An Interview With Film and Game Composer Boris Salchow

Wolfram Knelangen, January 31st, 2019.


This episode takes us to Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles, California. In this neighborhood charged with music history, we visit the studio of German-born film and game composer Boris Salchow. His works include successful documentaries like Germany From Above or the games Sunset Overdrive and Resistance 2.

 

Boris was born in the northern German port city of Hamburg. He grew up with classical music and started playing the piano at age six. As Boris tells us, music was an important part of his parents’ life. Especially classical orchestral music from the likes of Wagner, Dvorak, and Strauss. Boris suspects that this might have influenced his personal style as a composer to be mostly epic and quite dramatic. “Left to my own devices I used to write no piece shorter than twenty minutes…”

 

For Boris Salchow becoming a film and game composer was a natural progression without ever planning it. “I always had a knack for taking the listeners on a journey and telling stories through music.” This outstanding talent led him to become one of the youngest TV composers in Germany. Before he relocated to Los Angeles in 2005 he scored major TV shows.

 

Working in Hollywood

Soon upon arrival in the entertainment capital of the Western world, he started writing the scores for A-list video games. Resistance 2, Ratchet & Clank a Crack in Time and Sunset Overdrive to name a few.

 

In 2012 Salchow wrote the score for the documentary Germany from Above featuring stunning aerial images of the previously unsung landscapes, architecture, and wildlife of Germany. After a very successful theatrical run, the feature-length documentary movie was turned into a series of sold-out live performances in Germany’s legendary symphony halls. Following the success of Germany From Above, in 2018 Boris scored Russia from Above, a production released as TV series, theatrical release and live show.

 

Learn more about Boris and his work on film and game music here: http://www.borissalchow.com/

About this series

Inside Sound Minds is a series of interviews where we meet musicians, composers, super-stars, and friends of UJAM. In these exclusive videos, you get to look behind-the-scenes and hear from the industry’s best how they master their art and more importantly, which tools they’re using to elevate their creative process to another level.
With this series, we want to inspire you in your daily routine of composing, producing or when you’re just jamming.

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