the community of composers for TV and film, there is this touchstone of, seeing movies when you're kids, and having that Major inspiration to, to now do what you do, And, uh, you know, certainly with, a lot of my guests, they hark back to, oh, it was the, this movie that, that started everything or this movie or the, you know, um, John Williams or Morricone or, you know, it could be anything.

And, uh, but I mean, it turned out to be a real success by the two or three years in, I remember going to like McDonald's or something and they were selling teen Titans go toys. I was like, Oh, we're doing fine. So, the show is fun. I mean, uh, it has a lot of, again, that vibrancy. We do cartoons a little differently now. Cause I grew up on Bugs Bunny and some of those where they're really, you know, hitting every point and here, you know, it's a little bit of talking.

Then they go into a thing. So they kind of, they're moving it around a bit. So

They have typically, uh, I mean, I want to say there was about 52 episodes in the first season or two. And so there, a lot of music that we'd had written, that's. You know, building into a library and they'll reuse it in other cases, just like, you know, the main title gets reused over and over and the end titles. And so, uh, all of that just, uh, is just a work in progress. And I, I'm not in all the meetings with other composers at all.

So I'm not sure how they're all approaching it, but, uh, it's been fantastic fun on that.

That hit me like a ton of bricks. Uh, the other thing is I had an aunt that would take that soundtrack and play it in a car wherever we were driving. And it, that was, it never occurred to me that, wow, this music, you know, film music doesn't always sound good separated.

From the picture and in this case it did I just saw it as music and it's it retells the whole story I mean you have that beautiful fanfare and then it goes into a different mood Only about a minute and a half later where it's very dark and it's filled with action You can just hear the story beat by beat, you know, uh cue by cue scene by scene and uh I just remember seeing the movie once or twice, but then hearing that soundtrack over and over again with those car rides, and I just thought, Wow,

that's amazing, and it just stuck with me for years. It never occurred to me that I want to do that, but that, that was a big thing. I've had a number of instances in my life, which I'm sure you have too, where, you know, maybe when you got MTV as a kid, and then you started seeing music videos, you're like, Oh, wow, they're doing it. Cause now you're seeing live players in a way that you wouldn't normally see. Uh, now we have the internet, so it's no big deal.

You can see, you know, uh, you know, anybody perform, you know, uh, you know, a Russian symphony or American symphony or, you know, Leonard Bernstein, who's not alive, you can watch all that now. But back then you had to buy a VHS or something, and maybe you'd see a little bit on PBS now it's at demand. But at that time, it was very exciting to just see anybody. They perform live and that was always informative.

And so I had, uh, times when, you know, first it was star Wars and then MTV came along and I wanted to play guitar and then play piano. And I had a number of lessons throughout life. Uh, but the spark of music is always interesting. It, it, it, it always goes back to your childhood. Somehow it always does. We're always kind of chasing that.

I hear it over and over again that, you know, hit them like a ton of bricks when they were little.

So you're hearing, you know, a lot of vibrant music in the pop world, but then you go to the movie theater and you're hearing a good, you know, hour, sometimes of classical music underscored throughout. And to hear all that, I mean, I just feel very fortunate that I was born at that time to experience all these things where the narrative of music is just very big and fun. There's a lot to learn.

Uh, you know, with time and, you know, persistence, time and pressure, you can do anything, and I've learned many instruments that way, and uh, some with lessons, some without, but uh, there was, it was just the kind of the environment at the time. It was just very exciting. And then going to concerts, whether they be rock concerts or classical or jazz, just seeing live players, just living, breathing, uh, fun and just watching the audience experience it.

It's just, it's interesting because so much of music now is written on computers and things are very quantized and it's very compressed and it wasn't like that. You know, most music for a long time, you know, the dynamics of an orchestra is very quiet and very loud. And there's something about that. That I feel like we've kind of lost in today's music, in today's world, where it's, it's always kind of like a compressed clamshell, you know, going over a hamburger.

And I definitely had lessons for each, but, you know, some teachers get you, sometimes they don't. You know, if you're introduced to the right thing. And you're in the right space and you're inspired. I mean, it's all about curiosity, you know, ABC, always be curious, just keep going and going and going. And the more I, you know, I hear something, you know, sometimes being self taught can be advantageous.

My technique is not perfect, but I sure enjoyed the process of getting there and all the lessons I've had. I mean, you know, guitar, piano, drums, bass, uh, you know, and then composing and conducting and all those things have been very helpful, but it was a little rocky in the beginning because, you know, what you want. I do isn't what you're technically able to do. So it just took a while of being impatient. And then, you know, I didn't have that patience.

So sometimes you just have to do it, just do it.

And, uh, I remember there was another one, Randy Rhodes, he used to play with Ozzy and after you learn your major and minor scale, there's all those modes in there. A long time learning those modes and learning theory on guitar that eventually, uh, at the same time while I'm doing all this, I'm listening to soundtracks. I'm just starting to collect.

I had like Dance with Wolves, Silence of the Lambs, of course, Star Wars, and I'm reading books while listening to that and the soundtrack, you know, in the background, and I'm really. Impressed with all the layers that are in that. And so the big gateway for me, I read an interview with Steve by famous guitar player who had, when he was a kid or somewhere in his youth, a four track recorder, and he said, I'm just going to write a bunch of compositions on my guitar.

So on that four track recorder, I had. A drum machine, a bass, and usually two guitars, you could bounce those tracks, uh, you know, you take three tracks and record it into one, and then all the way, if you keep bouncing tracks, you can get up to seven tracks. So I made a deal with myself to write a piece of music every day in the summer of 92, and then never play it for anybody. So I had the ability for it to be terrible and, uh, just get through it.

But that was the most educational experience I had where you just forced yourself to write. I mean, you know, composition is just like learning violin or any other trade or instrument. You just have to keep doing it and be willing to fail. And that's what I did. It was on guitar. And then. Uh, I started taking composition lessons formally right after that. Uh, I wanted to know more and I had, I got like a Korg X2 and it had 16 tracks on that, which was huge in 92 or 93.

I think that now it's the year after. So 93, I got this huge thing and it's a workstation and you're able to record all these things with MIDI. It was just a whole new world. And so through experimenting and then, I mean, the lesson really is just your ears and looking at scores. I mean, you want to learn about Bach, you just listen to Bach and look at it and then study it, and then hear the players. And then same thing with John Williams. You want to do it, try to get it under your fingers.

You know, a piano a good piano reduction. Getting things under your fingers really, really helps. And then you go, Oh wow, he's moving a lot. He's doing this, this, and this. And then the way he wrote it for the strings, it's all separated. That's all fascinating stuff. So that was kind of the gateway of just being curious and just keep going after it, being willing to fail. And, uh, and then eventually, you know, finding people who were willing to tolerate some mistakes.

And then it's a collaboration and then we're all making okay films to really good films. It's a, it's gradual

Something, a piece of music you heard when you were a kid, you could maybe use that. Something you heard in college, maybe you could use that. Something you heard 10 minutes ago, you could use that. I mean, we're always taking from the universe and then reinterpreting. You know, just like this conversation, we're just... improvising now back and forth, you know, some of this could end up in a composition in its own way. You know, you could say something like, you should check out this artist.

Then I do. And then it's amazing. And then you're inspired by that. And it just goes and goes and goes. And so for me, the, the big point, uh, I don't know if you remember a movie called interview with a vampire. It had Ellie Goldenfall. It was a score by him. I heard that music and Before that, I thought, oh, maybe I can figure this out on my own. That was the score that made me go, I don't, I don't know what he's doing. And there's no sheet music for this.

They're not releasing film scores on paper. Uh, you know, because he's got these things where there's horn rips in it, and then the horns are slowly bending and twisting, and then he's doing all these extended techniques, not familiar with at all, but it was amazing, it was absolutely amazing. I'm hearing magic in a different way that John Williams is bringing magic and all these other components are.

So around 94, at the end of that, I was like, I should, I should do, you know, music for medium for film. And I realized I could do it for film. That was the goal at the time. And then television, video games, commercials, it's an endless thing. And since I play all these different instruments. And there'll be a home for everything. And that's been my experience. Any piece of music I've ever written, there's a home for it. Somebody needs it somewhere. And, um, there's nothing wasted.

So that was kind of the game changer for me around 94 with Elliot Goldenthal. And then that rabbit hole of these amazing composers that I would have written off prior, I'd be like, I don't know what I do with this. But then, you know, You know, same thing with the movie, The Shining, you know, you hear all of these in 2001, there's all these extended techniques from Xenakis and Penderecki and you're like, how, how are they doing that? Then you see the notation for it.

You're like, yeah, I was never going to guess that, you know, it's like an arrow with every instrument playing the highest note for 30 seconds. They're improvising that and that's, it's a different style altogether. So all of that got my wheels turning and I was like, this is super exciting and At the end of 94 when I saw Interview with the Vampire and listened to that soundtrack a million times, I realized I want to do that kind of thing. And, uh, it went from there

I went to USC to do that and I knew I was going to stay here. But even then, like maybe I could have gotten here earlier. I could have done more Even with what I'm doing now, like I'm getting to talk to you and doing interviews. Maybe I should have hired a PR, you know, Impact 24 has been amazing. I should have probably called them 20 years ago.

Uh, over and over again, I've had this experience of like, Uh, this is great that I've succeeded, but I, I arrived with a certain amount of fear, and I, I probably should have just leaned in more with that. So that's one piece of advice. The other one, uh, when I was at USC, Christopher Young, great teacher, great composer, uh, he said something amazing that's stuck with me since then. He said, Hollywood is the land of dreams, but it's also the land of broken dreams.

Uh, there are some people that do want to see you succeed, but many others, uh, only go so far, and they don't want to see you succeed, and you kind of have to be wary of that. Uh, that's, it's a weird problem, you know, because you think, oh, everyone's rooting for me to succeed. Not so much. Uh, there are some people that only went so far and then they get bitter. You know, you see that with family members, you know, they kind of hold you back and go, you're not good.

I've known you since then. This is what you're capable of. Don't do that. Don't believe them. You write your own story. Go as far as you possibly can. Bet big on yourself. And be wary of the people, you know.

there are some people that are rooting for you and they are dreamers and they want to do this and then there are those that they're only meant to go so far they're going to plateau and so that's kind of my advice is just that big on yourself uh stay away from the negativity you know take breaks channel what you did in your childhood what did you why are you here why are you doing this are you doing it because you love something that's what's going to drive you over and over again and uh you know

that that's ultimately it

And if I'm, you know, cooking food for the kids, guess what? I'm going to listen to music. I'm running an errand. I'm gonna listen to some music. So I'd say, you know, a pair of headphones with, now it's an iPhone, which is great because I can fit thousands of CDs on it. I mean, if you drove in the car with me in the, you know, early two thousands and you'd be like, it's messy in here.

I'm like, yeah, just don't put your feet on all my CDs because you never know what you wanna listen to back then. Now it doesn't matter. But that's definitely, that was a game changer for me just having, you know, an iPod and now iTunes in general and just being able to channel. Anything. So any mood. So if I'm in the mood for Sinatra, and I just want to get that in my head space, or if I'm wanting to hear some Thomas Newman or, you know, Pantera or Stravinsky, whatever it is, uh,

Because now when you look back, you're like, how do you listen to Jimi Hendrix? And you have to advise them, uh, in the order it came, you know, how do you watch Star Wars? Please watch it in the order it came. Don't go rogue and play these things out of, you know,

And, you know, every day for an hour and a half, I'm delivering newspapers, listening to various things, whether, you know, be Van Halen or be Beethoven, whatever it was, it was keeping me moving and I still do that. I have not outgrown this process.

John Barry's like that, like dances with wolves and very slow, slow tempo. And, you know, those are the ones I'll still listen to in order because it's programmed certain way. But, uh, you know, if it's a recent rock album and it doesn't matter, um, and I feel bad about that, but if I'm listening to Metallica's Master of Puppets, oh, it'll be Battery, you know, and then Master of Puppets and straight on through all those songs. So