Meet Caleb and Brian Chan, the brother duo whose music brings stories to life for both TV and film. Raised between Hong Kong and Vancouver, these two have a knack for blending their classical training with a modern twist, truly setting them apart in the industry. From scoring Nickelodeon's Fairly Oddparents: A New Wish to FOX’s Alert: Missing Persons Unit, the Chan brothers showcase their versatility by composing for a wide range of genres.
In this conversation, Caleb and Brian talk about what it’s like to compose together, how they divvy up roles, and how they handle feedback from directors and producers. They share stories from their journey—like how Caleb's quick decision-making and Brian's detail-oriented approach complement each other.
Read on to get a glimpse into Caleb and Brian’s musical world and explore the passion that drives them. Whether you’re a fan of their scores or curious about their creative process, you’re sure to come away with some fresh insight.
Can you share with us how your collaborative process works when composing music together? Do you have specific roles or areas of expertise within the partnership?
Caleb: Having spent a lifetime making music together, we've definitely absorbed a lot from each other and share a common ground. Our building blocks are similar, with the differences likely stemming from variations in personality and experiences that emphasize different aspects of creativity. I tend to make quicker decisions, which are often useful in the initial brainstorming and concept-building to set the trajectory of a score. But we also greatly benefit from Brian's persistence in polishing details until the very last moment. At the end of the day, writing the stuff we can mutually appreciate requires us both to be obsessive and imaginative. We used to joke that my ideal template is completely blank, while Brian's is fully loaded with every available tool, but we've agreed to meet somewhere in the middle.
Brian: Functionally we don’t operate from preassigned roles on a day to day, but do recognize and lean into particular strengths. From an education perspective, Caleb’s training has had more focus in orchestration and mine in technical production. We both share the love of building worlds from the ground up, though I have to give credit to Caleb for being a pioneer in this which ushered in a lot of our projects and successes thus far. Instrument wise, Caleb grew up playing the violin and I played cello, and now we both play crappy banjo.
With workflow, so far every show’s approach has been different, but we always end up consolidating templates to form a cohesive palette. If there are themes, we’ll decide those earlier on, and the better ones win out. For the nuts and bolts of the work we split cues and sometimes entire episodes when the crunch gets going.
How do you approach incorporating feedback from directors or producers into your compositions?
B: Almost all the feedback from creators has been for the betterment of the show. While some may be tricky to address, we’re always keeping in mind this is ultimately their story and has been with them for far longer before it reached our hands. With the central vision at the tip of our compass too it always seems to work out. Practically, we always try to accommodate any changes in the most obvious manner. And we find it’s often easier to dial back what's been altered after if need be.
C: One day, we’ll be bold enough to send back the exact same version titled differently and see if they change their minds.
Were there any particular films or composers that have significantly influenced your musical style or approach to composing?
C: Style and approach often go hand in hand and I feel like I’m constantly being influenced with any of them being momentarily significant. Our last couple projects, Alert: Missing Persons Unit and Fairly Oddparents: A New Wish, are inspired by very different sets of references – cityscapes in one and fun big band swing energy in another. In a deeper sense though, the scores that will stay with me forever are like Tan Dun’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – that to me is transcendent film scoring. You won’t hear any of that in our recent scores, but that might return to the forefront of my mind on something more introspective or expressive.
B: So many! Without making the list needlessly long, I would say one quality I do have a great deal of respect for is when a composer is able to take the right kind of risk for a project. A sensible, tasteful and story-serving risk that often pushes some kind of musical boundary as well. The magic sauce that makes nerds perk up and somehow gels perfectly with narrative. Recently, those have been Pemberton’s manipulation of operatic voice in Spiderverse, the modulations in Karpman’s score for American Fiction, and of course, Göransson’s use of time in Blank Panther and Tenet.
How do you navigate the balance between staying true to your artistic vision and meeting the specific needs and expectations of a film or TV project?
B: Zeroing in on the sweet spot between staying artistically true and having enough freedom to be creative while elevating the story will always be the challenge. Music that are standalone masterpieces can absolutely be trash score if it’s outside of the emotional sandbox at play. Our hope is that we figure out those parameters sooner rather than later so we start every project with a fairly defined sonic approach. Knowing the bounds, we can hopefully push limitations musically and present something both artistically exciting yet cohesively tailored. It’s also our belief that our natural voices will always come out regardless of what we write.
How do you stay creatively inspired and motivated when working on multiple projects simultaneously? Do you have any rituals or practices that help you stay focused and productive?
C: Making the transition from one to another is mostly refreshing on diverse projects. At its best, an idea from one can spark creative energy in another, giving a fresh perspective when distance is needed. Conversely, when concurrent projects feature similar scenes, it challenges us to find new modes of expression. Demanding schedules push us to rely on instincts and narrative understanding, and there’s lots to be said about time management and general headspace. While I haven’t invested enough into daily rituals, I’ve spent time assessing my limits and holding onto appropriate lifelines. Basically, the things that save me from choosing between 5 cups of coffee or missing a mix date.
In your opinion, what role does music play in enhancing the emotional impact and storytelling of a film or TV series?
C: I should probably say it’s pretty important if we want to keep paying our bills. I love that music offers different pathways to experience a story. When that happens perfectly, it’s transformative in a way that’s difficult to articulate. To be honest, a lot of it is still a mystery to me and it’s perhaps best to keep it that way if it puts us in a better position to create magic once in a while.
B: A whole lot or absolutely nothing? Hopefully we don’t do a whole lot when it needs nothing or a whole lot of nothing when it needs a lot.
What are some of the key challenges you face as composers in the film and TV industry today? How do you adapt to these challenges and continue to evolve your craft?
B: While we’re incredibly grateful these days to be furnished by a sea of quality samples and software orchestras that can be quickly triggered, it’s getting more difficult to craft a unique score, especially against shrinking timelines. The work of reinvention is becoming increasingly important, though probably less achievable. What defines the human touch is also rather blurry, and attempting to navigate ubiquitous AI advances makes us work harder at knowing and advocating for our true value. Crazy stuff to wrap our heads around.
C: Writing decent music is hard enough most days and there’s a tremendous amount of pressure that becomes a part of it, especially when most of us are trying to find our place in a noisy industry. The heroic effort to hold onto artistic expression in a sea of Zoom meetings feels pretty unsexy but appreciating both adds to the sustainability of this work. These days, I’ve been paying more attention to my instincts and reactions. The more I understand, the more I’m probably able to adapt to new challenges. I often go through periods of varying lengths disliking my work before I hopefully like it again which has led me to interrogate my process a bit. I guess we’ll have to see what sort of ‘evolution’ that brings. All that to say, for the both of us, it’s all a work in progress – and that’s where the fun is!
To keep up with the Chan brothers as they continue their journey– you can follow their Instagrams; @calebchanmusic and @brianchanmusic, along with their website: chansounds.com.
