It’s safe to say that things are going well for Anna Drubich! In the last month, two major films on which she was the composer were released: IFC Films’s Werewolves Within and Netflix’s Fear Street Part Three: 1666. In our interview below, Drubich talks about how both films were “pandemic projects” that, at the time, seemed up in the air in terms of release. Both films, of course, have seen massive success, partly due to the ways in which directors Josh Ruben and Leigh Janiak (respectively) reinvent the horror genre, giving fans something new and more nuanced than the expected.
Born in Russia, Drubich discovered a love for music early on, taking piano lessons at the age of eight, before eventually studying at the Moscow Chopin Music College. Her work spans across varying media and disciplines, from features and documentaries to plays and concert halls. What’s more, her work has taken her around the world, from the US to Denmark and Spain to Egypt.
What makes Drubich an astounding composer is the way in which she combines the classical with the modern and experimental, ultimately finding the musical narrative within each project and serving it to the audience on a sonic platter. Both Werewolves Within and Fear Street lean on its score to feeds their audiences’ experiences—and Drubich’s score more than satisfies.
Read on for our chat with Drubich, wherein she talks about the “bone-like” percussion of Werewolves Within, her reunion with Marco Beltrami on Fear Street, and what it was like to find the distinction and nuances between both films.
Werewolves Within is now playing in theatres and on VOD. Fear Street is available to stream on Netflix.
With the releases of Werewolves Within and the Fear Street trilogy, July is looking like a really great month for you and your work! How does it feel?
Feeling unreal. Both projects were “pandemic” projects. At the time when I was working on those, everything seemed a bit misguided. I finished working on Werewolves Within a year ago, and all this time nobody knew when the film would be released. But now, both projects are coming out in the same month and each have had huge audience success.
From Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark to, now, Werewolves Within and Fear Street, it’s clear that you’re no stranger to composing for horror films. What is it about these types of stories that draw you in?
Although these are all horror movies, I think the soundtracks turned out pretty diverse. Scary Stories is a more traditional, classical fantasy score; Werewolves Within has a more ironic, “with a wink” vibe; and Fear Street: 1666 is a real creepy soundtrack. Each are unique stories. Ironically, in Russia, I have pretty distinctive career in film music. I scored over 45 movies and TV shows, but never a horror project. There, I get to work more on dramas, author movies, period pieces, so I don’t consider myself in a horror genre niche. The US project I’m working on right now is far from horror. So, hopefully more and more projects in different genres will cross my path.
Let’s start with Werewolves Within. How did you initially get involved with this film? What was it like to collaborate with director Josh Ruben? One of the great things about this film was how it was, at its foundation, a horror film, but it seemed to blend in moments of comedy and a Knives Out-esque murder mystery. What was the composing process like for this film? How did you go about creating music that complemented the shifting tones while maintaining overall cohesion?
Well, in the very first weeks of the pandemic when it seemed like the whole world just stopped and nobody would think of any possible future and work, my agent Jonathan Clark called me and said that the director of Werewolves Within, Josh Ruben, really loved the score for Scary Stories and that the producers want to talk to me. It felt really weird because, at that moment, everything was so up in the air, and here—Boom!—I get a project that is a very cool movie to score. And I have to say, at that moment, it was a great escape from the horror reality into charming horror-comedy.
Josh really wanted a mix of Jerry Goldsmith’s vibe mixed with modern sounds and textures. And I absolutely felt it from the cut I saw. The whole story is kind of lost in time. On one hand, it’s a story about a small town in current America; on the other hand, most of the characters are the time-frozen archetype and they could be from absolutely any period. On top of this, the jukebox in their Axe Den plays only 90’s music.
The movie is a hilarious comedy with tons of bold jokes and punch lines, so my score had to be very sensitive about this peculiarity. I used a lot of woodwinds passages, licks, effects—it gave the score the right flavor, I think. But of course for the action, I had to use lots of synth and uniquely created sounds, reminding us of “werewolf.” I always try to come up with some “homemade” sounds for my scores. This makes the whole process even more fun. Like for Werewolf, I sampled sounds of my dog’s claws, pitched it down, added different plug-ins; or, I recorded an overblown flute, which has the character of a sort sharp exhale.
I also recorded the whole score in Moscow with the Bow-tie orchestra. Lucky enough, by the time I was done writing the score, this orchestra was already able to record in-person. So, I went to Moscow and recorded all the music for Werewolves Within.
The film is based on a video game. Were you familiar with the source material beforehand? Was it helpful to have that source to turn to / launch ideas from, musically speaking?
I knew about the video game. Actually, some of my friends are really huge fans of it. I think the movie is a very very smart adaptation. I’ve seen lots of critics say it is one of the best video game adaptations ever made. Musically, I think the movie is totally stand-alone. Josh and I didn’t have any intentions to imitate the video game soundtrack.
Fear Street, on the other hand, blends horror and romance, and puts teenagers at the centre of its story. The film also reunited you with the esteemed Marco Beltrami. What was it like to be working with him again? Additionally, what was it like to collaborate with director Leigh Janiak?
This project from the beginning was meant to be an epic trilogy of this kind, which has never been done before. These are three distinct films that take place in three different eras, but with one overarching story. The director of all three movies, Leigh Janiak, had this very precise idea about music.
The first part takes place in 1994 and plays homage to the Scream movies. It was actually temped with all the Marco Beltrami music. The second part plays in 1978 and Leigh really wanted it to be a Jerry Goldsmith’s type of score, with a massive orchestra and choir. For the third part, interestingly enough, she felt like a more modern type of score would work.
Working on this massive amount of differently styled music needs logistics. So, Marco and I agreed that I start creating the soundscape for 1666, meanwhile Brandon Roberts and Marcus Trumpp worked hard on the other parts. It is always a huge honor for me to work with these outstanding composers on one team. It makes me super proud of myself.
Fear Street: 1666 features a lot of moving and romantic melodies and feels very much true to its time period. And yet, there’s a modern feeling, too, underneath it all. What was your inspiration for the tone of this film’s score?
Yes, Fear Street: 1666 had to have different chamber, but more experimental, sound. As with Werewolves Within, I first started to create unique “witchy” sounds for the story. I recorded and processed some “bone-like” percussion, trying out donkey jawbone, shells, etc. And I also experimented with detuned cello. The plot takes place in a medieval village surrounded by wild forest. So, I thought that the score should sound very much raw and eerie.
We were fortunate to record the whole trilogy score at Abbey Road. The first and second required big orchestra; the third part was recorded mostly with nonet (9 instruments) and choir. Both chamber ensemble and choir were performing in an untraditional, experimental way.
You’re a classically trained pianist, and yet, as Werewolves Within and Fear Street show, you’re creating music for films that seek to defy and innovate filmic traditions. Would it be safe to say that you, as a composer, are also interested in breaking musical traditions?
Yes, on every project I try to extend the boundaries of my own compositional skills. Otherwise it can get boring.
What’s next for you?
I am working on several exciting movie projects, far away from the horror genre. Unfortunately, it is too early for me to tell you about. Also, I’m writing a ballet; hopefully it will premiere by the end of this year.
