If you’re a fan of HBO’s Six Feet Under, then
you remember the series finale. (And if
you’re still catching up after all these years,
don’t fret—no spoilers here!) The inspired
ending moved viewers to tears, not only for
its poignant and beautifully edited tableau of
scenes, unspooling one after the next in a rush
of flash-forwards, but also for the music that
plays over the entire six-plus minutes before
the last fade to white. The song is Sia Furler’s
epic “Breathe Me”—a spacy, wistful piano
ballad that crescendoes with a dam-breaking
emotional release. As far as series creator
Alan Ball was concerned, placing it over the
scene was a stroke of genius.
“I think the stars were aligned for that
one,” recalls Gary Calamar. A longtime
resident DJ at KCRW Public Radio (Santa
Monica, CA), Calamar was Six Feet Under’s
music supervisor, along with colleague
Thomas Golubic, for all five of the show’s
award-winning seasons. “I was familiar with
Sia because she had worked with the band
Zero 7, so when this scene came up, her song
came to mind. It had a really nice feeling of
longing and melancholy, but it was uplifting
as well, in its own way. I had a meeting with
Alan to discuss what he was looking for,
and I pitched him a few songs, which
is the normal process—it’s not like I
said, ‘This is the one!’—but that was the
song he picked. And the scene itself was
so amazing; it was like one of those perfect
situations for a music supervisor. Rarely do
you get to play a song for so long without
dialog, so it worked out great.”
As new dramas, comedies, and even entire
channels continue to proliferate in the cable
viewing space, Calamar and his company GO
Music are right there riding the wave. He
currently oversees the music for HBO’s True
Blood and Showtime’s Dexter (which started
its seventh season on September 30), but his
list of credits includes House (FOX), Weeds
(Showtime), Entourage (HBO) and the films
Varsity Blues and I Love You Phillip Morris,
among others. Tune in to his radio show on
Sunday nights, and you’ll hear a wealth of
indie and alternative music. So how does he
choose what to pitch to the producers he
works with, and what can you do to get your
music in front of him?
“I get bombarded,” he admits, “so I don’t
really have a formula. I read a lot of music
publications and blogs, and I listen to my
colleagues at KCRW and Sirius XM—I just
try to keep my ear to the ground as much as
I can. But if you’re not out playing or getting
press, there are licensing companies that
I’d recommend if you want to join forces—
companies in L.A. and New York that are
in tune with what projects are going on.
It’s still very tough for them to get music
in, but to have them as an ally is a valuable
thing. I’d hate to leave anybody out, but
there are companies here like Natural
Energy Lab and Sugaroo and Secret
Road that all do great jobs, and represent
different types of artists.”
Each show tends to have its own musical
flavor as well, depending on the locale or
the storyline. Dexter, for instance, because it
takes place in Miami, licenses a fair amount
of Latin music, but composer Daniel Licht
also plays a prominent role in setting the
show’s mood. “I will say we visit some strip
clubs in the new season of Dexter,” Calamar
says, “so we’ve got some appropriate music
for that. But the music isn’t quite as much
of a character as it is in True Blood. For
instance, we have a certain sound in the
vampire bar that’s sort of electronic metal
goth, and we use that fairly regularly in
small doses. Coming into next season, we’ll
be looking for more of that.”
These days it’s no mean feat to get your
music placed in a popular show. Not only
is the competition fierce, but the deluge
of new artists getting into the game has
exerted downward pressure on the fees
they and their publishers can demand. On
top of that, network producers and music
supervisors will sometimes try to use the
promotional value of a show as a selling
point, especially if their licensing budgets
are small. Calamar is lucky enough to have
some leeway with HBO and Showtime
when it comes to going after the big names;
case in point: the song “Let’s Boot and
Rally,” which Calamar wrote himself and
recorded with Iggy Pop and Best Coast’s
Bethany Cosentino, for a recent episode of
True Blood. But he’s always willing to give
new artists a shot if they’ve done the hard
work to build some buzz.
“Again, it’s easy for me to say, but it’s good
if you’re not only pitching your music to music
supervisors, but also playing out at clubs and
getting some press and getting some airplay.
Sooner or later, you’re gonna come to my
attention, and then if it’s appropriate, you’re
in. I do like to use bands that have things
happening on their own, because it’s always
nice to have some additional excitement going
on around the music.”
Bill Murphy is a freelance writer based in
New York City, and a regular contributor to
Electronic Musician and Bass Player.