CARLA TALBOT
A Paisley composer rubbed shoulders with Hollywood stars after he landed a top job writing music for hit BBC show His Dark Materials.
Talented Graham McCusker was picked by directors of the £50million drama to be the on-set composer for a number of musical pieces for the series.
The 31- year- old was given the star treatment while working on the adaptation of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman - which has now been picked up for a second season.
Graham found himself working alongside A- list actors such as James McAvoy, Lin-Manuel Miranda and AnneMarie Duff.
His musical talents feature in a number of episodes of the eight part series - which was broadcast across the globe by BBC and HBO.
Graham, who is studying for a Masters Degree in classical singing at The Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, said: “I have never done anything to this scale before.
“I saw they were looking for someone to write vocal music for them and they sent me over a writing brief and told me to send something over to them,
“I was shortlisted and the director of the episodes, Otto Bathurst, listened to the music on set and picked mine.
“I went down to Wales, where they were filming, and I got the chance to work on the set with the actors.”
Graham composed music for key characters in the series, including vocal music for the Gyptian characters and also wrote a piece titled Gobbler’s Theme.
The show - which is the most expensive BBC production in history – follows the main character Lyra Belacqua, played by Dafne Keen, who lives in an alternate world that is similar to Earth.
Lyra’s search for a kidnapped friend uncovers a sinister plot involving stolen children and turns into a quest to understand a mysterious phenomenon called Dust.
Along the way, she meets a number of characters including her father Lord Asriel Belacqua, played by former PACE star James McAvoy and aeronaut Lee Scoresby played by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The star-studded bill also includes Ruth Wilson and James Cosmo - but Graham didn’t let the prospect of working with Hollywood greats get in the way of his work.
He added: “It was a daunting prospect being on set with the actors, but I just kept reminding myself to keep focus as give it my best.
“There were so many fantastic people working on producing the series, I wanted to make sure I was doing my best work in the hope
I could be given an opportunity like this again.”
He is also hoping his work on the show will help him raise vital funds for a charity that supported him after he was diagnosed with cancer in 2016.
Graham, who recovered from Acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia ( APML), plans to release a musical piece which was written for one of the series’ main characters, Lyra, to raise funds for The Christie NHS Foundation Trust .
Last year, the Paisley man took on a 500- mile cycle through the Scottish Highlands — raising more than £2,000 for an organisation which is part of The Christie Charitable Trust.
Graham and three pals cycled the famous North
Coast 500 route in seven days for the Haematology and Transplant Support (HaTS) charity.
Graham hoped proceeds from his song would help give then a vital boost due to the current coronavirus crisis having a disruptive knock-on effects it will have on those awaiting vital cancer care
He said: “This musical piece was not used in the series and I was going to release the demo, which I hope listeners will enjoy.
“Any proceeds which are raised from it will go to the charity which treated me for blood cancer a few years ago.”
To hear the song, visit www. grahammccusker.bandcamp.com/