COLLIDER: Did everyone realize he was watching with us?
I was actually wondering about that.
I look at the audience, and I think we should just have a chat.
Image via Trafalgar
Why Dubai instead of, say, any other city?
What was it about that city that said, I want to film there?
So, there was this spirit of, Hey, we can make a movie.
Image via Warner Bros.
I really love the way you have filmmakers and actors interspersed in the film between the performances.
Whose idea was it to do that?
I’m sure you have an amazing relationship with all these people.
Image via Apple TV+
Was it literally a text message being like, Would you mind coming by for like an hour?
ZIMMER: Pretty much.
But it was Paul Dugdale, the director’s idea.
Image via Trafalgar
At first, I thought, That’s never going to work.
Then, of course, I sort of loved it because these are my friends.
This man lives in Vienna, but he’s Colombian.
We have Venezuelans, we have Americans, we have English people, we have Moldavian, African.
That’s part of the thing: I love the multiculturalism of the whole thing.
Have you guys ever talked about playing the Sphere in Las Vegas?
Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Does it interest you?
Was it over something stupid or something big?
ZIMMER: It was about something really stupid.
Image via 20th Century Studios
It’s very disappointing because this would be amazing in that Sphere.
ZIMMER: So, no on the Sphere, but you saw the Sphere in Dubai.
So, pretty good.
Custom Image by Nimesh Niyomal
New Listeners of Hans Zimmer Should Start With Dune
TheDunefamily is amazing.
ZIMMER: It’s always the last thing, really.
I sort of loveDune.
Image via Apple/Warner Bros.
I love where I am right now, but my style has shifted and changed over the years.
Of course it has because I get bored very easily.
Because theDunefamily is amazing.
Image via Trafalgar
Have you started working on the music?
What can you tell people?
I’m really over the moon that there are three of them.
Image via Trafalgar
I was one of those three.
ZIMMER: So you quite liked it?
That comes with the territory.
Image via Trafalgar
ZIMMER: That I have imposter syndrome like crazy.
I have no idea what the fuck I’m doing.
You should look at the next question I had.
It says, A lot of people who are very successful say they suffer from imposter syndrome.
ZIMMER: How predictable am I?
[Laughs]
So you haven’t gotten over that?
Because that’s insane.
ZIMMER: Oh, no, no, no.
Look, this is really how the tour happened.
I kept saying, No, no, no.
I can’t do it!
Oh, god, the suit isn’t back from the cleaners…
I have stage fright.
And they said, Well,we all have stage fright.
That comes with the territory.
You want to come play guitar for me?
Johnny and Pharrell were really supportive at the beginning.
We did Coachella together.
They played the first show with me in London, etc., and it was really great.
You need friends, you see?
You need friends to push you sometimes.
Zimmer wants nothing to do with the Multiverse.
In a Reddit AMA, you said, My formal training was two weeks of piano lessons.
I was thrown out of eight schools, but I joined a band.
I’m self-taught, but I’ve always heard music in my head.
What got you thrown out from eight schools?
Look, here’s the great thing: the operative word in music isplay.
That’s not what they do.
They make you do scales.
I don’t want to do scales.
It was touch and go there for a second!
But I think she made the right choice, a wise choice indeed, to keep her child.
Part of the imposter syndrome was I loved film.
They were right to kick me out.
And Doris, that story is absolutely true.
Every time I write something, I look and go, What would Doris think?
I have to ask you, have you gone back to any of these schools?
I keep thinking about, Would it be bad to burn them down?
ZIMMER: Ruined a whole generation, didn’t I?
No, it was really Trevor Horn, whose band it was.
I was the lowly, thin synth guy.
It’s as simple as that.
It’s just being in the right place at the right time.
I just love it.
Is this one of the ones thats incredibly special to you?
ZIMMER: Yes, it is.
How much of your soul did you just pour in?
ZIMMER: All and everything.
And having Lebo [M.], it was an extraordinary process.
The other thing I said to them was, I hate musicals.
They said, We guarantee you it’llneverbe a musical.
But that became the foundation for the musical.
So, I did everything wrong.
I just love that so much.
ZIMMER: But, you know, I think you love it because it’s genuine.
They tuck it away, and everybody says, Oh, he’s overcome his trauma.
You don’t overcome your trauma.
You just get really good at hiding it and not letting the world know.
I think that’s why it resonates with so many people.
ZIMMER: Yeah, it’s sort of accurate.
I said, Hang on.
Hang on a second.
I’ve worked with Elton John, and its the other way around.
Bernie Taupin sends the lyrics and then Elton writes the tune!
It has been borrowed and mimicked by everyone.
ZIMMER: I know.
So, we’re going to come back with theoriginal.
ZIMMER: Not entirely true.
In fact, Sam is here somewhere, and he destroyed that piano magnificently.
I would imagine you are offered so many projects.
ZIMMER: Not really.
There’s a really good list of really great directors.
And it’s not just a list of great directors; it’s close relationships.
ZIMMER: I think Chris will agree with me, we did really well on that one.
There’s something good in each one of them, butInterstellaris, again, very personal.
I don’t think anybody’s ever done this thing with a big pipe organ.
We were really inventive, and I think that was really good.
But yes,it was 48 sessions.
I wasclutchingmy chest because we worked so much, and we worked so hard.
Film composers do that.
ZIMMER:Black Hawk Downwasoh, godthat was, like, 72-hour stints.
That was a tough one.
You are doingF1, which is coming out this summer.
Maybe the trailer is coming pretty soon.
Is your music in the trailer?
What can you tease about your contribution?
ZIMMER: God, I wrote a bunch of themes.
But Steve was very important, actually.
I don’t want to get you in trouble, but what’s been your reaction to the footage?
ZIMMER: Well, yes.
[Laughs] On the other hand, put a gun to Steve’s head and ask him.
Here’s the great thing: let us surprise you.
It’s worth it.
ZIMMER: Yeah, that I still have a job.
That I dont get fired.
Its likeBlitzwith Steve McQueensince none of you saw it.
Steve McQueen, of course,lovedthat idea.
ZIMMER: I never thought about that.
Im living in the moment.
So, no, I’ve never thought about this.
Here’s the thing: we have a lot of fun on those movies.
I remember onGladiator, there was so much laughing going on.
As you’ve got the option to see, she’s still basically with us during the concerts.
I saw one of the tour stops here in LA.
It was fucking incredible.
You mentioned youre going back on tour.
What can you tell people about 2025?
What’s your schedule this year?
ZIMMER: Yes, I wish I knew.
The way we go across the world is always somewhat of a mystery to me.
ZIMMER: I have no idea, and I avoid looking.
It’s just too terrifying.
To this day, I can’t figure out why.
I talked to Pharrell about it.
They’re taking everything from you, as well.
It’s only one little me, and there’s 20,000 of them.
Is there stuff that is much tougher?
So, what I do is I make them play all the tough parts because they can.
I’m a composer, so I write things that I can’t actually play.
I write for these musicians; I write for virtuoso musicians.
I don’t have to be a virtuoso musician.
I can just slow the sequence down.
It’s mainly written in my head.
He sends you a script.
I say to him, Tell me the story, because then I know what’s important to him.
That usually involves a good bottle of red wine.
Wait, Ive got to pause.
What’s your preference for red wine?
Is it Pinot or Cabernet?
ZIMMER: It’s really an Italian Tignanello.
So, at that moment, in the conversation…
I mean, working with Ridley Scott, for instance, makes it doubly interesting because he’s anamazingdraftsman.
LikeInception, he was off shooting the movie while I was writing.
So, it really does work.
I mean, there was an addendum to what he said.
He said, We feel scenes and story the same way.
We feel time the same way, which is absolutely true.
How we get into it is quite complicated, and Chris, again, is in Iceland.
I can’t do this.
Youve got to send me the picture.
He goes, Look, it’s worked so far.
Just just give it a go.
If it doesn’t work, I’ll send you a picture.
Theres no way he’s going to do this.
So, there’s been a lot of confessions that go on while we work.
Hans Zimmer and Friends: Diamond in the Desertarrives in theaters on March 19.
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