ComingSoon sat down with composer Tyler Strickland to delve into the intricate musical tapestry woven for the documentary Sly, a cinematic exploration of Sylvester Stallone’s illustrious career and life. Tyler graciously provides insights into his collaboration with director Thom Zimny, the inspiration behind his musical choices, and the unique challenges and triumphs encountered while scoring a documentary that unravels the inspirational layers of Stallone’s compelling journey.
Jeff Ames: The documentary Sly offers an intimate retrospective of Sylvester Stallone’s career and life. How did you approach composing a score that captures the essence of such a prolific and iconic figure?
Tyler Strickland: I think the first step was having long conversations with our director, Thom Zimny, who had spent a lot of time with Stallone and understood him more as an individual than most. Thom had a lot of great insight on how Sly sees the world and that was really helpful for me in figuring out the tone of the music. He had also exhausted some directions with temp music and tried things with the music, so he had a great idea of what wasn’t working which is actually very helpful in the early stages. Our goal was always just to get to the core of who Sly is. What makes him tick as a man, writer, artist, and father.
Could you share some insights into your creative process when scoring Sly? What inspired your musical choices for this documentary about Sylvester Stallone?
So I actually really love the way the film was shot. Sly is so expressive and articulate and they filmed him in his element at home, walking around, talking with his hands a lot. It’s kind of a composer’s dream to have a subject like this because there’s all of this kinetic energy on screen. He’s giving me all of these moments to hit with the music. He has ways of pausing to gather his thoughts, and the music could hang in limbo with him, before he rattles off an energetic burst, and the music followed. A lot of scoring the film was kind of reacting to his body language. There was a lot to play with here. Instrumentally, I was really drawn to the Wurlitzer and Rhodes pianos for the score with a lot of effects. I used them everywhere.
Stallone’s life story is described as inspirational. How did you use music to underscore and enhance the inspirational elements of his journey?
One of my favorite scenes in the film to score was Sly moving from NYC to LA. Maybe because I’ve made that drive myself, but it just felt so relatable. It’s a great opportunity for music to take the audience on a crucial part of his journey to Hollywood. I went with a bit of an Americana folk/rock direction for that particular scene, and even worked with Willie Nelson’s long-time harmonica player, Mickey Raphael, on it, which was super fun.
Documentary scores often play a crucial role in guiding the audience’s emotions and connecting with the subject matter. Can you discuss some key moments in the film where your music is particularly impactful?
Absolutely. So as you learn in watching the film, Sly’s father was very physical with him at a young age. We wanted the angst of that relationship to come through as a theme in the film. It’s ultimately what drove him to write Rocky and take on a lot of hero roles. We came up with the idea of this guitar feedback or distortion the convey that angst, and we really used it as a motif in the film. It comes in at obvious moments like when we first learn about the abusive relationship, and it’s reprised later when he’s talking about Rambo and how that character reminded him of his father. Things like this go a long way in a film score and the audience may not realize it, but they do make the emotional connection when those sounds return in key moments. I like to keep these things more on the subtle side rather than big sweeping melodic motifs.
How did you balance the need for music that reflects Stallone’s career achievements with the emotional depth required to tell his personal story?
The Rocky theme is of course iconic. We talked a bit about how to weave it into this film, but ultimately decided to not go down the road of being too easily derivative. I do whisper at it here and there with some very distant brass instruments playing subtle heroic melodies, but I wanted to keep all of that at arms length. The longer I worked on this film, the more I realized we weren’t telling the story of Stallone’s career as much as we were the man behind it, and I think trying to keep it more about him was working best.
In documentary filmmaking, there’s often a blend of archival footage, interviews, and reenactments. How did you tailor your music to work seamlessly with these various elements?
We often use the music as a tool, especially in docs, to blur the lines of all the different footage sources. It’s like the glue that keeps things texturally consistent. This is why it’s really important in the score to use a similar instrumentation throughout. I’m sometimes a bit subtle on my use of melodic themes, but I’m definitely a stickler for keeping instrumentation within a certain range. I would argue that instrumentation alone can be the musical theme in some cases.
Are there specific musical motifs or themes in your score that you believe will resonate with the audience and leave a lasting impression after they’ve seen the documentary?
I really hope that the audience connects the distortion element I mentioned earlier in the score to the conversation surrounding his father. I think it’s pretty apparent and we tried to use a subtle musical element in an obvious way within the edit and placement of it. Outside of that motif, there is definitely a cue that bookends the film and appears a few times in the middle that always felt like Sly’s theme of being a creative. I returned to it a lot when he talked about his writing process and how he’ll always have Rocky and Rambo to return to.
What challenges, if any, did you encounter when composing the score for Sly, considering the vast range of subjects and moments in Stallone’s life to cover?
It’s a very linear, rags to riches kind of story, but when he finally gets to the pinnacle of his career he realizes some of the things that are most important are family and that life is short. So the biggest challenge with a film like this is always to map out where exactly the theme will sneak in. We start with it right out of the gates, and it is also the last cue in the film. But the trick is always finding the moments throughout where he’s making progress, and he’s meeting people who are pivotal to his career, and weaving it into those scenes in subliminal ways.
As a composer, how do you see your role in helping viewers connect with the life and career of Sylvester Stallone through the music in Sly?
Sly tells his own story very well. He has an amazing way of drawing you into this trip down memory lane with him. The music didn’t need to over-narrate that journey too much and certainly not with big melodic motifs. I think the score is successful because it stays observational and kind of at a distance. Sometimes that’s much harder to do than it sounds. Also every once in a while, I like to step back and look at the entire film and the dynamic of the music throughout; does it ebb and flow enough? So I worked with the director very closely to find strategic moments for bursts of energy, or emotional string swells to keep the audience’s attention.
Any upcoming projects or additional thoughts?
I’m just really grateful to be a part of telling Sly’s story. It’s one of those moments in my career where I’m pinching myself that I get to contribute to this time capsule of a film about one of my childhood heroes. I also just scored a doc about the making of Michael Jackson’s Thriller album that comes out in December. I get excited about both of these projects for a similar reason. I sometimes think about future generations discovering these artists and their work for the first time, and I like to imagine that these documentaries about the making of, or the minds behind the stories, will live in a similar space right alongside them.