Behind the Music: Death of Stalin’s Christopher Willis

First hitting cinemas in the U.K., The Death of Stalin is finally playing in American theaters for the month of April. As the film hits its U.S. release, Hidden Remote takes the opportunity to interview the composer for the film, Christopher Willis.

Behind the Music is an ongoing series that seeks to interview and gain an introspective on both established and up-and-coming composers. These composers, who have worked for everything from television to film to commercials, share their experiences, work ethic, and more, here on Hidden Remote. For this edition, we interview the composer for the political satire drama-comedy film, The Death of Stalin: Christopher Willis.

Christopher Willis doesn’t always perk ears up simply by the mention of his name, as his name is relatively free of the household name moniker, for the time being. However, it doesn’t mean that any one of you haven’t heard his music before, even if only subconsciously. Willis’ work can be heard in the new Mickey Mouse TV series, as well as in major mainstream hits such as Shrek Forever After and X-Men: First Class. For fans of adult television, his music can be heard in the HBO satire series, Veep. One of the executive producers of that show happened to be Armando Iannucci, the filmmaker behind The Death of Stalin, which serves as Willis’ newest project at the moment.

It feels as though the fate and coincidence of Willis and Iannucci going from Veep to The Death of Stalin is rather appropriate, given the two projects’ similar tone and intention to satirize the world of politics. Hidden Remote catches up with Christopher Willis, as we chat about his humble beginnings, entry into the music industry and the complexity of his musical score for The Death of Stalin, along with everything else in-between!

Hidden Remote: To start off this interview, I’d like for the readers to get a little insight into you and your work. Firstly, how did you first venture into a career in composing?

Christopher Willis: I’ve always loved music, and I think as soon as I became aware of what music was, I wanted to write it. The very existence of music is strange – it has this power over everyone and yet it’s quite mysterious to most people. For a long time, I was just composing on the side, though. I studied music history mostly at university, and became a concert pianist for a few years, and after that, a musicologist for a few years. So I was very much in the world of classical music, but rather restless. But I’d also always loved films, and at some point in my twenties, I realized that I should think more seriously about film music. I got a job working for Rupert Gregson-Williams in his studio, and very suddenly I was in LA working in film music and never looked back really. I loved it – it seemed to fit very well.

HR: Over the years of honing your skills at composing, have you acquired a particular sound you gravitate towards in your work?

Willis: I don’t think I have a precise sound. In the current film music landscape, you could say a lot of what I’ve been doing recently is more traditional. I love writing for the orchestra. I think we’re all interested in what’s new and exciting, but I think it’s worth remembering that new ideas can come from recombining old ones, and it’s easy to forget old techniques in music, so I’ve been enjoying delving into the past and dusting off old techniques, teaching myself and reimagining them.

HR: Moving onto your latest work in the satirical dark comedy, The Death of Stalin. How did you get involved with such a project?

Willis: I knew Armando Iannucci through the HBO sitcom Veep, and it was around the time that Armando was leaving the show that he told me about Stalin, which was his next film. It sounded tremendously exciting. We had a good chat about the film and its tone and the music, and as soon as I heard about it, I was keen to get involved.

HR: The Death of Stalin serves to satirize the state of the power struggles surrounding Joseph Stalin’s death. How did you go about in creating a score that would highlight the seriousness of the situation while also playing up the comedic aspect of the film?

Willis: I think it would be fair to say that beneath the comedy, The Death of Stalin is actually a serious film. It has serious things to say, and so I think the music fundamentally can be serious as well. Although, of course, as you rightly suggest, the music has to be aware of the comedy all the time. Sometimes the right thing to do is to just get out of the way altogether, and sometimes the right thing to do is create a sort of jarring disconnect, where the music is bombastic and pompous when ridiculous things are happening onscreen, which I think can make them even funnier and more preposterous.

HR: The score resembles a tune that seems to be influenced by classic Russian music but combined with a modern sense of style. Did you try to emulate classic scores to fit the 1950s Russian setting or was your goal to create something more accessible and recognizable for today’s audiences?

Willis: I definitely wanted to transport people to 1950s Soviet Union, and so I studied the symphonies and film music from that period in a certain amount of detail. There is a catchy tune in the film, which I think is probably easier to identify and more fun in some ways than what you would find in Soviet music, and so to that extent, it is quite modern and accessible.

HR: The film is unlike any other satirical comedies created, balancing the line between laugh out loud comedy and scathing political satire. Despite being set in the 50s, do you feel as though the social commentary is just as relevant today as it was back then?

Willis: I do actually. I feel the film is incredibly timely right now. A lot of countries in the world are in the midst of a political crisis in which the messiness of civil society and honest reporting of truth and facts are in competition with the temptations of populism on the political extremes. The film is showing you what happens when you give into those temptations. It shows you how insane things can get when the truth doesn’t matter and when the person in power is allowed to say what’s true and what’s not.

HR: I’ve also noticed that this isn’t your first foray into scoring a satire project, as you’ve also collaborated with Wonder Woman composer, Rupert Gregson- Williams, for the television satire program, Veep. How did you go about in differentiating the two satire projects to make each stand out on their own?

Willis: Veep and Stalin take place in different countries, and so the national flavor of the music could be different, and it’s been fun to explore that in both cases. But I’d also say that the stakes are different in the two worlds of Veep and Stalin. Veep is more concerned with showing how the whole machinery of Washington can conspire to achieve nothing at all, but we’re rarely worried that the fate of the world is at stake. Whereas in Stalin, we can tell that people are dying in the streets as a result of the decisions people are making in the corridors of power. So everything is heavier in Stalin, and the music reflects that.

HR: Considering that the film was first released in the U.K. and is primarily focused on Russian politics, do you feel American audiences will be able to resonate with the film nonetheless?

Willis: Oh definitely! The parallels with present day politics were not put there by design, because the film was in development before the 2016 election, but the amount of resonance, I think, is extraordinary. Nobody quite says the words “alternative facts,” but they might as well, because that’s what they’re talking about much of the time. We’ve been thrilled to discover that the American response has been incredibly positive. It’s had some wonderful reviews, and I believe the film has rolled out to a wider release than we originally anticipated.

HR: For the last portion of the interview, I’d like to ask some more personal questions, if you don’t mind! Now that you’ve built up a steady workload with your projects, do you have a personal favorite score of yours?

Willis: I’m not sure I have a favorite score, but there are certain episodes of the Mickey Mouse shorts that I do with Disney TV Animation that I’m very fond of. Each cartoon is only three and a half minutes long and the brevity makes them very difficult, but also creates the opportunity to make something very precise. One of the earliest ones, “O Sole Minnie,” is a love story set in Venice that just came out very neatly – everything seemed to fall into place. It was the first time I won the Annie Award, and the short itself won the Emmy that year for Short-Form Animated Program. The shorts were quite new then, and I think that one did a lot to set the bar and make it clear how much love and attention we were putting into them.

HR: Are there any future projects that you’re excited about and can share with us, so we have something to look forward to in terms of your work?

Willis: I’m thrilled to be working on a major attraction for Disney World based on the characters and design from the Mickey Mouse shorts. I believe it’s the largest plot of land for any ride in any Disney park worldwide. In some ways, it’s a very futuristic attraction, and in some ways it’s very old-fashioned. It’s centered around a song in the same way the very oldest rides are. I’m so excited about it!

HR: Your work in satire is well-established as is, along with your work in Disney’s Mickey Mouse shorts in 2013. Is there a specific genre you haven’t delved too deeply in that peaks your curiosity?

Willis: Musically, I feel like I’ve been put through my paces, particularly by the Mickey Mouse shorts. I’ve had to write in almost every genre imaginable, from baroque music to death metal to Bollywood. But in terms of films, I’m keen on the idea of throwing myself into big family adventures with expansive melodic scores. I do have a taste for large orchestras after Stalin, which required an enormous orchestra. I’d also like to do something factual/educational eventually – perhaps involving science. That would be an exciting change. I loved the Cosmos show, with its sweeping score by Alan Silvestri.

HR: To begin the interview’s end, I first must ask this: In your own words, why should audiences worldwide go and see The Death of Stalin as soon as possible? Sell the film to the readers!

Willis: I’ve already mentioned how timely I think the film is, why I think it’s politically important for people to see the film, but I haven’t mentioned how good I think the film is on its own terms. It truly is very funny, and it’s wonderfully acted. The performances are fantastic all around. It does leave you with a lot to think about, but along the way, it is undeniably hilarious.

Next: The Death of Stalin film review: Funny is black and red

HR: Lastly, do you have any words of encouragement and/or advice for up-and-coming composers and entertainment industry hopefuls?

Willis: I think it’s important, particularly for composers, to be always actually putting something down on paper, rather than just thinking about it. So if you can get to some situation where you have deadlines and are required to write music, even if it seems quite lowly, I think that’s much better than just waiting around for the phone to ring.

I also think that when you arrive in a place like LA, you may pick up the idea that you need to be mean and ruthless in order to get on, and I’m not sure that’s right. I think it’s important to retain your humanity and not burn bridges. I’ve certainly witnessed filmmakers and other powerful people who were not nice to be around, but all the ones I’ve found most fruitful to work with have actually been genuinely good people.

The Death of Stalin is playing in cinemas across America now!