BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE FOR LEVEL AND GAIN
When ROB (Robin Coudert) signed on to compose the score to The Bureau (Le Bureau des Légendes), he couldn’t have known it would continue along a five-season run. He also couldn’t have known it was going to be named one of the biggest international television series of the decade, and air in 122 countries.
Then again, it probably wouldn’t have changed anything. For this Paris-based composer, a scoring project is an artistic endeavour with music driven by emotions, relationships, and creativity more than its potential career impact.
Simply put, ROB picks what he likes.
In this interview, ROB tells us why The Bureau seemed like a project he’d want to work on, and talks us through how involved he’s become in the score as it reaches its most intense season yet.
To this Canal+ series, ROB brings his experiences scoring other screen projects including Maniac, Revenge, Horns, and Gretel and Hansel — the latter of which he scored around the same time as The Bureau (and thoroughly enjoyed taking on too much at once).
Hello, ROB! Thanks for the chat. Feeling good that you helped The Bureau become one of the best three international series of the decade, according to The New York Times?
It’s always a nice surprise to see a project becoming successful.
I never really expect any success as I’m much more involved into the artistic process than the rest of the production stages. Artistically, success has a different meaning!
When you first signed on to work on The Bureau, where did you imagine it would go? You can’t have known how big it would grow across its five seasons. What were your hopes for the series on a personal level — and for the impact it would have on your career?
I have absolutely no preview nor analyses on a career matter. I pick up the projects I like based on my relationships with the creators and my reading of the scripts.
I felt really good about The Bureau because it seemed very complex and mysterious to me. I didn’t understand everything, and was very seduced by that. Plus, Eric Rochant seemed like such a wise man, I thought I would have a huge benefit just talking to him and even more working with him.
I wasn’t disappointed for the past five years!
You’ve composed 16 hours of music for this series. This quantity of hours is more than some composers might create throughout their entire career. You must surely have an efficient workflow — how do you turn around music so quickly, particularly when your deadline is connected to such a large production team and process?
I’m a Stakhanovist, really. I just love working, and I’m constantly in a creation mode: riding my bike, making the groceries, swimming — whatever I’m doing, I build melodies in my head, or simply think musically.
I hope I’m not too boring for the people around me!
It doesn’t really feel like working, it’s a way of life.
How do you avoid becoming obsessed, or too deeply drawn into, this single project when it is so substantial in scope and duration? That’s not to mention the mood of the music and series, which is so intense and often adrenaline-inducing!
For every season of The Bureau, I start working right after reading the script. So my inspiration starts without the picture. I compose the music for an idea of the series — a fantasy version of it, my own fantasy. Most of it is done even before they start shooting. Then I guess it keeps me a bit away from the crazy rhythm of the series. But I feel obsessed with the project when I’m working and, in my opinion, it’s good to be obsessed in those cases!
How would you say your composition has evolved throughout these hours — and you along with it, as an artist who has spent so much time with this score?
Six years ago, when Eric Rochant reached out to me, my work for cinema was [not very well-known]. At this time, everything felt quite experimental to me.
Working on a big project like this, with a very tight production schedule and high expectations, taught me many aspects of a big musical production process.
Although I’ve tried to keep my own methods and vision — quite experimental and very emotional — I learnt how to be efficient, too. Then, season after season, I felt that the music gained some impact and some space.
The naturalist approach in the series didn’t leave a lot of space for the music at first, but little by little, it felt Eric Rochant got more into the music as a powerful tool for tension, drama, romance. Maybe he trusted me more and more.
In this fifth season, the music is huge and very dramatic — almost operatic, not as minimalist and discrete as for the previous seasons.
When it comes to producing the music, how closely did you work with the production team, in particular Eric Rochant, in generating the style of the soundtrack and its function in the show?
Eric Rochant has been quite close to me in every step of the process. He heard every single demo I made for the series and sent me notes about every track, and they were many!
Then he was himself in charge of spotting the music sequences and choosing the right track. He has a very precise idea of what he wants.
My role is almost to serve him a lot of material and to let him dispose of it the way he wants. Then of course, I re-work on every sequence and make sure it sounds the way I want. But in the end, it’s really a collaborative work.
This last season was a bit different, as he had many special requests on episodes six, seven, and eight where he wanted very long sequences to be entirely scored — for sometimes 20 minutes of music. That was obviously very challenging.
Plus, there was an interest to work with orchestra, which meant a lot of extra work!
It’s rumoured the fifth season of The Bureau is the most tragic. How involved do you personally become with the plot and characters — and how can you detach yourself in order to produce music that is calculated to match each scene and cue? Or do you prefer not to approach so strategically when you’re emotionally moved by the scenes?
I’m a romantic artist. I go for a total emphasis with the emotions of the movie [or series]. It’s precisely what I love about making music. It’s not rare for me to cry while making music, or to be deeply scared or in love.
Outside The Bureau, you’ve also recently scored Gretel and Hansel. When working on projects around the same time, do you find your ideas for each score bleed into — or feed — each other?
I remember reading Francois Truffaut’s biography where he would explain the benefits of working on two projects at the same time. Both feed each other for sure — and very simply, whenever you are stuck or bored with one, there’s always an escape with the other one.
My issue is my tendancy to accumulate even more. I’m often with three or four projects running at the same time!
Listen to ROB’s score for the fifth season of The Bureau on your favourite streaming platform.
Read the full story at Level and Gain, our sister publication about all things screen music.
Images supplied. Featured image of ROB by Charlotte Ortholary.
