Thomas Couzinier

Thomas Couzinier isn’t your typical composer churning out cookie-cutter scores in a backroom somewhere. The guy’s French, for starters—so style is basically in his DNA. He bounces between full-blown orchestral epics and glitchy, electronic soundscapes without missing a beat. You might’ve caught his work in Infiniti or the moody TV drama Zone Blanche (Black Spot)—he and Frédéric Kooshmanian even snagged a Gold FIPA for that one, no big deal. His music’s shown up in everything from offbeat sports comedies like Shiny Shrimps to the brooding animation Renaissance, and he’s rubbed elbows with a wild roster of artists. I mean, Mathieu Kassovitz, Tony Allen, Karl Lagerfeld? That’s a weird but brilliant dinner party right there. Couzinier’s not just about the tunes, either. The guy’s got a Sound & Composition M.A. from RMIT, where he geeked out over surround sound, binaural techniques, even the weird history of Muzak and sonic weapons. He’s half of Battery Operated, an experimental duo with Toby Heys, touring festivals and sharing the stage with heavyweights like Coldcut and Mica Levi. Paris is his home base, where he obsesses over fuzz pedals and moonlights as a one-man garage rock band called Night Shapers. Oh, and in his “spare” time, he co-founded KOUZ and SuperPitch. Basically, if you care about sound—like, really care—Couzinier’s a name you should probably know.