London-based producer and composer Amy McKnight is known for her bold, confident and contemporary writing. She is the founder of The Modern Score, a music agency dedicated to shaping how stories sound on screen. They work with filmmakers, studios and brands to connect exceptional artists and composers with projects that demand music with impact.
Hi Amy, firstly, thank you for taking time out from your busy schedule to spend some time with us. You're spinning multiple plates in your role. How did you first get into music and composing?
Amy: I got a Yamaha DJX keyboard when I was 12 and I became obsessed with the sequencing section. It was the first time I started to layer sounds and began to learn about production through just messing around with this keyboard. My dad saw how invested I was in the whole thing and found a production course in the back of a newspaper called Melody Maker (really showing my age here). I was 13. It was an adult class, but they let me attend. I came top of the class and never looked back.
All of the skills combined led you to start up The Modern Score. Tell us a bit about how that began.
Amy: I had the name first. It was something I couldn't shake. It felt right, and it was how I used to describe my composing style in conversation. Then I took the leap and made it official. The goal was, and still is, to create a modern audio company, working across all mediums from commercial production to film scoring, and working with publishers and labels to help their artists create highly syncable but credible songs. It's made up of a collective of talented musicians, composers and producers. I curate teams for bespoke work and additional music for TV and film. Alongside the bespoke arm, we also run a sync agency where we look after artists' existing released music that isn't signed to the majors. It's very artist-centric, and it's important to me that artists get their fair share of the fees we bring in. I am trying to create the most transparent, flexible sync deal available worldwide.
As a musician and composer, you match the talent on the roster to the brief. When a brief comes in, what are the considerations to find the right composer/producer to match the brief?
Amy: If they have demonstrated to me that they can deliver. I determine this from the traditional side of things like credits and showreels, but I also know there are some incredibly talented people who just haven't had the opportunity to earn their first credits and who are more than capable. So I make sure I give these composers a chance to be in the pool of options by asking them to submit examples of work, even if they didn't win the job those examples were for, or even if it's made up and they have just scored to a scene or advert they've ripped from the internet. If you can demonstrate you can do it, by any means, and you nail it, then I will give you a chance for sure.
You've worked with the BBC, Netflix and many others. Which have been some of the most exciting projects to work on as a composer yourself?
Amy: I just finished my first feature for Netflix. I am super proud of that one. It was a LONG, LONG process, taking almost a year from start to finish, but it was an amazing team I got to work with over at Louis Theroux's Mindhouse. And the brief was literally my dream job: a score that pulls from country music and grime. It sounds crazy, but for me it was a dream. I spent my 20s writing music and trying to break into the country scene as a writer. I spent my 30th birthday in Nashville. I have loved country music forever, and then of course I grew up with garage and grime. So being able to create something using both those genres as inspo was amazing!
You also do sound design. What is your approach before you actually get down to playing or recording the first note or sound?
Amy: I don't have a set process, to be honest. It all depends on the job. Do we have a budget that allows field recording? Do we need to get creative and do it all in the box? Do we have enough time to turn on the analogue machines in the studio and get creative? Most of the time, realistically, we don't have the budget or the time (lol), so I will watch the edits in silence a few times and then start pulling from my sound libraries, loosely placing stuff until it starts to take shape.
The Buso Audio Artist Rise 88 is a recent addition to your own studio. For someone who presumably spends a lot of time sitting down to write, compose and edit, how have you found the option of raising the desk height with the sit/stand desk?
Amy: This desk is the biggest investment I have made in the new studio thus far, and honestly, it's been an amazing addition. Having the option to stand or sit has been a game changer. I'm usually here at least five days a week, doing full eight-hour days, so it's been amazing having the standing option.
You're embedded in the sync world, which means not only a lot of creativity and writing of music, but a lot of admin (especially when you have a big roster too!). How do you manage the time between running The Modern Score and allowing time and space to score your own projects?
Amy: I am very lucky to have Charlie full-time helping me. He started as my composer assistant back in 2020 and has since come on board full-time to help run the agency and library. I also hired an in-house supervisor last year, which has really opened up the opportunities we can now offer our artists. So having the team is how I manage to keep making music. I never want to stop composing or writing.
What is your studio setup, and which are your favourite pieces of equipment, hardware or software? (Get into detail here if you want; we're total studio geeks.)
Amy: Oh no… I have a serious problem.
OK, so for monitoring I have the Amphion Two18s. I also have Quad ESL-57s. These hi-fi speakers are literally from the '50s. I don't understand why other studios haven't figured this out, but they are so flat yet beautiful-sounding, unlike the Yamahas. Buy them while they still exist. They also look like nothing you have ever seen. A real studio centrepiece.
On the desk we have: SSL BiG SiX, SSL UF8, UC1 and UF1.
Synths include: Arturia PolyBrute 12, Arturia MatrixBrute (I think this is the most underrated synth ever made! It's extraordinary for a mono synth), UDO Super 6, OB-6, Moog Sub Phatty and Moog Muse.
Then we have the outboard gear… SSL Fusion, SSL The Bus+, then a bunch of pieces from US company Audioscape. I love these guys! They have been amazing, and I think they make the best recreations of vintage gear available: the Audioscape D-Comp, EQP-2A (stereo), EQP-A in special edition pink, Opto Comp in special edition gold, and the 1176F. I just invested in a digital patchbay, so I cannot wait to set it up.
We hope you enjoy your Artist Rise 88 studio workstation and that it lets you work comfortably and productively. Thank you for sharing your knowledge in this interview!
