Kevin Sargent |
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In October 2003, an unexpected email popped up in Kevinıs inbox. In response to his recent music for Crush, it read: "Your score besides being so right for the movie, also displayed a rare quality among composers these days: You write terrific melodies! I was very impressed." Burt Berman, President, Music Division, Paramount Pictures
How many composers can boast Kevin Sargentıs multi-faceted background as a musician and stage performer? Perhaps it is this which gives his work such appeal, in which memorable, evocative themes are integrated in an imaginative, poly-stylistic approach. Whether it is a sinister, deadpan bossanova (BBC TVıs recent Macbeth) or timeless autumnal lyricism (William Boydıs meditation on the Sonnets, A Waste of Shame, starring Rupert Graves), Kevinıs artful and haunting scores never fail to lift the work they serve; he has that rare ability of capturing the very spirit of any project lucky enough to have him.
Consider this: though an accomplished, classically-trained pianist, he in fact began his career as a drummer, percussionist and keyboardist with cult dance/rock pioneers Thrashing Doves. Signed to A&M and Elektra Records, he learnt his craft at the elbow of legendary producers like Chris Thomas, Jimmy Iovine and jazz luminary Tommy Lipuma, recording three critically-acclaimed albums in Los Angeles, London and New York and touring the US and Europe. Their funky, and controversial, Jesus on the Payroll reached the Billboard Top Twenty dance chart.
As a founder member of West End comedy team The Hurricane Club, Kevin also boasts a background in theatre and comic improvisation, performing off-the-cuff sketches for many years at their weekly West End residency. As journal Music from the Movies noted of Crush, 'his music not only supports but adds to the comedy.' A flair for dramatic and often mischievous juxtaposition reflected in a refined compositional style, blending passion and imagination with great timing, taste and attention to detail. Kevinıs bolder ideas can be cunning; for the Joan Allen/Kevin Costner dramatic comedy The Upside of Anger, his witty and affecting score included a set of variations on a non-existent Scandinavian folk tune, while for crime caper Fakers, a fake Italian arietta was given a playful swing-Bach treatment. A Waste of Shame gave us the chance to enjoy his serious side, with a tender chamber score, rich in the mystery and finely-felt English melancholy of Shakespeareıs inner world.
Killing Joe, directed by Mehdi Norowzian, and which Kevin scored, was nominated for an American Academy Award as Best Live-Action Short. Selections from his score for Crush were premiered to great acclaim before an audience of ten thousand by the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra in Cincinnati, sharing the programme with music by Leonard Bernstein, John Williams and Danny Elfman.
Kevin has forged an enviable reputation in commercials, where his characterful, stylish and eclectic contemporary voice has complimented a host of international and prestigious campaigns including Guinness, Adidas, Cerruti, Peugeot, Financial Times, Eurostar, Dulux, Harrods, Goodyear, Glenfiddich, Hyundai, Ford Galaxy, Land Rover and Patek Philippe. His work for Barclays, featuring Sir Anthony Hopkins and directed by Tony Scott, was rewarded with top honours from both the D&AD and Creative Circle, while Adidas "Tim Henman", featuring counter-tenor James Bowman, saw him a finalist in the British Television Advertising Awards for Best Original Music.
Kevin is rightly building a reputation as a gifted composer for the medium, whose versatility and passion is reflected in music of genuine individuality and heart. And as for actually working with him, producer Lee Thomas discovered: "With music, I usually reckon on either the process or the result being rewarding. With Kevin, itıs both."
Kevin's website can be found at www.kevinsargent.co.uk
Commercials
- Adidas
- (over 80 commercials including entire 1996 Olympics campaign - 'No Englishman' nominee for Best Original Music)
- 3 Mobile 'Cherry'
- Air Miles
- Barclays 'Player'
- Bass Ales
- British Gas
- BT Business
- Cerruti Image
- Debenhams
- Diebels
- Dulux
- Equitable Life
- Eurostar
- Fanta
- Financial Times
- Ford Galaxy
- Glenfiddich
- Goodyear 'Innovations'
- Haagen Dazs
- Harrods
- Hewlett Packard
- HSBC
- InterContinental Hotels 'Yacht'
- Huggies 'Orion'
- Hyundai
- Kerrygold
- Kinder
- Landrover 'Freelander'
- Le Shuttle
- Mastercard
- Motorola
- Muller Light
- National Savings
- Neutrogena
- Peugeot 307
- Patek Philippe
- Renault
- Rimmel
- Shell
- The Guardian
- Tropicana
- Vauxhall Astra
- Vidal Sassoon
- Velux
- Volvo
Feature films
- Crush
- (Pipedream Pics/Film Four) - d. John McKay, starring Andie McDowell: original orchestral score
- Fakers
- (Kleparski Bee) - d. Richard Janes, starring Matthew Rhys, Art Malik: original jazz/latin score
Short Films
- Killing Joe
- (Joy Films Too) - Oscar nominated Best Live Action short 1998
- Wet and Dry
- (BBC/C4 Brief Encounters)
- Out and About with H P Lovecraft
- (NFTS) - Composer and Narrator
Television
- The Last Days of Lehman Brothers
- BBC
- Blue Murder - Series 4 & 5
- Granada
- Brave Young Men
- Baby Cow Productions
- Honest
- Greenlit Productions
- Ballet Shoes
- BBC
- Lilies
- (BBC/World Prods)
- Saddam's Tribe
- (World Prods)
- Aftersun
- (Tiger Aspect)
- A Waste of Shame: The Mystery of Shakespeare and His Sonnets
- BBC (RTS nominee - Best Single Drama 2005)
- (sole UK nomination in European Soundtrack Council Awards 2006 for Best TV Score)
Theatre
- The Confederacy
- The Beau Defeated
- The Good Person of Szechwan
Radio
- Cooking for Michael Collins
- (Watershed Prods) BBC R4
Arrangements
- Charlie Dore: 'Is Everybody Happy?'
- (Black Inc. Records)
- NB: Please note, Kevin is represented by Blaze Music
- for commercials