Solomon Grey: ‘We were going to give up on music dream until we got to write for JK Rowling’

Tom Kingston and Joe Wilson met 15 years ago but struggled to “find their sound” until being commissioned to create the score for the television adaptation of JK Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy
Success: Joe Wilson and Tom Kingston said Rowling was a “big fan” of the score
Solomon Grey

The London duo who created the score for the television adaptation of JK Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy have revealed that they were about to give up on music before producers signed them for the job.

Solomon Grey artists Tom Kingston and Joe Wilson met 15 years ago but struggled to “find their sound” and get signed. Kingston then fell ill and was uprooted to his wife’s family farm in Australia.

But despite being on opposite sides of the world, the pair — whose sound is a mix of classical instrumental and studio production — continued working and in 2014 were commissioned to create the soundtrack for the BBC and HBO adaptation.

The mini-series, which was broadcast last year, led them to finally complete their debut self-titled album, which was released last week. BBC 6 Music’s Lauren Laverne has called their work “stunning” while Zane Lowe has hailed them as the “future of Radio 1”.

Wilson, who is married to Episodes actress Daisy Haggard, said the pair were “finally able to eat and buy new clothes” after the commission. He added: “It really was an uphill struggle. There were a number of times we thought about packing up the studio in the back of the car and leaving it. But we just kept working at it.

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“We were so lucky to get The Casual Vacancy and it was huge for us. Having someone on the outside set a deadline and having requirements pushed us to the next level. We didn’t have that before which was both a blessing and not.”

Kingston added: “It’s not a sob story, as a lot of non-produced bands go through a lot. It’s what makes the sound more authentic.”

He described meeting Rowling, an executive producer on the show, as surreal. “I said hello at a screening and her and her husband said they really enjoyed the score,” he said. Wilson added: “It’s part of our press junket now — we can say for sure that JK Rowling is a big fan.”

Solomon Grey is out now on Decca Records.

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