By Sophie Baron
Gilmore Girls has been a series that comforted me throughout my teenage years, and well into my (somewhat) adult life. For those unfamiliar with the series: Gilmore Girls is an early 2000s coming of age “dramedy” that aired on the CW. It’s known and loved for its 1940s-esque speed of dialogues, irreverent comedy, and heartfelt emotional moments. Set in the fictional Connecticut town of Stars Hollows, viewers and fans throughout the world have watched as Rory Gilmore and her mother Lorelai face trials and tribulations as Rory grows up and goes off to college. The series saw a 7 season run, spearheaded by creator Amy Sherman Palladino (whom you may know from The Marvelous Mrs Maisel). There is a unique magic and comfort to Gilmore Girls that has delighted audiences well past the expiration date of the trendy 2000s clothing they wear. What’s most unique about Gilmore Girls, aside from its lovable cast of characters and attention to detail, is its music. Though Sherman-Palladino essentially worked as the music director for the series herself, musician Sam Phillipps was brought onto the project to write the series’ score. This score is iconic to fans who have dubbed each instrumental transitional track by Phillipps as “the La-La’s”. Though each transitional song is a mere 30-50 seconds long and solely consists of Phillips singing “la la la” and strumming her guitar, each song is unique to the emotional context of each scene.
I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Phillipps on a breezy October afternoon to hear all about her work on Gilmore Girls and beyond. What I learned only widened my appreciation for the series both as a fan and as a student of film and television.
Sophie Baron 0:09
Got it. So welcome to my radio show. I told you a little bit about it before, it’s called autumn 2002 on kcse because I watched Gilmore Girls with my dad, of course in high school. And then over quarantine, it’s become like, go to comfort show. And I was thinking about the music so much. And my dad was telling me so much about your work. And then I realized that it would be the perfect person to talk to, about, you know, music and life and everything and working on a TV show because my whole show and a lot of my work is just inspired by that vibe. And, you know, music production and TV production is obviously something I’ve told you I’m interested in. So yeah, welcome. I’m really happy to have you.
Sam Phillipps 0:56
Thank you. Yeah, no, I loved I love Gilmore Girls, and it’s, you know, not just as a composer, doing the music, but I’m a big fan of the show. And I do feel like at times it’s it’s, it’s sort of like the snacks in the show at times. It’s like coffee, and it’s really energetic. And other times, like, you know, having pizza in front of TV or having a cocktail. It’s just it’s got I honestly, during the time I was doing Gilmore Girls doing the music for Gilmore Girls, I actually became a single mom. And I felt that the writers and who were so great, so many good writers came went through that writers room, I felt like they were reading my mail, it was just so much that I can relate to as a mom, and as a single bond. And it’s I’m so glad you liked the show. And I know that people still watch it, you know, still watch the series and the revival. Yeah, I was. So the first thing I did when I was researching for us was I looked up Gilmore Girls law laws on YouTube, of course. And the comments were just really like, it had a very communal feeling to what everyone was saying how they felt just about Gilmore Girls, but mostly about like your work on the show, because it contributed an emotional, you know, insight into that world that can just kind of follow you if it’s stuck in your head no matter where you’re going. So I’m just going to read you some of the comments. But one girl said that it reminds them of their ex girlfriend and says, We’ve watched this entire show together. I miss her every day. And I watched the show every once in a while it bring back small memories. I was glad I cherished the times while they lasted. She left me for my best friend and I haven’t talked to her since even still it’s beautiful music that brings smiles and tears. Like,
Unknown Speaker 2:48
wow, it really opened to being personal on this forum because of their shared experience.
Unknown Speaker 2:56
That’s, that’s pretty amazing. And I you know, I have to say it makes me so happy that people actually named the score, you know, the lawless they gave it a name. Because and I even use it when we we were up for work, you know, they wanted us to to nominate the music for the revival of Gilmore Girls and and on the on the me sheet that you have to fill out. They said, Well, you know, tell us about the score. Why? And I just said, Well, you know, it’s people, you know, have lovingly named it the law loves and I feel like that’s the highest compliment I could ever have. They probably thought yeah, that’s probably not what you’re supposed to put on an Emmy nomination, you know, form, but I just, you know, it’s beyond that. Obviously, it’s, and it always was, you know, gilmoregirls was never like the big prize winner or, you know, it didn’t win a lot of prizes. And it didn’t it wasn’t the maybe the biggest hit show but just slowly but surely it it’s well it’s just it’s still playing you know, and people are still still love it and still can relate to it. So I think it has a different kind of, you know, credibility but I’m so happy that you know people like the laws and they they can relate that to happy times and boys it can make it through a breakup and still make you smile. I think that’s pretty good. That’s pretty good. Yeah, my other favorite comment was why is it that this song always makes me want to cry out of the sweetness of the world and everyone starts Hello I thought that was so just like evocative of what it feels like to like really be invested in the show.
Unknown Speaker 4:34
Oh, yeah. And you know, I’ve been a musician All my life I’ve you know, done records and toured and played in a lot of different places and I will always say that maybe my favorite place if not one of my favorite places to play was on you know, season seven. I’m sorry season six the very last episode to play on a sing a song on a street corner and starts hollow was pretty amazing. That was that Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 5:00
place to play. So that was one of my favorites. That was one of the highlights of my life. Yeah, was it weird for you to perform in an episode after like so many years of being the secret character, the behind the scenes? Lala,
Unknown Speaker 5:13
it was really strange. I mean, I love that episode, because, you know, Sonic Youth was on it. And the band sparks and a lot of great musicians were on it grant Lee Phillips, but I loved it, because the way we shot it was I did a pre record of my song. And then they actually, you know, I actually watched Lorelei and Luke have that little fight that they had, you know, right before I sing, and she, you know, they had the fight, and then she walked right past me on the street corner, you know, so it was very the way it was filmed was like that, and I really did feel like I had just been plopped, you know, right in the middle of the the series, you know, just again, gone into another reality. So that was really yeah, very extraordinary. Yeah, I was reading a bit about what you’ve said about working on Gilmore Girls. And it sounds like you wrote the songs while they like showed you the clips for the show, right?
Unknown Speaker 6:06
You know, little yes or no, we did it in a few different ways. Sometimes there was a special
Unknown Speaker 6:13
moment that that Amy wanted. And she would ask me to compose specifically for that moment, there was a moment where I think it was I’m trying to remember somebody It was either Lorelei or Rory is walking around Luke’s and trying to figure out whether or not to come in to Luke’s and so I wrote a cue called Luke’s window specifically for that moment, because it was a little bit longer than some of the other things. But then, also, we wanted, I was really, I’m fond of this having a continuity. So having some of the same melodies come back, you know, throughout the show, and Amy was really open to that. And so we, we created sort of a library of, you know, songs that, you know, happy songs, or sweet songs, or sad songs, things that are, you know, little pieces of music that she could put in, depending on, you know, what was going on in the scene. So, she could draw from that when she was editing. And then sometimes I would replace those or sometimes they’d stay in and, and there was one in particular that she used a lot that we would always,
Unknown Speaker 7:19
you know, joke about.
Unknown Speaker 7:21
Amy, you know, it was very sweet. I mean, just as completely flattered that she loved you know, one of the ones so one of the little pieces of music so much that she would use it again and again and again. But but it you know, it was such a great show to work on, because I mainly because I get to spend an hour every week with Amy Sherman Palladino spotting. And though we did talk about music, and then we did get down to business, she is one of the funniest people, one of the greatest humans, and we just had a blast hanging out, you know, while working. So that was I think that’s probably my hands down favorite of anything that I’ve you know, done. Yeah, I saw that you also worked on bunheads and Mrs. maizel. I never saw bunheads. But, of course, me and my dad are a big fan of Mrs. measle as well. And I didn’t even realize that she brought you on for that as well.
Unknown Speaker 8:15
She did in the very beginning. They were like in Gilmore Girls or like even in bunheads, we were trying to figure out they were trying to figure out the musical direction. And so we did my husband, Eric gore fan and I, he’s a violinist and also string arranger. We collaborated on some things, some pieces of score in the first few episodes.
Unknown Speaker 8:38
But you know, there was I think that Amy and Dan really wanted, they wanted these beautiful songs by you know, the classic era of of that the late 50s, early 60s, like, you know, Frank Sinatra and some of the Broadway tunes and they wanted those those very versions, you know, of them. And so, there was a little bit like, well, could you you know, could you do like wee small hours in the morning? Could you do something like that, you know, by Frank Sinatra. And even though we did our best, it’s just, you know, I think what was great was the they had the budget to actually get the real wee small hours of the morning or whatever, you know, they to get those those songs dropped in so that I think that really makes the show And to me, that’s so great. Because a lot of people who don’t know aren’t familiar with that, that time period in music or don’t know a lot of Broadway. You know, Amy do have exquisite taste, and they were able to, you know, give put that all in there score these these classic songs and and some obscure songs too, that people might not know. So I think it’s just a it’s, I think it’s my favorite score on TV right now. Yeah, it’s a really awesome show. I also that’s one thing I guess I noticed about Amy’s work in general is something I’ve really noticed about Gilmore Girls because the first time I watched it, my best friend was like, you have to watch the show. It’s so cute. And I watched a season and I was like, ah, but something that
Unknown Speaker 10:00
Oh eventually led me to go back to it and really deeply watch. The whole thing is that the music is so unique, not just your music, but the music that I’m presuming that he chose for the show. Yes. Yeah. That’s for Sonic. Like, it’s so unique. Yeah. Especially from the time period when there’s like, Dawson’s Creek going on in the background or like, you know, other team shows that are less, I don’t know, less lasting power. I guess the the cheesy, completely stayed with the chariot.
Unknown Speaker 10:32
Yeah, yes. And in fact, I really respected Amy, you know, she’s, uh, she has a show. That’s, that’s just gone on the air. And it’s a she’s a first time, you know, showrunner and creator and they, Warner Brothers, television and Warner Brothers, the music company, we’re still joined at that time, when when Gilmore Girls went on the air. And I remember there being a pressure, you know, for her to put the latest Warner Brothers artists on, you know, in her soundtrack. And remember, a lot of TV is still kind of like this, you know, nowadays, but it was wall to wall music on some of those shows that were on the same network. And Amy and I definitely didn’t, you know, want to see that happen. And she, she really stood her ground and stuck to her guns and would not put music that she didn’t want into the show, nor would she put Wild Wild music, she left a lot of space, which I think is beautiful. And she I just think, you know, she’s great music to picture is not the easiest thing. And, and that was certainly my first experience, you know, with it, and I felt like I was in such great company with with Dan and Valentino and Amy, you know, having such a vision of what they want and a specific vision of what they wanted. And, you know, they also chose some really funny songs. You know, like Sebastian Bach, you know, doing color Batgirl Did you know, there were some amazing, you know, amazingly funny moments that that was, you know, the music was also they cared about music so much that certain songs written into the scripts, which was great, too. So, you know, I always felt like I was very, very lucky to work with people who, who knew music and had great taste in music. Yeah, it really makes the show like you. So just more invested in the characters, because all of the music is something that you feel like the characters would listen to. And, you know, in working on my radio show, and trying to create that kind of automall, early 2000s coming of age vibe, I feel like that is something that’s really important and can kind of make or break a movie. Like, I’ve seen a lot of films where they put too many montage is and I’m like, Okay, this is more music video. Then show or film at this point, and Gilmore Girls is very much its own thing. It’s just perfect in the formula of like, too much music, not enough music, perfect amount of music, just a light, XTC song in the background.
Unknown Speaker 12:58
Yeah, yeah. And I yeah, I don’t think up until that point. I’m not sure how many TV shows ever had an STC songs, you know, in the big fan of STC. So, of course, that made me really happy. But yeah, I think,
Unknown Speaker 13:15
you know, Gilmore Girls is interesting, too, that it’s, it seems to transcend 2002 you know, I mean, that’s kind of a long time ago now, in terms of show business or television. So it’s interesting that it’s, it’s managed to survive a lot of years through different generations. I mean, I knew that I know,
Unknown Speaker 13:39
women who used to watch as teenagers with their moms, one specifically that would watch over the, you know, they would have, they would call each other because they lived in different states. I think she had just gone to college, and she would call her mom, and they’d watch Gilmore Girls, you know, while on the phone. You know, and so things like that. And, and, and it’s interesting that it’s still, you know, relevant, you know, to a lot of people. Yeah, it’s, I just found that deeply humanistic, and like the way that it relates to the characters and something really fun that I’ve enjoyed as I gotten older is kind of like judging their interpersonal decisions, like all of breweries, romantic choices are very, so much fun for me to just judge as I get older, and like go to college myself, and I’m like, oh, man, she’s really gonna, you know, ignore the nice guy to date Logan, or, you know, whatever. That stuff is always a lot of fun. I think it’s a reason why people keep coming back to is a reason why I convinced my dad to watch it with me, as well as he saw that there was more than just the like, teen show, it was like, Oh, this is about people. You know, it’s about young girls growing up in the world. It’s the music they listen to not like, what is marketed to them or the idea that you’re supposed to have about yourself as a girl.
Unknown Speaker 14:55
Yes, and I feel like was the I don’t know if you saw the report.
Unknown Speaker 15:00
The Netflix but that I just feel like come on guys, we gotta just do just do one more something one more episode a movie young thing just to get get out of that bad spot, you know, we left her in kind of a, you know, tough spot there, you know, pregnant and you know some other we just want to get her out of that that kind of predicament that she’s in and then you know, maybe maybe then we don’t you don’t have to do any more Gilmore Girls. But I mean, it’s fine. I know that was the original ending that Amy had conceived. But it would be fun to to see if something could could happen for Rory that was a little more, you know, maybe she could finally be become Christian, you know, all important.
Unknown Speaker 15:44
Life could go well for her. Yeah, especially because the trajectory of where the show starts with her. And then you kind of watch her like, you know, it’s actually very, like, personal to watch as I’m getting older, because I’m watching her like, you know, drop out of Yale and like, kind of mess up her whole life. And you’re like, Oh, my God, but it’s worry. She’s the perfect little TV, you know, bookworm girl. And she’s like, becoming this privileged, like, Girl Who doesn’t know what to do with her life. And then obviously, she figured out what she wants to do. But that’s just such a specific thing about getting older that I haven’t seen as many shows as I thought I would. Or maybe it’s something I’m noticing as I’m getting older myself. But I really, I think, yes, and I think I think the other thing is that the jokes are really funny. And so many, most of the guys who said, No, you know, it’s, it’s a girl show, it’s a chick show, I’m not gonna watch it. You know, most of the guys when they watch it, when they give it a chance, they do love it, because you forget that, you know, Dan Palladino, you know, he, he wrote for Family Guy, and both Amy and Dan, you know, they met working on the Roseanne show, you know, way back when, and so they’re, they’re really funny, and they have a lot of funny people in the writers room. And, you know, I think that’s the other thing, it’s, it’s very human, and it’s really got some tender moments. And, and yet, it’s hilarious, too. So and it’s very quick, and a lot of one liners and in that we don’t have that many shows that are like that there are shows that are really funny and kind of nonstop, slapstick. But a drama bbses is not you know, or there are dramas that are just, you know, it’s a lot of drama, or a lot of violence or whatever. And, you know, neither there isn’t a lot of humor in some of those really beautiful, beautiful shows that are super violent. So it’s, it is a really, it’s an odd combination, a combination that I think they got, they got really perfectly right.
Unknown Speaker 17:44
Yeah, I am, introduced my boyfriend to the world of gilmoregirls recently, because he was helping me out prepare for my interview. And he was like, Oh, well, I have to make an effort now because like, my best friend’s girlfriend is also obsessed with Gilmore Girls. So now he’s like, washing it with me trying to like, understand it a little bit more than when I would be watching it in the background. And he’d be like, why are they talking so fast? What’s going on? And now he’s like, Oh, I really mean he’s got a bad attitude or whatever. It’s really funny to watch him just like, slowly understand the world of the more girls because it can be such a shock when you’re so not used to it. And then suddenly, you’re like, wait, this is so sweet and lovely.
Unknown Speaker 18:26
And a great cast of characters to I think that’s what I loved all the different, you know, barbette and Gypsy and you know, just a lot of the it was a crazy Tat, like, what fun that must have been to come up with all those different characters in that town.
Unknown Speaker 18:43
And they were all great Miss Patty, you know, yeah, coding, who wouldn’t want to live in stars? Literally, I have to say personally, though, my favorite characters, Luke, just because he seems to have the most character development out of all of them, like, after her more or less split up and he has his daughter, he like really makes an effort to be the person he wants to be. And Laura lies like, you know, spiraling and like getting married or whatever. And I’m watching this like, Wow, she really needs to, like go to therapy.
Unknown Speaker 19:13
Now, yeah, well, yeah, one point there was, there was talk of a spin off of the Gilmore guys, but, you know, the lukin and, you know, his nephew, but I, it never materialized that they couldn’t. Somehow the business didn’t get worked out for that. So, but that would have been interesting thing to have. Yeah, you know, perspective, the male perspective, the male version of it. Yeah, a friend of mine told me there was like, it was meant to be a spin off projects or for April. And I can see how that would have just like, you know, without Lorelei and Maria, it’s just not the same world without Stars Hollow. It’s not the same children because you need all of the background characters as much as you need worry or Lorelei it’s
Unknown Speaker 20:00
Like, yeah, often characters, it’s like, really makes it wonderful to watch.
Unknown Speaker 20:06
My vote for spin off was always Kirk because I just thought, you know,
Unknown Speaker 20:11
always coming up with all of his jobs were and his schemes were hilarious. So I but, uh, you know, so far, you know, I guess there’s still time, they could still have a Kirk show, but I don’t know.
Unknown Speaker 20:25
Yeah, I noticed in the like, Is it the MIDI, the pilot, I’ve shown the pilot to like way too many people at this point. And I noticed the like, little differences between, you know, pilot type of things versus like, Oh, this is a show we’re gonna make the whole season. And I noticed the first episode or maybe the second episode when Kirk first appears His name is like, it’s something like Bert, or something really similar. And then then the next couple episodes, he’s the Kirk, but the first couple episodes, he’s like this random guy. And Miss Patty’s like, I’ve never seen you here before. And he’s like, stop eating the apples from the market. I find it really funny. These like, tiny little changes, she’s definitely the best character.
Unknown Speaker 21:05
Yeah, well, and that’s and, and that’s interesting, too, because, you know, you’ve got all these seasons, and, and we were doing, you know, 2021 22 episodes a season. So there was so much opportunity to develop all these characters, there was a lot of airtime. And, and sometimes that was really, it was stressful, because, you know, you had to have the music done in a week, you know, basically, I’d get the episode look at it. And that’s why we had a lot of, you know, a library of music that we could use, but, but you know, having an air time or an air date, that was so close, a lot of times made it, you know, very stressful, and I can’t even imagine, you know, what it would have been like for them, I’m sure, it was not easy to do that many episodes, you know, for six seasons, you know, or six and a half, it’s That’s a lot. But again, it gives you opportunity to develop characters. And you know, it’s not just 10 seasons on a streaming, you know, like, channel. So really interesting times and different times. Yeah, I really appreciate all of the ways in which the characters stories fold out, because like, you know, the first season you’re watching, and you’re like, oh, the grandparents are schmucks, I really don’t like them. And then like, the next couple seasons, you slowly see them start to have a relationship with their daughter and with worry. And I find that it’s like, I guess a very forgiving show. Like, there’s no one character who you’re like, oh, he sucks, except for Logan, in my opinion. But that’s just a judgment as a viewer.
Unknown Speaker 22:39
Yeah, I think that’s a really like prized possession of the show is there’s no harshness, it’s like, each person has a chance to figure out what they did and why they did it. And like, you know, maybe if they hurt someone that they’d want to apologize, I think that’s just such a good
Unknown Speaker 22:57
example to have in the world, even if it’s like this idealistic town that so doesn’t exist for any of us in real life. Unfortunately, it can just exist in our hearts and brains.
Unknown Speaker 23:08
Yeah, well, and you know, tailor made things complicated and difficult. But they all sort of, you know, they bring their snacks to the town meetings, and they, they just sort of accept him for who he is.
Unknown Speaker 23:20
So, yeah, but it there is a really great, there is a great acceptance. And I think that, again, the writing just evolved and gotten better and better. And, you know, the only time that was difficult was when he left the show in, you know, the seventh season. And that was tough, because I think you really felt the app, her absence in, you know, they did an amazing job trying to approximate her, you know, her vision, but I think it was just at that point, it was very difficult. And I’m glad it didn’t go on much longer than that. Because she, you know, it’s Amy’s got that. She just said that magic thing. Yeah, it ended in a really good place, I think, besides the resource rival where I have like, a million questions. But, you know, I’m happy with, with how the show ended as a whole. I think that was like, you really got to fall over his journey from like, being a 1615 year old, to like, really growing her own life. That’s like, something I never really thought about that much until I was getting older. And I was like, Oh, my gosh, this show I watched as a teenager is actually like, some of the things I’m going to be deeply feeling for the next couple of years.
Unknown Speaker 24:33
Yeah, and again, you know, my experience with it, becoming a single mom during that process, and to having things just be so Wow, how did they know? You know, hadn’t thought of the writers know that that’s what I would feel or that’s what I would think, you know, when I would compare notes with, you know, Lorelei or some of the situations that she would be in, you know, it and i think but of course, that’s the genius of it, they made it so, so real and
Unknown Speaker 25:00
And I think, you know, at the end of the day that it’s a respect for their audience. Sometimes when we went on the air in 2000, some of the other shows on the same network were just it was kind of like mean, girl contests. It was like, how many of the characters be to each other? And what horrible things can they do to each other? And it just seems like it was what will seem very formulaic, you know, the worst thing, the more drama they could create, and the worse
Unknown Speaker 25:30
it got, the more eyeballs they would get, or the more ratings The higher the ratings would go. But I felt was gilmoregirls was always working against that tight I think that, you know, they get more sense of or Amy had a respect for her audience and for intelligence, you know, and would put those fast lines in there and and cultural references in there that you might not get it first, or maybe the next time you watched it, you would get but I just felt she had respect for our audience. She wasn’t,
Unknown Speaker 26:00
you know, playing down to the lowest common denominator. Yeah, I absolutely see that in the way that the whole show is culminated in its legacy, I guess you could say for its viewers, I saw there was like this, um, tour that you could do of star Paulo. I almost went last year, and I regret it now, considering the whole world is shut down. But it’s really had a lasting career. Because I think it’s not a mean show. It’s not like, you know, I briefly watched him Dawson’s Creek, and it’s, like, so much insane stuff in one episode, like, stuff that wouldn’t happen to anyone. And it was Gilmore Girls. It’s like, things happen. But then no crazy drama really happens until the last couple seasons. And you’re like, wow, this isn’t like my crazy sister burned down the house and is lying about it. I think of yourself as crude. Like, the girl looks like something where she was lying about her whole family existing and she was like crazy. And I was like, watching it like this is, this is not real. This is not accurate to anyone’s life, or maybe a couple people, but Gilmore Girls is so the opposite of that. And especially now with the kind of heritage left for other TV shows, I haven’t seen a lot of that same energy and contemporary shows for teenagers. Maybe that’s just my judgment on it, because I’m attached to Gilmore Girls. But I found that shows like Riverdale or like, what else is there? euphoria is very oriented around hardness and like throwing up quickly and like, like really sexualized teenagers and Gilmore Girls is so lending a hand towards like your, your kid, you’re growing up, you look 16 but that means you wish to like mentally 12 You’re still figuring everything out. So I just think that leaves in the world. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 27:58
I think so too. And that, but that, I think it’s tricky, because it’s always going to be older writers writing, you know, these younger characters, I don’t really know of any. And that’s a whole other thing. Maybe they’re, you know, maybe there are some teenagers that could write their own show that would be you know, make their own show, that would be really interesting. I’m sure there are some people that do online, maybe I’m just I don’t know, those shows, but, but it’s always
Unknown Speaker 28:26
difficult, you know, when you’re, I think, you know, in your late 20s, early 30s, whatever it is to be writing, you know, those teenage characters and I thought that was an interesting thing again, that that Amy and her writers decided to give Rory and and Paris You know, this, these, this intelligence in the way they spoke and and you know, that and they were just they were smart kids. And that’s another thing that sometimes smart kids, you know, in school in real life, and sometimes, you know, on in the media and television and entertainment that the smart kids are kind of you know, the the nerds, they’re not really they’re kind of denigrated. So I really appreciated that. I appreciated that. That Amy and her writers made that they they had characters that they gave intelligence to and humor to, and maybe, maybe sometimes they were a little they talked a little bit older than they were but still I think that I think that’s a good thing. I think that’s a fun thing. But you are going back to maybe taking the tour of Stars Hollow on a wb lot and one thing I have to say is that you know, even though that sounds corny, that lot is this historic lot they’ve done Casa Blanca and that lot and when my I think my other favorite moment of being on that lot was when we we filmed the revival. There’s a montage the wedding montage that they did to my song reflecting light, and I went to that shoot and it was the the the lot that night
Unknown Speaker 30:00
Close, I think that was the only thing in production that night. And it was an overnight shoot. And we were all out, you know, in the stars Khalid was decorated Kirk, you know, come up with that beautiful decoration for the the wedding.
Unknown Speaker 30:12
Scene it and so we were out there with the lights and the dancers and, and it was a beautiful spring night and and it was I can’t even tell you what it was like to hear my song played. Just going all across that the big lights and seeing, you know, Laura lay and the dancers, and it was just one of those really amazing moments that as corny as it sounds to be on the set to be on that lot
Unknown Speaker 30:38
was magical. Yeah, it sounds really magical. I was actually gonna ask you about that song. And about your other song how to dream, which is also the law la Gilmore Girls, I recently realized, do you feel like it has a specific tie because of the heritage of Gilmore Girls, or when you’re writing those songs? Did you expect them to just be part of your own personal work? or? Yeah, those were those has.
Unknown Speaker 31:07
I was really surprised because, you know, was never my idea. I wasn’t the music supervisor. And aiming basically was the music supervisor, you know, saying what songs would go in the show, I never suggested that any of my songs go on the show. She She decided that, you know, on her own, she put those songs in there. And, you know, they were they were written completely outside of Gilmore Girls. And it always struck me as interesting that reflecting light, you know, the lyric is a little bit more esoteric, and a little bit more about spirituality. And, and Amy took it and made it a wedding song. Because so many people have had their first dance, or they’ve played it, you know, in their wedding ceremonies. And because it’s Luke and Laura lives, you know, first dance and then finally, in the revival, the montage to their, you know, their wedding that they have the night before the wedding. And so it’s it’s really interesting to see music used that way. And, you know, I’m completely honored that she did that. But but interesting that it yeah, that wasn’t really like none of those songs weren’t made for Gilmore Girls.
Unknown Speaker 32:15
Yeah, that is really interesting. That’s something I’ve come to appreciate about, like, just film and TV is that it can really create a whole new life first song that in some cases, like you maybe didn’t like the song, there’s a lot of like cheesy classic rock songs I’ve heard in movies where I’m like, Oh, this is kind of good. And then on my own, I’ll be like,
Unknown Speaker 32:35
I don’t know about this. And I found like, obviously, that’s not how I feel about your song because it’s tied
Unknown Speaker 32:41
forever. But I’ve really just like as a film major, and as someone who loves music, the life that it’s given, you know, through that whole feeling. It’s like, um, I think it’s a revival. Or maybe in the last couple episodes, they also use Dolly Parton. Here you go again. So, after I finished the revival, I found myself listening to like those two songs, because I was like, Oh, yeah, I’m in Gilmore Girls now.
Unknown Speaker 33:10
Well, yeah, and music, you know, that that is never underestimate the power of the score or music because it is powerful. And it does. It does connect us to memories to certain times in our lives. And when and that’s why I think music and pictures are so powerful, because you when you have that double
Unknown Speaker 33:29
thing is that, that
Unknown Speaker 33:32
it’s it’s very moving, and it and you remember it, you know, you remember the music and the picture, you know, most of the time when it’s powerful when it works. And when it’s really striking. It doesn’t always have to sometimes it can be very juxtaposed and, and jarring, it doesn’t always have to be perfectly matched. You know, so and and you know, there were some really interesting composers, one of my favorite composers, and there aren’t that many women composers, but one of my favorites is Mika levy. And she’s, she did the the score to Jackie.
Unknown Speaker 34:07
That engine was, you know, nominated. I don’t remember she won an Academy Award for it. But she was nominated for it. And it’s just it’s this amazing music that is not it’s not so melodic, but it creates this kind of seasick tension of, you know, Jackie Onassis Jackie Kennedy, right after her husband is killed, the President is killed and just the seasick grief that she’s swimming in. And I’ve never heard any score, articulate something like that so perfectly. And she’s young too. And she’s, you know, she’s out there scoring. And I just love that. I love to see that. I love to see that more women are becoming involved in scoring for television. And so I think it’s really important. Yeah, that’s something I’ve come to appreciate the last maybe like 10 years or so is I’ve noticed a lot of women like especially you
Unknown Speaker 35:00
Not necessarily like young ladies who are rising to like TV stardom like big little eyes, American Horror Story, or bringing up a lot of like, really well respected actresses and you know, other women who work behind the scenes, giving them like, a chance to do a really serious show. That’s not like, you play the grandma, or you play the girlfriend or whatever, you know, the dichotomy that exists for women in media these days.
Unknown Speaker 35:28
Yeah, I think as we get, you know, a little more complicated and specific. And, and, and musically, you know, I think that goes
Unknown Speaker 35:38
that that works really well to you know, that it’s not just the same old, same old TV music or the same old film music that’s, you know, like a big blockbuster score. And I think there’s room for so much interesting music that could, you know, actually be much more moving and more powerful. If, if people are, you know, brave enough if filmmakers are brave enough to to let someone like that score for them. Yeah, that’s true.
Unknown Speaker 36:09
Yeah, it’s really lovely to see those young lady who’s like, interested in all of these things, young lady’s a funny word.
Unknown Speaker 36:16
But like, you know, when I was way younger, I would watch American Horror Story. And that’s how I was introduced, like, two incredible actresses like Jessica Lange, or Kathy Bates, where I’ve just, you know, had a relationship with these icons through media that’s like, super unique to the time period that I’m in, like, the fact that I can just binge watch all of Gilmore Girls, when it was on air. People had to wait week by week, and you guys had to work week by week on the show is very interesting, and how people relate to the media now, because it kind of changes the whole narrative of storytelling, like the immediacy that we have of it. Yeah, I wonder about that. Sometimes. Sometimes. I think that. I mean, of course, I’ve been, you know, like everybody else. So because it gets there. Well, yeah, want to watch the whole thing. But But I wonder if, you know, also just the the weekly ritual and maybe having a little more time to digest something because so much information is coming at us all the time. You know, maybe that was maybe that slower pace? I don’t know, maybe there’s something good about that. I don’t know. But it is really interesting. We’ll see in the future, you know, how we, you know, you’re you’re gonna you guys will tell us how you want to, to make meet it make shows and entertainment and how you want to consume it. And,
Unknown Speaker 37:38
and I think it’ll be interesting to see how it evolves.
Unknown Speaker 37:43
Because, you know, our lives, we’ve, we’ve gone, we’ve definitely gone full speed into this thing that we’re in now, you know, this information immersion. So I wonder if we’ll want to pull ourselves out of that and go to different pace. I mean, it’s, I think it’d be an interesting experiment at this point, but we’ll see. Yeah, I mean, media has really changed in the last like, six months to because everyone’s inside and like communicating electronically. I’ve noticed a lot of people putting out like, independent work just on the internet, like, that is weekly, or that is a streaming service all at once. So it’s like, we have this weird little hybrid of all technology ever, in the hands, you know, of ourselves over just sitting at home all the time. So hopefully, people will take the best of both things. I mean, that’s what I plan on doing at least. I love it. Yeah, go.
Unknown Speaker 38:44
Yeah. Well, thank you so much for talking with me. It’s been really an honor to talk to you about the show and hear all the special behind the scenes stories that I’ve wondered about for so long.
Unknown Speaker 38:57
stuff. It was great. And it gave me a chance to reminisce a little bit. So it was very fun. And it was great to talk to you too. Yeah. Thanks so much for being on my show. I’m sure all the listeners will really appreciate the inside look as well.
Unknown Speaker 39:13
Oh, yeah. Well, hello to Santa Cruz and everybody in the area. Right. The Yeah, local area.
Unknown Speaker 39:20
Yes. See?
Unknown Speaker 39:22
Santa Cruz. San Benito. Monterey Bay County is happy to have you.
Unknown Speaker 39:30
Thank you. Well, hopefully we’ll speak soon. Yes, yes, we’ll keep in touch. Bye.