Sally Seltmann On Working With Husband Darren Seltmann On 'The Letdown'

Ahead of tomorrow's APRA AMCOS Screen Music Awards, where Sally and Darren Seltmann are nominated for Best Original Song Composed For The Screen (Dancing In The Darkness for ABC's The Letdown), we had a chat to Sally about working with her husband, writing with The Bangles' Susanna Hoffs for a new solo project and how different writing for the screen can be.

 

How did you decide to collaborate on this song? Darren and I were asked to compose the music for the pilot for the ABC TV show, The Letdown. We wrote all the music together, including Dancing In The Darkness.

 

Do you prefer working together or apart? Would you work together on a screen project again? We enjoy working together sometimes, but also love working on various projects with other people, or alone. I think our musical skills really compliment each other, in terms of co-writing and arranging. I'm sure if we were offered a job we were really passionate about we'd compose for the screen again.

 

You have had lots of experience with your songs appearing on television programs - how did you decide to work on The Letdown? Did they approach you with a specific brief? My good friend Sarah Scheller created The Letdown with the main actor in the show, Alison Bell. As Sarah was working on the script, she kept saying that she'd love for Darren and I to compose the music for the show. Darren and I both loved the script, and were very keen to be involved from the start. Sarah felt happy for us to work away on composing the music. We knew that the show had some hilarious moments, but also some introspective moments where the main character feels isolated and is struggling with the changes of being a new mum. Dancing In The Darkness was used in one of these more sensitive scenes, and we felt so happy with how the music worked with the visuals and performances.

 

What is different in how you approach writing a song that is specifically for screen? One of the main differences is that you're working with a story and vision created by a writer and director and actors and set designers and wardrobe and make up artists, as opposed to creating your own story or 'world' from scratch. You're writing something that should compliment another piece of art and expression, and not distract from what is happening visually and verbally on the screen. This felt like a new experience, and it felt a bit easier to come up with ideas and lyrics when we knew what scene the musical piece would most likely accompany. That helped dictate the feel, tempo, and mood that we'd try to go for.

 

What can you share about working with Susanna Hoffs? Susanna is incredible! I have enjoyed writing with her so much. She is a real inspiration, and an absolute creative spark when it come to collaborating on music. Darren and I are both really looking forward to sharing the music we've made with Susanna with the world!