The Ivors Interview - John Powell

“Ultimately, I am trying to get back to writing music just for music’s sake.”

John Powell is one of the UK’s leading composers of film music, scoring over 50 feature films. He’s also been prolific when it comes to winning Ivors, picking up Best Original Film Score on no less than four occasions; for Shrek (2001), Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) and How to Train Your Dragon (2010). The latter also earned him an Oscar nomination, and he’s currently working on the score to the sequel, due out later this year.

Do you have a favourite of your four wins?

Dragons, because I got to go to the ceremony. The one before that (2009), my wife went and got to do a speech. She said, “What am I going to say?” and I said, “I don’t know, just flash them your tits!” But she didn’t, fortunately. The Ivors gives me an umbilical cord back to home. I live in Los Angeles but it’s wonderful to go back and winning just felt like, “They haven’t forgotten me”.

What else makes The Ivors important?

It’s a phenomenal talent pool that is picking these things. It’s your British peers and that’s a terribly significant group when it comes to music within the world. It’s a very pleasant feeling that this private group of people is listening to your work and thinking, “Yeah, that’s pretty good”.

What’s the most surreal moment you’ve had while working in Hollywood?

There was one moment on Hancock with the director Peter Berg, who is great fun – he encourages you the way he would encourage an American football team. He saw a piece of music on my piano called The Lark Ascending. I was trying to get the end right, where Will Smith’s character was in this big running, jumping and flying scene. Peter was going, “Come on John, give me some of that fucking lark ascending!” as if I was about to throw a 50-yarder!

Is there a score that’s particularly inspired your work?

There’s one moment I always use as the perfection of arranging skills and musical invention; Barn-Raising Dance from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. It has such growth to it. It seems to be getting faster and changing up keys the whole time but, of course, it isn’t. It’s these arrangement tricks and orchestration tricks that allow the whole thing to build and build continuously.

Were you always destined to compose film music or could you have ended up doing something else entirely?

I’m not sure I was really heading for film. I wanted to write and make music, but didn’t know how. Coming out of college and not having any money, when given the opportunity to write jingles, you think, “This is fantastic”. Those lead to short films and, before you know it, you’re heading in a certain direction. I’ve got to a place with the films I’ve done where it’s been very exciting. But, ultimately, I am trying to get back to writing music just for music’s sake.

So what’s next?

I’m writing an oratorio. I’ll probably try and record it at the end of this year and perform it next year. It’s a First World War requiem, about one of the characters in the Kaiser’s army. I did want to perform it for the centenary of the [start of the] war, but the thing about the concert world is, you have to prepare years in advance. As long as I get it done by 2018, I’m OK!

And where do you keep your Ivor Novello Awards?

I’ve spread them all over the house. There’s one on a mantelpiece, one in the bedroom, one in the bathroom and one is in my son’s bedroom. Just to remind him that, if he doesn’t get to see me, there might be a fairly good reason why.