Lyle Workman: Guitarist and Film Composer Behind "Superbad" and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin."

🎸 Lyle Workman has done what few musicians can. He mastered the art of hit songs and the craft of film scores, building a career that spans rock legends and Hollywood blockbusters.

Whether trading guitar licks with Beck and Sting or scoring comedies like "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Superbad," Lyle’s work has quietly shaped the soundtrack of pop culture. His journey moves between studio sessions and scoring stages, blending instinct, precision, and creative trust. His career is a masterclass in blending artistic freedom with the demands of both rock stages and Hollywood scoring rooms.

Don’t miss this exclusive conversation with a multi-genre artist whose work bridges music, film, and cultural moments. Lyle shares insights on creativity, collaboration, and the passion that keeps him exploring new sounds after decades in the business.

🎯 What You’ll Hear:
✔ The evolution from touring musician to Hollywood composer
✔ How collaborations with icons like Prince, Beck, and Sting shaped his sound
✔ Behind-the-scenes stories from scoring hit comedies with Judd Apatow
✔ The creative discipline that sustains a multi-decade career
✔ How adaptability keeps you relevant in a changing industry

💬 Ask Us:
Who’s the one artist you would love to collaborate with? Tag @NRJMediaGroup or DM us.

🌐 Thank you for listening! Stay inspired. Stay bold. Stay Energis’d.  Visit us at www.nrjmediagroup.com to learn more and connect with our growing community.

Transcript

Meeting Lyle Workman, Music Legend

Norma 0:08

Rich yes I don't know about you , but after talking to Lyle Workman , I feel like I need to start a band I feel like we need to start a band .

Rich 0:18

Okay , so listen , sign me up . Just let me know what instrument you want me to play .

Norma 0:22

I'm there I think , I think I see you playing the guitar you do yeah okay let's do it .

Rich 0:28

Guy's a legend . I mean , he's worked with so many people within the industry Beck, Sting, Todd Rundgren I mean don't even get me started on Lyle's film scores oh yeah , and I mean he's a mastermind behind the music in Superbad , the 40-Year-Old Virgin and so many more .

Norma 0:48

His work is woven into some of the biggest films and TV shows out there , I know .

Rich 0:53

I know , I know and listen . His journey is just as cool as his music , from starting out as a touring guitarist to composing Hollywood . I mean , Lyle's career is proof that artists really never stop evolving .

Norma 1:07

I know they really don't right . I mean , and let's be real , his stories are just as legendary as his music . I mean , you know the behind-the-scenes moments and the unexpected turns and the way he approaches composing it was mind-blowing .

Rich 1:21

It is , you know , and just like any great solo Lyle , we ran out of time , so , Lyle , you've got to come back .

Norma 1:30

Yes , please , but until then get ready to step inside the mind of a music legend .

Rich 1:38

People , let's jam .

Norma 1:39

Let's jam .

Rich 1:44

Lyle Workman , film composer , musician , most talented individual . We are so honored and blessed to have you here today . Thank you very , very much for coming in .

Norma 1:54

We really appreciate it . You were awarded too . I mean , you had a little standing ovation when you were on stage at the Poppy Jasper Film Festival . That was very nice . I think you even had your little groupies there , because I think there was a lot of people that wanted to talk to you . I don't know if you knew that . I think Mattie and a couple of us were saying no , no , leave him alone , leave him alone . He's here to have a good time as well .

Lyle Workman 2:13

No , don't leave me alone .

Norma 2:14

No , don't leave me alone .

Lyle Workman 2:18

You want the attention moment , you know , and also having Randy , you know , announce me and say some nice stuff , and a lot of the work is just by myself . So you don't really know the effect that what you do has on other people A lot of the time . Most of the time you don't . That's why it's really fun going to the premiere to see people actually react to the work . That's a real fun thing . It's like one of my favorite aspects .

Rich 2:46

It's funny We've been discussing this a few times over the last couple of days Because I come here every couple of months . So you end up sitting on a plane listening to music or listening to a film , watching a film , and half the time I fall asleep . But when I'm half asleep and I've still got a film playing , you realize how much of a film is actually music , is the score , and how little is actually dialogue . So when you actually look at it from that perspective , as we said before we started , music is the soul of a film . It's the guts of it . Really , it's the emotive part of it

Beatles Influence and Musical Beginnings

Rich 3:21

because it gives you know something sensitive , something catastrophic is about to happen . It's the music that builds , because it gives you know something sensitive is something catastrophic is about to happen . It's the music that builds jaws . You know , when you the the shark in the water , which you hardly ever saw , it was the music that built up to it .

Rich 3:34

That get got all the audience like on the edge of their seat right . So what you do is is phenomenal . How did it start ? What was the catalyst to get you into music ?

Lyle Workman 3:45

The Beatles .

Rich 3:46

The .

Lyle Workman 3:47

Beatles yeah , for people , my generation . That's probably the number one answer you're going to hear . Yeah , I know , We've actually heard it quite a few times yeah just the scope , the universe that they created in music , which was , in a way , a good education , because you're getting through them . Popular music from the 40s and the 50s , you know Paul McCartney , stuff like Martha my Dear , something like that which was like music his dad listened to , you know , and then rock and roll your parents .

Norma 4:20

do you grow up in it ?

Lyle Workman 4:22

Well , they both loved music . Okay , so my mother loved the rock and roll of the day , which would have been Fats Domino and Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley , right , you know that kind of stuff where my dad was more about country music Good country music meaning Hank Williams and that kind of stuff . Got it got it .

Norma 4:42

It sounds like your mom's taste of music probably influenced you a little bit more now .

Lyle Workman 4:47

I can relate more .

Norma 4:48

Yeah to your mom .

Lyle Workman 4:49

Though as I became older some of the aspects of country music are definitely in me too . Some of the guitar playing Right Music was on . We had the little record player and it was on all the time . It was definitely between that and seeing the Beatles . We're not seeing them physically , but I remember seeing them on TV . I had to be maybe six years old or something like that and I remember .

Norma 5:16

Oh , so you were young and it impacted you at that age .

Lyle Workman 5:18

Yeah , and so all the records came out . I got every single record .

Norma 5:22

Did your parents play an instrument ?

Lyle Workman 5:24

My dad played a little bit of guitar . Okay , but just for fun .

Rich 5:27

you know , come home from work and just play cowboy songs , but did that become your instrument of choice because of that ?

Lyle Workman 5:35

Yes , yes . And so I got a guitar and then he taught me the basic chords and I would just listen to the Beatles records and play my guitar . Oh , the shape . That's the same shape there . So I had a good ear so I could pick stuff up and teach myself the songs . So I was playing a lot of Beatles songs .

Norma 5:53

And this was growing up , where this was in San Jose . California , San Jose , California , okay .

Rich 5:59

So did you learn to play music by ear , to start with ?

Lyle Workman 6:01

Oh yes , Before you could actually before you could read music For a long time .

Norma 6:04

Yeah , I feel like a lot of musicians have that talent . I think that's where their superpower starts coming in to play right and anything that you decide to do right . The one thing that you do best with the least amount of effort . That becomes like your thing , and then , so were you writing music when you were a kid ?

Lyle Workman 6:20

Okay , just playing , just learning .

Norma 6:22

So you had a band in high school ?

Lyle Workman 6:25

Yeah , not until high school . Then that's the time . Now it's the Led Zeppelin and the who , those kind of bands . So that was the stuff that I liked when I was in high school . So you've got to be in a band in high school .

Norma 6:36

What was your band's name ? Do you remember ?

Lyle Workman 6:39

Well , there was one called Alpine , Alpine .

Norma 6:40

Alpine .

Lyle Workman 6:41

And then the one that was when I was I guess this was right after high school . Directly out of high school was a band called Chronix Chronix With a K and an X .

Norma 6:54

Oh .

Lyle Workman 6:54

Say K-R-O-N-I-X .

Norma 6:55

It's very intentional .

Lyle Workman 6:56

Well , it's kind of new wavy , you know this is the late 70s , early 80s .

Rich 7:00

Right . What is your favorite genre of music ? What do you if you're listening to it ? Are you just broad ?

Lyle Workman 7:07

Yeah , it's all over the place . I find , even when I speak with really great jazz musicians I don't consider myself a jazz musician , although I can play aspects of jazz but people that are very , very good at that style and I ask them what they like , and it's the same thing . It's essentially if it's good music , it's good . It doesn't matter the style , whether it's a great country song , a great pop song , a great rock and roll song , a great reggae If it's good , if it has integrity , some sort of creative spirit about it . I find that all musicians react to that kind of music , so I don't really find people are sort of in one lane with what they like . It's generally the best musicians like all kinds of music that I've

From Bands to Record Deals

Lyle Workman 7:54

found .

Norma 7:54

Right right .

Rich 7:55

In a band school college . What came next ?

Lyle Workman 7:59

For me it was being in bands that started playing clubs and then , from that being in a band , started playing clubs and then from that being in a band that was playing a lot of club dates and we got popular locally and a scout from Island Records heard about us . I guess a day in our guy we'd call the clubs and if there was a band or band's names he kept hearing , often they'd go take a trip and see him . So an agent from Island Records came out and saw us and said we want to sign you . That's what happened .

Norma 8:30

And that was at what age ?

Lyle Workman 8:32

Oh , I was probably 25 , maybe something like that . It was a band called Bourgeois Tag , based out of Sacramento . Yeah , this is a time where you're making very little playing club dates , right ? I think I supplemented it with giving guitar lessons . Yeah , I literally lived in a house with four guys and I . I was in the smallest room , which is basically a modified closet about the size of that room .

Norma 8:56

There we had enough for a bed yeah , and everyone had to be laying down because if you got up , yeah , exactly , it was too crowded yeah , there would be a orange tree , and so I would go to this .

Lyle Workman 9:06

At this point , I was living in San Jose and the band was . I was in Bushwha Tag was based in sacramento , so I would just bring a bag of oranges , you know .

Norma 9:15

So I just have extra food , extra snacks and during this whole journey , were your parents supportive of you being a musician ? They were , they Well , they loved music very much .

Lyle Workman 9:25

Okay good , yeah . So they thought it was , they loved it and they saw that I had talent . So there was always support in that area for me that's great .

Norma 9:32

That's great Because those that don't those are always harder stories . But sometimes that also shapes you right , because you want to prove your siblings , I'll show them Exactly . I'll show them , and then I'll take a picture and show it to them . But that also shapes you .

Lyle Workman 9:45

But it seems like you were encouraged through this , through your I was encouraged , but I really didn't need it because I was inspired .

Norma 9:53

Who inspired you ? Well , again the same . Okay , so those , but was there anyone ?

Lyle Workman 9:57

Basic music that I liked inspired me . I wanted to learn how to play that music . Whatever it was , it was the music you see in that , something you want to aspire to , whether it's great guitar playing or songwriting or performing all those things really . And also you have to think about in the mid-70s , about the coolest thing you could be is a musician in a band . If you're walking down the street and you're carrying a guitar case , people are like whoa . It's not like that today . I think I'm a busker .

Norma 10:34

No , I think you're homeless .

Rich 10:37

So music was your mentor , basically yeah , which is amazing . I mean , that's almost a calling .

Lyle Workman 10:45

I would think so , especially since I didn't . My parents liked music and my dad played the guitar , but it wasn't like I had this incredible DNA . My dad was a great jazz musician or both parents were classical-trained musicians . It was none of that . It was just something that I really wanted to do , and I had a little help with a good ear .

Rich 11:07

At 25 , did you know the direction you wanted to do and I had a little help with a good ear and uh , 25 did you know the direction you wanted to go in or was you still finding your way ?

Lyle Workman 11:11

well , at that point it was still being in a band , sure , making music , doing records , touring , playing live . That was it at that time .

Rich 11:19

How did you transition to the next phase in in your career ? So how long was you in a band for ? How long were your bands , how long were they in circulation for ?

Lyle Workman 11:28

Well , that first band , boucher Attack , was five years , so we did two records . The band broke up . The second record that we did , the last record , was produced by Todd Rundgren . So we were big fans and then Todd Rundgren enlisted our band to be basically his band fans , and then Todd Rundgren enlisted our band to be basically his band , and so from that at that point it was two more years playing with with Todd Rundgren , and so at that point I had people started to recognize me for as a studio musician and so I started getting that kind of work as well were there any people there during your journey that were giving you the breaks ?

Norma 12:03

because I feel like that's the other thing too where , where , when you have aspirations , but then there's certain individuals that come into your life like you know what , I'm going to give you a shot , or why don't you come here ?

Lyle Workman 12:12

Essentially anyone that would hire me . That's awesome . If you're doing something people like and they want part of that for their project , they're going to hire you .

Rich 12:26

Yeah , it's pretty simple okay , that's , that's , that's pretty much it from being in a band to composing , and when you were in the band did you compose music .

Lyle Workman 12:33

So you , oh , yes , yeah I wrote so when , when I was a kid when I say kid , I mean you know 12 , 13 , 14 I always had a little tape recorder . So I record my guitar under the tape recorder . I'd record stuff on the TV . If it was a band playing on a TV show , I'd record it and try to learn from that .

Norma 12:51

It was a little reel-to-reels , so kind of emulating what you were seeing .

Lyle Workman 12:54

So then I would write little half songs or chord progressions , make up little words . It was the beginning of my songwriting , so I always had a method of recording myself and that really basically just got more and more sophisticated as I became more sophisticated as a musician okay , uh , both as a player and as a songwriter and eventually composer . It's just , the technology had to increase in order for me to be able to do the things I wanted to do .

Rich 13:24

So within your band , you wrote some of the music .

Lyle Workman 13:27

Yes .

Rich 13:28

Cool and then moved on from there . So when the band split and you went after there , did you go straight into film ?

Lyle Workman 13:35

No , at that point the band broke up , took a couple of years with Todd Renegrand and then they did about five years with an artist named Frank Black , or also known as Black Francis . He's the founder of the band Pixies . Interspersed in that is studio work , playing other people's records . The studio work and specifically working playing guitar on another composer's scores through him

Breaking Into Film Composing

Lyle Workman 14:03

, is how I got my break to compose . Through that , through that connection , also through the studio work , was a connection led to co-scoring a John Favreau film which film was that ?

Lyle Workman 14:17

it was called "Made okay , yeah so it was "wingers , and then made was the second one , so that was my first , the first film , and so it was the second one , so that was my first film , and so it was basically having that film under my belt , then meeting this other composer and through this composer I ended up with a Vice President of Music at Universal in my studio because he wanted a guitar player for his own personal project and I made sure that I had made . Prior to him coming , I made a CD of my own music from that movie made , as well as some of my other instrumental music and some stuff , and I sent him off with it and he called me and goes .

Lyle Workman 14:53

I really like what you're doing and would you want your hand in writing some additional music for a movie , and that eventually led to this film that Judd Apatow was one of the producers , so I got music in that film . Judd then signed a directorial deal with Universal and his first movie was 40-Year-Old Virgin and his music executive championed me and Judd liked what I had done for the movie and gave me a chance to essentially audition by doing some a couple scenes , writing some music , and I got the job that way . That's sort of being at the right place at the right time . Part of it where the luck comes in is having the movie be so successful , broke all kinds of summer records and was number one for a couple weeks in a row and I was basically an unknown .

Norma 15:48

At that time . Yeah , oh , so that really elevated you , yeah , I basically kind of skipped to the front of the line . Yeah , to the front of the line . Yeah , yeah .

Lyle Workman 15:57

After I'd done Made , I thought , okay , I guess what composers do is get agents get representation . I couldn't get a meeting with anybody .

Speaker 3 16:07

What Seriously ?

Lyle Workman 16:08

Because it was just an independent film .

Norma 16:10

That cost $5 million I see . So they saw it almost like a one-hit wonder kind of deal , right .

Lyle Workman 16:15

Well , it just wasn't that big of a movie . It was a very modest independent film , so that wasn't enough to get anyone really interested in me . But now getting this movie with Judd and having it , I didn't have an agent so everybody wanted to represent me . So I went from nobody's interested to everyone was interested . Right right right .

Norma 16:35

That's just the way it works yeah , I know that's the thing about the industry , isn't it ? I mean , you could be the most talented person , but it's the association of something that it's just almost like . These are the three boxes you have to tick .

Speaker 3 16:45

Yeah .

Norma 16:45

And if you don't tick out those boxes , then it's like you're not validated . It's like someone else has to validate you .

Lyle Workman 16:51

You have to have some big moment Totally .

Norma 16:53

You have to have .

Lyle Workman 16:53

Totally , totally . So in the other side of my career , playing on a record that a bunch of people liked Right , that will get you more work . Yes , you liked that will get you more work . Yes , you know it could be really good . But if people don't see it or hear it , then it's really hard to , even if the music's really great , I know , you know . So that's kind of been my . The key for me to have these doors opening is having been part of things that were successful .

Norma 17:20

Yeah , do you like co-writing ? You mentioned when you were first co-writing . I always wondered how co-writing works . Like , how does this ? I mean , first of all , the partnership has to work well . You have to feel comfortable with each other Well being in a band is kind of co-writing . Oh , you're right . You're right , it is being in a band .

Lyle Workman 17:35

Together , especially if you look at the bands back in , like Genesis . Yes , they basically lived together .

Norma 17:43

And it's .

Lyle Workman 17:43

I got this little bit here , mate , what about this ? And then three months later they got this record or whatever it is . I've only composed one time and the rest has been .

Norma 17:55

So you play off each other , and I think also , too , when you do off that , well , first of all , you have to all like each other . There has to be something that connects you , and then you build off each other right . But that's the magic I feel it's basically like any other collaboration .

Lyle Workman 18:10

You know , in a working relationship you're working together , but the other person can maybe see things that you don't exactly so , listen , I suppose you're working with like-minded people .

Rich 18:22

Yeah , you know you've got , obviously you've got the same goal , but your work ethic is the same , the type of thing that you're aiming to get towards is the same .

Norma 18:30

Yeah , you're aligned . When you're aligned , things are easier , right . Yeah , and so the blocks ? There's no blocks . It's more like build on it or expand on it or go deeper .

Lyle Workman 18:39

You're going a different , it's like a different wavelength , almost energetically and a lot of times a collaboration can be mostly built upon skill sets . So , uh , in the case of this movie with , uh , this john faber called , made the person that was hired . He brought me into it because he saw that there's things I could do that he wasn't as good at , and vice versa . So , okay , you do that , you handle that part good at , and vice versa . So , okay , you do that , you handle that part of it . And okay , lyle , so you can be that part of the music or an aspect of the score that would be a little bit

The Art of Creating Film Scores

Lyle Workman 19:15

more in my world , would go to me , and vice versa .

Norma 19:20

You know , at the Poppy Jasper Film Festival , when they played your reel , it was just like keep it going . It was just oh , you , it was just oh . You had people cheering because you take people back right what it meant and , of course , like anything , music really does evoke emotion . But out of all your projects thus far , do you have like some of your favorites or some of your memorable projects that you want to kind of share a little bit of behind the scenes and why they impacted you ?

Rich 19:48

No , okay , we've got to come up with another question now .

Norma 19:52

No , I just killed 10 minutes . I know exactly .

Lyle Workman 19:55

The first things that come to mind is working with people that you really respect . In the case of Todd Rundgren was a big one for me because I loved his music for a long time and so working having him produce the band I was in was huge , and then when he asked us to be his band , that was very . That was yeah . So I think about that particular period of my life and I'm very fond of it . The thing is , when you get those opportunities to work with people that you really respect and love what they do , it brings the best out of you . You're at the top of your ability because you're so inspired and you want to be . You want to bring your best self . I don't want to say rise to the occasion , but you're just inspired to yes .

Norma 20:46

You birth something new too , and , as someone who creates things like you're constantly looking to either innovate or create something out of magic , of the sheer fact of having two , four beautiful souls together that are just , you know they're just , they're just doing their thing right , yeah , and you trust . There's a trust aspect that's attached to it too .

Norma 21:05

I feel like feel like Sure yeah , yeah , you know when I worked at Lucasfilm one thing my favorite meetings at Lucasfilm were when we would get everyone together and we were working on character development and then someone would say something . Then the artist would just get up on the whiteboard and just start drawing , and then somebody else would get something , pull out a guitar and start playing notes , and it literally felt like it was a true war room , almost .

Norma 21:31

So you're saying character development , for For you know TV series and you know the films that we were working on , right ? Oh , okay , so we're talking about because we go a little deeper on the character , right ? What would the character like ? What would he do , blah , blah even associate that maybe it wasn't going to be on the film or the TV series . It's just , we were trying to bring the character to life so we can create scenes and we can just build off each other , and it was . You know , sometimes it was literally we were trying to solve something , or we were just trying to stir creativity in the room , right , so then we could problem solve something else .

Lyle Workman 22:00

And that's working in tandem with writers .

Norma 22:11

Yes , exactly , it would have writers , artists , you know , we would have a little bit of everyone in the team , almost like a little bit of the cast and crew . But one thing I really loved is when everybody was there , being their authentic self and contributing Like you know . And you could feel when someone's contributing and no one's really hoarding the mic , so to speak , everyone's really balancing off each other . You birth some amazing stuff and you almost go into this euphoric . I don't know , I almost feel like you're drugged or something , and it just , it just comes out beautifully .

Norma 22:36

And that was one thing that I like to say that , working under George , he always taught me when you're in the presence of that , never interrupt the magic , just let it go . Because there's times where your ego's like oh , but that goes against the blah , blah , blah , don't shut up , just let it go , because it just it . Just then . I mean , I would imagine that that's probably what you know when you , when you , when you come out of a session , you're like oh , my God , we just came up with our first single , or you know , projects are created that way it's .

Lyle Workman 23:04

It's beautiful when that happens , but it does start with getting the right people in the room and you kind of touched upon something the biggest value is to be the listener and not the presenter , you know , and so I'm much more happier to listen than I am to speak and give my ideas . I'd rather hear what other people have to say , which I think , having said that , that is helpful to be a composer because you really have to listen . It's all listening . It's so important to the process and that's also when you learn . You really learn by saying things you already know . You learn by listening to what other people have to say .

Rich 23:48

Listen , you're obviously a highly creative individual because you're taking I take it when you're creating a score for a film . You're sitting down , maybe early development , you're getting understanding what the story is about , hearing what the characters are like , character development , and then you're writing music To fit those people , those characters . That must take a lot . I mean , it's the intelligence and the integrity and that , the just sheer skill that you , that you must have to be able to do that Is , is second to none . But it must be for you , it must be like an amazing journey doing that because you , every time you're doing something , you're doing it from fresh , because every story is different . You know someone , you know it might be a love story , it might be a thriller , it might be an action film , whatever it is . So the type of music that you're creating for that film is going to vary . Each one . It must be . I mean , how do you ? You must love that .

Lyle Workman 24:38

It must be great sitting there yes , it's , uh , you know , there there can be aids by means of temporary music that's placed . Sure , the director and a music editor or film editor will put placeholder music Right . Okay , just to have a place , just to have something to start from which could be run the gamut from . We really like the way this music feels to . We hate this music , but we had to find something just to give it some pacing . Sure , and sometimes there's no music where it is a little bit more or is quite more , a bit more , just , we don't know what this needs . It feels it needs something amazing or very difficult , because the difficult part might be working with directors that don't know , they're not really sure , even if it's right , they don't know if it's right , and just the aspect of music can be very difficult for some people you , you know it's just not their , it's really not their thing .

Lyle Workman 25:46

You know what I mean . So you hope that they have trust in you , which happens sometimes and sometimes it doesn't . The composing world can be . It really runs the gamut . It could be the greatest thing in the world or it can be very difficult . You know , that's just the reality of it .

Rich 26:02

You're the expert , you're the professional in that room in terms of music . So if you're up against a director , that is like I'm not sure , I don't like it , but you know 100% that is the right music for the film . Do you hold your line ? Is it something that you say , right , no , this is how it has to be . Or do you have to conform to what Acquiesce ? Yeah , acquiesce is probably a better word . Yeah , conform to what ? Acquiesce is probably a better word ? Yeah , yes .

Lyle Workman 26:28

You're providing a service , you're on the clock , you're there , hired , to give them what they want . Sometimes you can be with , and I've had situations where I did one movie they had music temped in temporarily . What I wanted to do was something completely different , like particularly , it was this opening scene where we're getting to learn the character , and there was a song placed in there , a really popular song . What I had said to the director , who had been used to this temporary music being in there for a long time , he liked it . My viewpoint was well , people are going to hear this song and they're going to think about oh yeah , I was in high school when that song was out .

Lyle Workman 27:14

And we're setting up this character . I would like to accompany this character . This character , not the song that was written in 1973 .

Lyle Workman 27:24

We had a show-and-tell in my studio . He came and he saw the cue and he goes , and he didn't have any reaction . He goes , can I see it again ? I said sure . So that happened about five times in a row . He said I think I just need to sit

Working with Directors and Creative Trust

Lyle Workman 27:38

with it . And then I love this . I love this piece of music . I can't believe how much better it is .

Lyle Workman 27:47

But he had to just reframe it for him . So that was a perfect scenario in where the director will trust the persons . Who's who is the ? The is the person in charge of making music , who has had a whole lot of time doing it , who has a lot of history doing it and experience . Getting that trust is very it's nice when that happens . I really you're allowed to do what I feel is your best work when you have that kind of relationship and of course you know they might want tweaks or always , that's great . I might interpret a scene incorrectly as opposed to the way he was seeing it . He's great . I might interpret a scene incorrectly as opposed to the way he was seeing it , he or she . So I make adjustments and it's a very collaborative scenario that runs every aspect .

Norma 28:37

You kind of have to play , I would imagine , because you're right . At the end of the day , it's the director , right ? It's someone else's film . You have to interpret it .

Lyle Workman 28:44

Yeah .

Norma 28:44

But you also are .

Lyle Workman 28:45

It's not my baby at all . It someone else's film you have to interpret it .

Norma 28:47

Yeah , but you also are . It's not my baby at all . It's not your baby , no , but you also are creative and you're an expert at what you do and that's why they're hiring you . So I would imagine it's a careful dance where you're like all right , let's try again tomorrow . In some of the situations where you felt very strongly about a certain it should go a certain way , but because it's there to enhance , right and and pull people further into the story , right yeah , and sometimes the collaboration could be beautiful and sometimes it just doesn't work .

Lyle Workman 29:14

They just , they just . You're just not on the same creative wavelength and , as a result , a lot of composers will just get fired as a matter of course . You know it's a , it's typical , it's not let me put it this way it's not uncommon for great composers to get fired off of projects .

Rich 29:32

So a question for you .

Lyle Workman 29:33

Just the nature of the business you're in .

Rich 29:35

Question for you . So you have a script , you have a film , you're watching the rushes and you're getting an idea of the character In your mind . How do you put the music together ? It might sound a bit of a silly question , but you're having to create music from the ground up . It doesn't exist . I suppose music is like writing a story musically . So you're creating that . I mean , where does the melody come from ? Do you know what I mean ? It's like I mean you don't again . Correct me if I'm wrong . Do you know what I mean ? It's like I mean you don't again correct me if I'm wrong .

Norma 30:08

You don't pull off a shelf and say no , he's going to say it just is you know I don't know , you know , I don't know how it happens .

Lyle Workman 30:14

I really it's magical to me .

Rich 30:16

Yeah , it is , it's magic .

Lyle Workman 30:19

That's why I love his life . All I can say is that you get a feeling from seeing something or reading something , and you feel what that feeling is and you play an instrument . What comes out is a result of that , but how that happens .

Norma 30:34

It's amazing when you witness as I was saying , going back to what I was saying when you witness this happening , it's as if you're going , you're actually seeing someone's soul . You guys , you get lost into this . It's just you're , you're almost you're making up words in a language , but then when it comes out , you're like holy crap , that's what was going in your head oftentimes when I was talking , even to like the , the sound editors at skywalker sound , I'm like what's going in your brain ? Can I just , can you just show me a sliver of the algorithms and the numbers and the symbols that's going on there ? But you're feeling things .

Norma 31:09

A lot of them would tell me no , we feel it . We see already the end . We don't know how we're going to get there , but we already see the end . And somehow you go into your space and you go there , which I would imagine . That's what you do as an artist , right when you were writing music . You hear notes , do music , you hear notes , do you , do you walk every day and you're like healing , hearing your own melody in your head and you're just here . It is it's coming .

Lyle Workman 31:30

Here's the output .

Lyle Workman 31:31

Yeah , yeah he's like yeah , I mean , for me I have to kind of get in the right space . But you know things like , you know , there can be some technical aspects that kind of help like , yeah , it's a very nervous character . Or uh , let's say , okay , a scenario where a character is saying something . Let's say it's a , it's really funny what he's saying , right , but there's some , a whole lot of pain behind what he's saying , and so well , we don't want funny music , but what can we do to get in his head a little bit more ? You know what's this like caustic sarcasm or something like that . There's a reason , it's funny the words , but there's something else going on underneath that . What about what's that ? Can we bring some of that ? Because the thing is , for me , really good music is providing subtext and not just giving you the same exact thing that you're saying . It's providing something else . It's providing another layer that adds some depth to it .

Rich 32:38

It does . But also , I suppose , what you're doing you're not writing the music . You then select the instruments that are going to play that music .

Lyle Workman 32:44

Yeah , sure .

Rich 32:45

So , you've got two tiers there . So , you're having to think on multiple levels at the same time , to think , no , that's going to be better being a saxophone , or that's better a guitar , that's better a piano , and that is . I can't tell you the joy it brings when you watch a film because the scores I mean I've got loads of scores on my phone that I just love to hear , I love to listen to sometimes because it brings back memories of when watching a film or certain parts in a film that have meant something .

Norma 33:13

The scenes . It really heightens the scenes and it's a raft like the score . You're just going down this river and it's going fast , slow , lazy , but you stay on there and you yourself , as a viewer , you just get lost in it and you're getting lost in the emotion you're watching , whether it be heartache or laughter or joy or abandonment . It really just it like draws it out and you're almost like you're crying inside . So that's the beauty of what the soundtracks do and that's what I mean . Oftentimes it makes the film and vice versa right . Like really do work together the sound and the music and it's beautiful . It's beautiful to watch , but it's more beautiful to see the artist Like you guys are just like witches or something . You're just brewing your thing and Lyle's not going to tell you that's a secret . That's what makes Lyle Workman get work .

Rich 34:00

There's no secret really , it's a case of understanding . I suppose when you get to hear your music played out on a soundstage , it must be when it comes to life . That's the tip .

Lyle Workman 34:09

That's the top of it .

Rich 34:11

That's got to be .

Lyle Workman 34:11

When you've been spending time in your studio staring at a computer screen working with a computer . Now you've got 70 people playing your music . Hello , that's the best . That's got to be the best drug in the world . It really is . I get that . It's the best part . That's my favorite part of it being in that studio what projects do you have brewing now ?

Lyle Workman 34:38

no films right now , project I've been working on with Meta of all companies . It's basically providing library music or music that's free to anyone on Instagram or Facebook Right . I've been doing it for seven years . Something like 250 songs in .

Norma 34:57

Ooh is that so we can develop our little reels in our stories ?

Lyle Workman 35:01

Well , that's exactly right , the music behind it . I think they've got something like 8,000 or 9,000 songs .

Norma 35:07

They've got multiple writers .

Lyle Workman 35:10

But I've been doing it in between other work and so that's kind of been an ongoing thing and your music is heard billions of times throughout the world and it's been really fun for me because the people that have hired me really like what I do , so they let me do what I do and I've released , and then I've also allowed their

Current Projects and Live Performances

Lyle Workman 35:31

content creators to put the music out , so I've got about 20 records out . Oh , you do In 2020 , I released 17 records 17 records . Eps slash records .

Lyle Workman 35:44

Yeah , yeah , yeah so it's all on Apple Music , Spotify , you know , under my name . Oh , that's great .

Norma 35:48

Oh well , we're about to make our Instagram stories and our , you know much better with your music than behind them .

Lyle Workman 35:54

Yeah , it's all there . I mean it's just .

Rich 35:55

What was your project or film were you most proud to have worked on ? What would you say is your highlight ?

Lyle Workman 36:01

I think the one that probably at the top would be Superbad . Oh , superbad . I thought the movie was a classic , iconic comedy that defined a generation . Yeah , and also the other aspect that was really great about that is the music for Superbad that I wrote in keeping in the spirit of the other music , the songs that were placed , which was all 70s funk and soul James Brown , parliament , bootsy Collins , all that stuff .

Lyle Workman 36:33

So I was able to hire those people as my band . Must have been amazing . So I got to work with the architects of the music as my band and we spent four days at Capitol Records making the music is my band and we spent four days at Capitol Records making the music . I'd written it before and it was all demoed out , written it ahead at the time and I'd sent the music out to all the musicians and so that was a real special experience and some of those guys have passed away since . But it was just a combination of that music , the importance of the film , and there's other films I liked for different reasons , different parameters , but that one is kind of a it's fun . It was a fun project to make .

Rich 37:19

Do you get to play live ? I mean , obviously we saw you play live at the Poppy Jazz , but do you still enjoy it ? I take it you do .

Lyle Workman 37:24

Yeah , I just finished seven weeks on the road with Sarah McLaughlin . Yes , we're going to do .

Norma 37:29

You're up in the Bay Area .

Lyle Workman 37:30

Yeah , we played Berkeley , the Greek Theater .

Lyle Workman 37:34

We were here at the Hollywood Bowl , and then I'm going out for another month in the fall A week in the States and then three weeks in Canada because she's a Canadian artist , and then you're giving yourself a break and then I do another . The thing with Sarah was the 30th anniversary of one of her big records called Fumbling Towards Ecstasy . So it was the 30 year anniversary of that record , and the thing I'm doing after this tour with Sarah is another 30 year anniversary of a record , but this time I participated in it and that was with that artist , frank Black from Pixies . So we're going to do three weeks performing that record and it's going to be here in the US .

Lyle Workman 38:14

We're doing 12 or 13 dates . We're going to be here in LA .

Norma 38:17

Yes , we're playing the .

Lyle Workman 38:18

Orpheum .

Norma 38:19

Oh , the Orpheum .

Lyle Workman 38:20

Yeah .

Norma 38:21

That's such a great venue .

Rich 38:22

Yeah .

Norma 38:23

Yeah .

Rich 38:24

Must be a great buzz when you're standing on stage and you've got an audience .

Lyle Workman 38:27

Well , that's what I did for so long . See , that was my life . The start of that , I was playing in bands , touring with other people , as a sideman in other people's bands . Then the film scoring took over and then I didn't have time Prior to Sarah , the longest tour I did . Well , the most substantial tour was in 2005 , with Sting being a part of his band , and then from 2005 to 2024 . A couple of select dates here in town , a few small things , but in terms of , we're going to be on a tour bus or a plane or whatever and you were worldly , I mean , you were traveling right from one country to another country .

Norma 39:07

Yeah , that must be different too , to feel that energy from fans and you know when you're traveling , when you're changing cultures as well right .

Lyle Workman 39:15

Yeah , it's the power of music . Yeah , I know it's the universal language .

Norma 39:19

It's the universal language that is so , so true .

Rich 39:22

It is actually when you think about music now , you think of any song . Most songs , most popular songs , tend to be either British or American , global . Oh , it is , doesn't matter what language you speak . You don't translate it into any other language , it just it's played and it's listened to in its native .

Norma 39:39

And the thing is that music brings people together . That's the thing . You don't even have to speak the language , but if a song's coming out and they're bopping their head and they're moving , they're like oh , wow . I like them too , and that just immediately . That's something you start connecting people with .

Lyle Workman 39:52

It's the one thing that all humanity shares is music . It's the thing that can communicate to every . Does it matter what your political stance are , what your how ? Whatever your political stance are , how you're , it's the one thing that connects us all , I feel .

Rich 40:09

If you think about it , 400 or 500 years ago , people never knew music . Most people didn't know what music was like . Yes , you might have been elite in society , but poor people didn't know what music was , because music wasn't played anywhere .

Lyle Workman 40:21

Well , with drums and sticks , and yeah , there's been music for a long time .

Norma 40:28

Different types of music .

Lyle Workman 40:29

Regional , very regional .

Rich 40:31

It's been very small what I'm saying is like you know , we have the benefit . Now you can download music .

Norma 40:35

You can go anywhere . You know you can't go anywhere without hearing music on something it's accessible now .

Rich 40:41

So what I'm saying is we are very fortunate at the times that we live in because back then you know , 100 , 200 , 300 , 400 years ago , before the advent of wireless , you know where people would sit around a wireless and listen to music or the original record players . They didn't have that joy in their home .

Norma 40:58

You know it's only recently , if you think about it , that we have the ability to listen to music , enjoy , stream it , whatever it is play it over and over and over again and to your neighbor says all right , all right with that song and you're just like oh , I'm not done with the story in my head right that happened to me not that long ago my neighbor , my kid neighbor's , downstairs like all right , norman , we know you like sting , but why is it ?

Norma 41:21

why is the song still playing over and over again ? And the thing is , you get so caught up in a memory or an emotion and you forget , but you need the music as a reminder , right in the background it just goes , how powerful the powerful sound is . But , Lyle , one thing we like to do with our guests is we like to play a little game . So , to your right , there's a box there full of cards and we'd like to ask our guest to pick one . And these are deep-rooted questions .

Rich 41:53

Any one you want .

Norma 41:53

You pick a card , read the question out loud , take a moment , answer it and we will answer the same question . Just pick any one , Any one you want . He's smelling the deck here , people .

Lyle Workman 42:09

Pick a good one because we want to answer good one . Can they change it ? No , if someone wanted to annoy you easily , what would they have to do ?

Rich 42:20

ask me on the podcast ask me questions ask-oh , we've annoyed Lyle everyone .

Lyle Workman 42:29

Is this the one you want me to answer ?

Norma 42:31

If you like it , yeah .

Lyle Workman 42:35

Not respect another human being ?

Norma 42:38

Oh , that's beautiful

The Universal Language of Music

Norma 42:39

.

Lyle Workman 42:40

Or not listen to them , not act with kindness ? Towards another human being that would be . You know , seeing that is very difficult . I mean , I could make a whole list of things .

Norma 42:56

Okay , okay , yeah , yeah .

Lyle Workman 42:58

You know having to wait at the doctor's office for an hour and a half you know , I don't know , but I think the first part of that was probably better . My answer .

Norma 43:10

I would add not only will it annoy me , it would make me very upset when people bully other people .

Norma 43:17

Oh , that's another one , of course , that immediately I could even see it happening , when I could feel it happening . I'm getting annoyed , but when they're really going at it I get upset . And it could even be something simple , as at Starbucks or whatever you know you're getting . You're at a cafe and a manager is belittling another manager or their subordinate or is getting very , very upset or is just poking and poking and making them fail . I can't stand when people do that to one another and um , because it and and to see the person , the victim like , shrug his , his or her shoulders and just become like they want to be invisible . I don't like it invisible . It annoys me and I think it just stems from a childhood thing . I hated when kids , when grade school kids , were bullying other grade school kids . I was that one kid that said stop it . Yeah , so it just . It really goes into my core .

Rich 44:15

I could have done with you at school .

Norma 44:16

What is that ?

Rich 44:17

I could have done with you at school . Yeah , I would have helped you .

Norma 44:20

I would have helped you , you would have done .

Rich 44:21

Yes , I think my answer would be . I mean , I agree with everything you both have just said . I think what I would add to that is lack of tolerance of other people really irritates me , and hate . We live in a world now where people it's so easy to hate with no basis of fact behind it , it's just because they've seen something online . We live in a world where the truth is a lie and the lie becomes the truth . It're upside down . And how does that ever become right ? And you get people that are so easily guided or so easily steered in a certain direction because of certain views that they go down a rabbit hole of which it's very hard to come out of and they just hate for no reason . They're intolerant of people Because someone's slightly different they don't tolerate , and it's wrong . It annoys me because life shouldn't be that way .

Lyle Workman 45:14

Right , exactly .

Rich 45:16

So that would be my answer . All right , good answer .

Norma 45:20

So the last thing we like to do is kind of an open mic session . Is there for our listeners any advice that you'd like to do is kind of an open mic session ? Is there for our listeners any advice that you'd like to give them Somebody , maybe somebody who's trying to break into the industry ? Words of wisdom , any mantras you live by ?

Lyle Workman 45:38

Just follow your passion , you know . Follow the . Do the things that make you feel most whole and honor your creative spirit . To me , that's I think that's the main thing . Don't do what other people expect of you . Do what you want to do . Just follow that .

Norma 46:00

While listening to music .

Rich 46:03

Actually , I just thought I'd ask a question . Why are we a little bit out of time ? Sorry , it was a beautiful ending .

Norma 46:06

It was a beautiful ending , but I I just wanted to pop that in my head it was a beautiful ending , but I'm just going to tack on to that .

Rich 46:10

Did you have a mentor throughout your career ? Is there someone that I wish I had .

Lyle Workman 46:18

I've asked that before . I really wish I had Dr J Stevenson my 12th grade teacher , or something .

Rich 46:27

Yeah yeah .

Lyle Workman 46:28

No , you know again , just following the careers of people that I really enjoy . I like to have a great answer for that . Did you growing up as a child , not as a child ? I did have someone that mentored me . Okay , did you Growing up as a child Not ?

Rich 46:46

as a child , I did have someone that mentored me .

Norma 46:49

One person One person .

Rich 46:51

That's pretty nice , which was amazing , and unfortunately I didn't understand a lot of the lessons I was being taught until he passed away . I got it , it clicked in my head , I understood what I was being told and the reason why I understood it , because it wasn't there for me to ask anymore .

Rich 47:11

I had to rely on what I'd been told in the past and it came out . I remembered certain lessons that I'd been taught right and it , yeah , it helped . It did and it still does help me today , much as my father-in-law and it's someone that has you know . It's someone that has you know . It's something that has guided me , has helped me become more rounded as a human being .

Rich 47:32

And I'm grateful for that , because I wouldn't have maybe been the person I am not I'm saying special but I wouldn't have grown into who I am , done the things I've done without that sort of guidance . Yes , so I've had that . Yes , so I've had that . And because I've had that in my world , I try and give that back to other people . If I can do one good thing every day to help someone out , then my hope is one day they will do one good thing to help someone out and then that person might do it . So it's part of the pillars of us is paying it forward , giving something back . Try and illuminate , navigate , help someone navigate certain things , help inspire them to do something , spread a bit of positivity . These are sort of things that Norma and I are doing as a business . It's what I try and do in my day-to-day to help other people on their way .

Lyle Workman 48:21

That's wonderful yeah .

Rich 48:24

But what you do is more wonderful because I do that internally . You get to please millions of people , you know , and that covers all the things I've just said . You know your music is inspirational . It guides people , it illuminates , it's all of these things . It's amazing , the talent you have and the gift .

Norma 48:44

That's your mentor right there , it's your gift .

Rich 48:48

Your God-g given gift is amazing . It has such an effect on people . Well that's nice .

Lyle Workman 48:55

That aspect is something I don't really ever consider or think about , because I'm just focused on making the music you're just creating so it's very nice the Poppy Festival . Every once in a while I'm reminded that not getting the job that I wanted or whatever the other side of it is , I have to remember that there's really good things that are beyond me , that are past my studio and past this experience that I have with these people . That goes on , and so that's really nice . It's nice to feel that every now and again .

Rich 49:31

So thank you .

Norma 49:32

It was a pleasure .

Rich 49:33

And what was lovely the song that you played , the Ambrosia song , biggest Part of Me when you came on with Randy when we were there on the Friday night .

Lyle Workman 49:41

Is that what we ?

Rich 49:41

did . Yeah , I barely remember that .

Norma 49:44

It was a fun evening . Yeah , it was too much fun .

Rich 49:47

No , the remix . I love the song . I hadn't heard it that long before .

Norma 49:54

So to hear it played , it was like , oh my God , it's playing on stage . When everyone was there , it was like , oh , it was just phenomenal . The energy that you guys all had on stage was so cool . Oh , that was great . That was really great .

Rich 50:02

Oh that was great . That was really great .

Lyle Workman 50:04

It really came across well , you mean the band when we were playing , yeah , but what was particularly fun is because Robert Berry , who was playing bass and singing , he was a local legend in San Jose . Yes , so I have a fondness for those people that were in my life early , and then the other gentleman I didn't know . They're from my hood , my area , so there's just this thing you know that you experience .

Speaker 3 50:27

But you go back .

Lyle Workman 50:28

Remember when . Remember when , yeah , remember when it was all orchards apricot orchards . Yeah , you're right Ross Dress for Lesses and Starbucks . So yeah , that was a really fun experience for me .

Norma 50:41

That's a humbling experience to see .

Lyle Workman 50:43

Randy there and say the nice things he said .

Norma 50:46

Yes .

Lyle Workman 50:46

And man , what a stellar man he is oh , he's great .

Norma 50:50

We'll be having him on our podcast soon . But Randy Spendlove is , and you could feel nothing but heart .

Norma 50:57

The love that he has that he gives back to the community right .

Norma 51:00

Absolutely . That's important . Goes back to paying it forward . Yeah absolutely Right , right , well , lyle , thank you so much for being here my pleasure .

Lyle Workman 51:07

Thank you for having me . It's been an honor , it's been our pleasure

Final Thoughts and Open Mic

Lyle Workman 51:10

. Oh , so nice .

Norma 51:11

Thank you , yes yes , we appreciate you and we'll hopefully have you back again later on in the podcast With a guitar With a guitar .

Lyle Workman 51:17

Okay , no pressure .

Norma 51:30

Maybe be fun . Yeah , that would be fun . Listen to some tunes and cut . Thank you for tuning in to Energis Podcast , where ambition meets achievement . If today's stories energized , you share this episode with someone who needs that spark . Stay connected , Subscribe to our newsletter at nrjmediagroupcom and follow us on social media for more powerful insights . Until next time , stay inspired , stay bold and keep striving for greatness .

Rich 51:59

Energy's podcast is produced and hosted by Norma Garcia and Rich Reid the incredible talent behind us . We are highly engineered and edited by Rich Evirs . Our seriously creative director is none other than David H Tanaka . Our talented music composer is Steve Devaney . Our devotion to motion graphic designer is Mike Macklin . Our very spirited technical advisor is Tracy Williams . Our Amazing Marketing Manager , Lauren Carter . Our man of Many Words Publicist is Josh Gershman . And introducing our Producer's Assistant , Blake Miele . Energis Podcast is brought to you by NRJ Media Group .