MRH : One project that stands out in your C.V. is the documentary The Life and Times of Arthur Erickson. How did you become involved with the project?

DM : My first contact with the director for that project came about because he was interested in talking to me about scoring his feature. The feature is still in the works, but in the meantime I've done two documentaries for him.

MRH : Composing music for an edifice might seem like a daunting task to some, but a building or subway station has its own character, and I wonder if you can describe what specific aspects inspired you? For example, did you first establish a musical picture for Erickson, and subsequently extract specific facets from his 'musical portrait' and apply them to certain creations?

DM : My musical style was dictated by the camera work and editing as well as Erickson's architectural style. There is a lot of subtlety to his work. He really manages to create a structure that is in harmony with its surroundings, so this was my goal with the music. Much like Fido, I imposed theses compositional limitations on the score. Everything had to be based on harmonics. I used harmonics on bass and guitar and manipulated one note at time with delays, then combined these with long evolving drones that were created by singing harmonic overtones.

MRH : So little music by Canadian film composers exists on CD, even on a local level. As a contrast, Fido's score will be available on iTunes, and I'm curious if this might be the first step is getting some native music out there?

DM : We'll see. There are some great Canadian writers that have carved out pretty auspicious careers in the industry – Howard Shore (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) and Mychael Danna (Little Miss Sunshine) come to mind, but there are others. For me personally it would be nice to see my music reach a larger audience. The soundtrack for Fido is pretty unique, so hopefully it will catch on with score enthusiasts.

MRH : For a CD release, there's a greater level of expenses, whereas a digital album is less costly to produce, and I wonder if that was a key reason for releasing the score online?

DM : Yes, I'm sure it was. It was Lions Gate's choice. There is just so much music out there these days that I think everyone's overwhelmed, and as a result people just don't know what to buy. You've got to be able to present your material beyond just the music stores, so a CD somehow just doesn't make financial sense unfortunately. I'm optimistic about Itunes as a digital delivery system, because your audience is really global. It seems like all corners of the globe are connected somehow to itunes, so there's enormous potential there.

MRH : If the album is well-received by fans, would you consider releasing some of your prior scores in the near future?

DM : I'd love to. I've got some really diverse scores that would make interesting listening. The score to Mile Zero uses electronics and string quartet and is one of my favorites. I also just produced and arranged a debut album of ancient music from around the world for my wife Allison Girvan. She's an incredible singer, so I'm hopeful that it will get out there because I think it's really got a unique flavor.