Contributor
David Long
Composer, Performer
Biography
David Long composes and performs music. In 2022 he released a new album, Ash and Bone, through Rattle Records. It is recorded and mixed by Graham Kennedy and features Carolyn Mills, Bridget Douglas, Pat Barry, Rachel Vernon, Andrew Jarvis and Mark Carter of the NZSO and Riki Gooch. He is soon to release a new album featuring Stroma performing his piece I’ll Hum the First Few Bars and work he made for choreographer Douglas Wright. The feature film Punch which he scored was released in 2022.
In 2022 he composed for three feature films - The Moon is Upside Down, Mysterious Ways and Touchdown. With Stephen Gallagher he won best TV score for Mystic at the 2022 APRA Awards. In 2023 he has composed for the Auckland Festival show The Savage Colonisers, for Tupua Tigafua’s dance show Little Bits and Add Ons for the NZDC and the documentary, Siouxsie, directed by Gwen Isaac.
Since the late 1990s David has been writing music for film and television, alongside playing in bands and composing orchestral music. He has composed scores for over twenty feature films including McLaren (for which he won the APRA Silver Scroll award for Best Original Music), The Ground We Won, 25 April, 6 Days, Gardening with Soul, Beyond the Edge, and additional score for Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones. For The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey he wrote (in collaboration with Plan 9 Music) ‘Misty Mountain’ (endlessly covered by metal bands, national orchestras and the Third Marine Aircraft Wing Band on YouTube). He wrote music and created musical sound design for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong (also with Plan 9 Music). He also wrote the score for the childrens’ TV shows The Wotwots and Kiddets that have played in over 100 countries.
David was a founding member of The Mutton Birds with whom he made three albums. He plays in the bands Teeth and the Labcoats.
Information about David Long and his music for film and television can also be found on the NZ On Screen website.