Episode summary
Why Ludwig Göransson Keeps His Oscars on the Bottom Shelf | The Journal
The Journal
· · Hosts: Lane Florsheim · Guests: Ludwig Göransson, Serena
Summary
Ludwig Göransson says his mornings depend on where he is in a project, but when he can, he wakes around 5:40, hikes Griffith Park with his dog Barbara, then comes home for black coffee, oatmeal, and the school run. He says Swedish habits shaped his caffeine routine: fika, cinnamon buns, and coffee throughout the day. He also uses mornings to listen to demos, new music, and sometimes Swedish podcasts.
The main creative focus is his score for Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” which pushed him to research and recreate ancient instruments from the Bronze Age. He says he traveled to Europe to work with specialists who still play the lyre and the aulos, then shaped his own themes around how those instruments actually sound. He explains that the aulos, a double-pipe instrument, creates overtones and a wide dynamic range, which helped him understand why it was so important in the ancient world.
Göransson says the project began during the LA fires, when he rented about 40 bronze gongs and spent a week experimenting in the studio. He says he values time after a project to reflect on how it changed him and his relationships. He keeps his Oscars on the bottom shelf in a studio bookshelf, and his current goal is to finish a solo record he started about eight years ago.
Key takeaways
- Göransson says he starts early with a Griffith Park hike, black coffee, and oatmeal, then gets his kids to school by 7:30.
- He says Swedish fika and long-standing coffee culture shape how he works and why he can drink coffee late in the day.
- For “The Odyssey,” he says he went to Europe to find musicians who still play the lyre and aulos and built music around their sound.
- He says the aulos’ two pipes create overtones and a wide dynamic range, which made it historically powerful and creatively useful.
- Göransson says he is trying to finish a solo record he started about eight years ago before taking on the next film.
Notable quotes
“I get up at around 5:40, and I do a little hike around Griffith Park with my dog, Barbara”
“in Sweden, there's something called fika. "Fika" means it's a word for taking a break and drinking coffee and eat buns, cinnamon buns”
“I love when you're... And that's so great with the films I'm able to work on; like, nothing is the same”
“we just needed to find the right people, find people in the world that can still play those instruments”
How the episode opens
- I'm Ludwig Goransson, and this is my Monday morning. - Ludwig Goransson is one of the most successful music composers in the world. He's composed for TV shows like "Community" and "New Girl," produced for Adele and Alicia Keys, and scored blockbuster films for Ryan Coogler and Christopher Nolan, which landed him three Oscars.
He also has a number of Grammys, Golden Globes, and Emmys, and he's only 42. His latest project is Nolan's "The Odyssey. And for it, Ludwig went looking for instruments most people haven't heard for thousands of years.
For his Monday morning, Ludwig told me about pre-dawn hikes past coyotes in Griffith Park, why Swedes are entitled to daily cinnamon buns, and how he professionally collaborates with his wife, Serena. I'm Lane Florsheim, and that's coming up after the break. This is a show where we get into morning routines.
So what time do you usually wake up on a Monday, and what's the first thing you do after waking up? - So it depends on kind of where I'm at in my work, if it's, like, one of the craziest times or if it's one of the lesser crazier times, 'cause during a final time of a project, you know, two, three months before the movie comes out, I'm, like, you know, work very late and stuff. But if not, I try to get up early in the morning, get up like...
I've actually gotten a really great routine lately where I get up at around 5:40, and I do a little hike around Griffith Park with my dog, Barbara. But it's crazy because now it's so dark in the morning, so, you know, I almost need to have a flashlight on or something because there's a bunch of coyotes and stuff in the park.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- film scoring
- monday morning rituals
- ancient instruments
- oscars
- los angeles fires
Watch the episode
Watch “Why Ludwig Göransson Keeps His Oscars on the Bottom Shelf | The Journal” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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