With the release of Daisy Jones & The Six, based on Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel of the same name, we sat down with Music Supervisor Frankie Pine to discuss her work on the show…
Frankie talked through finding the right balance between the 60s and 70s music featured in the show and the music from the original novel. She also discussed working with acclaimed musicians Phoebe Bridgers and Marcus Mumford during the recording of the album that accompanied the show.
Had you read Taylor’s book before starting work on the show?
I liked the book, I thought it was fantastic. I kept in my head going, holy cow how are we going to do this?
How did you find balancing the 60s and 70s music that we hear in the show with the the music in the book?
Scott and I, the one of the executive producers, we wanted the music that you hear, in the bars and montages and things like that to be really reflective of the 70s. You know, we wanted it to kind of run the gamut of different styles that were happening during that time period. So, you know, anything from AM pop to Classic Rock to really early disco. We even have some 70s French and Italian music, and even early punk, we wanted it to kind of, you know, give everybody a sense of like, hey, there was more than just classic rock music in the 70s. Or disco.
With the closing track Shine A Light by the Rolling Stones. Was that always the track you wanted to finish the series on?
You know, we played around with a bunch of different stuff for the end. And when I discovered that song, I was like, Oh, my gosh, that’s just gonna bring such a smile to my face is gonna make me cry. And I love music when I put it in. And if it makes me cry, I know, it’s got to be a keeper. And that’s what it did. So and everybody fell in love with it as well.
Was Taylor Jenkins Reid involved in the music musical side of the show?
Really, she was just the biggest fan and supporter of it.
You did a Bandcamp for the for the cast. What was the process for that?
It was Monday through Friday, music lessons every morning a lunch break, and then jam session afterwards. So it was a very intensive getting the cast up to speed on an instrument. And then also, you know, the, the part where we were doing like the jam session, it was really about, obviously learning the songs but mostly to make them create and feel like a band and have that kind of camaraderie of a band, being able to look around and go hey, I’m going to stop at the next moment, being kind of the leader. Knowing when things change over and, you know, the different structure of within the song. So, we felt by putting them all together in one space, would help kind of create that. That camaraderie that a band needs to have.
Was there anyone who particularly impressed you with their sort of musical talent?
I was involved in all of the casting, so I got to see most of them all play the instruments or not play the instruments. I got to hear them sing, so there was it wasn’t too much of a shock. But you know, it basically what it did is it helped me kind of determine how long the lessons needed to be. Who needed the most work, things like that. Everybody was different, which was great, you know, and everybody put in the work.
Was it always the plan to put out an album out alongside the show?
Yes, absolutely. And, you know, my goal also was to have them somewhere audiences go can I see them? The Whisky A Go Go or The Troubadour.
You’ve done a fantastic job of bringing the tunes from the page to the screen and the music’s been a big part of the show’s success.
Blake and our executive producers, they worked really hard at, you know, taking the essence of what Taylor had written, and, you know, turned them into songs that, you know, are, you know, commercial readiness, basically.
What was the plan always to have dancing barefoot as the theme song as well?
No, we, you know, we didn’t even know if there was going to be a main title. And then we kind of started like playing around like, Hey, I think we should have a main title. So we played around with a lot of different songs. And Scott, we were on set one day, and we were hiding in a Tony Berg’s guitar room and he said want you to hear this song? What do you think of this? I was like, I dig it. I love it, that it’s, first of all, it’s Patti Smith. I love the fact that it, the song kind of grows, as each of the episodes come along to week two, where we get to that point in 1978, you know, and I feel like it was kind of the perfect representation of what the story was going to be. So it’s all Scott’s idea.
Were you involved in the recording of the album as well?
Yeah, I was there for the recordings.
What was it like having Phoebe Bridgers and Marcus Mumford do some work on the soundtrack?
Blake was able to bring in people to write songs with him. They really helped create the essence again, of what Taylor’s lyrics and what the meaning of those songs were supposed to be about. It was amazing, kind of, like, just hearing what they were coming up with hearing these scratch demos that, you know, we use during Bandcamp. So that our, our actors could start learning before we actually did the real recordings.
Was this one of the most challenging projects you’ve worked on?
This is probably the biggest project I think most music supervisors could take on. You are involved in the script process, like musically, does that make sense? You know, if something’s written on the page, that wouldn’t happen in a recording studio. I was there to help correct all of that stuff the same way as when we were shooting, you know, making sure that the the mixing board looked the way that the mixing board was supposed to look, you know, when you turn on, you know, there was a we did a couple of shots and I just went wait, we got to stop the tape machine is it moving in the back so we’ve got to you know, the tape machine has to be moving plugins, you know, there was just so much that was involved in kind of being on set so your, your script set, and then in post, and, and obviously, the creation of music as well. So it’s the most all encompassing thing I think any music supervisor can kind of take on
How was filming the live music sequences?
We were trying to get across the need to look like a rock band. We do have a couple of British blokes in the band that are that are on the younger side. So they had a tendency to keep their feet together and do a little swaying side to side as opposed to legs apart. You know, the guitar up against your body. Those are things that we worked on the whole time during Bandcamp as and you could hear me yelling from the rafters, where they needed to make corrections.
Were there any other films or shows that influenced how you put the show together?
I kind of took a little bit of a little bit of like A Star Is Born with like a normal kind of scenario of just play back and I kind of melded the two together to try to give us that that full on authenticity that we can give for the show.
Can you tell us what you’re working on next?
Oh, yeah. I do have a few things coming out soon. I have Are You there God? It’s me, Margaret Lionsgate film based on a Judy Blume book that comes out in April. I also have an Apple TV + show coming called The Last Thing He Told Me, which is also based on a book by Laura Dave and stars Jennifer Gardner. And I have a Netflix show called Florida Man coming up, as well as another movie on in May called Book Club 2.
SEE ALSO: Read our review of Daisy Jones & The Six here
Thank you so much for your time Frankie and congratulations on the show and album.
Chris Connor
