Today the new Girls soundtrack, Girls Volume 2: All Adventurous Women Do, hits stores. For artists, having a song featured on an episode of the HBO series can be a game changer (think Icona Pop's "I Love It), and according to Billboard, the show is even more influential on the charts than Glee. For viewers, the show offers a treasure trove of new artists to explore and reminds us of old songs we used to love but may have forgotten.
Music Times sat down with the brain behind the music selection, music supervisor Manish Raval. With decades of experience that includes supervising for films such as the Farrelly Brothers' Kingpin, Donnie Darko and Fruitvale Station as well as television shows such as Community, New Girl and The Crazy Ones, Raval knows his stuff when it comes to pairing a moment with music.
We talked about how he snagged exclusive tracks for Girls, what the process is for finding the right track for the right moment, what band he'd love to have on the show, who decides what songs the characters sing in karaoke scenes and what acts you should be paying attention to right now.
Check out our Q&A below, and don't forget to pick up a copy of Girls Volume 2: All Adventurous Women Do, out now.
Music Times: This season, you had artists including Lily Allen, Jenny Lewis and Miguel write exclusive songs for the show. Did you reach out to them or did they reach out to you?
Manish Raval: We reached out to all of them. They were all different situations. Miguel is someone who's very dear to Lena [Dunham]'s heart. She loves his music so much. It was one of those things where, when we started Season Three, we suggested we should see who is a fan of the show who'd want to write new music for us. So Lena said, "Let's just call [Miguel] and see if he would do it." And he said, "yeah," and came back with this awesome track.
MT: Was reaching out to artists for exclusives something you had planned to do this season or did it just sort of happen?
MR: It was just an idea. I can't say that it's something we will definitely do again — I don't know what we wouldn't do it again because it worked great this time — but it was just an interesting idea, an exploration. We really take pride in discovering new artists and showcasing them on the show. It's something that's really important to us.
MT: Are any artists now coming to you offering exclusive tracks, knowing that the show is sort of a tastemaker when it comes to music?
MR: It's hard to say. It's never that simple. You never get a call saying, "Hey, Vampire Weekend wants to write a new song for you." All of these bands are really busy, you know. I think the last thing on their mind is, "Hey, I want to sit down and do something from scratch for a TV show." I don't think bands really think that way. So a lot of it falls on us hoping that they are fans of the show. And a lot of them are, fortunately, so they end up saying, "yes."
MT: You said that you take pride in discovering and exposing new artists. Do you purposely make a point to include lesser-known bands along with big names? Or do you just go with whatever song makes sense, regardless of how well-known the artist is?
MR: I think it's whichever makes sense for the moment. For example, there is an episode that just aired (S3E4) that had Hannah frolicking through a cemetery. It was a montage set to a Jake Bugg song. There were three or four really great songs that we were choosing from for that, including a great Jack White song and a great song by a band called Sloan. There was also stuff as big as Jack White and as indie as Sloan and somewhere in the middle you have Jake Bugg. We just pitch whatever we feel works for the scene, and we try not to limit ourselves to it costing too much money or a band being too famous or not famous enough. I think one of the things that makes the music in the show successful, which was our model from season one, was not putting restrictions on what type of music we should use in the show. It's seemed to work well, and it's what the fans seem to like. I think that's how we're going to continue to work.
MT: When you say you pitch a bunch of songs, are you watching the footage from that scene with each of the songs playing over it to see what works best? Or how do you go about finalizing what song will be used?
MR: We try to honor something if it is written into the script. We will try to find a way to make that work. A lot of times, we are pitching to Lena, Jenni [Konner] and the writers and producers well before they even start writing scripts. Like right now, we are already trying to put music together for Season Four. We just send stuff to them as they are writing so they have music to listen to, and hopefully they can keep some of that stuff in mind.
That's how a lot of the music in Season Three ended up where it was. It was a lot of what was sent to the writers before the scripts where written, and they'd start writing them into the script. So we knew as soon as we got the script that they had chosen something we had already sent them. It is their way of saying, "This is what we really like for this moment."
We are kind of doing the same thing for Season Four. But, for example, with that [cemetery] scene, there was a Supertramp song, "Goodbye Stranger," written into the scene that didn't end up working out. We had lengthy discussions with the director of that episode, Jesse Peretz, right before filming it. So we went back and forth pitching different ideas for it. Then Lena thought maybe she wanted a faster song — not so much a slow, brooding cemetery song. Then it wasn't until we got the picture and just started playing with tons of different options that we thought, "Okay, maybe these scripted songs aren't going to work. We need to find a new one."
MT: Some of the songs that have been featured in the past are remixes or covers rather than the original. How do you decide whether to use the original or a remix/cover version?
MR: If we have an original in there, we never think, "Let's go with a cover of it." I think it's just whatever works better. The covers that we use are doing something different than the original. Maybe they are giving a fresh take on the song. There was a brief second in Season Two when we used "Wonderwall" where we thought about using a cover. Ryan Adams did a cover of it. But then we thought, "No, why would we use a cover, this works so well. We aren't looking to top this with another interpretation of the song. It's this interpretation of the song that's working really well."
We'll only use a cover if it brings something different to the song. Like, the Tegan and Sara cover of "Fool to Cry," is just a completely different voice than Mick Jagger. It's doing something totally different, and it works great. You'll see later on in Season 3 that we use a Jill Sobule cover of a Warren Zevon song that is amazing. It's great to hear a female voice singing Warren Zevon's words. I wouldn't say there is ever a very cautious thought process behind it, just whatever works for the moment.
MT: Looking back on the first half of season three, are there any musical moments that are your favorite? Any you wish you would've done differently?
MR: I love the Jenny Lewis song so much, and I just love the way we used it at the end of that episode. It was a really great moment when the show really felt like it was coming together. It was a perfect song for the show, and she has the perfect voice for the show. We were stoked that she gave it to us. I'm more than happy with every decision we've made.
MT: What is your thinking behind choosing the song that rolls with the credits?
MR: A lot of it has to do with what sentiment we want to leave the viewer with. Sometimes we are punctuating on the exact emotion that is happening on screen, and sometimes we are playing against it and very consciously letting you know, "Hey, this music is going to tell you a different story than what is happening on screen right now."
Like the Nancy Sinatra song at the end of the cemetery episode (S3E4), we all commented on the speech Hannah gave Adam about her cousin who wanted to go to the prom. She is making up this lie, which could be the darkest moment we've ever seen Hannah in, and then comes this fun, upbeat Nancy Sinatra song. It just makes for an interesting moment to let the viewer take a breath of relief instead of playing a song that is equivalent to the emotion displayed in the scene, which might be too heavy. Sometimes when you go against the moment it creates a nice dichotomy to what is actually happening.
MT: How did you decide what songs go on the official Soundtrack for Volume 2, which includes material from both Season Two and Season Three?
MR: A lot of it has to do with what songs are the most featured in the previous and current seasons. We try to see which ones people tweet about after every episode, which ones are getting a lot of attention. We keep track of that and also which songs had the most impact. A lot of the Season Two stuff went on to the Volume 1 soundtrack. So we were left with all of the Season Two stuff that wasn't picked yet, and we tried to pull from that. We also had all of the Season Three stuff that we felt fans would want to have access to immediately. So that's what went on to Volume 2.
MT: Throughout the three seasons, there are multiple karaoke scenes. Are you part of choosing those songs as well?
MR: Sometimes we will pitch on those when it is really early on. Sometimes it's stuff that Lena and the writers write into the script, like that song from Rent. That's not something we pitched but more something very inherent in their characters and part of writing the show. It's more about the character development than it is about music.
In the first episode of the second season, when they are having a karaoke party, we were pitching the Jay Z stuff and other ideas because it was more of a blank canvas. Like, "Hey, we're going to have a karaoke party, what are some good songs for them to sing." So we would pitch in that sense, but a lot of it comes from the writers. If we feel like it's really part of the character origin, then it won't come from [the music supervisors].
MT: If you could have anyone pen a track for the show, who would it be?
MR: I'd love to have a Neutral Milk Hotel song on there. I love "In The Airplane Over The Sea" so much, and this is the first show I've ever worked on where I felt we could use something that heavy. But [the band] won't license it. And I respect them for that. I love that.
MT: What acts have you been listening to recently that you'd recommend our readers check out?
MR: My new favorite band right now is this band called Escondido. I also really like the new The Head and The Heart record and the new Broken Bells record. And I love this band called Lucius, they are awesome. Lucius and Escondido are like my two favorite bands right now. But there is great music everywhere.
© 2024 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
