Nadia Mair
She is the Composer in Grace Pritchard’s All That You Love Will Be Carried Away Dollar Baby film.
SKSM: Could you start with telling me a little bit about yourself? Who are you and what do you do?
Nadia Mair: Hi! My name is Nadia, and I’m a film composer. I’ve been composing music since I was 7 years old and I love to write music for stories. My love for music led me to study film scoring at Berklee College of Music, and since graduating, I’ve been able to work with film directors, choreographers, small business owners, and content creators to create music for all kinds of projects.
What I love about film scoring is the environment of creativity it creates through sometimes strict parameters. We often think that we need complete freedom to create, but having a project that calls for a specific atmosphere allows for new genres, sounds, and music to be made that didn’t exist before. It also brings me so much satisfaction to help the director reach their vision for their film.
For more about who I am besides music, I love anything creative, including embroidery, painting, crafting, dancing, and writing poetry. I also enjoy spending time outdoors hiking, camping, exercising, or playing with my dog.
SKSM: How did you become involved with All That You Love Will Be Carried Away?
Nadia Mair: Grace Pritchard, the director, reached out to me after hearing about me at her school SCAD! We had never worked together before, but it was an amazing experience.
SKSM: How did you get started as a composer and what do you do on production?
Nadia Mair: I’ve always composed music as a way to express myself emotionally. I knew it was something I wanted to do professionally, so I thought that film scoring would be the perfect fit, because music is used in films to push the story forward emotionally where words and acting can’t express it.
The university I attended, Berklee College of Music, filled in all of the gaps I had in my music education, as well as prepared me to work in a professional environment as a composer. Since graduating, I continue to reach out to people, attend events to network, and try to make new connections to find work.
When I’m brought onto a film, I speak with the director about their vision for the film and the music. I take extensive notes, then start composing music. Sometimes I work with live instrumentalists to get recordings, mix the soundtrack, and send it in for the editors to put into the film.
Throughout the process, I send updates and get feedback, adjusting the music as I go, until it’s reached the vision that the director had.
SKSM: How did you get started to wrote the Soundtrack for All That You Love Will Be Carried Away?
Nadia Mair: Before working on any music, I knew that the film needed a particular sound for the instruments. I wanted it to feel like you could pick out what the instrument was that you were hearing, but something about it was off, so I began with creating these instruments virtually. There was also a need to create a division in sound between what was happening in reality, and what was a day dream for the main character. Once these sounds were figured out, I started with the title screen, jump scares, and climax moments of the story. From there, I filled in what was needed to drive the story to those points.
SKSM: Is this your most challenging audio so far?
Nadia Mair: I wouldn’t describe this film score as challenging, but rather entertaining to create. Along with creating new sounding instruments, I was able to use compositional techniques that I usually don’t get to, including dissonance and atonality. It felt like a quest to find the most chilling background sound or disturbing cluster of notes. Basically, I really enjoyed creating this one!
SKSM: You worked with Grace Pritchard on this film, how was that?
Nadia Mair: Grace is amazing to work with. She has a vision of what she wants without restricting trying out new or different ideas. It feels like we are working together creatively until we reach the final outcome.
SKSM: Was there any funny or special moment when you made the music that you would like to tell me about?
Nadia Mair: The process for this film was hilarious at times because when I’d start up where I left off the day before, I was often jump scared by my own music!
SKSM: After All That You Love Will Be Carried Away did you write more music? If so what?
Nadia Mair: Yes! I have actually worked with Grace on two more of her films, The Women Without Mercy, and an upcoming release, Holy Rollers.
I also released an EP called The Storm that includes five original compositions that I’ve worked on for the past 10 years. (It’s available to listen to on Spotify, Apple Music, etc.)
Other music I’ve worked on incudes arranging nursery rhymes, and composing meditation music, Halloween music, and podcast intros.
SKSM: What are you working nowadays?
Nadia Mair: I’m currently working on the music for a film by Haley Foster called Cramped, another sinister story, as well as launching a newsletter for composers.
SKSM: Are you a fan of Stephen King’s work?
Nadia Mair: I am! I can’t honestly say that I read his books often, because they’re sometimes, well, disturbing, but I’ve seen many of the film adaptations. Of the things I have read by Stephen King, I love the way that he writes his short stories. It feels like you’ve been dropped into a completely new world and have to catch on with what’s happening by the tiny details. They always leave you wondering what the message is long after you finish reading them.
SKSM: What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
Nadia Mair: It’s hard to know, but I guess that I’ve lived in four different countries!
SKSM: What advice would you give to those people who want to be musicians?
For practical advice, I would say learn how to play an instrument, and then start composing! The more you learn, the more your musical vocabulary will expand, and the more outside of your comfort zone you go, the more you’ll grow as an artist.
Nadia Mair: For other advice, I would say remember why you wanted to be a musician in the first place, especially on the days you question what you’re doing! Becoming a musician isn’t easy or straightforward. We have to pave our own path and figure out our own careers, but if you remember the why, you’ll be able to keep on going.
SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything else you want to say to the fans that read this interview?
Nadia Mair: If you’d like to find me, here are all of the places you can listen to my music or get in contact with me:
Soundcloud (soundtrack for this Stephen King short film): https://on.soundcloud.com/dSFkvKo2uMcwPoeF8
Website: www.nadiamair.com
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5pQUyy4mi6aH8rGBkhwE7B?si=cwlpou1yT3Cbia-yIS3Pog
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-storm-ep/1764372456
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NadiaMair
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nadia.m.music?_t=8qylmvF5Rtx&_r=1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nadia.m.music?igsh=YWE0YXE1cnFueWlh&utm_source=qr
