Mikey J Asante on Crafting a Genre-Blending Score for Kneecap, Sony Pictures Classics’ Irish Docu-Drama

PH: Kneecap is a film about the legendary Irish rap group that blends both music and political activism. How did you approach capturing that unique blend of Irish history and hip-hop culture in your score?

Mikey J Asante: To be honest, I am not sure I took that as the goal in the creation of this score. It was more about doing a great job for them, as meeting and listening to their story, it dawned on me the gravitas of the road I was about to embark on. From the Sundance premiere, to their life stories being put in film and the circumstances handed to them after the Ceasefire (being known as Ceasefire Babies), the tracks needed to be quality, raw and effective, while still balancing out a journey that’s both emotional and engaging but remains Hip-Hop and its sub-genres at its core

PH: With your varied musical background—from creating music for live theater to scoring films and TV series—how did you channel those experiences into crafting the eclectic soundtrack for Kneecap? What was your creative process?

Mikey J Asante: The way I always start all these projects is in a space of acting like I haven’t made music like this before. It will always begin with experimentation. I need to find my pen—a guiding sound or technique to build around. 

Essentially, I break ALL my pens after I make one for each piece, and due to all the different moments of doing this action on different projects, I have gotten more confident with this form of reckless abandon. I will always create what I call “The Well”, a simple SoundPack space on my computer which has 5 folders titled Digicrate - Drum Loops, Drums, Sounds, FX, and Vox - and I will make, experiment and find sounds to place in these folders. I draw from this well when I start to build ideas, and eventually, those ideas turn into full tracks/compositions. 

This is CLASSIC crate digging format I have taken into my practice, essentially a form of curation on EACH project that helps form the pen. It’s a laborious task, but nonetheless a thing I must do. 

With Kneecap, I also had to think about Hip-Hop’s sub-genres and decide which ones to use at what points in the film to support the narrative journey of the scene. It tested my depth of knowledge on both current trends/sonics and nostalgia. For example, with the track “Run,” I had to dip into my 1994 Mikey (14 years old) to remember the sonic feels and samples used in Jungle at the time to make it authentic. It was a lot of fun, I might add. 

PH: You experimented with a range of genres, from drum and bass to folk guitar, particularly on tracks like "Run" and "Dad’s Gone." Can you walk us through your decision to blend such different styles for these scenes? How do you feel this genre fusion enhanced the narrative?

Mikey J Asante: I had to answer that main question of what would serve the scene best, like a DJ playing a wedding. I would always teach my DJ students that doing a wedding is a true test of your skills of creating a journey to take your party on. You have the age range of toddlers to grandparents and you need to pace the day, as it is a long one. Plus, they need that payoff of the party having the moment where it hits its peak, making it satisfying for everyone there - especially when you have different cultures coming together too. 

I say that to say each style HAD to not sound like a poor man's version of that sound type, but had to be tied directly with the scene's intention. For example, ‘Dad’s Gone.’ was when I found the film’s tone and voice. I didn’t know how I was going to take the note of ‘Cowboys and Indians’ and make it Hip-Hop. However, I relied on my principles as a Hip-Hop practitioner and decided to experiment, resampling some country and western guitars. I managed to chip away at a pattern that felt fresh and had a country twang. This process helped me find the ‘pen’ I would use to tackle the rest of the film. I have to find the ‘pen’ each time I work, never leaning on the music I’ve made before. Every score must have its own identity so that when these moments happen during creation, it’s always incredibly rewarding.” Overall, the fusion was led by just trying to be authentic with the track and the scene. 

PH: What personal experiences or memories did you draw upon while composing the music for Kneecap, and how did they influence the emotional depth of your Score?

Mikey J Asante: Talking to the band and visiting them in Belfast. They took me to their part of town, their boozer and mural. I learned the importance of their story, which made me invested in telling this story as authentically as possible for them. It reminded me of working on “Tree” with Kwame Kwei Armah and Idris Elba and the story of South Africa and Life after Mandela. Some of the youth never found that promised land that all these actions we thought were positive from abroad and that level of ignorance we might have had thinking all is well when peace is had. It made me move with more compassion to this story and inspired me to truly listen and understand the stakes.    

PH: Your approach to music composition often involves thinking outside the box and experimenting with different sounds. How did this philosophy guide your work on Kneecap, and why do you think this kind of experimentation is crucial in film and TV scoring?

Mikey J Asante: I know some composers might need you to hear them as their score plays out, but I want them to hear the score first. I feel experimentation is the best way to get great results, especially allowing for happy accidents and losing yourself in the process. You need to find that sound or technique that says to you, “this is the tone of the show,” and you build around that kernel from that point on. It’s the only way for me to create work.   

PH: How did your work on other projects, like African Queens: Njinga and Free Your Mind, prepare you for composing Kneecap? Were there any specific techniques or ideas you carried over from those experiences?

Mikey J Asante: I would say those projects did increase my skills in terms of speed and turnaround of music. They also helped me stay inspired, as all these projects required so much material. While the material wouldn’t always be used, it would create the next leap to the track that would be the one I took with me. I also, especially in FYM, had to mix all tracks in an old building with no acoustic treatment and nothing besides some curtains around me to battle some reflections in the space, so I had to trust my ears. Additionally, all my mixes for the film went straight from my studio to the final mix, essentially just as 4 STEMS, so that time on Free Your Mind really helped. 

PH: The Irish language and its cultural significance are central to Kneecap. How did you reflect this in your score, and what challenges or inspirations came from representing Ireland’s mother tongue through Music?

Mikey J Asante: I am not too sure I locked that in other than in Phone Booth and “Is a Bullet,” as I used Deloris's actual voice and performance in that track. However, the Boys did all that heavy lifting and so well, so we relied on their tracks and their acting to handle that element of the film. However I did use sound sources that were quintessentially Irish, like the Santur and Uilleann Pipes, to provide my Drone Tones  

PH: You’ve had an incredible career spanning many creative fields, from founding Boy Blue to earning an Emmy nomination. How did these experiences shape your work on Kneecap and push you to create something unique for this project?

Mikey J Asante: Thanks for the compliment, but I just turn up every day, wanting to learn and do my best on that day. I have remained curious and focused on the authentic way I might approach any project as me! I just want to find that my voice was needed with any project I join, and even though I had initially declined his score due to what was actually “Free Your Mind,” I did know my voice would have supported this story - which turned out to be correct.