Grammy winner Alex Geringas is a multi-hyphenate composer, songwriter, mixer, and producer with multiple Emmy, Annie, and HMMA nominations. In addition to working in film and television, Geringas has penned sixteen number one songs and is an accomplished cellist, pianist, guitarist, bassist, and singer.
Geringas’ songs have been recorded and performed by Snoop Dogg, Jessie J, Timbaland, Cher, Kelly Clarkson, Jordin Sparks, Mary Lambert, Ben Schwartz, and Dove Cameron to name a few.
Geringas scored the entire “Trolls” TV franchise as well as the score for Paramount’s “Blue’s Big City Adventure.” His animated series “Batwheels,” is an action-adventure comedy that features the most iconic vehicles from the DC Universe which is up for Children and Family Emmy contention.
Geringas worked closely with the “Batwheels” creative team to sonically encapsulate the vehicles that have come to define the childhoods of so many. In addition to composing “Batwheels,” Geringas co-wrote the song “My Kind of Monster” for Disney’s Under Wraps 2.
Currently, Geringas has fourteen theme songs playing across various platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, and Disney. He even wrote the firework song “It’s Wondrous” for Disneyland’s fireworks display entitled Wondrous Journeys.
Geringas spoke to Awards Focus regarding all things “Batwheels,” writing score to Adam West’s voice, and his songwriting process.
Awards Focus: How did you get involved with “Batwheels”?
Alex Geringas: Michael G. Stern, the Showrunner and I knew each other from a Disney Jr. Show I scored for him, “Chuggington.” He invited me to pitch for his new show! While he was explaining what the show was, I heard the “Batwheels” theme in my head and I recorded it as soon as we got off the call.
Awards Focus: Can you talk about your creative process for the show?
Geringas: My job is very collaborative and we watch all the episodes together before I start to compose. The Showrunners explain their vision of the episode and where exactly they want me to add music.
Awards Focus: What was the sound that “Batwheels” creator Michael G. Stern gravitated toward for the show?
Geringas: Michael has a writer background and is totally story-driven. He knew that if we wanted to help open up the DC Universe to preschoolers, we needed to create a unique score which is able to pay tribute to all the famous characters and can connect at the same time with our newer, younger audience.
So our musical palette contains the orchestral bandwidth of movies from the Spy Genre, as in James Bond or Mission Impossible… hints to Adam West’s first Batman Show from the ‘60s and Modern Trap and Korean Pop Beats!
Awards Focus: Can you share your favorite moment or memory from composing and scoring animated shows and films, particularly “Batwheels”?
Geringas: As a huge Action and Spy movie Geek, I love to score all the chases and escape sequences. There’s a fantastic moment was when I got to score an episode using original audio from Adam West. My task was to make it sound as John Barry as possible, and I had the best time transforming our themes back in time!
Awards Focus: How do you approach creating music that captures the essence of iconic vehicles from the DC Universe in “Batwheels?”
Geringas: All the “Batwheels” are completely new creations. They all have their own song theme, written by our fantastic show songwriter Andy Stuermer which I incorporate in my scores!
Awards Focus: You co-wrote the song “My Kind of Monster” with Mike Goode for director Alex Zamm‘s “Under Wraps 2.” Can you describe your approach to collaborating with each of them on the Disney film?
Geringas: Alex Zamm is not only the director of the movie and my songwriting partner on “My Kind of Monster,” he has also been one of my closest friends and collaborators for many years. Alex already had ideas for the visuals and lyrics for the huge mummy dance scene in his movie.
We fleshed it out in the studio and involved our good friend, songwriter and rapper Mike Goode, to write the rap. Then we fine tuned everything with the helping hand of Disney Music Exec Steve Vincent. This song is so close to my heart because of the kind message it sets.
“We may be opposites like night and day, but you’re in my bones in every way, you’re my kind of monster, my kind of monster.”
Awards Focus: How do you approach scoring music differently for a children’s animated series over other projects and mediums in your wheelhouse?
Geringas: For me, creating music for kids is not any different than creating music for adults. I always try to write and produce the best possible music I can.
Awards Focus: Can you share any exciting projects you’re currently working on or upcoming collaborations?
Geringas: For two years my bud Vincent Rodriguez (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) and I have been developing a very fun tv series filled with lots of music. I can’t wait to share more about it soon!