I met Alex Seaver in the laundry room of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute during the summer after my junior year in high school. I remember he had the same green Pumas as my boyfriend at the time. He had a reputation of being that badass horn player from the West Coast, but it wasn’t until we entered Juilliard at the same time that I actually got to hear him play. And yeah, it rocked my world. But even more rocking-of-world-worthy are his secret composition skillz. Although his major is the French horn, he somehow finds the time between practicing, bartending, and TA-ing to pursue his other love of composing. Through the past four years that I’ve spent as a classmate with him, I’ve played his compositions, recorded his compositions, and look, I even got to interview him:


Molly: Tell us about yourself. In a haiku.

Alex:  Seriously?

M:  Seriously.

A: Fine. Flowing river child-snow falls on the goats gentle ears-I write film music.

M:  Amazing! Is film music a new interest of yours?

A:  It’s actually the reason I started playing my instrument eons ago.  Writing is something that developed sometime around my freshman year of college when I understood that this is absolutely what I love.

M:  Do you love it more than playing the horn?
A:  I can honestly tell you that I’m so happy to have both.  It’s two oppositely amazing aesthetic experiences.

M:  Kind of like giving and receiving? You know, because the holiday season is approaching.

A:  Yeah Molly, like Santa. An adult Santa

M:  Ok. Can you describe your music to us? What types of films would fit your music best?

A:  I think epic is one of the most overused words in the genre but admittedly the most appropriate for my style.  I’m particularly drawn to the inherent drama that comes out of wild situations in motion picture.  With that said, you could throw me anything from Action, Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Pixar, etc. and chances are I’d be living the dream

M:  Speaking of dream, can you describe your dream girl?

A:  Since I’ve already told you that it’s been you all along, I suppose I’d also settle for someone that has an unbelievable ability to hang.  Adventurous, mysterious, and very easy to lay low.  Like a female Michael Jordan from ‘Space Jam.’

M:  Amazing. What are your favorite sounds? (going back to music, not girls).

A:  Well played.  If we’re talking musical sounds, I love that deep warm resonance you get from low strings and brass. Vibes, sweeping strings in like 27 octaves at once. I love it all.  If we’re talking nature, I’d have to say all the sounds that accompany nighttime–also sizzling meats on a grill.

M:  Ooh. Getting hungry. What’s the most outrageous thing you’ve used as inspiration?

A:  Inspiration has a knack for hitting me at the least appropriate time to get up and write it down.  Maybe a quick example: Friend is telling me some story, absolutely livid to the point of crying.  She said one word a certain way and all I can think about is how badass it would be to throw in some triangle with the viola part in a fantasy track.

M: Where do you see yourself in ten years?

A:  In Los Angeles at one of the studio recording spaces jumping on the podium to conduct original music for an awesome picture.  After the break, I get to record the horn parts.

M:  Tight! OK. And what will you do when you win an oscar?

A:  Get a huge tattoo on my back commemorating a beautiful moment in an absolutely ridiculous journey.

M:  Sexy. Last question: Are you a dinosaur?

A:  If we got down-to-business-technical about it, yes, I am a dinosaur.

bwarm, bhappy, bdentallyhygenic

Molly