Composer Ramin Djawadi talks about his Emmy nominations for Game of Thrones and Westworld

This year, composer Ramin Djawadi garnered two Emmy nominations in the category of Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Original Dramatic Score), one for his work on Game of Thrones season 7 and the other for his work on Westworld season 2. So he’s competing against himself. “I’m just super excited because I love both shows so much,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.

So just how is he so damn good? By the sound of it, it may start with…synesthesia? The man sees music as colors, people:

"I’m a very visual person when it comes to writing music. I like to see something besides just a script, even if it’s just a storyboard or pictures from the set. Seeing costumes or things like that will definitely trigger me. Then, sounds begin to form 
in my head. I’ll go on walks or drive around while my brain works in the background 
to develop ideas. I can almost see the music. It comes in the form of colors — colors jump out at me, and that translates into notes. They come fully formed: the orchestration parts, not just the melodies. Even though they’re not always the right ones to use, the initial idea comes like that."

That awesomeness aside, Djawadi tries to keep his compositions grounded in the show he’s working on. “I always feel like my job is to enhance the scene, to paint out a color of what’s already in front of me,” he told Elite Daily. “A good example is “The Light of the Seven.” It’s a seven-minute scene, there’s hardly any dialogue. So the music kind of was able to take over, do that slow build, do all the little storytelling and guide the audience.”

Does this mean that “Light of the Seven” is his favorite piece of music he wrote for the show? What about a favorite tune from Westworld? “I usually try not to have favorites,” he said. “but in both cases, I would say it’s the main title themes. It’s fun because in both shows when you bring in the theme during the episode, it’s always during special moments.”

When scoring Game of Thrones, Djawadi is generally looking at “almost final cuts” of the episodes (and no, he hasn’t seen anything from season 8 yet). But there are times when he works off the scripts; he’s done that for Westworld. But in both cases, he likes to visit the sets before he starts anything, assuming it’s possible.

"I love going to set if it’s possible… it’s a great inspiration for me to see how it all comes together. With Westworld, it was a little bit easier because it’s shot here in L.A., so I went to the set several times. Game of Thrones, it’s shot overseas, but even there I got to go a couple of times."

In Westworld season 2, we were introduced to two new parks: Shogun World, a park modeled after Edo-period Japan; and The Raj, set in British colonial India. Djawadi got to remix period-appropriate versions of modern pop and rock songs for both: “Seven Nation Army” for The Raj and “Paint it Black” for Shogun World. “We had an Indian version and a Japanese version of the cover songs, and I really enjoyed that. I have no idea where they will take us in Season 3, but geographically if there’s anything that offers a step up to pull musical instruments from that area or time period, I’m going to try to incorporate that.”

Indeed, Westworld sounds like it allows Djawadi to experiment with things he wouldn’t normally do. “On Westworld, we used some sounds recorded in space by NASA for when [the show’s robots] were offline and sitting in this room. We did it in order to give that room some ambience when [human] characters are talking to a robot and going through code.” Not something Mozart would have thought of doing.

"In this second season of Westworld, we used that Wu-Tang Clan song “C.R.E.A.M.” They needed me to rearrange it before shooting so they could come up with the choreography and then play it on set for the cast. Doing that was something quite different because it was for this new Shogun World, and it had to have very specific instrumentation. But that’s part of what I love about what I do, getting new challenges like that."

At the moment, Djawadi is in between performances of the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience. He finished the European leg of the tour and will soon start in on North America, criss-crossing the continent playing the music of Game of Thrones with a live orchestra. One of his favorite pieces to perform is — surprise — “Light of the Seven.”

"There are a couple of times in the show where I perform an instrument myself, and that’s one of them. I play the piano and the organ… there’s a walkway that comes out into the audience. So I’m actually sitting even closer, connected to the audience, and I perform this piece. That moment is always very special to me, I always look forward to it."

The North American leg of the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience starts on September 5 in Vancouver. You can see all the dates here.

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