Gustavo Santaolalla | |
|---|---|
 Santaolalla in 2022 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla (1951-08-19)19 August 1951 (age 74) |
| Origin | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1967–present |
| Member of | Bajofondo |
| Formerly of | Arco Iris |
Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla (Spanish:[ɡusˈtaβoalˈfɾeðosantaoˈlaʝa]; born 19 August 1951) is an Argentine composer, record producer and musician. He is the recipient ofnumerous accolades forhis works, including twoAcademy Awards for Best Original Score, aGolden Globe, twoGrammy Awards and 17Latin Grammy Awards. He is known for his minimalist approach to composing and for his influence in theLatin rock music genre.
Involved in music from a young age, he began a professional career in 1967 founding the bandArco Iris, who were influential to therock nacional genre. Fleeing the rule of the Argentinemilitary junta and the dictatorship of theNational Reorganization Process, Santaolalla moved toLos Angeles in 1978. After returning to Argentina in the 1980s and taking a musical sabbatical, he became a leading figure in therock en español movement, establishing the record labelSurco Records withinUniversal Music and producing records for over 100 artists. Notable records he produced were several fromCafé Tacuba, including their acclaimed 1994 albumRe,Julieta Venegas's 2000 albumBueninvento, andJuanes's 2005 hit single "La Camisa Negra". Santaolalla established theneotango groupBajofondo in 2001.
Music from Santaolalla's 1998 solo albumRonroco caught the attention of filmmakers and led to a career expansion into film scores, beginning withAmores perros (2000),21 Grams (2003) andThe Motorcycle Diaries (2004). Santaolalla rose to fame for creating the scores forBrokeback Mountain (2005) andBabel (2006), for which he received twoAcademy Awards for Best Original Score in consecutive years. He scoredI Come with the Rain (2009) andBiutiful (2010). Santaolalla further gained recognition for his work onThe Last of Us game series, composingthe 2013 game andits 2020 sequel. In 2014, he composed his first animated film,The Book of Life, and his first Argentine film,Wild Tales. He scored the short filmBorrowed Time (2015) and co-composed the documentaryBefore the Flood (2016). Santaolalla returned toadapt his music for the 2023The Last of Us TV series and composed an original score for October 2024 showings of the 1931 Spanish-languageDracula film by theLos Angeles Opera.
Not learned in reading or writingmusical notation, Santaolalla prefers composing his scores mostly by himself. Favouring instruments like theronroco, he adopts a minimalistic approach when composing and prefers to capture humanistic elements of performances. He compares his philosophy of favouring minimalism in music toparkour, comparing the calculations of athletes before landing to his measured selection ofmusical notes before playing them. By contrast, his live performances have been noted for their vibrancy. For his influence inLatin music, Santaolalla was recognized as aBMI Icon during the 15th annual Latin Awards Ceremony in 2008 and received theLatin Grammy Trustees Award in 2023. In his personal life, he has two children with his wife, and is engaged withwinemaking.
Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla was born inEl Palomar, Argentina on 19 August 1951.[1] Santaolalla was born to astay-at-home mother and a father working in the advertising industry forJ. Walter Thompson.[2] His family has roots in Spain; his grandfather wasAndalusian and his grandmother wasBasque.[3] When Santaolalla was five, he was given his first guitar by his grandmother for his birthday;[2] he "immediately connected in a sort of a spiritual level with the music",[4] and began musical tutelage with a hired teacher.[2] When he was ten, his teacher declined to continue attempting to educate him; according to Santaolalla, the teacher told his mother "his ear is stronger than my music".[4] Santaolalla had also lived in the community ofCiudad Jardín Lomas del Palomar.[5] Santaolalla's family would buy him instruments and support his musical activities, though they initially did not believe this was a viable profession for him; Santaolalla said that this attitude was only brief, quickly supporting his music as a serious endeavor for him.[6]
In his pre-teenage years, Santaolalla wrote songs in English which "mimick[ed]" the music of bands likethe Beatles;[4] at twelve, he was gifted his firstelectric guitar.[2] In his teenage years, Santaolalla had aspired to become a musician such that he designed alogo for arecord label he had dreamed of owning.[7] Santaolalla had been analtar boy at aCatholic church, aspiring to join the seminary, but had a falling out with his dedication to religion after pondering whyGod would let evil andHell exist despite His goodness. The priest had called Santaolalla's father regarding performing anexorcism on the boy for his "heresy", but Santaolalla's father supported his exit from the church.[5] By 1966, Santaolalla, then 15, had been arrested by themilitary juntas governing Argentina,[2] according to him because he had long hair and played an electric guitar, despite not partaking in drugs or being involved in political activities.[4] The first time Santaolalla was arrested, his father arrived to collect him, questioning the authorities about what crime Santaolalla had committed.[2] The arrests continued throughout his adolescence.[2]
Santaolalla's music career began in 1967 when he co-founded the groupArco Iris,[7] a rock band that helped createrock nacional.[4] He played guitar and sang in the band, which included wind instrument playerAra Tokatlian [es], bass playerGuillermo Bordarampé [es], percussionistHoracio Gianello [es] and their vocalistDanais Winnycka [es], who became their spiritual guide.[8] The group lived acommunal lifestyle, practicing celibacy, vegetarianism,[2] forgoeing alcohol and drugs,[5] and were engaged with Eastern religion.[2] The band rose to prominence with the song "Mañana campestre" from their third albumTiempo de Resurrección [es].[8]
After seven Arco Iris albums, Santaolalla left following a disagreement with Tokatlian,[8] and amid concerns that arose with Santaolalla halfway through their existence that "any group that is so inner directed runs the risk of turning into a cult".[2] Santaolalla called his mother, who orchestrated an operation to "rescue" him from the community he had found to be "oppressive".[5] Santaolalla thereafter founded thehard rock group Soluna.[2][8] With the1976 Argentine coup d'état, Santaolalla experienced hard times under theNational Reorganization Process and moved toLos Angeles, California in 1978, living undocumented for several years.[4] He formed the group Wet Picnic, but had no commercial success with them.[7] At this point, Santaolalla described his life as "[Eight years of eating shit every morning]", and lived a "[fantasy]" of a drug-abusing rock star. Afterwards he lived in a hotel in New York, experiencing poverty with his creative partnerAníbal Kerpel.[5]
In the 1980s, Santaolalla was able to return to Argentina and on one trip he began travelling the rural country with his friend, the folk musicianLeón Gieco.[4] This venture was called "De Ushuaia a la Quiaca", respectively referring to the southernmost and northernmost towns in Argentina,Ushuaia andLa Quiaca.[7] From 1981 to 1985,[9] in four years, he and Gieco travelled to document and experience folk music, aiming to "look for the essence of" wherethe music of Argentina's past came from.[4] Gieco had originally wanted to invite musicians from across the country to Buenos Aires, but Santaolalla wanted them to visit the musicians where they lived. 450 concerts were performed during this journey.[9] Santaolalla's embrace of the musicians' musical styles caused them to become prevalent in his work, namely the ten-string Andean instrument called theronroco.[4] It was at this point Santaolalla began a relationship with his future wife Alejandra, who the musicians hired as a photographer to document the trip alongside the direction of the musical guide Leda Valladares.[5]
Santaolalla released the albumSantaolalla [es] in 1982,[10] and became a leading figure of the Mexico-basedrock en español movement;[7] theLos Angeles Times described his contribution toLatin rock music as becoming "the most transcendent producer" in its history,[11] andBillboard wrote he is considered one of the creators ofLatin alternative music who helped develop it to "[global acclaim]".[12] Santaolalla began establishing himself as a record producer upon his return toBuenos Aires in the 80s, with the music executive Jesús López helping him establishSurco Records withinUniversal Music.[13] Santaolalla collaborated with co-producerAníbal Kerpel on albums for numerous artists, includingCafé Tacuba,Maldita Vecindad,Julieta Venegas,Molotov andJuanes,[11] and other Argentine artists likeDivididos andBersuit Vergarabat;[5] Santaolalla produced over 100 albums at that point in time,[7][14][6][15] for artists he described as being on a "[search for their identity through music]".[5] Santaolalla says the records he produced consisted largely ofdebut albums for artists, and felt that his impact helped put the "[on the map]".[6]
Santaolalla produced Café Tacuba's 1992debut album,[16] and their 1994 albumRe—considered among the greatest Latin albums.[17][12] In 1995 Santaolalla released the albumGAS,[15] and in 1998, he released the albumRonroco, consisting of solo works recorded over 14 years,[7] and featuring the titular instrument alongside thecharango and the Andeanpan flute.[4] Santaolalla producedJulieta Venegas's praised 2000 albumBueninvento.[18] Santolalla formed theneotango groupBajofondo in 2001, for whom he plays guitar.[7]Billboard credited this group with modernizing tango with electronic, modern elements.[12]
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The attention that Santaolalla's recordRonroco attained led to a career expansion into composingfilm scores.[11] American directorMichael Mann first used Santaolalla's song "Iguazu" in his filmThe Insider (1999).[7] Mexican directorAlejandro González Iñárritu heardRonroco, leading him to ask Santaolalla to compose his filmsAmores perros (2000) and21 Grams (2003),[7] creating a recurring collaboration between the two.[19] Before directing his debutAmores perros Iñárritu was a radio DJ, and Santaolalla—being busy—initially turned down the offer from the novice. Santaolalla says he woke up in the middle of one night and considered, "suppose this guy is a genius, and this film is amazing", and corresponded with Iñárritu, and was convinced to work on the film.[17] Of his transition into scores, Santaolalla said he had "no plan, no master plan. But I always had this love for films".[4] Santaolalla produced Café Tacuba's 2003 albumCuatro Caminos.[12] Iñárritu introduced Santaolalla toWalter Salles,[17] and Santaolalla composedthe score for Salles's biographical filmThe Motorcycle Diaries (2004),[7] for which he won theAnthony Asquith Award for Film Music at the58th British Academy Film Awards.[20]
Santaolalla produced Juanes's albumMi Sangre (2004), from which the 2005 single "La Camisa Negra" toppedHot Latin Songs chart for eight weeks.[12] Santaolalla wrote the score forNiki Caro's drama filmNorth Country (2005).[21] Santaolalla organized theCafé de Los Maestros project, which included a concert,a documentary film [es], a book, anda double album [es].[17] That year, Santaolalla provided the instrumental music forthe soundtrack to theContemporary Western romance filmBrokeback Mountain.[7] DirectorAng Lee sought a sparse and "yearning" sound for the film and sent Santaolalla a script. Two weeks later, he received a CD of new compositions for the film—unaware that Santaolalla composed music during early pre-production for films, he mistook this for reference music.[7] According to Santaolalla, he composed 100% of the score beforeprincipal photography began.[14] FromBrokeback Mountain, Santaolalla composed the song "A Love That Will Never Grow Old", which won the2006 Golden Globe Award forBest Original Song.[22] Santaolalla composedthe score to the 2006psychological drama filmBabel, another collaboration with Iñárritu.[19]
Santaolalla's reception of theAcademy Award for Best Original Score forBrokeback Mountain in2006 and forBabel in2007 established him as a prominent composer of Hollywood films.[10] He was the co-producer ofCalle 13's song "Tango del Pecado", a song from their albumResidente o Visitante (2007).[23] On 12 June 2008, Santaolalla was recognized as a BMI Icon during the 15th annual Latin Awards Ceremony.[24] He composedTran Anh Hung's neo-noir thrillerI Come with the Rain (2009),[25] and collaborated again with Iñárritu on the music for the filmBiutiful (2010).[26]
Santaolalla composedthe score for the 2013 video gameThe Last of Us, marking his first composition for a video game. During thedevelopment of the game at studioNaughty Dog, creative directorNeil Druckmann and game directorBruce Straley compiled musical tracks that they found inspirational. When searching for a composer to work on the game's music, they realised Santaolalla composed many of their compiled tracks; they askedSony to reach out to him.[27] He was brought to the studio and shown an early version of the first trailer and a full description of the plot; Druckmann remembers the composer's first words to them were "I want to be a part of this. Whatever it takes, I want to write for this".[28] Santaolalla had previously wanted to compose for video games and was approached by several other developers following his Academy Award wins, but he refused to work on projects without a focus on story and characters.[10] Santaolalla sent Druckmann "batches of themes and music" for nearly three years;[29] to challenge himself, he used a variety of unique instruments that were new to him, giving "an element of danger and innocence".[30]
Santaolalla composedthe score toAugust: Osage County (2013).[31] In November, Santaolalla toured in Mexico with Bajofondo in support of the albumPresente, at the 11thFestival de las Almas [es] inValle de Bravo, atEl Plaza Condesa [es] and 19thFestival de Calaveras [es] inAguascalientes.[32] At the14th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, as part of Bajofondo, Santaolalla received the award forBest Instrumental Album forPresente and the song "Pena en mi Corazón" wonBest Alternative Song.[33][34]
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Santaolalla composed the music to the musicalArrabal, written byJohn Weidman and directed bySergio Trujillo, which opened at thePanasonic Theatre in February 2014.[2] He composedthe score to the 2014 filmThe Book of Life, his first animated film and the first time he worked with a large orchestra and choir.[35] Santaolalla used themarimba andaccordion, withmariachi horns in the score, which he saw as a change from his usual minimalist style.[35] Santaolalla wrote songs withPaul Williams for the film; the two were already working on a musical adaptation of film directorGuillermo del Toro'sPan's Labyrinth (2006).[36] StarsDiego Luna andZoe Saldaña sang on the soundtrack, with their Hispanic accents retained—Santaolalla said that this, the authentic instrumentation and the film's open depiction of life, death, and theunderworld madeThe Book of Life "fantastic" and differentiated it from being watered down and tethered to Hollywood appeal.[37] He composed the score toWild Tales (2014), his first score to an Argentine film.[38]
Santaolalla composed the score for theWestern animated short filmBorrowed Time (2015). DirectorsAndrew Coats andLou Hamou-Lhadj had been playingThe Last of Us during development and enjoyed his leverage of silence in the score—their producer reached out and Santaolalla agreed to work with them at his Los Angeles studio once he was sent ananimatic of the film set to atemp track of his own prior work.[39] In October 2015, Santaolalla was inducted into theLatin Songwriters Hall of Fame by Paul Williams, who serves as the president ofASCAP.[40][41] Santaolalla co-composedthe soundtrack to the 2016 documentary filmBefore the Flood withTrent Reznor,Atticus Ross andMogwai.[42] Santaolalla scored the French thriller filmAll That Divides Us (2017).[43]
Santaolalla returned to composethe score forThe Last of Us Part II (2020), as he had done for the first game, withMac Quayle providing additional music.[44] Naughty Dog tasked him to create emotional, character-based tracks and he worked on the game for two to three years.[45] Santaolalla continued using the ronroco, the instrument used in the first game's theme, as he felt it enhanced main characterEllie's qualities through feminine sounds,[46] while he introduced abanjo for new characterAbby's theme. He composedPart II's score around the banjo and an electric guitar, feeling the increased characters and complexities demanded moretimbre.[10] Santaolalla worked withGary Clark Jr. on the song "Valley of Last Resort", created for the documentary filmFreak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb (2020). With lyrics written by Paul Williams, Clark and Santaolalla respectively play electric guitar and ronroco and perform vocals together.[47]
Santaolalla returned to co-composethe score forthe television adaptation ofThe Last of Us, which premiered in 2023.[48] He felt the "relationship that [fans] have with the music of the game" made his return inevitable and noted the music was so integral to the narrative that its absence would be akin to excluding lead charactersJoel or Ellie.[29] Santaolalla primarily recrafted his previous work instead of creating new music, focusing on elements he found interesting.[49] He said some of his pieces fit perfectly while others were trimmed and edited to fit the scenes.[29] He treated the series as "an expansion" of the game and kept them tied to each other, not seeking to revise or correct previous work as he found it authentic.[50] Santaolalla had around 185cues for the series,[50] associated with specific on-screen actions, like a character opening a door or entering a car.[29] Santaolalla worked on the score withDavid Fleming, who selected specific instruments that paired appropriately with Santaolalla's work.[51] Also in 2023, Santaolalla performed atEric Clapton'sCrossroads Guitar Festival in September and received the Latin Grammy Trustees Award in November.[52]
On 26 January 2024,Nonesuch Records released a 25th anniversary reissue ofRonroco.[17] Santaolalla composed an original score for the 25–27 October screenings of the 1931 Spanish-languageDracula film at the United Theater in Los Angeles, commissioned by theLos Angeles Opera.[53] He was interested in combining the traditional scoring method with an experimental musical approach—he knew nothing of this Spanish-language adaptation beforehand and said its lack of music made it languid—he felt his score's contribution to the showing would complement the film's characterization.[11] Having an orchestra conducted by the Opera's resident conductor Lina González-Granados, Santaolalla composed the music beyond the orchestral portion withsynthesisers andsamplers, which he said improved thesubharmonics and gave the score "potency". Santaolalla said that he maintained a feeling of "innocence" with the project, not feeling intimidated by the task in order to have fun, as the score would retain the "same melancholy touch that is ever present in everything I do".[11]
In 2025, Santaolalla returned to compose the score forThe Last of Us season 2.[54] In the season premiere, "Future Days", Santaolalla makes acameo appearance playing in a scene with the bandCrooked Still. Having wanted to visit the set during filming, series co-creatorCraig Mazin recalled how inPart II, Santaolalla made a cameo playing thebanjo, and thought naturally to extend this into the series by integrating him in the scene with the band. Despite not having played the band's songs before, Mazin said they spoke about the music for "about 40 seconds", and played through numerous takes of the scene; Mazin said Santaolalla "loved every minute of it. Never complained" even though he warned the musician that it would be the two "longest days" of his life.[54]
Santaolalla does not know how to read or write musical notation.[4] When he played music in his adolescence, he would have to make sure he memorised all of the pieces he created and practised them so he would not forget, as he did not write them down in notation; in his teenage years, his parents bought him atape recorder, which he used to collect his pieces. When working with an orchestra, Santaolalla still uses this method to notate, recording his compositions so anorchestrator can translate them to paper.[14] Santaolalla said that composing and performing his scores primarily by himself brings "character", feeling that orchestral-based work lacks "personality".[19][14]
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Santaolalla typically begins composing music early in the production process of a film, according to the screenplay, something he says affords him a greater creative role.[19] Santaolalla says this means he composes based on his relationship with the story and characters and from conversations with the principal creatives of the production, and he adapts his work from there.[14]PBS describes his scores as "melancholy and minimal",[19] and Santaolalla told theLos Angeles Times that melancholy was "ever present" in his work.[11] By contrast, PBS describes the musician's live performances as "vivacious and buoyant";[19]PCGamesN described a 2024 performance of music at the LondonRoyal Festival Hall as exciting and "beautifully moving", praising his vocals and professionalism.[55]
Santaolalla favours the use ofsilence in his compositions; he says the sparsity "gives resonance to the notes that you play around it". Santaolalla compares his musical process to jumping inparkour, likening the calculations practiced before the athletes land to his measured selection ofnotes before he plays them.[10] Santaolalla stated that "landing" the note is important, such that it is crucial to land "safe[ly]", closing the "arch".[4] Santaolalla prefers to capture interactions with instruments when they are played, such as fingers sliding acrossguitar strings, when he records; he finds it "primitive", additive of "tension and texture" and conducive of "humanity", describing the practice as finding "the right note, hidden as a wrong note".[56] Santaolalla's signature instrument is the ronroco, which he has used since discovering it during his time exploring the music of theAndes.[10][4]
Gustavo Santaolalla is married to his wife Alejandra, with whom he has a daughter Luna,[5] who holds a diploma inviticulture at theUniversity of California Davis;[57] and son Don Juan Nahuel.[5][6] Santaolalla had been involved inwinemaking since around the mid-2000s[57][58] with Raúl Orozco[5] and Juan Carlos Chavero,[57] being the proprietor with Orozco[5] of La Luna farm, a 22-hectare—ten of which are in cultivation—farm inLunlunta,Luján de Cuyo, Argentina.[58]
Santaolalla is the recipient ofnumerous accolades, winning twoAcademy Awards for Best Original Score,[4] being nominated for twoEmmy Awards,[59] winning aGolden Globe with two more nominations,[60] winning twoGrammy Awards with three more nominations,[61] and winning 17Latin Grammy Awards with 28 more nominations.[33] Santaolalla was recognized as aBMI Icon during the 15th annual Latin Awards Ceremony in 2008,[24] and for his influence in Latin music he received the 2023Latin Grammy Trustees Award.[52]
