Liz Phair on How TV Scoring Saved Her Love of Music

Liz Phair has spent 17 years in the recording industry as a saint and a "sellout," a cavalier grandmaster of articulation whose monotone delivery and Stones-y dispassion on Exile in Guyville, her breakout 1993 album, inspired countless confessional female singer-songwriters. Now, after being declared a pop misfit with her self-titled album in 2003, Phair returns to her fringe roots with Funstyle, a record she released online herself July 3. In it, she discusses her new gig, one that's already garnered her an ASCAP award: television composer.

Movieline emailed Phair to find out about Funstyle, its bizarre lead single "Bollywood," and her music work on 90210 and USA's In Plain Sight. Phair may not be signed to a record label anymore, but she's still passionately committed to music -- it's just an atmospheric element of our primetime viewing experience now.

"Bollywood," the lead single on Funstyle, lays out the conflicts between your score work and recording work. What compelled you to make this the subject of the album's "single"?

Really, the pissed-off rap just rattled around in my brain for a while until one day while I was in the studio scoring scenes for 90210, Evan Frankfort (composing partner) and I scrolled through a few beat selections and landed on the Taal loop and I just lit up immediately. I knew it had to be a marriage between that sound and the rap. Ridiculous musical contrast to represent the ridiculous conflict between art and commerce.

Is score work fulfilling for someone who's spent years establishing her own singular voice? Can you talk about the skills you develop as a scorer?

I love scoring. Putting music to picture is a rewarding challenge and one that relies on interpretation of emotion -- as in, what is the pivotal feeling in a scene and which character's point of view is driving it at any given moment? It feels like a whole new medium, but one I'm ready at this point in my career to tackle. I love stretching myself musically. Composing gives me a chance to work in multiple dimensions and helps me pare down my melodies into what is essential. Learning new skills has always energized me and scoring has opened up a world of sonic possibilities. Yes, a lot of my idiosyncrasies get smoothed, but the melodies are still mine and the movement of a scene is still mine so it is very fulfilling to see in its completed form, ideally allowing the viewer to focus on the dialog and action and imparting feeling almost invisibly. Trust me: really fun.

Are you given carte blanche as a scorer? If not, can you discuss the kinds of ideas you've tried (in particular scenes) that have been rejected?

Carte blanche? On a network TV show? Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha. No, we definitely work for the client. But the way it often works and really should work is that the showrunner hiring us already likes what we do, and we spend the first few episodes learning what the creator has in mind, creating a vocabulary to allow us to interpret their vision accurately and it becomes a 'sum greater than the parts' collaboration. We keep at it until they're happy. That being said, you can't turn a horse into a chicken just because you put feathers on it, so the early meetings are important to establish concordance.

Whose score work on TV do you admire? Are you cognizant of scoring at all times when you watch TV?

We love Breaking Bad, Modern Family, Hung, Dexter, Big Love, Nurse Jackie, The Tudors, Weeds. Movie-wise, I thought the score for There Will Be Blood was absolutely genius and unexpected. I've been aware of score my whole life. The music in movies and TV shows has always been very 'loud' to me. I think everybody feels score all the time, they just aren't aware of it. If it's a good musical interpretation, it really catches your heart, your limbic system, and holds it throughout the ride. I can't watch anything if the music is bad. I squirm around in my seat, it's so uncomfortable to me. It instantly breaks the suspension of disbelief. I can remember being young and at movies with my friends and I would look around and be, like, are you kidding me? Does no one else hear that?

Swingtown was your first gig. How did you approach that first scoring job, were you nervous, and how did your specialized skill set aid you?

I had no idea what I was doing when [showrunner] Mike Kelly first encouraged me to score. He's the reason we're having this conversation. He had confidence in me at a time when I was really down about my whole recording situation, not sure if I wanted to continue to make music at all, and by asking me to be musical in an entirely different context, he saved my spirit. I took to scoring like a duck to water. I absolutely love going to work on a show. It gets fast and hairy, of course, but it's always a thrill to finish a scene well and I love to listen back to our work. It's amazing what it looks like when it is on TV as a finished product. You always notice the cues that don't work when you see it like that, and ouch! I hate to see that. But most of them work beautifully, and it gives me great pride to be part of the team that brought something to life.

You won an ASCAP award for Top Television Composer because of your work on 90210. Do you connect to that series in particular?

I like all the shows we do. We've been really lucky to have worked with talented, smart people and I'm so caught up in the music and sound that I've never questioned whether a show was really 'me' or not. I work with two scoring partners, Evan Frankfort and Doc Dauer and we throw ourselves wholeheartedly into the job of bringing a creator's vision to life with the music. When you love what you do, you're happy just doing it!

In Plain Sight seems like a departure for you, a series that is not nearly as concerned with relationships and social drama. Is it particularly challenging?

It's always challenging. I learn so much with every show we do. In Plain Sight has a lot of action and chase scenes and I study what Evan does and hone my instincts. 90210 had a lot of comedy and I learned about that. My specialty is obviously relationships and every show has a lot of that. Swingtown will always hold a special, untouchable place in our hearts because Mike Kelly and Alan Poul were so knowledgeable musically and it was our first show.

For all of "Funstyle's" quirks, it employs a kind of smart kitsch that I associate with your very early Girlysound, pre-Exile in Guyville material. Did releasing Funstyle on your own reacquaint you with the independence of making and self-releasing your first songs?

Thank you for noticing! I feel that way, too. My first recording were entirely un-self-conscious and I rapped and sang and spoofed and cried and seethed to my hearts content, since I never envisioned any audience in those early bedroom recordings. I feel free doing Funstyle in that same way. It's so out there, but it's so me.

Can we expect you to include some of your new material in upcoming scoring jobs?

I'd be happy to give songs to a show if they wanted them, but I never suggest it. I'm there to do one job and one job only and that is to bring their story to life in score. It's more than satisfying enough for me!