Thinking In Sound: Cutting Through The Noise with Molecular Sound's Dave Connolly
Dave is a London based producer, composer, songwriter and the founder of creative music and sound studio, Molecular Sound.
Dave collaborates with some of the worlds leading brands, agencies and directors on content watched by millions worldwide. His versatility as a writer has resulted in his work spanning across advertising, trailers, TV and songwriting. With over a decade writing music for some of the worlds best known brands including Premier League, Disney and Adidas, he has spent this time being one of the UK’s most in demand composers and producers.
He works from Molecular Sound's studio in Shoreditch, home to a highly experienced creative production team.
LBB> When you’re working on a new brief or project, what’s your typical starting point? How do you break it down and how do you like to generate your ideas or response?
Dave> I tend to spend more and more time upfront on projects trying to understand the brief and the project as a whole, as I’ve found that initial investment of time really pays off later on in the project. Once I’m fully immersed and have a clear vision of where to take things, ideas tend to flow quite quickly so it’s usually a case of trying to record them quick enough!
I use the voice notes app on my phone a lot and usually create a vocal guide of all the layers first. That helps me get a sense of the pacing and rhythm to picture and means I can then quickly move on to arranging and producing.
LBB> Music and sound are in some ways the most collaborative and interactive forms of creativity - what are your thoughts on this? Do you prefer to work solo or with a gang - and what are some of your most memorable professional collaborations?
Dave> I love the collaborative aspect of creating music, from working with directors to bring their ideas to life all the way through to working with artists and musicians. The worst part of the job is definitely the isolated periods where I’m coming up with initial ideas, but I’m lucky to have a great team at Molecular to bounce ideas off.
My favourite collaboration was recording the Premier League anthem at Abbey Road and The Church Studios. We assembled a team of over 80 world class musicians and recorded as soon as we could after the initial covid lockdown of 2020. Being in a room with so many talented people after such an intense period of isolation was an incredible experience.
LBB> What’s the most satisfying part of your job and why?
Dave> I think getting to work with incredibly talented people of all types of disciplines is the most satisfying part. From other musicians, music supervisors, designers and directors I’m lucky to be working with people that are equally as passionate about what they do as me.
LBB> As the advertising industry changes, how do you think the role of music and sound is changing with it?
Dave> I’ve been working in this industry now for about 15 years and I’ve noticed a big shift towards treating music and sound with much more importance. Where years ago it was more of an afterthought, it feels like it’s much more of a focus and I’m being brought into the process much earlier to help influence the overall brief. I think as the advertising landscape becomes more competitive, brands are looking for ways to cut through the noise and great sound definitely helps with that.
LBB> Who are your musical or audio heroes and why?
Dave> I had a realisation in my late teens that a lot of my favourite artists were produced by Rick Rubin and ever since then he’s been my audio hero. I love his overall ethos to creativity and how he spans so many different genres and styles. He also helps remind me that, even in an industry such as advertising, creativity is about connecting with people on a human level.
LBB> And when it comes to your particular field, whether sound design or composing, are there any particular ideas or pioneers that you go back to frequently or who really influence your thinking about the work you do?
Dave> I do often think as composers we owe so much to the likes of Hans Zimmer, who pioneered orchestral sampling and paved the way to allow us to pretty much recall any sound we need to in a matter of seconds. I know he cut his teeth creating music for advertising and I can only imagine how much more difficult it was back in the 80s!
LBB> When you’re working on something that isn’t directly sound design or music (lets say going through client briefs or answering emails) - are you the sort of person who needs music and noise in the background or is that completely distracting to you? What are your thoughts on ‘background’ sound and music as you work?
Dave> I definitely prefer silence when I’m working on non creative tasks. If I’m going to listen to anything it will be a podcast, I’m lucky enough that I get a very varied musical diet each day so it’s nice to get some down time!
LBB> I guess the quality of the listening experience and the context that audiences listen to music/sound in has changed over the years. There’s the switch from analogue to digital and now we seem to be divided between bad-ass surround-sound immersive experiences and on-the-go, low quality sound (often the audio is competing with a million other distractions) - how does that factor into how you approach your work?
Dave> I think it very much depends on the type of project I’m working on. If it’s an ad going out in the cinema then I’ll definitely be more mindful of the full spectrum of sound than say an online campaign. That being said I find that it’s important to try to create a sound that works across pretty much every different listening medium.
LBB> On a typical day, what does your ‘listening diet’ look like?
Dave> I often listen to something new on my way to work, I think it helps to start the day feeling inspired by other peoples music as if I’m not careful, I can quickly find myself listening to the same 30 seconds of a new composition on repeat for hours! Other than that, there’s usually reference playlists to listen through to, so a lot of my new music discoveries come that way.
LBB> Do you have a collection of music/sounds and what shape does it take (are you a vinyl nerd, do you have hard drives full of random bird sounds, are you a hyper-organised spotify-er…)?
Dave> I have an absolutely massive sound effects library which I’ve collected over the last decade, we’ve started to do more field recordings as a team - the latest of which is a massive compilation of dog barks!
LBB> Outside of the music and sound world, what sort of art or topics really excite you and do you ever relate that back to music (e.g. history buffs who love music that can help you travel through time, gamers who love interactive sound design… I mean it really could be anything!!)
Dave> I tend to go to the theatre with my wife a lot as she’s a performer, there’s so much interesting music and sound design happening there, and it refreshingly feels a whole world away from the advertising world.
LBB> Let’s talk travel! It’s often cited as one of the most creatively inspiring things you can do - I’d love to know what are the most exciting or inspiring experiences you’ve had when it comes to sound and music on your travels?
Dave> I spent some time travelling around the southern US in my late twenties and it was a really inspiring experience. I was never much of a country music fan but that completely changed when I spent time in Nashville!
LBB> As we age, our ears change physically and our tastes evolve too, and life changes mean we don’t get to engage in our passions in the same intensity as in our youth - how has your relationship with sound and music changed over the years?
Dave> I definitely find it harder to seek out new and interesting sounds as I’ve gotten older, there’s still a lot out there but with the infinite choice that the likes of Spotify offer I still find myself replaying an old Beatles album over trying to seek out something new. I’ve found that every so often I discover a band or artist that helps me reconnect with that same intensity as my youth, so I’m grateful to those artists that are constantly pushing to create something new.
