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VERBAL VIGILANTE MUSIC

Give a teenager a guitar and he'll spend the next few years of his life pursuing dreams of being a rockstar, before opting for a career in recruitment consultancy or advertising. Not so Jode Steele (26) and David Wainwright (25).

These two talented writers and musicians together work under the moniker Verbal Vigilante, composing stirring and epic scores for film, animation and multimedia projects to rival the best Hollywood has to offer. "We tried busking Beatles tunes for summer tourists in York," says Jode. "But we started out as classical guitarists, and have been writing music together since we were 13."

Wisely opting out of following the rock-and-roll dream, Jode and David can today be hailed as one of the UK's finest media composers, having had their works used by the New York Film Academy, the Royal College of Art, Greenwich Films and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Both still in their twenties, their work belies their age and sees the pair holding their own as two of the only people their age working in their field.

However, while youth may be seen as an advantage in other fields, Jode and David have found that in their corner of the industry the breaks are not reserved for youngsters. "Getting ahead is all about who you know," muses Jode. "Getting your work in front of a busy commissioner isn't easy - unless he's your dad, but Dave's dad is a vicar and mine is a steel-erector so we have had to do it the hard way."

Having recently signed a publishing deal for their work, Verbal Vigilante see their next step as seeking a partnership with up-and-coming filmmakers, since prising apart established partnerships between respected duos such as Danny Elfman and Tim Burton is hardly a realistic option.

"Many of the leading film composers have longstanding creative relationships with the major directors, so often the composer comes with the director," says Jode. "Our goal is to get involved with talented new directors and establish our own creative partnership."

Despite facing fierce competition from fellow composers hoping to establish the same relationships with the same directors, Jode and David believe that striving to avoid emulating the great cinematic scores may hold the key to their success. "There is massive competition, and so many composers out there," concedes Jode. "But many seek to emulate music that has gone before. Our main point of reference is the director's vision for the film. We always strive to achieve that same vision, while at the same time trying to create something fresh."

But until Verbal Vigilante strike up that all-important creative partnership, the pair admit that the struggle of finding work remains the biggest of their career. "Being essentially freelance, we can get a number of jobs at the same time and then nothing for a while," admits Jode. "In the early days keeping Verbal Vigilante afloat was a real struggle, although we discovered that writing for music libraries can be a useful source of income."

As well as preparing to start work on stop-frame animation Small Birds Singing, a further source of income comes in their current production - commercial dance tracks - although they admit a move to mainstream is doing nothing to blur their future goals: "It's a bit of a departure from our soundtrack work, but we're enjoying it," reflects Jode. "But we'll always want to be successful TV and film composers. We want to create some of those memorable scores that you just can't help but hum."

CONTACTS

www.verbalvigilantemusic.com
info@verbalvigilantemusic.com

Judge: Michael Baggs, editor, channel4.com/4unsigned
Illustration: Paul Ryding

Verbal Vigilante Music were 4Talent Award winners in 2007, our hotly tipped young creatives to watch, to hire and to collaborate with. To meet the other 19 click here