S2 E9 BONUS: Sparring Partners - LIVE REDDIT TALK

Summary

Only Murders in the Building Official Podcast

S2 E9 BONUS: Sparring Partners – LIVE REDDIT TALK

Release Date: August 20, 2022
Host: Michael Cyril Creighton ("Howard")
Guests: Siddhartha Khosla (series composer), Kirker Butler (writer, S2E9), KK & Keener (fan podcast segment hosts), Live Reddit Audience

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Episode Overview

This episode is a lively, behind-the-scenes Reddit Talk focused on Season 2, Episode 9 ("Sparring Partners") of Only Murders in the Building. The podcast brings together fans, the episode’s writer Kirker Butler, the series' composer Siddhartha Khosla, and community moderators for an interactive discussion. Major themes include episode theories, the evolving music of the series, writing for different types of viewers, balancing comedy with mystery, and fun anecdotes from the cast and crew.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Fan Theories & "Whodunit Summit"

• Reddit engagement: Fans invited to raise hands, comment live, or drop questions for the creators.
• Whodunit Guess: Both KK and Keener believe Cinda is the murderer for this episode, noting her jealousy and cold demeanor (03:58).
  • Keener: “She was my very first suspect this season…I felt she was jealous of the trio and their podcast’s success.” (04:25)
  • Both cite show clues such as “Only Murders in the Building” being mimicked as "Only Murr-hers in the Building," and Cinda’s mean behavior toward Poppy.
• Siddhartha Khosla's poker face: Sid refuses to confirm or deny any theories, maintaining neutrality throughout.

2. The Music of Only Murders (with Siddhartha Khosla)

• Music as a cast member: The hosts and fans describe the score as the show's "fourth main character" (06:09).
• Opera Singer in Episode 9’s Ending: Khosla notes a favorite moment was using an opera singer for the suspenseful ending sequence, adding gravitas and tension (07:14).
  • Siddhartha Khosla: “It was like one of my favorite musical moments. You feel like you’re sort of given this wonderful opportunity to do something interesting and special… doesn’t ever feel like I have any rules on this show.” (07:34)
• Creative Process:
  • Writes music before seeing footage as well as to edited scenes (10:11)
  • Tone comes from collaboration between all show departments (writing, acting, cinematography, etc.)
  • Early work set the sonic foundation for the series.
  • Editors sometimes use his music as temp tracks; new ideas are tailored per episode.
• Evolution in Season 2:
  • More risk-taking and ambitious music, with more musicians and a “bigger” sound post-COVID restrictions (17:32).
  • Examples include atmospheric motifs for Mabel’s memories using heavy reverb and woodwinds (20:23).
  • Siddhartha Khosla: “Now I have 15 to 20 [musicians] that play on it. So when you have a live ensemble… there’s a chemistry there that I just love.” (18:24)
• Yodeling Questions: Peripheral involvement in “Yodel Shop” music; specialist yodelers brought in. Won’t spoil if yodeling returns in future episodes (13:53).
• Selena Gomez as Singer:
  • Mention that Mabel hums the show’s theme in the shower during the pilot (26:36).
  • A behind-the-scenes unused recording exists of Steve, Marty, and Selena practicing the theme, suggesting playful possibilities for future “musical” moments (29:47).

3. Audience Q&A Highlights

• Connecting Seasons: KK and Keener discuss how plot lines (like Oklahoma references, “the hoodie,” and Cinda’s stares) are hints, not always red herrings, but deliberate plants by writers (15:33).
• Writing for Casual vs. Hardcore Fans:
  • Kirker Butler: “We just trust the audience. We know even the casual viewers…are invested. For stuff carried over, Hulu gives us ‘previously on’ to help. But we trust the fans to follow, and they trust us for a satisfying conclusion.” (30:57)
  • Comedy and mystery both are central, but the mystery arc is the core focus; heavy-lifting done by talented comedic actors (33:24).
• Favorite Character to Write For:
  • Kirker loves writing for Steve Martin, describing it as a surreal and gratifying experience (33:57).
  • Anecdote about having a Steve Martin poster in his bathroom for 10 years; blending surreal fan moments with professional ones (34:55).
  • Writing “Angel in Flip Flops” with Steve Martin, including fun back-and-forths about the lyrics and Steve’s creative input (“pitta patta”), with the song now available as a standalone single (37:04, 38:11).
• Music Composition Approach:
  • Sid starts with melody, inspired by his background as a songwriter. Arrangements and orchestration follow (49:10).
  • Most themes are based on singable, simple melodies he writes on piano or hums aloud (49:45).
• No Elevator Music in the Arconia?
  • Deliberate choice; the first elevator scene relied on physical comedy and ambient sounds instead of music for comedic effect (50:47, 52:30).
  • Sid wrote an elevator theme but it was scrapped to avoid being locked into it and overshadowing key comedic scenes.

4. Creative Process & Streaming Flexibility

• Flexible runtimes: Streaming allows longer or shorter episodes, benefiting the pacing and creativity (41:55).
  • Kirker Butler: “It’s so nice to have the flexibility to tell a 40-minute story… the finale was close to 40 minutes. I don’t feel like it’s a restraint at all.” (41:55)
  • Both stress that this creative freedom leads to a domino effect, making all departments more experimental (43:00).
• Swearing On Streaming: Allowed, creating comedic and musical moments even around expletives. Khosla reveals he’s scored scenes specifically to accentuate swear words (44:32).
• Collaborative Reunion: Sid and Kirker reminisce about working together on “The Neighbors” and creating a Bollywood musical number for that sitcom (46:00).

5. Fandom Appreciation & Engagement

• Kirker Butler: “Thanks to all the Redditors… you’ve made us up our game. We see the boards and we’re like, oh, they’re really paying attention.” (55:55)
• Regular visits to the subreddit by Kirker, finding fan theories both insightful and inspiring.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Siddhartha Khosla on Music’s Role:
  “It’s a good thing you can’t see my icon… The best poker face.” (04:42)
  “I don’t ever feel like I have any rules on this show… just, that’s OK, you can be a little weird.” (07:34)
• Kirker Butler on Writing For Steve Martin:
  “Anything I can write for Steve that he delivers, and is funny and I can tell that he thinks it’s funny… it’s like a nice warm pat on the head from your favorite uncle. It’s so delightful.” (33:57)
• On Streaming vs. Network TV:
  Kirker Butler: “Thank God we can swear, because what would Michael Rappaport do if we couldn’t swear?” (44:04)
• Composer’s Process:
  “As a songwriter, melody has always been my guide…All the themes are based around singular melodic concepts.” (49:10)
• Fan Engagement:
  Kirker Butler: “You all gave us so much more credit for being smart than we deserved. But it was really gratifying.” (24:45)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction & Housekeeping: [00:12–02:23]
• Whodunit Summit & Theories: [02:35–05:45]
• Sid Khosla on Musical Approach: [06:12–14:54]
• Yodeling & Episode Easter Eggs: [12:33, 13:47]
• Writing, Editing, Season 2 Changes: [17:32–21:36]
• Q&A: Favorite Characters, “Angel in Flip Flops” Song: [33:57, 35:09]
• Runtimes & Streaming vs. Network Freedom: [41:42–44:09]
• Fan Questions on Music Composition: [49:10]
• No Elevator Music? Decision Explained: [50:47–52:30]
• Episode Close: Gratitude to Redditors/Fans: [55:39–56:41]

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Tone & Atmosphere

The conversation is playful and candid, blending hearty banter with genuine appreciation for the show’s loyal fandom. Both creators and fans display a deep love of detail and artistry. Sid and Kirker avoid spoilers but offer thoughtful, sometimes technical answers, keeping the discussion lively and celebratory of the show’s layers and community.
Atmosphere: Engaged, witty, warmly self-aware, full of inside jokes and affection for both the series and its fandom.

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Useful Links & Extras Mentioned

• “Angel in Flip Flops” available as a single on Spotify, Amazon, Tidal
• Official Season 2 score soundtrack now released
• Hulu’s Only Murders "ambient rooms" with music and set visuals on YouTube

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For Listeners

If you missed the episode, this bonus live talk serves as both a rich recap and a masterclass in TV storytelling and scoring. It’s loaded with insights, industry anecdotes, and subtle hints—perfect for both the casual viewer and the Reddit-level sleuth.

Transcript

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Straw hut media.

[Host/Moderator]

Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining. We're going to be talking about Only Murders in The Building Season 2, episode 9 today. So spoiler alert. If you have not watched the episode yet, please go ahead and do so and come back. There's an awesome thread on R OnlyMurderShulu. For those that have watched, please send over your comments in the comment section or raise your hand by hitting the hand icon to come up on stage to talk to our guests. Today we're really excited because we will be joined by Siddhartha Khosla, who is the composer of the series, and Kirker Butler, who wrote this week's episode. Stay tuned. We'll get started soon. Hello, KK Hi there.

[Keener]

How are you doing?

[KK]

Great.

[Host/Moderator]

How are you?

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Good.

[Keener]

Keener is hopping on in one second.

[KK]

Is there another Keener here?

[Host/Moderator]

I don't know.

[Keener]

Just 18?

[KK]

No way. Just that cute little red thing.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Hello.

[Keener]

Hello.

[Kirker Butler]

Hello.

[KK]

I'm so happy.

[Kirker Butler]

Hello.

[Host/Moderator]

How have you been? We have missed you.

[KK]

I've missed everyone, too. I've been okay. I was a little under the weather, but I came back with bells on, so I'm doing good now.

[Host/Moderator]

Oh, we're so happy to hear it. And so much has happened and there's so much to discuss from just this week's episode. And then, right,

[KK]

this week's. This week's episode. Chock full right from beginning to end.

[Host/Moderator]

Yes, it was a doozy, but oh, my gosh, I can't wait. I just can't wait.

[KK]

We are going to unpack it like we just went overseas. We're coming back and we're going to unpack all the luggage.

[Host/Moderator]

Oh, my gosh. And we brought souvenirs.

[KK]

Yes.

[Host/Moderator]

We've got stuff from the airport duty free. We got lots.

[KK]

Oh, yeah, we got lots of those.

[Keener]

We needed to check a second bag.

[KK]

Exactly. I have a duty free something right next to me right now.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Opened.

[Keener]

But what's so great about today's show is Siddhartha Khosla, the composer for the show, will be here and Kirker Butler, who wrote episode nine. So any questions you can think of,

[Siddhartha Khosla]

people can ask them.

[Host/Moderator]

If KK And Keener, you want to start with your guesses? I think after that we're going to talk to Sid. And then after Sid is when Kirker will be. Will be joining.

[KK]

Let's do it, K.K. well, K.K. and I had a meeting of the minds this time, right, KK Wow.

[Keener]

Keener and I have a weekly segment on our podcast which we call the Whodunit Summit, where we individually Write down on a piece of paper who we think the murderer is, based on what we've seen so far, and we seal it in an envelope, then we reveal it to each other live on the podcast. So this week was kind of interesting, wasn't it, Keener?

[Host/Moderator]

Yes.

[KK]

I mean, we were like, one. I couldn't believe.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Can you guys hear me?

[Host/Moderator]

Hey.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Oh, my God. This is. Hi, guys. This is awesome. Thank you so much for. For having me on as part of this conversation. Is Kierker here, too?

[KK]

He's coming on in a few, I believe.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

I love Kierke. That's awesome.

[KK]

Yeah. Oh, Butler. So we were just. Sid. We were just going to. KK and I were just going to throw in who we guessed for after. For season, for episode nine. And we were just saying that we had a unified front this time, and

[Keener]

for the first time ever, I think, two seasons.

[KK]

And we picked. Go ahead, kk.

[Keener]

So both Keener and I picked. For episode nine, we think the murderer is Cinda.

[KK]

Cinda.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Interesting, right?

[KK]

All I have to say is that when she made that look at the. I mean, you know, that was it. I'm like, there's something going on there.

[Keener]

And I will say she was my suspect from that. She was my very first suspect this season.

[Host/Moderator]

Yes. Yes.

[KK]

Oh, look at that.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

You started the season feeling you. You suspected Cinda from the start of the season.

[Keener]

I suspected Cinda from the start. I felt that she was jealous of the trio and the success that they're having with their podcast. They're kind of getting in on her territory.

[KK]

She's a cold, cold woman. Not in this respect. Yes.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

It's a good thing that you can't see my icon or whatever, that I have some neutral icon. It's like the most. The best poker face.

[Keener]

Imagine you're not giving anything away.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

I'm not giving anything away. Not even a little icon that doesn't move or anything.

[KK]

Perfect.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

You got nothing. I can say. I can say that that is a. That is a very. That's a very smart guess. And. But. But we don't know if that is the right guess.

[Keener]

Correct. We will not know until the next episode.

[KK]

I mean, it gives, like, everything. And we always talk about the red herrings and the, you know, taking you to the left. When it's to the right. We. We know it, and we always feel it.

[Keener]

We always fall for it.

[KK]

We throw them out there and hope they stick. But, you know,

[Keener]

but I also felt Cindy was a very petty person, naming that podcast only mur. Hers in the building. Just like making a dig at them.

[KK]

So also.

[Keener]

And she's mean to Poppy, so.

[KK]

Yeah. I mean, also, I think that she, you know, she steals everybody. You know, like, she's. That's an idea that she stole and just added an er on the. You know what I mean?

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Yes, true. That is a.

[Acceptable Pizza]

That is a.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

That's. That's. There's some plagiarism. You're accused.

[KK]

Yeah. So the music. Let's start talking about the music, guys, right now. It's the Darth. I mean, my gosh.

[Host/Moderator]

Yes.

[KK]

Oh, my gosh.

[Host/Moderator]

I feel like the music has been. That is like the fourth of the main leading cast right there.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Music.

[Host/Moderator]

Truly, it's so wonderful. And this episode in particular, when people were address hunting, I felt like you really. It just. It made my heart race.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Thank you very, very, very much. I believe this is the episode that ended with them when there was a big. This was. This is when we recorded an opera singer on at the very end of this episode. See, because I'm like. See, the thing is, I don't even remember what episode I worked on. Like, I don't know. So I don't give anything away. Why don't you tell me what you saw at the end of Nine? So I'm not. So I'm making sure I don't make any mistakes here.

[Host/Moderator]

Okay. At the end of nine, they have. They end with Cinda as the main

[Siddhartha Khosla]

suspect at the bar in Oklahoma, goes

[Host/Moderator]

into Criminal by Fiona Apple.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Like, turns from the bar and looks at her. Right? Correct.

[Host/Moderator]

Yes.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Yeah. So there's a huge. There's like a. The. The whole. The ending of that had like a. We had an opera singer come in and sing through the whole ending. The soprano opera singer, who was just so stunning. And it was like one of my favorite musical moments. So I appreciate you noticing.

[Acceptable Pizza]

Yeah.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

This was a. This was. As every episode has been in this show, there's just like, this is. You know, you. Oh, you're. You feel like you're sort of given this wonderful opportunity to. To do something interesting and special and like, doesn't. I don't ever feel like I have any rules on this show. John Hoffman and the producers are always like, just, that's okay. You can be a little weird. And I was like, well, is. I sent into my demo of that final sequence, the music, and it was me going like a crazy person. And I was like, don't worry. I was like, I think we need an opera singer to do this. I mean, I was afraid he was gonna be like, let's just keep you doing it, you know.

[Host/Moderator]

You know, sometimes the scratch, you get really married to the scratch. And that happens quite often, huh. Where you just. That is. That is it. It captures that initial feeling.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

That's so true. There's like this. And that's the sort of, the, the challenge with sort of making any art. It's like the question is like, at what point do you give it up? At what point are you like, at what point is it done? Is, is it. That's like, that's an existential question for the art itself. Like when is it ever done? And like you never know. And so I, I know I sound, I feel like so pretentious even saying that, but it's, it's a battle that we always have where it's just like as a composer, we normally try not having what we call demoitis and we always want to make it better. And so then you have producers when I sit here and they're like, let's not touch that. And, and you're like, no, no, that was just like. But like I, you know, like, but I burped in that recording. You know, it's okay. It's cool. Like, oh no.

[Host/Moderator]

In like the case of Rick and Morty, that's the entire show. Well, we do have a couple of questions in the comments already primed and ready. But for those who are listening, we are accepting live questions. So if you'd like to raise your hand to ask Sid a question live, hit that hand icon and we will bring you up. In the meantime, Brown Sugar manifest. Just want to say, wanted to say, I got to say the music is fantastic. It's been on repeat on my Spotify. Kudos, Sid.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Wow, that's very sweet.

[Host/Moderator]

Yes. But a question from Hannah Lemp asks. Hi, Siddhartha, thank you so much for joining us for this talk. I was wondering, what is the process like composing music for a show like Only Murders in the Building? Are you given guidance? You kind of mentioned this, but are you given guidance on what the tone should be in specific scenes? Are you shown the fully edited episodes?

[Siddhartha Khosla]

That's a great question. You know, now we're in, we're deep in season two, about to get to the finale. So there is a sort of a well oiled machine that is at play here. And so but to get it to be well oiled, a lot of work had to happen in those first 2, 3, 4, 5 episodes from season one. And that work was a lot of writing. Like I would write, write, write, write, write. As soon as I read the first script, I had ideas I was writing before I even saw any picture I was writing. And some of these ideas, you know, also help the producers also, you know, find a tone for the show. You know, you never. The tone of a show is just a marriage between the writing, the directing, the acting, the cinematography, the costumes, the production design, editing, all of it. Music. So we spent a lot of time early on sort of trying to, you know, get it. Try to get it right from the beginning. And I think, like, compared to other projects I've worked on, this is one of those ones where I will listen to, like, what I did in the very first episode and still feel pretty good about it. Like, I think it improved as we went on. But. So a lot of that legwork happens early. Oftentimes, editors will send me some picture that has no music, and they're like, what do you think should go here? And I'll suggest. Sometimes editors will say, we want to put this thing that you've already written for the show here. But it's not doing this. This. It's not jumping me out of my seat yet, or it's not making me feel this beat here. Can you now tailor it to the scene? So I'll work on scenes early on. And obviously, as we. As we are getting deeper and deeper into the show, I feel like we're also starting to take more and more risks, you know, creatively, more and more swings. And that's been kind of fun. So sometimes I will get. I'll get what we call a locked episode, where all the picture is in its final place and there's music already in there of mine that's been sort of, like, dropped in as temp music. We call it temporary music. And sometimes it stays, sometimes it doesn't. But then with John Hoffman, we watch it down, and John will have some wacky, cool, crazy idea, and then I will then sort of interpret that and then rewrite the score for the whole episode. So it varies.

[KK]

Hey, Sid, did you have anything to do with the Yodel Shop music stuff?

[Siddhartha Khosla]

I did have. Yeah. I had some. I. I played a very sort of, like, peripheral role in it. I sort of, like, listened. I oversaw some of it. I just. It was like. It was a. It's a whole very cool thing in the show. And you'll see sort of like, you know, you may see more of it, but. And it's a very, like. It's one of those things where yodeling is not my expertise. And there are yodeling experts out there. That are. And so we bring on people to sort of be part of that creative process when it feels appropriate. And our yodeling person in New York did just such a fabulous job. Fabulous.

[Keener]

Really did.

[KK]

Yeah.

[Host/Moderator]

It actually brings up the next question that was in the queue, and it comes from. They asked me to call them Peter. So, Peter, will there be any yodeling in the final episode of series two or any episodes in series three? I'm not sure if you can give it away, but

[KK]

we always try. Everybody always try.

[Host/Moderator]

And I have to admit, Sid, this is a little bit more innocent than some of the other prying questions.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

I think all the tough ones at me. I. This is like, I'm always. I would. Because you can't. I love the fact that you can't see my face is the best part of this. Not like I could see any of your faces, but still, when I look at, like, lawn ponds. Right. Like, there's something. I just love that image. Like, I feel like I can still see what you're thinking. Is there. Is there yodeling in the final episode? I guess just wait and see.

[Host/Moderator]

Okay. It's an appropriate response.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Keener]

Fair.

[Host/Moderator]

Fair.

[KK]

Yodel. Wait and see.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

What if. What if I said yes? Like, what if I said, let's just go down this path? So if I say yes, there's yodeling.

[KK]

Yeah.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

With the murder, it may give away something. Right. But if I say, you know, and so I have to sort of like. So you can think about that. Maybe. Maybe if I said yes. You know, what if I said yes? And I said, actually, I shouldn't have said that. You know, yes.

[Keener]

I said too much.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

I go with my first answer and my final answer.

[Host/Moderator]

Okay. It's fair. Well, we do have someone on stage. Acceptable pizza. If you'd like to ask your question, feel free to unmute.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Hello.

[Acceptable Pizza]

My question is for Elizabeth.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Okay.

[Acceptable Pizza]

I was wondering, how did you decide to tie in season one with season two using that storyline about Oklahoma. The Oklahoma podcast. This was something that nobody in the fandom was able to predict. What made it to decide to focus on that instead of perhaps expanding on a different storyline in season one?

[KK]

Oh, when I brought up about the Oklahoma was important with the hoodie and all that stuff, you know, I don't know. I just. I. I saw a hoodie and I just thought, I. Is that some red herring or is that something that they're going to. And in the very beginning, they have to come back to it somehow. There has to be something about it. Right? I mean, it Just seemed like you have to. The writers intentionally put things in. I mean, some things are red herrings, but some things to me are just so intentional. And you have to keep it in the back of your mind. And so that along with the hoodie and Cinda with her looks, it just kind of all came around.

[Keener]

You have to keep an eye on everything. Perfect.

[Kirker Butler]

Thank you.

[KK]

Thank you.

[Host/Moderator]

Thanks for acceptable pizza.

[KK]

Yeah, I love.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

That's like a great. That's a great username.

[Host/Moderator]

There are some great usernames.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

I mean, let's talk about that for a second. Like, what is. If you don't mind, like, this is. Let's talk about pizza. Like, what is the most. Like, very quickly, we don't talk about it for too much longer, but like, what is the most acceptable pizza? Like, what city in your mind in the US Makes oh, the most acceptable pizza?

[KK]

New York pizza in la, if you could find it, is delicious. The thin, yummy. I mean, also Chicago pizza. But it's very heavy.

[Keener]

Very heavy.

[KK]

You gotta have like a. Uno pizza. Just a one slice. You can handle it. But I like thin, greasy, yummy pizza.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

I'm New Haven all the way, so that's.

[Keener]

Oh, Mystic Pizza.

[Kirker Butler]

Where.

[KK]

I mean, I can't. I have to go to New Haven now to go get a pizza.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Oh, Sally's Pappy's a modern. It's like, in my mind, the best pizza in New York. Close second. Okay, sorry.

[Host/Moderator]

Anyway,

[Keener]

I have a question.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Yeah.

[Keener]

How was creating the music for season two different? If it was different than for season one, were there different challenges involved?

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Yes. I mean, look, so season two, it's really interesting because the show changes with whoever is working on it. I know that's a very obvious thing to say, but, like, you know, season one, we had three incredible editors. In season two, we had three incredible editors and three different editors. And there was. And that changed because, like, sometimes editors will. They have other projects lined up, you know, and so schedules don't align. And that's literally the only reason for there being a change is that, you know, nobody knew how successful the show was going to be in season one. And so we. People had projects lined up after. So that with that change comes like, Comes altering visions and ideas of, like, what the. The role of music is going to play in an episode. Obviously there's like a guidance from John Hoffman and the producers and Dan Fogelman and Jess Rosenthal, etc. To chime in, but people bring their own creative voices to it. So the music in this season has also been used differently. In my mind than it did season one. There's like a. There's more of it all of a sudden. That's one thing I find that there's a lot of score in these episodes. And also because our universe expanded a little bit, our story expanded a little bit, we started learning a little bit about the Iconia, the history of the Iconia. We started seeing more. There's more of like a feeling of a tangled web of things that are happening. There's. There's all this sort of like. There's these extensions of our story. And by virtue of that, the sound has gotten bigger, I think. And we also are able to have a lot more musicians in a room now than we did season one. Because I was confined to Covid restrictions in season one, season one had a lot of sort of like we had a bigger big sounding score. It's not like we didn't. But in terms of the live musicians that played on it, I could only bring in like four musicians at a time together in the studio. Now I can. Now I have 15 to 20 that play on it. So when you have a live ensemble of a lot of people together, it creates something really cool and magical. And there's a chemistry there that I have now that I just love. And just as a purist in terms of how music should sound with live people performing it, I'm. I'm just so happy with. With where it's gone. So. Yeah. And also I'm taking more risks. I'm like, there was that the May. The big Mabel episode this season with the puzzle pieces. You know, that score was almost like. It was. I. It was very atmospheric. I took, you know, Mabel had her had like. There's like this sort of like, you know. You know, I do this thing. I don't know if you're going to be able to hear this.

[KK]

I was going to say, please do a little bit. Great.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

You know, there was that. Yeah, that, like. This was sort of her. Like that sound was Mabel's sort of remembering the past sort of theme from season one. You heard it and when. When she had these really sort of weird flashbacks of Tim Kono. And so I brought that sort of thematic idea back this season for that episode. But we had flutes and woodwind. Flutes and woodwinds playing that. And I ran it through like a wall of reverb. And it sort of had this very atmospheric feeling in that episode. And it felt other. You know, it didn't feel like our normal palette in a lot of places.

[Keener]

It's kind of Haunting.

[KK]

Yeah.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Yeah. The idea. And so there we. So there's definitely more liberty being taken. Season one had. I did do a bunch of fun stuff there, for sure. That was, for me, at that moment, liberty taking liberties. But now, you know, you're another season in, and it's like, okay, how do we keep it interesting?

[KK]

Yeah. It was beautifully haunting, by the way. Beautifully like, just.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Thank you so much. I really appreciate that.

[Keener]

And we know you were nominated for two Emmys for season one, for the Emmys coming up next month.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

So that's pretty cool.

[Host/Moderator]

Congratulations. Oh, my gosh. The com people are going off right now, by the way.

[KK]

I know State is giving it to you. I mean, you get to hear him like, this is. It's amazing. Really amazing.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

I also see that Kirker is here.

[Kirker Butler]

There.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Wonder Beard does have a wonderful beard.

[Host/Moderator]

Can you hear us?

[Siddhartha Khosla]

It's just like. It's such a great play on Wonder Bread, too. I mean, what a writer. He's such a great writer. Always has been.

[Kirker Butler]

Can you hear me?

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Yeah.

[Keener]

Here you are.

[Kirker Butler]

Hey, look at that, Kirker.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

It's sick.

[Kirker Butler]

Hi, Sid. It's been a long time.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

How are you been. It's been such a long time. I've been great. We were just singing your praises.

[KK]

Yeah.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

I mean, the way that you just took Wonder Bread and made a Wonder Beard example. Just a small example of your work.

[Keener]

That's writer.

[Kirker Butler]

It is a very magical beard. We used to say. My. My wife used to say that our first dog sprang from my beard, because

[Host/Moderator]

it wasn't. It wasn't a rib. It was the beard.

[Kirker Butler]

Yeah, it was the beard, for sure.

[KK]

Thanks for joining us, Kirker.

[Host/Moderator]

Of course, Kirk, We. Actually, there is a question already for you mind.

[Kirker Butler]

I hope I can answer it.

[Host/Moderator]

I hope you can. So I will say there. There's some sleuthing that the Internet has already done, so I can. I can help grease those wheels, but Icy Red Rose asks, can you share any clues about Becky being alive that we might have missed through last season and. Or this one?

[Acceptable Pizza]

No,

[Kirker Butler]

I love.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

I feel like there's.

[Kirker Butler]

I mean, there's just. There's one more episode left, and it's so revelatory, and there is some great stuff about Becky in there, and I just don't want to spoil anything for anyone because it's. I feel like it's so satisfying. So I would just encourage everyone to just hang on for a few more days, and you'll have all the answers you want.

[Host/Moderator]

You got it. Okay. There's been a lot of Internet sleuthing about how Poppy was placed right by a poster that was like, where is Becky in the studio? They've sleuthed out some clues, so I wasn't sure if, you know, we could talk about any past clues.

[Kirker Butler]

I saw those on Reddit, actually, and they've been up there for a little while, and I was just like, oh, well, good for you. That's pretty impressive.

[Host/Moderator]

Yes. Yes, definitely. And also, thank you for letting us know that you come and join the community from time to time to see that stuff.

[Kirker Butler]

I do. I mean, this is such an incredible fan base. I love going on Reddit and seeing what everyone is thinking and coming up with. And it's something that we talked about in the writers room a lot, that we really did. You all gave us so much more credit for being smart than we deserved. But it was really. It's been gratifying seeing all of the stuff on there and everyone, you know, thinking and putting out theories, and it's just been. It's been really satisfying.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Really great.

[Host/Moderator]

Well, thank you so much for. For checking us out and for being here today. I think everyone's going to start sleuthing, even on your. On your username, even though we already dissected it.

[Kirker Butler]

No, I was. I was saying to Ryan before I signed on today that I've been. I've had this. This Reddit name for. I don't know. I don't know what my cake day is, but it's probably been 15 years and I've never posted anything. I just kind of observe. And so this is the first time I've ever done anything where my username has been out there. And it's a little uncomfortable, to be honest.

[Host/Moderator]

Yes. I mean, you're using your. Your own personal one, too, which is very brave. So thank you for trusting me.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Sure.

[Host/Moderator]

Sid, I had one more. Another question come in for you in the comments, and we do have someone on stage too, but this is from Irish Ted 13, and they ask, with Selena's chop as a vocalist, do we have a chance of her singing more than just a line from last episode next season? Last episode next year? Yes, we'll leave that. But she's saying. She's saying a line instead of saying it. We're curious if there's going to be any other Selena singing moments.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Well, this is. That is a very good question. I don't have the answer to that yet, but a little fact about the show is that Selena does sing one other time. And if you go back to the pilot episode at the end of the Episode Mabel is in the shower and she's humming the do do do in the shower. So she. So if you go back to the end of the pilot, listen to what happens there. Mabel is singing the main title theme in the show, which is when. And when that happened, I realized that we were. That we were entering a very special show that, you know, when, when the, when. When the showrunners and directors wanted to do that because it was like we were crossing that sort of like fourth wall. I was like, why would she know the theme? You know? But there was. It opened up a whole world for me and seeing that there was like a magical element to this whole show. So she does sing there. I'm not sure if she's going to sing again.

[Host/Moderator]

Okay. Okay. Well, also, congratulations. Having one of the biggest recording artists saying something that you wrote.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

I know that's pretty cool. And you know, just a fun thing that also, that I have like my favorite one day when only Murders in the Building is. Is. Is. Is no longer happening. Which I hope it's. We have many, many, you know, years of the show. I have something very special on somewhere in my email and, and I'll share. We could do this again another time. And I'll find it and share it, but on set, when they were filming the pilot, Jamie Babbitt, our amazing director, who was also nominated this year, by the way, for, for directing an Emmy nomination for her pilot episode. I think it was at one point we were considering having Steve, Marty and Selena sing that on the. On the actual main title sequence to have their voices incorporated. So they spent like half hour on set one day recording them, practicing it. And they asked me to put together a little demo that they could send in for them to learn it. And so I sat down on my piano and I did this. And this is exactly what I did. I was like, awkwardly, I was like, okay, here we go. And I went. Right. And that little. Okay. Went to Steven, Marty and Selena. And you could hear them listening to my demo and then trying to sing the melody back. And Steve coaching Marty, Marty coaching Steve Selena. It was amazing. And it got to a point where Marty started making fun of me where he'd be like, okay, let's go. And Martin Short makes fun of me on this little like recording that they have on my computer. It's crazy.

[Host/Moderator]

That's incredible.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Yeah, it's hilarious.

[Host/Moderator]

This is when you miss DVD extras because that sounds like a perfect thing to release to the fans, like in a behind the scenes type of extra content.

[Keener]

Exactly.

[KK]

Well, we'll be doing more podcasts after the season's over. So maybe. Yes. Tribute things that we can put out there.

[Keener]

Bonus content.

[Host/Moderator]

Who has the rights? Holly Eyeliner is on. I'm so sorry, Holly, for. For the delay here, but feel free to unmute and ask your question. Hi.

[Holly Eyeliner]

Thank you. Can you hear me?

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Yes.

[Host/Moderator]

Great.

[Holly Eyeliner]

Perfect. Thank you. This is a question for the writers room about balancing the writing. First, how do you balance the writing for more? The casual viewer who will go along, they're surprised, they're shocked, but maybe they forget a lot of the details by the end of the season. Contra versus the more. Well, the ready viewer who. We take screenshots, we have our murder board and everything, so we know all the details. But so we need maybe something more complex than the casual viewer. So that's one aspect of the balance. And the other aspect is comedy versus mystery or thriller. So how do you balance those things in the writer's room?

[Kirker Butler]

That is. That is a great question. You know, in terms of the balancing it for the casual viewer versus the really intense viewer who really is, you know, like you said, has murder boards and all that stuff, you know, we just try to tell the best story we can, and we trust the audience. We. We know that even the casual viewers, because they're invested in these characters and invested in the story, we know that they're gonna go. They're gonna follow us pretty well. And for the stuff that, you know, that's been. We're bringing back from season one, then, you know, we have that. Hulu has been nice enough to give us that. Previously on Only Murders. So we can catch up the little details and things like that. But we, I think the thing about that is we just trust the audience because the audience has proven that, you know, you will go with us, like, wherever we're wanting to go. And I know that there's sometimes. I've seen the Reddit boards. Sometimes people get very frustrated with where we go, and I get it. But we trust you guys and hopefully you trust us enough to know that we're going to lead you back to a satisfying conclusion. In terms of the comedy and the mystery. We try to keep the mystery as the central focus of the show, and we know where we want to go. So we have to get from point A to point B to point C. And we know that there are certain beats that we have to hit along the way, and along the way, we just find the comedy. We know that with Steven, Marty and Selena that whatever we give them comedically, they're going to nail. And we've also been fortunate enough to have Jane lynch and Amy Ryan and Nathan Lane and all these wonderful comedic actors as well. And you don't have to say, hey, this is a joke and hit this here. You just have to put it on the page. And. And they are so talented and so good. They can look at it and they can find the comedy in it. So if we just keep our focus on telling the story and making sure that we put some jokes in there, that the actors are going to make it so much funnier than we ever even anticipated. So that part is not a challenge because they're all so good.

[Holly Eyeliner]

Okay, thank you so much.

[KK]

That was a great question. Thank you. And what a great answer.

[Keener]

Yeah.

[Host/Moderator]

Yes.

[Holly Eyeliner]

Thank you.

[Host/Moderator]

Thank you. Holy eyeliner.

[KK]

Acceptable eyeliner.

[Host/Moderator]

Acceptable eyeliner. I know. Everything's. Everything is acceptable except for prying questions, even though we are. Another question for you from Hannah Lemp. Hi, Kirker. Who is your favorite character to write for? I know that's a hard question, but at least not one that asks for spoilers.

[Kirker Butler]

I mean, you know, to choose between Steve and Marty and Selena, pretty crazy. You know, I, because of. Of just being a. The comedy nerd that I am and having been this Steve Martin fanboy since I was six years old, I think anything that I can write for Steve that he delivers, you know, and is funny and I can tell that he thinks it's funny is, you know, it. It's like, I don't know, you know, it's like a nice warm pat on the head from, you know, your favorite uncle. It's. It's so delightful. You know, my. My wife and I have a. When we have for 10 years, we have a poster of Steve framed over our toilet in our bathroom as. As almost like it sounds tacky, but

[Siddhartha Khosla]

it's really actually quite place.

[Kirker Butler]

It's an insert from one of his comedy albums from the 70s. And so just to be able to do anything with Steve is. Is a complete joy.

[Keener]

That's got to be surreal. To see him and hear him saying your lines.

[Kirker Butler]

It is insane. And I mean, this season has been so crazy because he and I wrote angel and Flip Flops together. So he and I wrote the lyrics and he wrote the music. And just to have that experience of, oh, hey, it's Tuesday morning and here's a phone call from Steve Martin about this song we're writing. It was insanity. It was really something. Like I had a hard time getting my head around.

[KK]

And you're like, hey, I'm looking At you right now in the bathroom, right?

[Kirker Butler]

Yes, exactly. I was just looking at you earlier. It's so funny. I, I showed that. I showed a picture of that to Marty and he said, well, that's just perfect.

[KK]

But it is Kirker. That's where it should be in the bat. I mean,

[Siddhartha Khosla]

I love that song so much. And like. And I, I remember when I saw it when I got the early footage from that episode where he's singing it to Lucy. Right. And it's one of the sort of. It was such an unexpected thing too in the show. I just wasn't expecting ever to see that, you know, and it had this sort of like, it. I felt like it was weird. I felt like we were like watching some incredible film in that moment. I don't know what it was. It did that for me. It didn't feel like a TV show. It felt bigger picture. And I just, I. That song is such a brilliantly written song. Kudos to you guys.

[Kirker Butler]

Yeah, it was really. It was just one of those wonderful, unexpected things. We knew that he was gonna. We were gonna have Charles have released an album and I was like, oh, I want to write that song. John was delightful, said, yeah, sure, go ahead.

[Keener]

And it did chart in Germany.

[KK]

But you know, I want to ask you, the, the pitta pata. I just love that so much. It's such a perfect thing to say. Like pitta pat, like, where did that come from? I just loved it.

[Kirker Butler]

It was, that was, that was all Steve. And we had a line in that episode and I think, I don't know if we shot it and it got cut for time or whatever, but I thought it was so funny where Selena says, what is pitta putta? And he says, oh, that's the sound that flip flops make. And Selena says, isn't flip flop the sound flops make? And I thought that was so funny and I don't know.

[KK]

That's hilarious.

[Host/Moderator]

Okay. That was just.

[KK]

I just loved it. Just so, so beautiful. The little girl singing pit about it.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

I mean, it's so great.

[Kirker Butler]

I've got a 10 year old daughter and she just, she put it on her summer playlist. She just loves it.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Oh my God.

[KK]

Oh my gosh. How perfect is that for you thing?

[Host/Moderator]

We, I, we talked a lot about that song when it debuted during the episode talk that we had. And I'm trying to find the comments from that because there are a lot of questions about it. But I can remember people asking for it to get released. Are there any plans for people to also Add it to their summer playlist.

[Kirker Butler]

It's on Spotify. It's on Spotify. It's on Amazon, Tidal.

[KK]

I think it's soundtrack was released. Isn't that. Is it part of the soundtrack?

[Kirker Butler]

I don't know, but there's. Someone made an animated video that's on YouTube. It's. It's crazy.

[KK]

It's really cool.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

No, it's not. It's not on the. We have. There's a score soundtrack that comes out every year and we just released that. But I think that was released as a separate single.

[Host/Moderator]

Okay.

[KK]

Should be a separate single.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, get after it. Reddit.

[Kirker Butler]

I know. Yeah, send it to. Send it to number 68 on the charts.

[KK]

Can I ask you a. You part of the Sound of Silence? Because you seem to be part of all the music. Did you, did you do anything with that or what's your thought on that? If not.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

That was. Well, that was a very. I sort of handle like all the original sort of score and, and sometimes the song stuff too. Not, not, not. I didn't. I was not involved in the Flip Flop song, but the. That moment. I mean I was obviously, I watched and sort of like gave my notes and thoughts on it when I saw early sequences of it. But no, I'm not involved in that. That is sort of like a music soup. We have a separate, like we have a music supervisor that will handle sort of like the on set performances, especially covers of things like the COVID of that song. But there are certain moments like there was. There's. I definitely, I've definitely chimed in on some yodel conversations, but. But no, that one was just a. You know, it's a beautiful moment also on set. I would have loved to be there for that.

[Kirker Butler]

That was just.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

I mean seeing the early footage of

[Kirker Butler]

it was just incredible.

[KK]

Yeah.

[Keener]

And the season two soundtrack is out now.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Yeah, the season two score soundtrack is out now. Yep.

[Keener]

Keener and I were joking on, on our podcast that people can now be at home and recreate scenes there.

[KK]

Yes, recreate the scenes with the music people. You can do it.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

You know, you know what they've done now too? They're like for all the only murders fans out there on YouTube, there's these. Hulu has put out these things called these ambient rooms where you can like, you can go to Mabel's room, you can go to Charles's room, Oliver's room. They each have a room and it basically plays my score and a bunch of like sound design to this like really cool image of their apartment and stuff. Happens as you watch. Like there's shadows that go across the wall. There's little things, there may be clues in there, but you can sit there for like an hour on it. It's a single. Each video is like an hour long. And you can just sit there for an hour if you, if you have really nothing else to do for an hour, just sit there and stare at it. And then also it's like a really good way to like, you can, it's a good way like you can hang out to it. Just like, let's have it on the background and you know, while you're reading or you know, whatever.

[Host/Moderator]

That's cool. Yeah, that is really cool.

[KK]

Check that out.

[Host/Moderator]

I have a question from the comments for actually the both of you. It's from Joe Nardv and they ask, do you all think that the 30 minute run time as a blessing or a curse?

[Kirker Butler]

I'll let.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Kierke will probably have better insight on, on that because I, I do know that our runtime is flexible. So there are some episodes that are longer than others. We've. We had an episode last year, Kirker, didn't we, that was like 35 or 40 minutes long. I forget.

[Kirker Butler]

I think the finale was close to 40 minutes. Yeah. And I, you know, that is what's so great about streaming because I worked and Sid, you've worked in network too for so long and you know, you've got such a, a limit. Like you've got. Every story has to be, well, for half hour it's 20 minutes and for one hour it's like 44. And as we all know, not every story is 21 minutes. So it's so nice, I think, to have the flexibility to tell a 40 minute story if it needs to be 40 minutes or I think my episode this week, episode nine, I think it was 29 minutes. So I think it's really nice to have that flexibility. I don't feel like it's a restraint at all. I feel like it's. But you know, I've also worked in network and I know that it's, it is a kind of a pain in the ass to have to get everything down to 21 minutes and 18 seconds or whatever it is now on network it feels like you're just the stuff between the commercials. But streaming allows you to actually tell the story that you. The best story that you can tell.

[KK]

Yeah, yeah.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

And just the amount of like sort of in the creative. I mean it's, it's. There's a domino effect with that, with that, you know, and it extends to every department, too, on the show. Like, you know, when you have. When you. When you're operating, at least for me, I don't know how you feel about that kicker, too. But when you're operating under this, like, this very sort of, like, you know, the. This world is sort of like, you can do what you want in this world. You have that freedom and flexibility. It starts extending to all sorts of different departments. I know. I feel it with the music. Like, I can take different types of risks. And I know the costume designer is, like, so artful with what. Dana. With what she does, and it all sort of. It's like a domino effect of creativity and, you know, and. And the idea of everyone can feel as artful as they want. They're not confined to these, like, confined as much. And the spirit. So it definitely changes it all. I mean, look, we have a silent episode of television, you know, and that's. That's not the kind of stuff you're gonna see outside of streaming.

[Keener]

You can swear.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Yes. Yeah.

[KK]

You're not held prisoner to all the little things that you must.

[Kirker Butler]

I mean, thank God we can swear, because what would Michael Rappaport do if we couldn't swear?

[Keener]

Exactly.

[Host/Moderator]

I don't know. He wouldn't.

[KK]

He wouldn't be there.

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah. You'd have to recast him. You'd have to have, like, Elliot Stabler come in for, like, a. He's able to. To convey anger without swearing so well.

[KK]

Oh, Michael Rappaport. Genius on the show.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

He's been unbelievable.

[KK]

And, yeah, the dim. I mean, all of it was so great.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

All of that.

[KK]

This episode.

[Kirker Butler]

I mean, I've actually, like.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

I've actually scored scenes on the show around a curse word. Like, I just. I just did it on the show, and you're gonna see it in the finale.

[KK]

Oh, right. Okay.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

So it's like. It's to the point where I'm like. There's, like. There's this. All this anticipation of building and building and building and building and building and going. And all of a sudden, the music just sort of pauses, and then a huge expletive is let out. You know, it's like. It's all building up to this expletive.

[Keener]

Can you tell us what the word is? Or no, does that spoil it?

[KK]

I mean, there's only several.

[Host/Moderator]

And you can also swear here. Just so.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

I mean, there's. I mean, I. I can tell you, but, like, I don't want to. I don't want to.

[Host/Moderator]

I don't want to.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Ruin any surprise.

[Host/Moderator]

Okay.

[Keener]

Don't ruin it. Yes.

[KK]

I'll just keep going.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

It's like, I mean, even if I told you, it wouldn't change anything, but I think it's more fun if, if now I've said what I said.

[KK]

Yeah, you do.

[Keener]

Exactly. Now when we see it.

[KK]

Thank you. Very nice.

[Host/Moderator]

Yes. Something for us to sleuth and hold on to.

[KK]

People are pulling out the whiteboards right now going,

[Kirker Butler]

everyone's making a list of swear words.

[Host/Moderator]

Right. It's just swear words. You've just turned this into therapy. Thank you.

[Keener]

Or a drinking game.

[KK]

Or a drinking game.

[Host/Moderator]

That. I like that one.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

What's special for me and Kierker probably too in this, I mean for both of us here is like, you know, Kierker came on and he's like, I haven't seen you in a while or talked to you in a while. You know, Kirker was, it was executive. Was an executive producer and writer on the very first gig I ever had in Hollywood, the Neighbors. And, and so it's just like. And, and, and this is the second thing. There's been a lot of years and projects and things that have happened in between, but this is now the second thing that we've worked on together. So it's incredibly special.

[KK]

That is. Yeah.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Fitting that we share the same sort of like image, whatever this thing, as

[KK]

the stories you have it completely. I'm looking right at them. Yep.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Blue and pink, whatever this thing is.

[Kirker Butler]

Yes. You did one of the greatest things like in my, my career. I've been working now for 20 years and one of the favorite things I've ever been a part of was the, the Indian wedding celebration in the Neighbors. And I don't know if you, if people are musical. Yeah. The Bollywood musical number. Go to YouTube and look that up. It is one of the. It was so elaborate for a network sitcom, a low rated network sitcom that have given a shit about. But they just, I don't know, they. For some reason they backed up the money truck and we did this very elaborate Bollywood musical that Sid wrote the music to and it was so, so good.

[KK]

Oh, everybody, check that out.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

So much fun. I was a nervous wreck going into that because I'd never done anything like that for telev before. I was like, what am I, what am I doing here? But yeah, thanks. That was fun.

[Kirker Butler]

And I have, I have to say hi to someone who's here. Tad Cooper 251. Hello. Ted Cooper. I. I see you, Ted Cooper. Obviously a gallivant reference. So.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Hello.

[Kirker Butler]

Nice.

[KK]

Amazing.

[Host/Moderator]

Good Eye.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

There was a kircher before you came on. There was somebody and I don't know if they're still here, but their name was Acceptable Pizza, which I thought was a great name.

[Kirker Butler]

That's pretty good.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Slight little conversation about what the best pizza cities are in the U.S. i said new Haven. I don't know what you were.

[Kirker Butler]

Yeah, well, I'm from Kentucky, so none of them.

[KK]

No Mama Celeste.

[Host/Moderator]

Unacceptable. Unacceptable. So, yeah, we have another question in for Sid especially. I mean, leading off the coattails of you having such a thoughtful response about composing around a swear word. This one comes from substantial Bank 5509. They ask, I wonder whether when you are writing rhythm, melody and harmony, if they have different roles, like, does one come to you first? Also if there is a tailoring thing you do for a scene, is there any one of those three elements you tend to adjust? First, a bit of a technical question.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

I mean, I, as a, you know, I began my career as a songwriter in a band before I ever composed anything for TV and film. And so I, I immediately go to writing melody. You know, as a songwriter, I was. I've always sort of like the melody has always been my. Been my, been my guide. You know, it's like if I have a good melody, I have a good ear worm or a good hook of something that I feel like I can build the piece around it.

[KK]

It.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

And so on this show, you know, this show, all the themes are based around singular like melodic concepts. So there is like the main one. And then there's vantage that you hear over like the Arconia. I can just sing it because I, it's. I write them with my voice. Oftentimes I'm humming them, you know, Vantage theme. So it's always melody first and then the orchestration all happens sort of. I'll normally get on like my keyboard or piano and write to the scene and then replace the piano with woodwinds and strings and other. And then I'll work with, you know, our orchestrating team who's amazing and we'll sort of get it to the finish line.

[Host/Moderator]

Amazing. Thank you. I feel like all of the. I've been, I've been taking little clips of when, whenever you. Because it's just amazing. This is an interesting question. It's effing cold here asks, why doesn't the arconia have elevator music?

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Oh, that is a really, really, really good question. And it was something that was discussed season one. So that's a very good observation. So the very first scene where you see when you see Mabel, Oliver and Charles together in the pilot is when they meet up in the elevator for the first time. Remember that? Steve and Marty get in, or, sorry, Charles and Oliver get in. We sort of think at that moment, they don't. None of them really know each other. And they're just three strangers in an elevator. Which, you know, I think Mabel was a stranger to them in that moment. And there was conversation. I remember I talked to the music. I started talking to our editor during that scene. And we're just trying to figure out what to do. So you have the following sounds. You've got the ding of the elevator as it stops on each floor, right? You have the sort of percussive sound of like that of someone trying to like, push the right buttons. The sound of pushing a button, you know, without the ding of an elevator. And then you have the starting and stopping of the elevator. These are old elevators. This is like you're living in a pre war building. So you. It's a very noisy elevator. And there's just like the. The sort of like the mechanical stuff of the elevator, you hear. So we decided that like, that's the music of the elevator outside of when I need to score something. And I'd written this elevator theme that we sort of ended up using for other stuff. So the very first, very first time you're in the elevator, this is what I originally wrote that we took out. So that piece is the Arconia's elevator theme that I actually wrote for the elevator that we took out because we felt like, you know what, there's enough sounds of the elevator that are already there. And that was such a funny scene where they meet for the first time, that we were like, let's just stay out of disrupting anything that Steve and Marty and Selena are doing. It was such an awkward scene because you could see Steve, you could see Charles just feeling so trapped in that elevator with, With. With this idiot next to him and he wanted to get out. And that was just the funniest thing ever. Just seeing him frustrated every time the elevator stopped. Tim Kono gets on the elevator. Steve rolls his eyes. I mean, you should watch that scene for just pure physical comedy alone, just. Just with facial expressions. So there was no elevator music at that moment. Because it would have been like, if we did it there, it would have to almost always be there. And sometimes scenes play, especially with the legends that you have on screen on this show. Scenes play better dry is what we call it. No music, nothing. So if we had put some elevator music, we Would have been stuck and married to that forever. So we didn't do it.

[Host/Moderator]

It's so true. We had such an epic elevator scene this episode, too, with. With the fighting and how.

[Keener]

Fight scene.

[Host/Moderator]

Definitely trying to get off, like, and

[Siddhartha Khosla]

think about, you know, speaking of Ellerite, you know, and think about even stuff from last season, too. One of the funniest scenes, again, is in the finale of last season where.

[Kirker Butler]

Where.

[Host/Moderator]

Where.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Where Charles can't get Fields of Gold from Sting off of his phone. He's, like, trying. You know, it's playing over and over and over again. And you see him in that moment, the elevator, where the elevator is, like, literally crushing him. Opening, crushing him, opening him as he's lying there, like, after he's been drugged by Jan. And so again, that's a moment where, like, had there been elevator music, that would have been competing with Fields of Gold. So for. And that was a very smart choice by, like, our editor early on, too, of saying, hey, let's not get tied into this. Because imagine. I mean, for me, that's one of the funniest scenes too, where you see Steve Martin just, like, getting pummeled by the elevator doors over and over again as Fields of Gold by Sting is playing, or I think it was Fields of Gold. I mean, it was. I forgot what it was. And so the comedy would have been lost for having a Sting's music on it because of his role in the show last season and then. And all the other physical comedy.

[Host/Moderator]

Gosh, that's amazing. And I love that it was a conscious decision and it definitely plays out so well. So thank you so much for that and thank you all for being here. I know that we're already at time that just flew by, but thank you so much for stopping by. The door is always open. Please come back. We would love to have, I don't know, no runtime talk after next week's episode, after all is revealed.

[Keener]

And good luck to both of you at the Emmys next month. Yes.

[Host/Moderator]

Yes.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Thanks.

[Host/Moderator]

Congratulations.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Thanks. Very exciting.

[KK]

And just have a great time.

[Host/Moderator]

Yes. Have the best time. We can't wait to watch and cheer you all on.

[Kirker Butler]

And I just want to say thanks to all the Redditors who have been so wonderful during all of this, who have really, you know, you've made us up our game as writers because we. We see the boards and we're like, oh, they're really, really paying attention. So I want to thank all of you for being such great fans and for. For pushing us to do, you know, to do a better job. So thank all of you.

[Siddhartha Khosla]

Yeah. Thank you guys so much. Really means a lot.

[Host/Moderator]

This is just a room of gratitude.

[Keener]

Definitely.

[Host/Moderator]

Right back at you. We can't. We love, love, love the show, obviously. So thank you for putting it out there in the world for us to enjoy and for us to convene around. It's so wonderful.

[Kirker Butler]

Well, we have. We have had a great time doing it.

[Host/Moderator]

Well, thank you again. Come back soon. KK Keener, thank you as well. Always.

[Keener]

Thank you for having us.

[Holly Eyeliner]

Thank you, everyone.

[Host/Moderator]

We will see you next week or hear you, talk to you next week. And can't wait for the big finale.

[KK]

That was creepy. How are you gonna see me? What are you talking about?

[Host/Moderator]

Yeah, exactly. I see you right now. Don't look out your window. But thank you all again and have a great rest of your day. And thanks everyone for tuning in. We will be back next week, so come back and join the conversation.

[Keener]

Lots to discuss.

[Host/Moderator]

Lots to discuss. So much to discuss. Yes. Thank you.