I have a very strong identity that connects me to Argentina and to Latin America, but at the same time, I have a deep connection to the music from the United States and music from Europe, too. – Gustavo Santaolalla
My first band was an Argentinian folk group when I was 10. When I was 12 I had my electric guitar, and by the time I was 13, the Beatles came into the scene, and that was over. So I have a mixture of all these traditions, and I think that’s who I am, a mixture of everything. – Gustavo Santaolalla
It’s a deliberate choice. I am a fervent supporter of the idea that you don’t have to have wall-to-wall music in good films. – Gustavo Santaolalla
I grew up listening to everything. You know, from Argentinean folk music, tango, jazz, rock, just everything. – Gustavo Santaolalla
With bad movies, I have this image in my head of the director and the editor in the editing room watching a scene that is not happening, looking at each other and saying, ‘Put some music in there.’ – Gustavo Santaolalla
One of the things that was a blessing for me is my parents were music lovers. Neither of my parents played an instrument, but they were avid record buyers. And I grew up at every age listening to all kinds of music. – Gustavo Santaolalla
I think my mom always wanted to play the guitar, and somehow she projected that to me. So I started learning to play guitar when I was five years old, but actually I’d never managed to get the academic side of it. So even up to today, I don’t know how to read or write music. – Gustavo Santaolalla
My parents were very musical in the sense that they were, you know, music lovers and avid buyers of records, but none of them actually play an instrument. – Gustavo Santaolalla
Film is something I’ve always loved since I was very young. In fact, I actually wanted to study to be a filmmaker when I was younger. – Gustavo Santaolalla
In the film work, I love to work mainly from the script and from talking to the directors, so a lot of the music, big portions of the scores that I’ve made, have been composed before the movies were even shot. – Gustavo Santaolalla
I love to get involved with projects that take me out of my comfort zone. I try to do things that are not necessarily what I’m used to. I always wanted to do a big animation movie and stick to the codes that this genre sometimes implies. – Gustavo Santaolalla
I love playing instruments that I don’t know how to play or am not familiar with. I like the idea of danger and innocence that comes from it. As an artist, I feel I should be able to do something with anything I get my hands on. The music becomes minimalist because of my limited knowledge. – Gustavo Santaolalla
