Find more about Jacob Groth @
Official website
Brief list of credits
Millennium Trilogy: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Dead Man Down, Skin Trade, Speed Walking
You are a respected composer within the TV & Film community. Being from Demark, did you break into the American market? And what was the most difficult part if any?
I started working in USA, specifically in Los Angeles, when worked on the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which became a hit all over the world.
It hit the big screen all over the world. The actors, directors, cinematographers, and others involved in the film including myself, received offers from projects abroad. From there on I’ve been working in The States on a regular basis. From there on I have worked in The States on a regular basis and its become my second home.
Nordic Noir is in part your niche or speciality; can you tell us more about the genre?
That’s a tough question! Lets see, Nordic Noir is basically a mood that runs through story telling whether its scripts, acting, directing, pictures or music. It usually centers on crime fiction and television dramas that feature somber narratives and austere urban settings. Still, from my point of view, the genre carries a delicate look, a “silent” but also very dynamic identity ….”
You are currently working on a benefit concert, have you done this before? If not what inspired you to do this?
As I got more and more projects on this side of the pond I started staying LA for longer periods of time, I was very lucky to meet Patricia Adler Ingram, she is the mother of one of my friends who invited me to stay in her house and set up a studio there…AND she lives 2 minutes form Griffith Park! I started hiking in the park and was really surprised to find all sorts of wild animals living right in the middle of this tinsel town! When P-22 was found in Los Feliz, I decided I wanted to do something to help.
I had started attending different concerts at The Greek Theatre, and that’s when I realized the venue is in the heart of the park so why not join forces and offer the community a world-class concert that would benefit the park and its urban wildlife. Quickly after that I met up with Friends of the Griffith Park and we decided to move forward and make it happen. :-)
Can you give us a brief summary of the equipment you use regularly?
I have two very similar studio set ups in Copenhagen and Los Angeles accompanied by some skilled technicians assisting that assist me as I compose and arrange the music. We use MacBook Pro 2.8 ghz-Avid, Mbox 2, Mac screens, dynaudio, Adam speakers, and Neumann microphones. The software we generally use includes Omnisphere, Trillian, Stylus and others.
How are will you bring the TV & Film world to life in your presentation? What can your audience expect?
I will be performing alongside my group “The Danish Filmharmonics”, which is comprised of incredibly talented in musicians from Denmark. We will play music from both European and American movies and TV-series, Including Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Modus, Skin Trade ,Young Andersen and many others. You can read more about the different scores on my web site, jacobgroth.com I will also include back-screen showing exclusive scenes from the different movies fused with more abstract moods.
You are also working on Flatliners reboot! Can you tell us about how that project came about? Remakes are always tough, d o you feel any pressure since the last one was so successful?
Honestly I never feel any pressure when working on reboots, I jut get in the studio and hope that we can add yet another dimension to that storyline. Niels Arden is in Canada shooting right now as a matter of fact!
When do you find you are most creative?
I feel most creative when I am in my old house in the middle of the Swedish woods, This is where I start writing most of my scores :-)
https://youtu.be/q6bebVIJj_A
Are there any particular secrets to your creativity?
Lots of secrets, thats why they are secrets! :-) But one secret I will share is that discipline means EVERYTHING!
Do you have any audio creation techniques that resulted in something interesting?
Sometimes to end up combining different sounds, filters etc. by either coincidence or pure mistake, and suddenly the result sounds magical….