Dustin O'Halloran

From Devics to film scores

Dustin O'Halloran was born on September 8, 1971 in Phoenix, grew up mostly in Hawaii and Los Angeles, and studied art at Santa Monica College. He co-founded the indie rock band Devics in 1998 and, after signing to Bella Union in 2001, lived for several years in Romagna, Italy. He has said he did not attend a conservatory and does not feel like a pianist in the traditional way. His solo records began with Piano Solos (2004, Splinter) and Piano Solos Vol. 2 (2006), followed by the live Vorleben (2010, Sonic Pieces; reissued by Fat Cat in 2011) and Lumiere (2011), with Peter Broderick and Adam Wiltzie and a mix by Johann Johannsson. With Wiltzie he also makes records as A Winged Victory for the Sullen.

In 2006 Sofia Coppola used his piano music in Marie Antoinette. He told Apple Music that "Opus 17" got him into film scoring, adding that people probably thought it was by a dead composer. He went on to score Like Crazy (2011), Lion (2016, with Hauschka, nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA), The Hate U Give (2018) and Ammonite (2020), and he won a 2015 Primetime Emmy for the main title music of Transparent. He signed to Deutsche Grammophon in 2019 and released Sundoor (2019), Silfur (June 11, 2021) and 1 0 0 1 (2024).

Silfur was made during lockdown in Iceland. The title comes from silfurberg, the Icelandic word for a silver rock, a crystal he was given at the first session; it revisits older pieces alongside new ones, and a second session in Reykjavik's Frikirkjan church added more decay to the sound. Clash described him as a composer who writes best when a piece asks for little.