Rob Simonsen

Rob Simonsen crafts film scores marked by sweeping dramatic arcs that fuse layered electronic elements with full orchestral forces. After beginning in independent cinema during the early 2000s, he advanced within a decade to major studio features while also creating string parts for various pop artists. Among his most notable contributions are the soundtracks to The Spectacular Now in 2013, Nerve in 2016, and The Way Back in 2020; he additionally issued his own collection, Rêveries, through Sony Masterworks in 2019. His atmospheric and often disquieting music for the 2022 release The Whale marked a clear shift from the lighter, frequently sentimental character of his earlier work in romantic comedy.

Born March 11, 1978, in St. Louis, Missouri, Simonsen was raised amid a family devoted to music, with his grandmother serving as a vocal instructor. At college he focused on music theory alongside jazz piano and gradually turned toward original composition. His first film assignment arrived with the 2003 independent fantasy Westender. Soon afterward he supported Mychael Danna on projects that included Surf's Up in 2007, Moneyball in 2011, and Life of Pi in 2012, supplying extra music and working in close partnership; the two shared full composing credit on the 2009 film (500) Days of Summer. Working independently, Simonsen scored both The Spectacular Now and The Way, Way Back in 2013, earning a World Soundtrack Award nomination for Discovery of the Year for the pair of films. That same year he helped establish the Echo Society, a composers’ collective centered on innovative audiovisual performances.

As his schedule intensified, he took on the television series Life in Pieces beginning in 2015 and delivered scores for Nerve in 2016, Going in Style in 2017, and the two 2018 Jason Reitman films Tully and The Front Runner. At the same time he supplied string arrangements for recordings by Serena Ryder, Tamar Kaprelian, and Redlight King while programming drums on Katy Perry’s 2017 album Witness. In 2019 Sony Masterworks released his debut solo album, Rêveries.

During the 2020s he composed for the sports drama The Way Back, reunited with Reitman on Ghostbusters: Afterlife the following year, and handled the Grace VanderWaal features Stargirl in 2020 and Hollywood Stargirl in 2022. His ambient-leaning score for Darren Aronofsky’s award-winning 2022 drama The Whale brought widespread critical praise.