Oscar-winning Black Panther composer Ludwig Göransson talks Hollywood, Childish Gambino and his love for LA
Rimowa and Bang & Olufsen team up with the Swedish conductor, who tells STYLE about his inspiration for the Marvel movie
As part of the Rimowa x Bang & Olufsen collaboration, Los Angeles-based music producer Ludwig Göransson, best known for his work on Black Panther, the 2018 superhero blockbuster movie produced by Marvel Studios for which he won a Grammy and an Oscar, talks about cultural immersion through travel and his experience scoring soundtracks in Hollywood while working with some of the top talent in the world.
You are originally from Sweden, but you’re based in LA. Is there anything about the city that specifically inspires your work?
I live on the top of a hill. It’s called Griffith Park. Every day I wake up looking out over the mountains, and I love it. I love LA partly because it feels like there are so many parts of the world in this city. You can travel around in your car, and within an hour you can find yourself in five different countries, five different cities. The diversity is inspiring. So many different languages, foods, varied cultures – that energy is something you are always surrounded by.
How do your travels and exposure to different cultures affect your sound and musical development?
For the score of Black Panther, the heart and soul came from immersing myself in the rich musical history of the Griots in West Africa. I was following these brilliant musicians all over rural Senegal, learning their musical language. I then wove those melodies and rhythms, which had been passed down to the Griots for thousands of years, into the cinematic sweep of the Western classical orchestra.
Travelling is a key part of my life. It keeps me inspired, takes me to new places, introduces me to new sounds, and allows me to explore new environments and soundscapes. In every part of the world there’s something new to discover; there’s always new music, new sounds to create. I also like the uncertainty of travelling. To just throw yourself out to a new part of the world, to a new country, where you have no idea what to expect. Hearing something when you least expect it can change the entire way you see and hear things.
When did you know that you had found your path?
Growing up in Sweden, musical education is something really special. There are music schools everywhere, and the education is very advanced. In high school, I got a chance to write music for a professional symphony orchestra. I still remember sitting in the concert hall listening to the orchestra performing my music for the first time. Hearing the musicians play the notes that I had written down on paper completely changed my life. This feeling was so special that I knew that I wanted to experience that again, over and over.