Oliver Kluczewski - Composer

Oliver Kluczewski is just one of a new generation of composers using their small home studios to write big sounding scores for low budget films. Making Movies quizzed Kluczewski about what it takes to write that winning theme.

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CV
Kluczewski studied music at Liverpool University and then completed a masters in Film Music Composition at Bristol University. He is also a singer songwriter.

Were you always musical?
I always loved listening to music. My parents didn't play any instruments themselves but there was always music on in my house and in my cousin's house. Dylan and Springsteen were big influences. The turning point came when eight members of the family went to a Springsteen gig and I saw Bruce's legendary sax-man Clarence Clemons in action. I was 10 then, and persuaded my parents to give me saxophone lessons. I went through the grades, took up the piano when I was 14 and the guitar when I was 15.

What made you persist with the instruments when so many people give up?
I think I had a real passion for music. It's hard for anyone learning an instrument at the beginning, but when you can make a sound you are happy with, you want to keep going.

When did you start composing?
It came quite naturally when I was about 15. The guitar and the piano came together to give me everything I needed to write small tunes, small jazzy numbers or instrumentals. I started imitating Dylan and other folk singers, but of course in a naïve way. When I was 17 I joined bands and started hanging out with the other musicians on the scene in Sheffield where I grew up. This carried on in Liverpool at clubs like Heebie Jeebies and Liquidation when I was there. It still has a great underground music scene.

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