David Long (New Zealand Musician)
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David Long is a musician, composer and producer. In 2020 he won best score at the APRA Silver Scrolls for the BBC drama series, The Luminaries. He composes mainly for film and television but also contemporary dance. He has worked on all of
Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...
’s films of the last two decades. He performs with two bands, The Labcoats (two albums) and Teeth (one album).


Film career

In 2021 he composed the score for the feature film, Punch and a dance show for Tupua Tugafua as well as composing for two more series of Mystic. In late 2021 he is releasing an album for small ensemble. In 2020 he composed (with Steve Gallagher) the score for the CBBC series, Mystic. He also composed for Sean MacDonald's dance show Ngā Wai for Atamira Dance Company. In 2019 he composed the score for the BBC drama series
The Luminaries ''The Luminaries'' is a 2013 novel by Eleanor Catton. Set in New Zealand's South Island in 1866, the novel follows Walter Moody, a prospector who travels to the West Coast settlement of Hokitika to make his fortune on the goldfields. Instead ...
and also the second series of the children's TV series Kiddets. In 2009 he composed the additional score for Peter Jackson’s ''
The Lovely Bones ''The Lovely Bones'' is a 2002 novel by American writer Alice Sebold. It is the story of a teenage girl who, after being raped and murdered, watches from a personal heaven as her family and friends struggle to move on with their lives while she ...
''. For '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'' he wrote (in collaboration with Plan 9 Music) ‘Misty Mountain’, a song for the dwarves that also features as the major theme in the score and was used as the basis for the credits song by
Neil Finn Neil Mullane Finn (born 27 May 1958) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known for being a principal member of Split Enz and for being the lead singer of Crowded House. He was also a member of Fleetwood Mac from 2018 ...
. He wrote music and created musical sound design for Peter Jackson's ''
The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...
'' and ''
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'' (also with Plan 9 Music). In 2013 he composed the score for '' Beyond the Edge'' (dir.
Leanne Pooley Leanne Pooley ONZM is a Canadian filmmaker based in Auckland, New Zealand. Pooley was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, she immigrated to New Zealand in the mid-1980s and began working in the New Zealand television and film industry ...
), ''Gardening With Soul'' (dir. Jess Feast) that premiered in the
Wellington Film Festival The New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) () is a film festival held annually across New Zealand. The festival is operated by the New Zealand Film Festival Trust. It programmes international and New Zealand films. History The festiva ...
. In 2012 three films were released that he scored: Robert Sarkies's ''
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'', Alyx Duncan's ''The Red House'' and Dan Salmon's ''Pictures of Susan'' (a feature documentary). In 2011 he scored Simon Pattison's film ''Rest for the Wicked'' and in 2010 wrote the score for
Stephen Sinclair Stephen Sinclair is a New Zealand playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the co-author of stage comedy '' Ladies Night''. In 2001, the French version won the Molière Award for stage comedy of the year. Other plays include ''The Bellbird'' a ...
’s '' Russian Snark''. Long has composed for many television dramas and documentaries. Between 2009 and 2011 he created the music for the Weta Workshop children's series '' The WotWots'' (78 episodes) which has screened in over 100 countries. In 2009-10 he scored two series of ''
Paradise Café ''Paradise Café'' is a teen television series that premiered on 6 January 2009 on CBBC Channel and TV2. It was a co-production between New Zealand's Gibson Group and UK company Initial, a division of Endemol. The first series started on 6 Jan ...
'', an NZ/UK (BBC) co-production. In 2010 he scored ''Ice'', a mini-series for the UK's Power TV (starring
Richard Roxburgh Richard Roxburgh (born 23 January 1962) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of a number of accolades across film, television, and theatre, including several AFI and AACTA Awards, Logie Awards, and Helpmann Awards. He bega ...
and
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). He won Achievement in Original Music at the Air
New Zealand Film and Television Awards New Zealand film and television awards have gone by many different names and have been organised by different industry groups. As of 2017, New Zealand has relaunched a standalone New Zealand Television Awards after a five-year hiatus. The film awa ...
for two years running for his scores for the television series ''Insiders Guide to Happiness'' (2005), and for ''Insiders Guide to Love'' (2006). He composed the score for
Loren Taylor Loren Manuel Taylor (born July 26, 1977) is an American politician who served a member of the Oakland City Council from the 6th district from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he ran for List of m ...
's 2024 romantic comedy film '' The Moon Is Upside Down''.


Dance and musical career

David has had a long association with contemporary dance. He has written many pieces for New Zealand's pre-eminent choreographer Douglas Wright. For the 2011
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
Arts Festival, he composed the music for Wright's dance show ''Rapt'' which toured to the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
in 2013. He has also written for Sona McCullagh and Raewyn Hill, among others. He has released 3 solo albums, ''Cross Creek'' and ''Slim Volume'' and the soundtrack for ''Beyond the Edge'' (released by Rattle Records). He has also written a piece for the
New Zealand String Quartet The New Zealand String Quartet (established 1987) is New Zealand's only full-time string quartet. The New Zealand String Quartet are resident artists at the biennial Adam Chamber Music Festival in Nelson, New Zealand, and have been the quartet ...
and Stroma, a contemporary chamber orchestra. He has released various experimental albums with The Labcoats and The Metabolists. A new Labcoats album is in the offing. Long was a founding member of the seminal New Zealand band
The Mutton Birds The Mutton Birds were a New Zealand rock music group formed in Auckland in 1991 by Ross Burge, David Long and Don McGlashan, with Alan Gregg joining a year later. Four of their albums reached the top 10 on the New Zealand Albums Char ...
with whom he made 3 albums over 7 years. In 2012 they reformed for a wineries tour and returned to London to perform in October of that year. The Mutton Birds were asked by Peter Jackson to record a version of ''Don’t Fear the Reaper'' for the credits of ''The Frighteners''. In the 1980s he was a member of The Six Volts - a Wellington experimental group. He has produced many albums for a wide variety of artists including
Dave Dobbyn Sir David Joseph Dobbyn (born 3 January 1957) is a New Zealand musician, singer–songwriter and record producer. In his early career he was a member of the rock group Th' Dudes and was the main creative force in pop band DD Smash. Since then h ...
’s ''
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'' (2005), two albums for Barry Saunders, ''Red Morning'', (2005) and ''Zodiac'', (2009), Lucid 3's ''Dawn Planes'' (2007) and Leila Adu's ''Cherry Pie'' (2006). He won
Producer of the Year The Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical is an honor presented to record producers for quality non-classical music at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in ...
at the 2002
New Zealand Music Awards The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously called the New Zealand Music Awards), conferred annually by Recorded Music NZ, honour outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the recording industry. The awards are among the most significant that ...
for
Fur Patrol Fur Patrol were a New Zealand rock band, which formed in Wellington in May 1996 by Andrew Bain on bass guitar, Simon Braxton on drums, Julia Deans on lead vocals and guitar, and Steve Wells on lead guitar. Their debut studio album, '' Pet'' (Se ...
’s ''Pet''.


References


External links



Audio Culture *
David Long - Mana Music. Archived
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, David New Zealand composers New Zealand male composers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)