“A PLACE THAT
MAKES YOU FEEL
LIKE ROYALTY
AND AT THE SAME TIME
MAKES YOU FEEL AT HOME.”
Timing is everything Jazz musician Joel Haines has turned his art into a career as composer for TV and film.
C
oming from a musical family steeped in the jazz tradition, Joel Haines began his career as a guitarist, performing with his father, bassist Kevin Haines and his brother, saxophonist/flautist Nathan Haines. “Pretty much even when I was at school I was doing six nights a week, plus recording sessions,” he says. “I’m still playing a wee bit, but not as much as I used to. It’s now become good fun going on tours, whereas it used to be a necessity of life.” Composing music for TV and film is a world away from bars, clubs and concert halls, but since his first big job 10 years ago on Mercy Peak, Haines has established himself as a fulltime screen composer, scoring many local TV productions. “Mercy Peak was my big breakthrough, it basically put me on the map,” he says. “The hardest part of this job is trying to get in and get some decent work. I demoed for the theme song for the series and was asked to do the whole series. It was huge for me.” Haines says he felt “pigeonholed” as a composer of “just acoustic music” for a wee while after Mercy Peak. Eventually he landed more work, on season two of Outrageous Fortune. “John Laing, who was a producer on Mercy Peak, was on the second season of Outrageous Fortune and he got me on board. John’s a muso as well; his son [Toby Laing] is the trumpet player in Fat Freddy’s Drop. We got on like a house on fire and became good mates. “All I know about timing and placement is from John Laing. He’s a master at that. He’ll wait for the moment, the waiting game is extremely important. In this country we’re not scoring for a Hollywood movie where we’re telling everybody what’s going to happen; we just hold back, maybe use a tiny noise or suggestive element. Timing is very important.” Haines also worked on music for TVNZ’s Diplomatic Immunity (“basically the whole score was on ukulele”), Stolen: The Baby Kahu Story (“a cross between score and sound design, with a lot of freaky noises and weird stuff going on”) and the documentary feature This Way of Life (“a great project, back to where I started from, with acoustic guitars and stuff”). Over the past year he’s worked on some pretty big TV commercials, starting with the Air New Zealand “Rico” campaign. “It started with the soundtrack for him late last year, then onto some Mazda commercials. We’re about to start a documentary, we’re doing all sorts. “The whole purpose of scoring for pictures,” he says, “is you have to fit in. If you’ve noticed it, then I’ve probably done too much.”
Zia �andviwalla
Pa�k �oad were like �nights in shining armour to us. No �uestion was too dumb (there were lots of those), no task too hard and I felt as though my 15 minute short film was the most important one in the building. �hat I love about Pa�k �oad is that despite the beautiful surroundings and the yummy cut fruit they bring you at morning tea, you can walk around in your socks, sit cross-legged on the floor and watch your film take shape in a place that makes you feel like �oyalty and at the same time makes you feel at home. I’m looking forward to spending more time there.
Park Road Post Production Ltd, 141 Park Road, Miramar, Wr ~ v ü r -rg g n Ĕ ÿ g gnÿm ÿ £ Contact Vicki Jackways on +64 4 909 7800 or email vjackwa�s@parkr gnÿm ÿ £
www.onfilm.co.nz
JUNE 2011
23