Bear McCreary

Bear McCreary, honestly, the guy’s kind of a wizard when it comes to making music that sticks in your head. He graduated from USC's Thornton School of Music, which isn’t exactly an easy feat—especially in Composition and Recording Arts, like, that’s not your average “I can play piano” degree. And get this: he was actually mentored by Elmer Bernstein. Yeah, that Elmer Bernstein. We're talking about one of the most legendary film composers out there. That’s like learning to cook from Gordon Ramsay and somehow not getting screamed at—pretty impressive. Back in the day, McCreary wasn’t scoring your usual Hollywood blockbusters. Nah, he was grinding away on indie films, putting together soundtracks for projects that probably had more passion than budget. Those early works? Super creative, sometimes weird, but always memorable. You can hear how those indie roots still kinda seep into his bigger scores now, even though he’s all mainstream and working with the big studios. His approach is wild—he’ll throw in weird instruments, experiment with different genres, and somehow it just works. It’s like he refuses to phone it in. Even when he’s doing massive projects, you still get that sense that he’s having fun, trying out new stuff, pushing boundaries. Fans notice that, for sure. I mean, there’s a reason people recognize his work right away. He’s not just another composer; the guy’s got a style, and he’s not shy about it.