Red Hot Lies

Director Steven Soderbergh and composer Cliff Martinez have been collaborating together for over 25 years, but Martinez was shocked when Soderbergh asked him to create the music for his current series on Cinemax, “The Knick.” Set in 1900s New York City, the former rock drummer (Red Hot Chili Peppers) turned one of the most sought-after composers working today was pessimistic about how his electronica-focused sound would work for the show, a period hospital drama set during the turn of the 20th century. Then Soderbergh had Martinez watch a rough cut of the show, which included a temporary score filled with music Martinez created for movies like “Spring Breakers,” “Drive,” and “Contagion.”
“It seemed extremely wrong,” Martinez told Business Insider over the phone…

Perhaps one of the most celebrated soundtracks in the modern classical and ambient communities is that of Solaris by Cliff Martinez. But it’s not all that this former Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer is known for. His first film score was composed in 1989 for Sex, Lies, And Videotape, and while working with the same producer, Steven Soderbergh, Martinez produced soundtracks for Traffic (2000), above mentioned Solaris (2002) and Contagion (2011). In 2012 Martinez joins director Robert Redford for a soundtrack to a political action thriller, The Company You Keep.
The fifteen tracks on The Company You Keep create a moody and tense atmosphere ranging from minimal background cinematic themes to building storms in scale, rhythm and volume, in some cases employing a filtered synth bassline for added anxiety…