Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold on creating the music for Amazon’s documentary Wildcat – Sound and Screen

Robin Pecknold is best known as the frontman of the indie-folk band Fleet Foxes, but he is also busy composing music for the stage and screen. His sounds will be heard next wild cat, an upcoming Amazon Studios documentary that follows a young veteran on his journey to the Amazon.

Following his performance, Pecknold appeared on a panel at Deadline’s Sound & Screen event with a 60-piece orchestra to discuss his process of creating music for the December 30 release.

“In my songwriting process, I usually start with the melody,” he said. “Then I write a lot of little things and only think about how to put them together later when I end up with a chorus that started as a bridge to something else. Or with things that go in surprising directions in different combinations, that’s how it usually works.”

Thanks to his many years as a composer of folk music, Pecknold connected with the story behind it wild cat and the connection with nature. “Everyone should see this; it’s really touching and beautiful,” he said. “I love that it takes place in this natural, wild environment. It’s a very human and psychological story that appealed to me. I think you often go into nature looking for a psychological answer or truth or something.”

Pecknold credits Brazilian musician Tim Bernardes, with whom he previously worked on the music for Fleet Foxes, for creating “beautiful melodies, vocals and electric guitars” in the original song for wild cat titled “A Heaven Like I’ve Never Seen Before.” The pair recorded over seven studio days in Amsterdam between the band’s tour dates, which they say is relatively quick.

He says his approach to music for films is similar to how he writes music for Fleet Foxes albums, especially with what inspired his premise.

“It’s great to have something to perform. It is a great challenge to think about how some British folk elements mixed with some wild elements have a wild texture that feels unpredictable like a cat’s behavior is difficult to predict. Trying to think about how to relate to the story lyrically and musically in a way that’s not completely obvious but is still creatively generative,” he said. “That’s how I approach songwriting sometimes. I will give myself these little tips so I don’t just fly blind. There are songs that we’ve released that started as a kind of imaginary score for various films just to have something to work with or draw inspiration from right from the start.

Check back Monday for the panel video.