Musical Virtuosos Caleb and Brian Chan on their journey and composing for Film and Television –

Brothers Caleb and Brian Chan, a dynamic musical and composer duo, have woven an enthralling narrative through their shared passion for music. Hailing from the vibrant landscapes of Hong Kong and Vancouver, their musical exploration encompasses a diverse blend of colors, textures, and influences. From early introductions to classical and church music to the inception of a hack-job home studio, their journey has been a fusion of tradition and innovation. With a deep admiration for music from various genres and spaces, the Chan brothers have crafted unique sounds with their work. Their collaborative efforts in scoring projects have not only showcased their versatility, but also their ability to infuse narratives with evocative and thought-provoking music.

Read on below as I delve into the Chan brothers’ musical journey, creative processes and exciting projects.

Hi Caleb and Brian! Could you start by sharing how you guys got into the world of composing?

C: We shared a childhood playing lots of music together but I trace the start of my creative consciousness to early high school when Brian began building a home studio. Credit to him for starting a space of blissful exploration as an alternative to our intense formal training. In college, I made a pivot to composition after struggling to see a future as a classical violinist. Eventually ended up back in Vancouver after my studies in Toronto focused on classical composition and got involved in the film world unexpectedly. Quickly realized that it’s the melting pot of all that I love and brought together strands of my musical life. Several more years later, managed to rope Brian into this whole thing and now we’re in it together.

B: Skipping past the hack-job home studio years, indie band tours and family piano trio (Chanbros on strings and sister Esther on keys!) interest in what’s behind the music for me led to the pursuit of a Masters degree in Sound Recording in Montreal. But while my technical chops grew, I found myself inspired by what Caleb was putting out just a city away and wondered if my own ideas will ever see the light. Shortly after, I became a freelance engineer with the privilege of capturing some incredible music both for album releases and CBC radio. An enjoyable season, though when Caleb presented an opportunity to make music together again it just made sense.

Given your guys’ extensive and varied portfolio of scoring work, do you two have a particular favorite or most memorable project you worked on?

C: With Sony TV’s Panhandle, we were only given a few brief thoughts to go off of. But amongst them was a line wanting the music to feel “of a place”. That essentially unlocked the whole mystery. I remember the cascading thoughts gravitating towards experimenting with music that you could touch and feel, culminating with “we need to buy banjos!”. It was the perfect instrument – extremely quirky but also beautifully delicate, much like murky, swampy Florida panhandle. Thankfully, it all came together and it was an amazing time scoring the series with Brian and our showrunner Carla Kettner, whom we have the pleasure of working with again on season 2 of Alert: Missing Persons Unit.

Transitioning between the worlds of live-action and animation requires a versatile approach to scoring. Can you guys delve into how you tailor your composition style to resonate with the unique narrative and emotional beats of each medium?

BOTH: Ultimately it’s the same questions that we ask, starting with how we can come along the narrative to move the audience. Scoring for animation feels like our childhood dreams come alive, filled with Tchaikovsky, Disney, and orchestra rehearsals. Live-action scoring is like a continuation of the adolescent years when we started to become more experimental and diverse. We’ve accumulated an awareness and appreciation of certain expectations in each world. While holding a C minor chord for 20 seconds could be every other cue in a live-action drama, we better have a damn good reason to do so in an animation. It’ll always be tricky simplifying what innately surfaces and knowing when to challenge it with a different sensibility. Also helps when we’re able to distill the soul of the story and let that guide the types of tools we employ. 

You both are known for dynamic music that blends organic textures with modern orchestra and experimental synthesis. Can you guys talk about a project where this unique sound of yours was particularly pivotal to the storytelling?

BOTH: We’d like to think what’s unique about our sound for any show has more to do with what the story needs rather than a repeatedly identifiable palette. Season 2 of Alert: Missing Persons Unit, a police procedural set in Philadelphia, called for a very specific score. It is high-octane and dramatic, but needed to feel on the ground, urban, grungy and distinctly Philly. Drawing from Philly’s rich history of soul and hip hop, the sonic signature of the show ended up being a blend of vintage electric pianos, beats inspired by Questlove, muted bass, gnarly synths, indie rock influences, and processed orchestra. 

Your collaborative efforts with indie and pop artists bring another dimension to your musical expertise. Can you share an experience or a particular collaboration that was especially meaningful or transformative for you guys?

B: Collaborating with Indie and pop artists has been a cornerstone of our musical path. One of the most long standing collaborations we’ve had is with our friend Jordan Klassen, a singer song-writer and composer with a remarkable gift of crafting arresting yet poetic lines. I began playing in Jordan’s band early last decade and have been involved in multiple tours and album recordings of his music since. It’s been quite rewarding to develop artistically over the years and come together for these records to capture that growth. Jordan has a fondness for strings and given that Caleb and I both play stringed instruments, it was a natural fit to bring him on as well over time. Recently, Jordan also wrote the lyrics and sang on our closing theme for Dreamworks’ Pinecone & Pony (Apple TV+).  During the pandemic, the three of us formed Aardwolves, a song-writing trio with a focus on cinematic music. 

You recently scored Allegiance for CBC which is one of my favorites! Can you talk about the challenges or rewards on that specific project?

BOTH: We have to shout out our showrunners Steph Morgenstern and Mark Ellis, creator Anar Ali and executive producer Erin Haskett and the team at Lark who brought the collaborative spirit to our journey from day one. We loved being a part of a series that spotlighted Surrey, a city within greater Vancouver and to be able to produce the music with a local team that we are very proud of – props to Meagan Carsience and Jordan Andrew.  The largest challenge was always to showcase the Canadian Indian Community in a musically meaningful way, and make sense of it within a tight TV post production timeline. We were fortunate to have our friends weave their northern Indian tradition into the score – Shruti Ramani lent her beautiful voice at pivotal moments and Gagan Singh brought much needed momentum with his Indian percussion chops. The greatest reward was hearing that collaboration bear fruit as we see the emotional throughline unfold in our score that follows Sabrina’s relationship with her father. Also, scoring chase scenes is a lot of fun. 

Finally, looking towards the future, can you guys give us a sneak peek into any upcoming projects you guys are particularly excited about? How can fans best follow your work and stay updated on your latest endeavors?

BOTH: Season 2 of Alert: Missing Persons Unit (starring Scott Caan and Dania Ramierz) airs Tuesdays on Fox. Also, our score for The Thundermans Return premieres on Nickelodeon and Paramount+ and features a full orchestra and edgy synths. We paid homage to the original series while adding our own stamp with new themes. You can find the soundtrack soon on all streaming platforms as well. There are a couple more exciting projects in the works as well so stay tuned!

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Thanks for reading! You can follow along with Caleb and Brian through their website or their Instagrams: @calebchanmusic and @brianchanmusic

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