Michael Yezerski
Composer of Blindspotting and FX’s Mr Inbetween
Courtesy of Subject
Michael Yezerski is a four time Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (AACTA) nominated composer and one of the busiest writers working today. He has a unique voice in film music and creates scores that cross genres and break rules. With a background in both electronic music production and orchestral writing, his work is highly evocative, original and diverse.
Michael’s score for Blindspotting moves between contemporary Oakland inspired funk and delicate emotional cues. The band was comprised of players who hail from the Bay Area and Michael infused the sounds of the city (such as BART trains) into the music. The resulting sound is wholly original. For Sean Byrne’s explosive horror metal epic, The Devil’s Candy, Michael won Best Original Score at Fantastic Arts 2015 for his relentless, drone metal soundtrack. The film was a cult hit and sat prominently atop the US iTunes horror charts for several weeks on its digital debut. Bill Guttentag and Michael Ware’s searing Emmy-nominated documentary feature, Only The Dead See The End of War premiered at Telluride before a successful season on HBO.
Michael’s first feature film scores were the critically acclaimed The Black Balloon (dir. Elissa Down, winner Best Picture 2008 AACTA Awards and the Berlinale Crystal Bear) and The Waiting City (dir. Claire McCarthy). He wrote both score and songs for these films, collaborating with some of the finest Australian recording artists. Since then, Michael has written the scores for more than seventeen feature films and has won numerous industry and guild prizes. Other film highlights include Academy Award winner, The Lost Thing (Best Animated Short 2011), Josh Lawson’s riotous The Little Death (Winner, Audience Award SXSW) and PJ Hogan's Mental.
Several of the most acclaimed Australian television productions of the last few years feature a score by Michael Yezerski. Nash Edgerton’s Mr Inbetween premiered at Sundance 2018 and will screen on FX later this year. The gritty crime drama Dead Lucky with themes of youth and immigration will premiere on SBS and the Sundance channel later this year. The period drama, A Place To Call Home (now entering its sixth and final season), is a cult hit around the world, screening in over one hundred and fifty countries. The acclaimed mini-series Peter Allen: Not The Boy Next Door won multiple AACTA awards and the true crime thriller Catching Millat shocked the country. Wanted (now on Netflix) was the highest rated Australian network drama in its debut season. Wanted returns for series 3 in 2019. Michael scored the critically acclaimed second season of Wolf Creek, perhaps Australia’s best known horror export.
Michael studied musical composition under Peter Sculthorpe and Ross Edwards at the University of Sydney graduating with first class honors. Michael then graduated with distinction in audio technology from the Australian Institute of Music and completed Film Music studies at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. He began playing the clarinet at age 7, before teaching himself to play the piano at age 12 and composing a year later.
Watch the trailers of Blindspotting and Mr Inbetween.
This episode of The Pop Disciple Podcast is hosted by Paul Goldowitz.
Production, Editing, Mixing, Mastering | Paul Goldowitz
Research | Ruby Gartenberg
Select Cues Throughout Episode | Michael Yezerski
The Pop Disciple Podcast Theme and Outro Music | Paul Goldowitz
Special thanks to Michael Yezerski and The Krakower Group.