Supreme Music’s Marc McClusky on Scoring for Today’s Biggest Brands
Marc McClusky is a multi-platinum award-winning producer, mixer, and composer based in New York. Over his 20-plus year career, Marc has racked up some impressive credits, including a #1 album on iTunes and multiple top-5 Billboard albums with bands like Weezer, Motion City Soundtrack, and newly signed Games We Play.
In 2013, Marc moved back to his home state of New York to pursue a career in scoring. After several years working in scoring for media, Marc and his business partner Rani Zarina Vaz joined the team at Supreme Music, opening the US branch. Supreme Music is an internationally awarded music production company based in Hamburg, Berlin, Düsseldorf, and now New York.
Vintageking, a pro audio outfitter from the States, recently caught up with Marc to learn about his career writing music for today’s top brands. Continue reading to learn more about Marc’s studio setup, how he went from producing and mixing punk bands to scoring commercials, and his goals for Supreme New York.
Q> Tell me a little bit about Supreme Music.
Marc> Supreme Music is a 15-year-old company founded by all-star composers and top humans Maximilian Olowinky and Florian Lakenmacher in Hamburg, Germany. Eventually, Flo moved to Berlin and opened studios there. Max still has Supreme Music studios in Hamburg and the composing staff is split between Hamburg and Berlin. Using staff composers allows for better teamwork and collaboration, but we also have a curated pool of outside talent that we work with, allowing us to have a “Top Chef” for any meal that comes to our kitchen, so to speak.
We all know each other and it's a “check your ego at the door” kind of culture where one composer could do the guitar line and another could do the beat because that’s their forte. It's more of a collaborative thing than a competitive thing, which I think you find a lot in this industry—everybody always competing against one another. We're more of an “all for one, one for all” kind of place. When Supreme Music wins, we all win.
Supreme Music has scored hundreds of commercials over the last 15 years, winning awards, including the Ciclope Music Agency of the Year in 2022, Cannes Lions (Gold and Grand Prix), D&AD, LIA, and ADC, among others. Supreme has composed soundtracks for some of the world's most recognized brands, including Ford, Universal, Adidas, Mercedes, Lexus, McDonald’s, and Apple, to name a few.
I became fast friends with Flo about 6 years ago and we’ve joked about opening a US branch of Supreme Music for the longest time. This June, the stars finally aligned. Along with Max, Flo, and my amazingly talented friend and business partner Rani Zarina Vaz, who was Director of Music Production at ad agency BBDO NY, we opened Supreme Music in the United States. It’s surreal and humbling to be a part of such a talented team.
Q> How did you go from mixing punk bands to writing for Lexus?
Marc> I’ve always loved film scores. Even as a kid. I can remember wanting to listen to Back to the Future—the score, not the soundtrack. I mean, Huey Lewis was great, but I was immediately drawn to Silvestri’s score. It was exciting, grand, and adventurous. The big hook of that theme is anthemic A.F. , it’s a throw-your-fist-in-the-air kind of vibe.
I guess film music has alway hit me in ‘the feels’ differently than commercial music. When you’re making an album for a label or an artist, there are invisible lines you can’t cross. People say they want to be out on the fringe or try something new, but the conversation of ‘is this too weird or too out of the genre’ comes up almost every time. With film, music serves the story so you can do something really strange, weird, or harmonically rich. More times than not that weird unconventional thing is what makes the music.
After working with bands for two decades, I was ready for a new challenge. So when I moved to New York from Chicago in 2013, I decided to get into film scoring. It was a new challenge. I got to look up the mountain again and figure out, “How do I climb this thing?” which was really exciting for me.
I started doing whatever I could to get into film scoring. Luckily, opportunities came my way, and over the last 7 years, I continued to learn and get better at my craft until I started to see success. From there, more and more opportunities started to arise.
I’ve really been enjoying it, it’s like flexing a different muscle. Your whole view changes when you’re scoring to picture because you’re writing music for the story, character, and theme. When I first started doing this, I kept trying to write songs because that's the medium I was used to. But I quickly realized that I was essentially making music videos not scoring a piece of film.
I had to learn how to tell a story with music. You should be able to close your eyes, listen to the music, and know what's happening on the screen. That can be a real challenge—and it was. I'm still learning every day.
Q> Tell me about where you write and record in New York.
Marc> Right now, I’m working out of my private studio. I’ve got a small but powerful collection of mics and outboard gear. I do most of my composing on the computer, and when it comes time to record live instruments, I ship it to the guys in Germany and they record in their beautiful live rooms. They’ve done full orchestras, choirs, whatever we need to do.
Q> So when you made the shift to working in your private studio, how did that affect your workflow?
Marc> It was interesting. It changed some aspects but others remain the same. I actually bought an API 1608 II console from you guys last year. I still mix for artists, which I love to do. It's a blast to pull a song together. Mixing and producing offers a different perspective versus what I do when I’m scoring.
I still have tons of analog gear that I like to use. It's not necessarily better or worse than the digital stuff, it's just different. For me, there’s something about touching the music—I get a better result when I grab a knob and I feel the change. Even though you can grab a controller and make the same change, there’s something about lights bouncing in a room, seeing meters move, and feeling that energy. Because of course, music, once translated into voltage, becomes energy.
But when it comes to composing, especially orchestral stuff, I mostly work on the computer. These days, it’s financially challenging to hire an orchestra, and samples have become so convincing. If you know how to use and mold them, you can barely tell they’re fake. Samples can be a wonderful tool, especially when you’re dealing with budgetary constraints.
But at the same time, as soon as you add a couple of live players on top and double a couple of lines, it changes everything. The air in the room is different. I think that's how you can sound like you and bring more feeling to a mostly sample score. It’s something you can own. Anybody can use the same samples. But by being in the room and creating your own sound—nobody else can capture that exact moment in time.
Q> How is your process different when you're scoring than when you're mixing on the 1608?
Marc> Scoring involves a lot of programming to make it sound good. Usually, I start with a sketch pass to outline the basic idea. It doesn’t really matter what instrument you use, so I usually start with a guitar or a piano. Then, I repurpose the sketch throughout the orchestra, or whatever palette of color I’m using.
You have composers like Alan Silvestri, who use a lot of traditional orchestral colors, and you have composers like Hans Zimmer, who use more modern textures, combining strings, brass, and some kind of synth element. Silvestri and Zimmer could score the same scene and have two very different results, both equally good. It's all about how you use and manipulate those colors and textures to help tell the story that you’re seeing on screen.
When I'm mixing on my console, it’s a lot like composing. The same concepts apply to balance, placement, and making things pop. Texture, vibe, and dynamics are words that come to mind—it’s like painting. EQ can make things fall back or forward in a mix. The closer objects are to you, the more saturated the color. To me, compression is akin to the paint’s texture. Are we creating a Jackson Pollock that’s jagged, with some things poking out while others lie flat? Or are we a Jack Kirby Fantastic Four comic panel, all bright colors, and competing elements all saying, "Look at me?"
Reverb and delay create the room in which the painting hangs. Is it a small space or a large one? Is there some smoke in the air? Saturation is like watching on a device. Are we looking at an HDR TV with precise imaging or an old tube TV with tons and tons of character but without an exact representation of what it’s displaying? Or film, where the image isn’t HD, but somewhere in the middle—much like my API and analog gear.
Q> You mentioned how Silvestri and Zimmer approach scores—how do you approach a score?
Marc> Well, Silvestri and Zimmer are icons in our industry. In our business, projects usually come to us with some temporary music that the agency creatives, editors, or directors add as examples. Sometimes, you agree with what they’re thinking, but Team Supreme adds our thought process and does something unexpected, and a lot of times those are the winning pitches. We are thinkers and explorers.
As for me, I like intense music. Growing up as a punk guy, I liked everything to be really intense—but intensity can also be one soft note. If it's the right note, with the right texture, that can be very intense. So it's all about finding that balance.
Q> What's your favourite part of the process?
Marc> The problem-solving aspect of it. We get a brief for a project and the ask is, “We need X, Y, and Z.” Or it can be “Help, we don’t know what we need and we need it tomorrow.” But there are a million ways to rise to those challenges. That’s what we love - and where this team shines. Our creative producers put on their thinking caps with the composers and we come up with multiple sonic solutions for the creative problem.
Here at Supreme Music, we’ve got a large community of people with different backgrounds, from musicians to label owners and artists in their own right. Flo, Max, Boggi, Berni, and Sebastian are top-tier composers, each with their own voice. Because we respect each other and believe in the power of the team, we work together to find the best approaches for any given project. And we’re extra good when we collaborate with clients early in the process. Our producers/music supervisors are a creative strength as well; Jo, Rani, Julia, Clemens, and Finja are all huge-brained producers. We also have Kat who is our VP of growth and strategy. She was Head of Production & Business Development at BBDO Düsseldorf. It’s a crazy talented group. That’s the problem-solving collaborative element I love.
Q> Let's talk about gear. What are you currently using in your studio?
Marc> For my interface, I’m using an Antelope Audio Orion 32+ Gen 3, which gives me 24 channels for the 1608 with 8 channels left over for outboard gear. My console is in storage until we find the right spot for Supreme New York, so right now, my main rig is a Manley Massive Passive EQ and a Rupert Neve Designs Portico II Master Buss Processor on the two-mix.
The Massive Passive is great. I’ve been using one on my mix bus since 2006. It gives the mix a beautiful color. It’s just one little thing that makes your mixes sound different than somebody using the plug-in version. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great emulations out there, but heating up those tubes gives it that little bit extra. The plug-in and the hardware could sound the same, but they feel different, and I prefer the way the analog gear makes me feel. So I use that for tracking and on the two-bus.
The RND unit is the second half of that color on my mix bus. I really like the stereo width processor on it, and the Red and Blue Silk circuits add a little extra saturation that I haven’t found anywhere else. With both the Massive Passive and the RND, I use really subtle settings, nothing crazy.
I have two Empirical Labs Distressors out for when I track something live. I know everybody says this, but the Distressor really is a Swiss Army Knife. I know that I can throw that on any track and it’s going to work. Then I’ve also got an API 2500+ that I really love on drums and sometimes the mix.
Q> Are there any plugins that you use?
Marc> Yeah, I like FabFilter’s Saturn 2 distortion plug-in a lot and the Empirical Labs Big FrEq. I really like the Arturia stuff—their compressor plug-ins are some of the best I’ve ever heard. I use the Diode-609 plug-in a lot.
If I want to make things sound like my API console, I’ll use the Plugin Alliance Lindell Audio 50 Channel. The other compressors that I'll put on are usually the Arouser or the Waves CLA stuff.
Q> What kind of monitors are you using?
Marc> Honestly, a lot of the time, I’m working on headphones—either the Focal Clear MG Professionals or just my Apple headphones. But my speaker setup is a set of Focal Trio 6BEs with a Sub12.
When I moved to New York, Jeff Leibovich, my Vintage King rep at the time, introduced me to the Focal SM9s, which I loved. I got to the point where I knew exactly what my mixes were going to sound like on all of these other systems. Then last year, I was looking to build a 5.1 or Atmos room because media seems to be heading that way. So, I traded in the SM9s for the Trio 6BEs and plan to fill out the rest of the speakers once we get Supreme Music New York set up.
Q> How about microphones?
Marc> As for instruments, I got rid of all my old amps and I use a Kemper now. I’ve got a Manley Reference Cardioid that’s my main vocal mic—I’ll also use it on acoustic guitar and stuff like that. I’ve also got a stereo pair of Telefunken TF51s that I’ve been using for a long time.
For violin and strings, I like to use a Royer R-121 or an AEA R88. With orchestral recordings, solo violin can get a little harsh, so I like to kind of like smooth things out a little bit with ribbon mics. The super-modern hi-fi sound can be cool, but if I can choose between a super clear recording or a dirtier, more interesting recording, I’ll always go with the latter.
Q> Is there a piece of gear that you've always wanted to add to your collection?
Marc> That's a never-ending quest. Right now, I have my eyes on the Black Box HG-2 saturation box. It's about character and making things fatter. I'll probably pick up one of those later this year.
Right now, I've got two 1176s, two Distressors, a Fatso, I've got Smart Research C2, an API 2500+, and the console’s completely loaded with API 550a’s API 550b’s, Maag EQ2, SSL UV, RND 551’s two API 527s, a couple of dbx 560s, some RND 535s and 542s, plus an Elysia Karacter. I’ve also got two custom Pultecs and a Manley ELOP+.
I’ve basically got my bases covered for mixing and tracking so I’m really just looking for something that sounds great, lights up, and inspires me to do better work.
Q> What's a typical day in the studio like for you?
Marc> Well, because I'm a partner, creative director, and composer in the US branch, it's usually emailing in the morning, and for the rest of the day, composing, supporting whatever jobs are going on, and working on business development. We often build playlists for clients because talking about music is tough! What’s ‘warm’ to you is different from what’s warm to me. That’s where the dream team Supreme Music producer club comes in. Rani, Jo, Finja, Clemens, and Julia come up with and curate ideas. They give us creative feedback, keeping us composers on track which is invaluable to our success. Then it’s just kind of rinse and repeat throughout the week since each team can be working on multiple jobs at once. You have to wear many hats, which I personally like a lot.
Q> Are you working on anything cool right now that you can talk about?
Marc> Yeah, we just finished a T-Mobile commercial that's, again, a very compelling story about how our words can deeply and irrevocably impact people. It starts with a girl standing on the edge of a building. Told completely in reverse, the story is a re-telling of people making fun of a video she posted on social media. Finally, it ends with a guy who’s about to post a negative comment but instead chooses to post a positive one, changing the whole story.
The score draws you in perfectly, though it is made primarily of two chords. It tells a complex story in ways that are both immersive and spare, allowing the story to have impact and room to breathe. It starts with an organ synth sound that slowly pulses, then gets faster and faster, building intensity throughout the film. You can really feel the tension - and hope - in the score. Boggi and Sebastian killed it on that one!
