American Vandal is a true-crime satire that explores the aftermath of a costly high school prank that left twenty-seven faculty cars vandalized with phallic images.
Composer Darien Shulman’s latest project, Netflix’s American Vandal, revolves around a horrendous high school prank and the mystery of figuring out who did it. The show, now in its second season, has resonated so well with audiences because it uniquely intermixes two genres not normally coinciding; high school comedy and compelling true-crime docuseries. All the while being pushed along by Shulman’s score, which is filled with intrigue and emotion. The end result being one highly entertaining show. Below is an in-depth interview with Shulman discussing everything score related.
American Vandal puts a spin on the documentary drama genre. Were you a personal fan of documentaries such as Making A Murderer and The Jinx before starting this project?
Darien Shulman: I was a little late the party when it came the true-crime or docu-drama craze. I remember being aware that it was going on, with many of my friends and colleagues raving about this podcast called Serial back in 2014-15. When Tony Yacenda, the director of American Vandal, told me that the show was being developed, I put myself thru a little true-crime crash course, listening to Serial and watching Making a Murderer, The Jinx, and other shows in that vein.
What is the best part of scoring American Vandal?
DS: I love the team behind Vandal. Co-creators Tony and Dan Perrault, producers Joe Farrell and Joe Hardesty, Peter Terlaak Poot who created all those cool graphics, all the editors and assistant editors. There was a real sense of collaboration there — I truly felt like I was part of a team, and this was despite the fact that I did all the music in my New York studio, while the rest of the team was in LA!
Did you see all the episodes before you began scoring the season? If so, did that help you map out your musical arches? Take us through your scoring process.
DS: Yes and no. I started the composing process before the show hit post-production, based on the certain characters or moments that stood out to me in the scripts. By the time the editors began to assemble the episodes, I had a little over 30 minutes worth of music cues already, which they were free to drop in as placeholder cues. From there, the assembled cuts would be sent back to me to refine and, in some cases, rewrite the music. Then I’d send it back to the editors. It’s a back-and-forth process right up until the mixing stage.
The reviews of Season 2 have all been pretty good. Why do you think the show has resonated so well with audiences?
DS: I think Vandal surprises people. The premises of both seasons, on the surface, seem like lowbrow sketch comedy, but then people actually watch it and they become deeply invested in these characters. When we were working on season 1 last year, I think we all knew that we were creating something special, but it was really amazing to see such a great response from critics and audiences.
Did you consciously do anything differently with this score than you have with your other titles?
DS: With season 1, the score felt a bit more parodic or satirical. I drew a lot of inspiration from the scores of Serial and Making a Murderer in terms of pacing and orchestration choices. When I sat down to compose for season 2, I felt freer to develop a musical voice that was uniquely its own, and reimagining some of the more recognizable season 1 melodies.
The final episode ends with a lengthy disquisition on the culture of social media today. Did you feel the need to score this segment differently?
DS: Yes, Peter Maldonado’s final monologue ends with a sense of optimism, and I thought it was important to reflect that musically without being too on-the-nose about it. I’d say that the last 10-15 minutes of the final episode contains some of the music that I’m most proud of for the series.
Does the show’s setting affect your score at all? If so how?
DS: Yes, St. Bernadine Catholic in season 2 is a very different environment from Hanover High in season 1. The students are from wealthy families. They wear school uniforms. Half of the faculty are priests and nuns. On top of the setting, we have a criminal act that far more disgusting and sinister than spray paint on cars, and an unknown perpetrator constantly taunting his victims throughout the season. The stakes are clearly much higher this year, so the music is darker, more dissonant, and altogether more intense than last year.
Learn more about Darien here