Welcome to the Episode 5 of The Fourth Wall – an interview podcast where I attempt to break down the fourth wall of the film industry, getting a behind the scenes look through my conversations with filmmakers, actors/actresses, and other industry professionals. My guest today is famed James Bond and “Good Omens” composer David Arnold.
Arnold recently received two Emmy nominations for his work on the BBC and Amazon adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s “Good Omens,” which features some of the composer’s most unique and diverse orchestration to date. Arnold is no stranger to working with the BBC and showrunner Steven Moffat, as he also scored four seasons of the acclaimed series “Sherlock” and is currently working on music for their upcoming “Dracula” series. His film compositions range from 1998’s “Godzilla,” John Singleton’s “Shaft,” and “Independence Day,” however, Arnold is most revered and beloved for his exceptional work on five James Bond films – “Tomorrow Never Dies,” “The World is Not Enough,” “Die Another Day,” “Casino Royale,” and “Quantum of Solace.”
Having been hand-selected by the legendary Bond composer John Barry after a rocking Bond cover album, Arnold is considered by many fans to be the gold standard when it comes to the music of 007 – second only to Barry himself. A lifelong fan of James Bond, Arnold has had the good fortune of being selective, taking on projects he himself is passionate about and working with people he loves collaborating with and that most certainly includes Bond.
“I’m happy doing what I like to do,” said Arnold. “[My idea of a career] is everything. It’s writing music for a play. It’s doing the Olympics. It’s writing a musical. It’s writing songs. It’s making records. It’s arranging for other peoples’ gigs. It’s guesting on things. It’s doing concerts. It’s all those things. And I think each one informs the other in terms of the value of it – you learn so much and they’re all different muscles that you can flex. And I think it means you bring something new to the other things. The idea of doing film after film after film after film, is anathema if you’ll pardon the ‘Good Omens’ related pun.”
During our conversation, we not only gushed over our love of Bond but discussed his working relationship with Neil Gaiman on “Good Omens,” “Sherlock,” some slight tidbits on the music of BBC’s “Dracula” and much more. At the top of the episode, I make a slight mistake in saying Arnold was nominated for his second Emmy. I meant to say he received two Emmy nominations. This is Arnold’s 4th and 5th nomination.
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