Game of Thrones composer Ramin Djawadi names his top five musical influences

You know Ramin Djawadi. Even if you don’t know you know him, you do. He’s the composer on Game of Thrones, which makes him one of the most influential composers working in film and TV today. From the Game of Thrones main title theme to “The Rains of Castamere” to “The Light of the Seven” and beyond, he’s blown our aural worlds again and again.

But where does Djawadi get his ideas? What influences the guy who influences so many others? Djawadi opened up about that to The A.V. Club, naming his top five biggest musical influences:

Okay. Let’s take Djawadi’s biggest influences and see if they add up to something familiar. First, we lay down a base of classical romantic music from composers like Beethoven…

…add a dash of ’80s rock bands like Metallica…

…splash the mix with a sampling of ’80s new wave pop music from bands like Duran Duran…

…add in a dollop of a modern popular artists like Adele…

…and top the whole thing off with Elmer Bernstein’s soundtrack for The Magnificent Seven:

Put it all together and what do you have?

Yep, checks out.

Djawadi is currently criss-crossing North America with the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience, playing the show’s iconic music for audiences everywhere. You can get tickets here.

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