Marcus Mumford explains how he landed the ‘Ted Lasso’ score
Every time you turn on Apple TV’s hit British-American show, Ted Lasso, you’ll be greeted by a familiar voice. That belongs to Marcus Mumford, lead singer for British nü-folk pioneers Mumford and Sons. As well as writing the show’s theme song, Mumford has been scoring the show’s musical interludes since season one.
“The idea of doing something without lyrics was exciting to me because of the freedom that it brings, where you can express yourself emotionally through just music and not have to worry about lyrics,” Mumford told Variety about landing the job. “The process of just writing melody was a really healthy one for me as a musician. It reminded me of my primary job, which is really music-based rather than lyric-based.”
Mumford got the job after lead actor Jason Sudakis messaged him directly – evidently, famous people just happen to have other famous people’s numbers. He almost missed the offer when he didn’t check his phone for a while, but eventually, Mumford was on board. The show’s instantly recognisable theme song proved to be the easiest part of Mumford’s initial music duties.
“The recording of it happened in two days,” Mumford explained. “And I think often those are the best songs, the ones that happen quickest, where you don’t have too much time to ruminate and try to perfect it because it’s never going to be perfect. It’s got to just have heart.”
Dealing with the culture shock between the American-as-apple-pie Lasso and his British football surroundings was an important element that Mumford needed to tap into as well. “It needed to have this sound that was somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic that represented both the American and British influences of the show,” Mumford adds. “Somewhere between The Kinks and Creedence Clearwater Revival.”
That being said, the American members of the creative staff were initially uncertain about Mumford’s incorporation of Grime into the score. “They absolutely hated it,” Mumford claimed, adding that Americans were generally unreceptive to the genre as a whole. But Mumford was steadfast in his decision, opting to appeal to a sense of realism that gives the show its timely feel. “These are British football players,” Mumford explained, “they’re going to be listening to Grime, we have to have some sort of nod in there.”
Check out Marcus Mumford’s theme song for Ted Lasso down below.
