Will Bates: Fall On Your Sword

 

E-mail: [email protected]

Web: http://fallonyoursword.com

Most Recent: Nobody Walks, 28 Hotel Rooms

Fall On Your Sword is the multimedia composing entity founded by Will Bates and Philip Mossman. Though originally from London, Bates and Mossman met in Brooklyn where they now record and reside. The duo has gained swift recognition as a rising force in the world of feature film scoring as well as recording/performing artists and viral video mavericks. Together they have amassed over 2 million YouTube hits.

The duo was recently named Discovery of the Year at the World Soundtrack Academy Awards, making FOYS the latest overnight sensation that took a long time to happen. “I’ve been pounding away at the composer world,” admits Bates. “I’ve wanted to be a composer since I was age 5.”

This circuitous route started with training as a jazz musician leading Bates to learn both violin and saxophone. Discovering techno at age 19, he went on to release CDs in his native London. He took a turn as a singer-songwriter, put together an indie band and, after learning production, discovered he could put all these pieces together himself and make a career out of playing jazz, scoring films and writing for other artists.

UK commercials led to US commercials. The company hit the prestigious Sundance Film Festival with the independent film While We’re Young. Ultimately, indie film work led to major features including FOYS’s latest two, Nobody Walks and 28 Hotel Rooms, both with attendant score releases.

The style of FOYS is breaking through. “Being a Brit in New York is sometimes an advantage and sometimes not,” he says.

“I have so many influences. It’s a wide range of styles. What defines everything is music that does something. It shouldn’t be wallpaper.”

Photo: Jerod Harris Wire Image