‘Lego Movie’: Composer Mark Mothersbaugh Discusses The Film’s Score

The Lego Movie is currently one of the most talked about movies on the big screen. One person who clearly deserves some credit for making the flick so enjoyable is Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh.

To give the film’s adventures a poppy and admittedly catchy soundtrack, Mothersbaugh drew inspiration from the history of electronic music. This included pulling sounds from both analog and digital instruments and mixing them with a live orchestra.

“I sampled a lot of analog gear because that’s where I started off, like Minimoogs and old analog modular pieces,” the Devo singer told the Los Angeles Times.

He added, “‘The Lego Movie’ encompassed the widest range of the history of electronic music of any film I’ve ever worked on.”

Mothersbaugh, who also worked with directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street, said he also used sounds from a few of his old Devo songs to help craft the score for The Lego Movie.

“I had a very wide arsenal for this one. I had a hundred-piece orchestra. I had a 40 voice choir. I also used 35 synthesizers and things that were from modern rave — a lot of circuit bent, crazy things that are often times just one off to get that sound,” the composer explained.

He added, “It’s kind of like what my little brother, Jim, used to do back in the 70’s before we had a name for it, where they take toys and musical instruments and make them sound better than they really were supposed to sound.”

Following his stint as the frontman of Devo, Mark Mothersbaugh transitioned into television and film. In addition to working with Lord and Miller, the composer has worked on such projects as Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, the Nickelodeon cartoon Rugrats, and the popular video game The Sims.

Considering The Lego Movie is expected to make even more money over the weekend, chances are Mothersbaugh will have an opportunity to score the sequel. Although Warner Bros. hasn’t officially announced any plans for a follow-up, everyone seems to think the studio already has something in the cinematic oven.

According to Hypable, Warner Bros. has already given the Lego Movie sequel the proverbial greenlight. The website reports that Jared Stern (The Internship) and Michelle Morgan (Girl Most Likely) will tackle the script for the follow-up.

What did you think about composer and Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh’s score for Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s box office hit The Lego Movie?