“Keeping The Score”
Philip Giffin - “Boomtown” NBC

“I was approached by Graham Yost (the show’s creator and executive producer). I’m really fortunate that he happened to have an affinity forr my music. I’m not like this right-wing guy – in fact, I consider myself very liberal – but i have this deep and profound respect for policemen because they’re here to help us.

Graham was taken about how I took to the pilot. I get very emotional and teary-eyed when I see on the news about one individual risking their life for a stranger; that’s what cops do every day.
“(The score) was a team effort. I tried to get inside Graham’s head, and he wasn’t really sure musically, (but) he told me to rent (1958’s) THE BIG COUNTRY with Gregory Peck and Burl Ives - your classic western. I’m so in love with westerns – my favorite book of all time is “Lonesome Dove.”

Everything I do, I incorporate odd meters. Most songs in Western music are either three-four or four-four time, but ever since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated with odd times. i just feel them, like fives, sevens, nines or elevens. I kind of superimpose these odd meters on top of standard meters, and it creates a web or tapestry.

The main title sounds like an epic western but with an urban twist. I was trying to think how I could make this different from all the other cop shows. I add voices, which subliminally imply angels – that haunting “City Of Angels” quality. I used an acoustic guitar playing lead along wth a baritone guitar, which was used in the main title for BONANZA.
I work very closely with Jon Avnet (one of the show’s directors). He likes many different versions. He wants you to dig deeper, which is dificult, but he’s like a coach that you really want to please, and work hard for. His #1 composer was Thomas Newman, so i was like, “God, I’ve got some shoes to fill.” I knew my only hope was to be myself. “If I imitated someone else, I wouldn’t make it.

Dylan Callaghan