Ocmix

JEFF RUSSO
SONG TO SCORE
Composer Finds His Mark in Los Angeles
Photo: Justine Ungaro
BY GARY ESKOW
FOREGOING COLLEGE, COMPOSER JEFF RUSSO
CLIMBED INTO A 1963 CHEVROLET CORVAIR AFTER
GRADUATING FROM HIGH SCHOOL IN 1987 AND HEAD-
ED TO LOS ANGELES TO TRACK DOWN HIS DREAM. A
COUPLE OF FRIENDS, INCLUDING FUTURE SUPERSTAR
LENNY KRAVITZ, SHARED EXPENSES AND TIME BE-
HIND THE WHEEL. “I GREW UP IN NEW YORK CITY,”
SAYS RUSSO, “BUT L.A. HAD A STRONG PULL ON ME.”
Try finding cheap space anywhere in Los Angeles today—not likely. But
in the late 1980s it was possible for scuffling artists to live and work there.
“Three of us—Lenny, my dear friend Aramis, and me—shared a loft. We
were cutting our teeth, writing songs, making demos and learning a bit
about recording.”
Kravitz moved back to New York when his career began shifting gears.
Success took a little longer to find Russo. “The band I was involved with
imploded,” he says. “But then I formed Tonic, and things started to
happen for us.” The group’s debut album, Lemon Parade, included the
Number One single “If You Could Only See,” and in 2003 the band received
a pair of Grammy nominations.
The road takes a toll, however, and the members of Tonic eventually
found themselves being pulled in separate directions. “We made
three or four records, and all of a sudden it was 2006,” Russo recalls.
“Fourteen years had passed. Our singer, Emerson, wanted to make a
solo record, and we decided to take a break.”
Russo fell into a working relationship with Wendy Melvin, of Wendy
and Lisa. By this time the duo had sailed past their professional connection
to Prince and begun writing for television and film. A taste was
all it took for Russo to become hooked on the scoring process. “Writing
music for visual media became something I loved,” he says. “It seemed
so right for me.”
The industry has found an appetite for Russo’s spare and elegant
style, as well. Currently scoring the second season of the FX series Fargo,
Russo snagged an Emmy nomination for his work on the show’s
inaugural campaign. He’s also scoring Power and CSI: Cyber, the newest
entry in the CBS franchise.
46 MIX | OCTOBER 2015 | mixonline.com