In Conversation: with future-pop act Cloves and screen composer Jed Kurzel

Rebranding the One Year Later podcast into One Day Later for this special edition episode, Poppy Reid chats to future-pop act Cloves and singer-songwriter and screen composer Jed Kurzel.

The conversation took place at London’s RAK Studios in front of a live audience the morning after the London Global APRA Music Awards.

Jed Kurzel, who took out the Overseas Recognition Award, might be a founding member of The Mess Hall, but he’s best known in the film industry as one of its leading screen composers.

Kurzel won 2011 Feature Film Score of the Year for Snowtown at the Screen Music Awards, he’s composed music and scores for Assassin’s Creed, Alien: Covenant, and recently collaborated again with his filmmaker brother Justin Kurzel on the music for True History of the Kelly Gang.

Jed Kurzel

Cloves AKA Kaity Dunstan, took out the Breakthrough Songwriter Award at London’s Global APRA Music Awards. As a songwriter and solo artist, she’s performed at Coachella and Lollapalooza, had her song ‘Everybody’s Son’ featured in The Vampire Diaries, and after the release of her debut album One Big Nothing she performed on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

During the all-embracing chat below, the pair discuss their songwriting routine, their current and past music projects (including Cloves’ upcoming LP), co-writing tips, and some of the glaring peculiarities around songwriting itself.

“In terms of film it’s a strange process because you know something’s got to be finished or it’s got to be done,” said Jed Kurzel. “Unlike other jobs when you can have a checklist of what you need to do to finish a job. Whereas with music, what you’re doing and what you’re about to embark on doesn’t exist.”

In Conversation: with future-pop act Cloves and screen composer Jed Kurzel

They also touch on how they keep their finances in order, the experience of making the big move from Australia to London, how they navigated its industry’s idiosyncrasies, and why songwriting accidents are important.

“I think especially for this record coming up, because it’s very industrial, I think a lot of those moments you capture because they’re mistakes and it all fits into the same colour tone palate.”

Cloves