Composer
Website: philipkleinmusic.com
Most recent: The Madness
Composer Philip Klein, whose credits include Wish Dragon, Pig and contributing orchestrations to the Oscar-winning Joker and The Mandalorian, most recently includes Netflix’s chart-topping thriller The Madness, which hit number one on Netflix immediately after its release. He shares his creative journey and insights into scoring the gripping series, which tells of media pundit Muncie Daniels as he battles for his life and innocence after stumbling upon a murder in the Poconos woods. Klein’s score, which blends jazz instrumentation including saxophone and trumpet against a more modern soundscape, heightens the suspense and emotional depth of the series.
“When we first started on The Madness, we all wanted to tip to the Hitchcock-like sense of paranoia and dread, like you find in old-school paranoia thrillers like All the Presidents Men. But we found that pushing in that direction wasn’t the identity of it,” Klein says. Klein revealed how experimenting shaped the score. “We were trying to give Muncie a musical voice in the show, but we discovered that leaning into dark music didn’t resonate. Instead, we got more tuneful, which drew us deeper into his character and the story. I’m proud that it has a thematic identity, which is rare these days.”
Reflecting on his career, Klein said he studied trumpet and composition, but specifically held a fascination with how music fits into film, and how strong characters and stories can drive the music. That led to experimenting with writing his own scores, moving to LA, and eventually working with notable composers such as James Newton Howard, Alexandre Desplat and Ludwig Göransson, working as an orchestrator, which taught him the finer points of collaboration in the composing world. “Your job is to help the composer’s vision come to life, so you have to check your ego at the door. It’s actually a good thing when your creative voices are different, because you learn more,” Klein says.
