Paul Leonard-Morgan

Co-composer of Amazon’s Tales from the Loop with Philip Glass

Paul Leonard-Morgan (LIMITLESS, DREDD, BATTLEFIELD™ HARDLINE) is a BAFTA award winning, EMMY® and Ivor Novello nominated composer and producer. His unique cinematic style (fusing orchestra with electronica) has put him in high demand, both as a producer for bands and as a soundtrack composer.

Leonard-Morgan won a BAFTA award for his first film score, PINEAPPLE, and earned both BAFTA and Ivor Novello nominations for his first television drama in the UK, FALLEN. This led to him scoring 6 series of the hit BBC/Kudos drama SPOOKS (MI5 in the USA). His groundbreaking score for LIMITLESS, a paranoia-fueled action thriller starring Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro, directed by Neil Burger (The Illusionist), was nominated for the prestigious World Soundtrack Discovery Award in Ghent, after topping the box office in both the US and UK. Leonard-Morgan revisited LIMITLESS as the composer for the CBS TV series based on the film, helmed by Marc Webb (Spiderman, 500 Days of Summer), which has just earned him his first EMMY nomination.

Leonard-Morgan’s film work also includes DREDD, which would also top the UK box office in its first week of release. Variety magazine noted “the throbbing sounds of Paul Leonard-Morgan’s bass-heavy original score”. The groundbreaking soundtrack is widely recognized as launching a new generation of hybrid scores. Other scores include 2013’s thriller THE NUMBERS STATION and LEGENDARY, the latter of which opened in over 12000 screens worldwide. On the animation front, his work included three MINIONS films, released alongside Universal Studio’s all-time highest grossing film DESPICABLE ME 2, and Fox/Evergreen’s $80 million WALKING WITH DINOSAURS 3D. Leonard-Morgan’s first ever video game soundtrack (EA Games’ flagship $180 million title BATTLEFIELD HARDLINE) was released in 2015, earning top video game sales status in the UK for the first quarter of last year.

Studying at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Leonard-Morgan quickly developed a reputation as a producer and arranger on the thriving Glasgow music scene, working with bands such as Belle and Sebastian, Snow Patrol, Mogwai and Texas. He has become long-term collaborator of Scottish songstress Isobel Campbell, working extensively on each of her albums, including the Mercury nominated “Ballad Of The Broken Seas” with Mark Lanegan. This led to Paul working with famed producer Phil Ramone on Sharleen Spiteri’s Gold Disc “Melody”. After working with Mogwai on numerous previous projects (including an art installation with Turner prize-winning artist Douglas Gordon), Leonard-Morgan collaborated with them again on their 7th studio album “Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will”. He also worked with producer Mark “Spike” Stent on No Doubt’s highly acclaimed comeback album “Push and Shove”.

Leonard-Morgan completed a commission from the National Theatre to score new adaptations of James I (which premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival, before taking residence for a sold-out run at The Olivier Theatre in London) and James II (composed alongside the music of Scottish electro duo Boards of Canada). Leonard-Morgan was selected by The US Olympic Committee to compose the official US Olympic Team Anthem (previously scored by legendary film composer John Williams), used extensively across the US to accompany coverage of the Olympic Games and on NBC's US Olympic Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony. He created an immersive soundtrack for a brand new digital interactive experience at Disneyland, Shanghai, called 'TRON Realm, Chevrolet Digital Challenge' and features driving simulators for guests to enjoy. Previously he composed the soundtrack for their ride, Test Track, at Disneyworld, Florida.

Watch the trailer for Tales from the Loop.

This episode of The Pop Disciple Podcast is hosted by Paul Goldowitz.

Production, Editing, Mixing, Mastering | Paul Goldowitz
Select Cues Throughout Episode | Paul Leonard-Morgan and Philip Glass
The Pop Disciple Podcast Theme and Outro Music | Paul Goldowitz

Special thanks to Paul Leonard-Morgan and White Bear PR.