Landmanis the latest Taylor Sheridan success story. Based on the podcast seriesBoomtowncreated and hosted by Christian Wallace (who co-created the show with Sheridan),Landmanfollows the cutthroat world of the oil industry in modern-day Texas as hungry magnates go to great lengths to get rich. The series stars Billy Bob Thornton as the gruff Tommy Norris, but also features Ali Larter, Jon Hamm, Demi Moore, and more.
To drill as successfully into the show’s dramatic potential as possible, Sheridan tapped composer Andrew Lockington. The series marks Lockington’s third collaboration with Sheridan, followingLionessandMayor of Kingstown(the first season of which Lockington spoke about during aninterview withScreen Rant). ForLandman, Lockington assembled a musical ensemble fitting for the heart of Texas and worked closely with Sheridan on creating a sound and feel.
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Landman depicts the work roughnecks do on oilfields as extremely deadly and dangerous, but are real-life conditions any better for Texas oil workers?
Screen Rantspoke with Andrew Lockington about his work scoringLandman. The composer discussed his musical choices, revealed the kinds of discussions he had with Taylor Sheridan about the music, and how he approached character and emotional themes. Plus, Lockington shared his hopes about returning for a potentialMayor of Kingstownseason 4.
Andrew Lockington On Working With Taylor Sheridan To Find The Sound Of Landman
The Pair Collaborated Closely To Make The Music Feel “Honest, Stripped Down, And Authentic”
Screen Rant: This was based on a podcast from Christian Wallace calledBoomtown. Did you listen to that at all for inspiration?
Andrew Lockington: I listened to it when I first was approached by Taylor to do the project. There’s one episode in particular that focuses on a true story about multi-generational workers being killed in an accident, so I listened to that. I honestly can’t remember what the music was, so it didn’t really have any effect on the approach we took, but the whole vibe of the podcast, and even Christian’s way that he narrated, felt like it was very well translated into the fictional series that Taylor did.
How did you land on the sonic palette that you ended up finding for this?
Andrew Lockington: Taylor and I talked about this idea, [and] we’ve all had a similar moment in our lives like this: imagine being at a bonfire in a field when you’re a teenager, or in your younger years, around two in the morning. The party’s died down, and the people that are left are sitting around the bonfire. That’s kind of when the really honest, real discussions start to happen—the thought of where we are in life. There’s this truth and this very raw realism that happens in those moments. We talked, hypothetically, “If someone pulled out a guitar and started playing or humming along as they were playing, what would that sound like?” It wasn’t the literal music they would create, but it was the idea that the music had to be honest, stripped down, and authentic, and it needed to work in its simplest form. It couldn’t rely on production or perfection of editing or any of those things in its message. It had to just be very raw and very honest.
I haven’t really put this into words yet, but [based on] my time that I’ve spent in Texas… it’s some of the most authentic people I’ve ever met. They say what they mean, and there’s no posturing. There’s no misrepresentation. Looking at it now, I think that was sort of the undiscussed idea of the score. It had to be very human, very honest, and all the little barbs and slivers—in the musical terms, the finger squeaks and slight little twangs, even the odd little high fret, low string note [where the] tuning is a little less than perfect—were important to represent the humanity in the music.
I love that. How musically minded is Taylor Sheridan? Does he go super in-depth when talking about instrumentation and stuff, or is it more general?
Andrew Lockington: Super in-depth. It begs the question of whether there’s actually anything he isn’t an expert on. I’m amazed at how involved [he is] and how much time he has for me, knowing that all these other departments are leaning on him and looking for direction in the same way—and on all these other shows. But I had his attention. He responds very quickly. He had very clear ideas, and he had a real sense of what he was looking for. We did a lot of brainstorming to get there, and we experimented with more complex and more modern versions of the score, but we came full circle and came back around to this idea of something really simple.
There was one point when he was telling me that he had seen a pumpjack that had a plaque on it that said 1925, which, obviously, signified it had been there for almost a hundred years. It reminded us that this story is a multi-generational story. It’s not one moment in time right now, [in the] modern day. It’s actually a family dynamic working in this world that’s been going on for over a hundred years. So, it was important that the score told the broader story and not just a specific story of it in the modern day.
Lockington Discusses His Unique Theme-Writing Process On Landman
“There Was A Lot Of Trying To Be Very Minimal”
In terms of your instruments, you have vocals, you have fiddles, and you have guitars. Were you associating any of those things specifically with characters or emotions?
Andrew Lockington: There are multiple themes in the show, [but] I’ve tried to not rely on the instrumentation. I reference this a lot, but the Peter and the Wolf idea is that you have an instrument representing a theme or a person—usually a character. I really like the idea of having themes that can be presented in a multitude of ways and instruments.
The theme of love and finding “the one”—as Phoebe Buffay would say, finding your lobster— was definitely a theme in the show. But the great thing about that is, because it doesn’t relate to a character in particular, it can apply to multiple romantic relationships in the story. So, it was often trying to figure out the instrumentation that would present the theme in the right way while taking away the least impact from the dialogue and the performance.
A lot of times in present-day scoring, there’s a lot less silence than there might’ve been 30 or 40 years ago. If you watch The Godfather, you’ll have a three- or four-minute introduction to Italy, and music is playing and featured. You don’t have that these days. Often, in our job, you’re trying to find those moments in between the dialogue and in between the drama to make a musical statement. On a show like this, where Taylor really let the story dictate the pace and didn’t worry about trying to make it too fast, I had to make a very conscious choice of not taking advantage of the blank canvas every time I had it.
There was a lot of trying to be very minimal. In that respect, if there’s a conversation [like when] Billy Bob Thornton’s character is talking to his daughter in the first episode about love, finding the one, and waiting for the last one, it’s important that the music be as intimate as their conversation. In there, for the first part of the scene it’s a simple guitar, and for the last part of the scene, it’s a cello in the upper register.
Do you have a favorite theme that you were able to write for this?
Andrew Lockington: I have a bunch. Often, when I’m working with directors, I present the themes and say, “This is this theme.” I know exactly where to use it, and I give a very specific paint-by-numbers guidebook on how it works. The really nice thing about working with Taylor, Michael Friedman, his producer, and Chad Galster, his supervising editor, is that we’ve done this for years, and there’s a trust on my part. I can say to them, “Hey, I’m not really sure how this works, but this kind of feels right,” and send it to them, and get their input on where they hear it working. I think there was a lot more sharing on my part of stuff where I didn’t have the logical reasoning to support why it was a fit, but I had this gut instinct that it felt right with the show.
When we spoke aboutMayor of Kingstown, you were talking about going to a prison and using a bunch of different objects there as instruments. Did you do anything similarly tied to the themes of the show on this one?
Andrew Lockington: Yeah, I did. One of the first thoughts was the idea of actually going out to a pumpjack and recording the tools, the pipes, the metals, and all these things. And I actually did that—I recorded all these different elements and started experimenting with them as rhythmic elements in the score. It’s there, and it’s a part of it in certain cues, but it wasn’t the heartbeat of the show because so much of the show is really about the humanity.
In Mayor of Kingstown, I think the prison is really a character in the show. In this show, when it was at the forefront of the cues it felt like we were disconnected from the internal—the musical soliloquy we were getting from the characters with the simpler, more human musical approach like humming, guitars, fiddles, harmonium, piano, and that kind of thing.
Lockington Details Weaving His Music Around The Show’s Many Licensed Songs
The Composer Praises The “Amazing” Music Supervisor Andrea Von Foerster
There’s also a lot of licensed music in the show. How much does that affect your side of things?
Andrew Lockington: I don’t have a role in picking that music, but on all three shows I work on, Andrea von Foerster is the music supervisor, and she’s amazing. She and Taylor have a really good shorthand of using source music almost like a score theme. They come up with music and curate it in such a way that it has a very common theme to it. I’m fortunate that, much like the score, those choices get made very early on, and then I can reference that.
For example, if there’s a score cue that bookends a piece of source, I’ll make a conscious choice to avoid the same instrumentation or, if it’s the same instrumentation, make a conscious choice to blend the transition between the two. It really helps me that those things are chosen early because it does shape the choices I make, and the score around it.
Lockington Has Planned Out His Ideas For Mayor Of Kingstown Season 4
“I Sure Hope It’s Coming Back”
On theMayor of Kingstownside of things, I read that there was a writer’s room being assembled, but we don’t know if it’s coming back or not. Is there anything that you know or hope about a fourth season for that show?
Andrew Lockington: I have planned out the music in my head for a fourth season, so I sure hope it’s coming back. The third season did really well, and so many people discovered the show for the first time last year with the third season. I actually haven’t checked the trades and what they say, but my brain is already working on the music for season four.
About Landman
From Taylor Sheridan and Christian Wallace, Landman explores the world of roughnecks and billionaires in the modern Texas oil industry. The series stars Billy Bob Thornton and features Michelle Randolph, Ali Larter, Demi Moore, and Jon Hamm.
Landman
Cast
Set in West Texas, this series explores the world of oil rigs and the fortunes they create. It portrays a modern upstairs/downstairs narrative of roughnecks and billionaires, highlighting the profound impact on the climate, economy, and geopolitics in these boomtowns.
