Jonathan Cipiti’s documentary Pray: The Story of Patrick Peyton tells the story of Father Patrick Peyton as he emigrates from Ireland to America in the 1920s and inadvertently becomes history’s greatest advocate for family prayer. “A family that prays together, stays together,” in fact, originated from Father Peyton.
I had the privilege of asking Grant Fonda—the film’s composer—some questions regarding his work on the film.
Pray is available for rent or purchase on AppleTV and Amazon Prime Video.
Hi, Grant! I hope you’re doing well, and thank you for taking the time to answer The Nerd Daily’s questions. Before we get into Pray, would you be able to talk about where composing music for film started for you? What drew you to the world of cinema?
Thanks so much for having me! The way that I got started was actually hilarious in retrospect. My college roommate was working on a segment of our school’s annual year-end show and video highlights. The license for the music they were hoping to use fell through at the 11th hour (literally), so he decided to ask me, the resident music composition major, if I’d be willing to write something for him. He told me they needed music for the short film written and recorded in less than 12 hours… for the screening that was the next day. We headed down to the school of music and I spent most of the night writing and recording my very first score on solo piano. I was hooked. I had always marvelled at the marriage of music and film and realized when I saw The Rescuers Down Under as a kid that music was a huge part of what brought the story to life. Even though part of me always thought that working as a composer for film was a pipe dream, I knew that it was really how I wanted to spend my time one day.
Pray marks your second time composing for director Jonathan Cipiti—what initially drew you to the story, and what was it like to collaborate with Jonathan this time around?
That’s right, Jon and I had previously worked on The Dating Project together, and we’ve had three great collaborations since. I had never heard about Patrick Peyton before my first phone call with Jon about the project, but I was immediately intrigued by the story of this poor Irish immigrant who hoped to become a millionaire, experienced a miraculous healing from Tuberculosis, and then lived a life that always broke down barriers and did things that people always thought impossible for a cause that was bigger than his own interests. I think that our mutual inspiration and love for the story really made mine and Jon’s collaboration really easy on Pray. From the beginning, sketches of themes to spotting to recording and finally sitting at the dub stage, it was collaborative and with an incredible amount of trust that went both ways. I think that we both had a strong desire to honor the memory and legacy of Patrick Peyton in the most profound way possible, so it pushed us to always ask if what we were doing was “good enough.”
I have to compliment you on the music you composed for the film: it feels contemporary while simultaneously harkening to Ireland’s musical history. What was your approach to composing the score? Where did you find inspiration for the sound?
Thanks! Finding the palette for the film was actually the hardest part of the scoring process for me. Jon and I had long conversations before I started writing, and one of the most daunting things that we both felt was the immensity of the scope. The film covers the entirety of Peyton’s life, with many changes in geography, culture, and decade. I felt that the score needed to incorporate three main pieces to help tie everything together: a sense of timelessness because of Peyton’s legacy, a strong sense of liturgical and classical tradition because of his life spent as a priest, and unmistakable Irish roots because he was “always Irish.”
I knew that we needed two main, singable themes (one for Peyton and one for Ireland) that would be able to be manipulated and colored to reflect different times and locations, so that was the driving force behind most of the score. I felt that we also needed some sort of minimal ostinato that could grow throughout the film that would reflect Peyton’s insatiable persistence, and I decided that various types of keyboards would help it feel timeless and more cinematic. The liturgical and classical elements are usually presented on an old pipe organ because of the obvious catholic association with Peyton, and then, there’s the really bright synth colors. The synth was an obvious inclusion for me because Peyton was always thinking ahead of his time, and always against the grain, but it was actually the toughest sell in early versions of cues. Jon and I spent a lot of time talking about where this element should be more or less present in different scenes so that it felt intentional, and, at times, almost abrasive or like it didn’t belong. For the Irish elements, I spent a lot of time listening through old recordings of Irish groups in pubs, studying fiddle reel transcriptions, and trying to immerse myself in the Irish musical culture so that when it was played by musicians and heard by our Irish audiences, it’d feel like coming back to an old friend.
Did you record live players? And do you have a preference for live or electronic music?
Yes! This was a non-negotiable for me on this project because I knew that the story was so personal. It needed the human touch on every cue, and, boy, did this pay off. It’s always rewarding to be in the studio with musicians recording a score, but it was really special for me to work with players on this project as we pushed hard to get nuances right for every part of Peyton’s story. We recorded strings, Irish whistles, and bagpipes at Scott Frankfurt Studio in Woodland Hills, CA, and I vividly remember the sessions being very emotional for all of us––players and crew alike. I really do love getting to live in both the acoustic and electronic worlds in film because every project is so unique. Sometimes a film needs more electronic elements than others, some more live elements than others, but, I will say that bringing another musician in to record on a score always takes both the production value and emotional impact to the next level. I try to use at least one musician on every project that I score because their performance adds so much heart to a cue, and, it’s always a treat for the production team to be a part of a recording session.
If someone wanted to see or listen to more of your work, where would they go to find them? Of all the film scores that you’ve done, which, if you had to choose, is your favourite?
My website will always have the most current showcase.
Ha! Asking a composer which film is their favorite is like asking a parent which of their kids is their favorite. Truly, every project has its own sweet memories and great musical moments attached to it. Since we’re talking about Pray, I can say without question that it holds a really special place in my heart. I love the tunes and the textures in the film, and I’m really proud of the composition and orchestration. Jon Cipiti and I have a great friendship, so I think that also contributes to my love for the score for Pray. If I had to go outside of my work on documentaries, I’m also really proud of a score that I just finished for a film called Dating and New York, directed by Jonah Feingold. There’s a lot of tuneful but heavy writing that dances back and forth between a jazz trio, choir, and orchestra that’s often written in a throwback style à la early Disney. It’s schmaltzy, classy, and just downright fun.
What advice would you give to anyone interested in composing music for film?
I’ll pass along two pieces of advice that were given to me that have been really helpful:
- Work hard. Be nice. Get lucky. You can’t expect to get anywhere by being the nicest person in the world but a complete bum, and you can’t be the hardest worker in the room while being a total prick. You have to be both, and then you have to trust that circumstances out of your control will happen at just the right time to bring relationships along that will blossom into fruitful creativity.
- Remember that, as a film composer, you’re a craftsman before you’re an artist. The filmmaker is the artist who conceives and designs the house. The composer is the one who’s hired to build cabinets to fit in the house. If the cabinets, no matter how good they may be, overshadow or distract from the rest of the features of the house, the craftsman’s missed the whole point of why they were brought into the picture in the first place.
What’s next for you?
I’m just finishing the score for an incredible documentary called Birthgap, directed by Stephen Shaw, and, incidentally, is being edited by Jon Cipiti. The follow up to that film is also in the works, and my work on that begins in a couple of months. I’m also starting work on a western called Reckoning that will surface later this year, directed by my good friend Matt Green. And, I’m really excited about the upcoming releases of a sports doc called The House That Rob Built (Megan Harrington/Jon Cipiti, releasing February 23), the family feature The Man From Nowhere (Matt Green), and Dating and New York (Jonah Feingold).
Lastly: where, in LA, would you go to for the best craft beer?
There’s a lot of great options, but I do have a soft spot for the Howlin’ Hefeweizen at Wolf Creek Brewery in Valencia. I’ve known this spot for almost two decades, and this is a great, consistent, hef. If you’re not in Valencia, you can’t go wrong with the Golden Road in Glendale. Lots of great options, and they’re always better with the Carnitas Poutine or the Pub Pretzel.
