Joshua Moshier and the Music of FX’s Baskets

Composer Joshua Moshier joins Scott Healy’s Ellington Study Group to discuss his work on FX Network’s show Baskets, as well as insights into scoring animation such as Looney Tunes. Joshua delves into working efficiently in the fast-paced world of TV composing, and mentions different challenges of working in animation.

ABOUT JOSHUA MOSHIER

As a composer for films and television, Joshua Moshier has established himself as a trusted collaborator and distinctive musical voice.

Joshua’s television work includes scoring the FX series Baskets, starring Zach Galifianakis; NBC’s Shrink, created by Tim Baltz & Ted Tremper and streaming on Hulu; Sky One’s Sick of It from Richard Yee & Karl Pilkington, the Emmy-nominated Netflix series Special from Jim Parsons’ That’s Wonderful Productions, and the main title music for the Emmy-nominated IFC series Documentary Now! starring Fred Armisen and Bill Hader.

On the feature film side, Joshua scored the Netflix film Happy Anniversary from writer/director Jared Stern, Good Enough from writer/director AnnaRose King, and Beneath Us from writer/director Max Pachman.

Recent assignments include the upcoming Adult Swim series Three Busy Debras from director Anna Dokoza and Amy Poehler’s Paper Kite Productions, and producing and arranging the main theme for HBO’s Pod Save America specials.

In animation, Joshua’s work includes the upcoming HBO Max series Looney Tunes Cartoons; the DreamWorks series Dragons: Rescue Riders, and the viral animated hit Sidewalk, directed by Celia Bullwinkel.

Joshua created the interactive ambisonic music for Google’s Earth VR (available for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive), which won a Cannes Lion for innovation and was recognized by Ars Technica as “VR’s killer app.”

Born in Baton Rouge, LA and raised in St. Charles, IL, Joshua studied music at Northwestern University. Throughout and after college, he delved deeply into the Chicago music scene, performing as a pianist with Marquis Hill, Chris Madsen, Milton Suggs, John Moulder and many others. In his own group co-led with Mike Lebrun, he released Joy Not Jaded and The Local Colorists, as well as his Chamber Music America commissioned work Touch and Go: The Studs Terkel Project.

He is an alumnus of the Sundance Institute Film Music Program (Narrative Feature) and the BMI Conducting Workshop.