Dream Teams: "A Second Set of Ears is Always Better Than One"
Putting your trust in a collaborator means relinquishing a portion of the control. This is not an easy task for most people, especially creatives. Having faith in your teammate’s ability to advance a creative vision to the same standard as you would takes time and practice. Syncing sonic sensibilities, head of music supervision and licensing, Heather Gardner, and music supervisor, Telan Wong, have arrived at an equilibrium most creative partners can only dream of.
Howdy, Partner
Heather and Telan have accomplished epic feats during their time together. Heading up music supervision together at Toronto-based audio production studio, Vapor Music, the duo have been killing every brief since their first collaboration on an indie feature film in 2017.
This debut project saw the pair work on a soundtrack of Vintage-inspired French pop songs. Looking back, Telan tells LBB about her initial first impression of Heather: “I remember meeting her and thinking, “Wow, she is the most organised individual I’ve ever met, I can learn a lot from her.””
As luck would have it, Heather's innately organised nature paired perfectly with Telan’s approach to the creative. “I am a planner, with spreadsheets for everything; Telan is much more fun and gets along easily with anybody that she meets — she’s everybody’s best friend,” Heather attests. “But we both share a strong work ethic and care for what we’re doing, and that gets us through any stressful moments.”
It didn’t take long for them to establish a mutual appreciation. By the time they were paired up, Telan had “proved her ears and incredible work ethic”, and Heather was excited by the prospect of gaining “a cool younger sister” at work. Jumping in the deep end together, both recognised the value of their inimitable teammate.
The fortuitous pairing came at a point when both Heather and Telan had been looking for a creative partner, someone to bounce ideas off of and get excited about a brief with. Keen to explore the potential of close collaboration - as opposed to operating as individual employees working in parallel - they married the yin and yang of their personal and professional traits, finding a harmonious balance when approaching each assignment.
“When we Frankenstein our POVs into a project, we discover a unique perspective,” Telan explains. “We’re always there to help guide each other through it. You can't do it all and a second set of ears is always better than one.”
Keeping Their Ears to the Ground
Time and time again this second set of ears have proven beneficial to the work. Merging unique sensibilities to create a succinct sonic shorthand, Heather and Telan quickly established a productive and cohesive back and forth. Covering everything from music supervision of commercials briefs for brands such as American Express and Scotiabank, to feature films and episodic television shows – these two have elevated Vapor Music’s sonic identity to new heights.
2023 has been an especially big year for Heather and Telan, having collaborated on multiple major movie projects, two of which made it into this fall’s film festival circuit. “We had the pleasure of music supervising an exciting upcoming horror comedy film called ‘Hell of a Summer’ that premiered at Midnight Madness at Toronto Film Festival,” Heather tells us. The feature film marks the directorial debut of Canadian actor and filmmaker Billy Bryk and Finn Wolfhard of Stranger Things fame,
“For the TIFF premiere we were seated in the row directly in front of the cast, who were also seeing the finished product for the first time. Getting to hear the songs we licensed play against picture at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, while following the cast and audience’s audible reactions to everything in the film - from the gasps to the laughs - was such a joy to experience.”
Heather and Telan’s second feature film project of the year required their soundtrack expertise, sought out to secure the perfect song for the opening title sequence for Canadian indie film, ‘Suze’. The pair got to work, trawling through playlists to find the perfect musical accompaniment. They just so happened to land on the exact same song. “Both of us came across the same forgotten hit, independently of each other! And that’s the song that ended up being chosen,” Telan muses, “It’s pretty special that it came from both of our brains and that we were aligned on it from the start.”
Above all else, the pair share the same fundamental creative vision and moral compass, which underlines everything they do together. “It’s incredibly important to both of us to honour any community whose story is being told in the content we work on, especially when the story is of a community that we are not a part of,” says Heather. “For us, that means, even when the project doesn’t explicitly call for it, ensuring that we use music from members of that community. We’ve found incredible music this way, featuring everything from Canadian Indigenous production music libraries and independent artists, to Swedish rap for IKEA. It’s our job (and joy!) to have an in-depth understanding, no matter how specific of a niche we’re working in, and the process is really rewarding.”
“We are extremely passionate about what we do and want to continue to reinforce Vapor Music’s strong reputation for being a creative collaborator by helping creators get to the heart of what they’re conveying through music choices,” adds Telan.
In their journey thus far, this Dream Team has proven their chops as an unstoppable force. The strength of this relationship lies in the reciprocal respect and admiration they have for one another, and the ways in which they individually induce each other’s strengths. They are reminded of this on a daily basis. “Telan has taught me so much about the value of having multiple perspectives on a project and dividing responsibilities and delegating. I’m a perfectionist and want to be involved in every step of the process, so having somebody that I can trust completely when we split up tasks has been invaluable,” says Heather.
The feeling is more than mutual: “I learn a hundred new things from Heather every day and she’s been an incredible mentor to me. Music supervision doesn't come with a guidebook, and when you’re dealing with the intricacies of music licensing you need someone to help you put the pieces together – she’s been there every step of the way.”
