‘Goosebumps’ Executive Producers Talk ‘Setting the Tone’ For a Multi-Decade Series: ‘The 90s Is Our Sweet Spot’
Just in time for spooky season, the new Goosebumps TV series officially hit Disney+ and Hulu on Friday (Oct. 13), and beyond the creepy storylines based on R.L. Stine’s beloved ’90s books, the soundtrack is equally goosebump-inducing (in a good way).
The horror-comedy series stars Justin Long as teacher Nathan Bratt, who moves into a house haunted by the ghost of Harold Biddle, a 14-year-old boy who was tragically killed, and ends up getting possessed. To soundtrack the show, executive producers Conor Welch and Pavun Shetty worked with music supervising manager Manish Raval to put together a track list that seamlessly blends together some iconic tracks from the 1990s with modern hits.
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The show features throwback jams like Radiohead’s “Creep,” REM’s “Drive,” Smashing Pumpkins’ “Today” and Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” with today’s top hits like SZA’s “Kill Bill,” Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” and Billie Eilish’s Khalid collaboration, “Lovely.” Of course, Travis Scott’s “Goosebumps” is also in the mix.
Below, Billboard caught up with Welch and Shetty as they shared what it was like tapping back into their favorite era of music to create the perfect soundtrack for an iconic series.
Tell me a bit about how the soundtrack came together.
Conor Welch: First of all, our music supervisor manager Manish Raval is is the best in the game. We both love his company and use him as often as we possibly can. With this, it was really fun because we do some flashbacks into the 90s to showcase the experience of some of the parents and what they were going through in high school. So, it was really fun to mirror match contemporary music with some of the throwback from the 90s that Pavun and I grew up with. We found that it was a really easy way to immediately let an audience know that we’ve jumped back in time With a Smashing Pumpkins or a Soundgarden needle drop. It immediately feels like it was setting the tone and it was really fun.
Pavun Shetty: We had a good time debating because all the creators and Conor and I, the music of the 90s is our sweet spot. We were debating if we were going to open with REM or Smashing Pumpkins or what it was gonna be — and there’s a big dance sequence with Justin Long’s character to Proclaimers’ “500 Miles” which is great. But of course, the show appeals to not just us old people, but also for young people too. So, we wanted to make sure that a lot of the music felt contemporary at the same time and having fun with those two time periods was great.
I’m actually surprised looking at the track list at how cohesive the modern music felt in combination with the older music.
Conor: I’m happy that you found that to be the case because that was completely our intention. It also thematically makes sense because the high school experience which we’re really exploring here — and elevating with some some horror tropes and totems —but the high school experience of the 90s, when Pavun and I were in high school, and present day is really pretty similar. You know, there are some extra things added on top of it like social media and phones in your pockets and stuff like that, but really the same issues remain, whether it’s identity or first love, unrequited love, things like that. I feel like the music reflects that. While the sound is a bit different between the Smashing Pumpkins and Billie Eilish, there’s still some of the similar angst and some of the similar relatable issues that are driving it.
Pavun: What we talk about a lot is that we grew up reading the books and now, looking back on it, there’s a sense of nostalgia that comes with that where we get the feeling that we had when we first read the books. A lot of people are discovering the books for the first time, and so we feel similar with the music where we’re bringing songs back that we loved growing up and, hopefully, there’s some high schoolers that are hearing some of these things for the first time too which can be pretty fun to hear their reaction.
Do you hope Goosebumps follows in the steps of Stranger Things by introducing the young generation to classic songs?
Conor: I mean, what better way to introduce a new generation to The Proclaimers than having a character played by Justin Long, possessed by a 14-year-old boy, getting down to an old tune? It just feels like that’s exactly the way we’d love to introduce some of these classics to the youth.
Tell me a bit about the choice of adding Travis Scott’s “Goosebumps” to the soundtrack. It feels very on the nose but also fits so well!
Conor: It just felt like it fit perfectly, in the way that we expect that it will surprise the audience that something as contemporary as hip hop is in our version of Goosebumps. It felt unexpected and exciting. For a young audience, the song is like an anthem of their youth and, to an older audience, they may be hearing it for the first time. This surprising mash up of horror and Smashing Pumpkins and Travis Scott is the type of thing we hope to keep an audience on their toes with.
Is there a song that didn’t make the cut?
Pavun: We had a Nirvana song at one point that we were toying with that we had in the cut and then we had to remove because we didn’t get clearance. It might have been “All Apologies,” but I don’t remember.
Conor: There were a couple options I think from the MTV Unplugged album specifically that felt in the pocket, but for clearance issues, it couldn’t work out. But I think we found some pretty terrific alternatives that ended up being just as great.
Is there a music moment you’re most looking forward to seeing reactions to?
Pavun: In episode five, our character Margot gets a scrapbook from Justin Long’s character and she opens it up and she gets sent back to the past to when her parents were actually in high school. She opens it up and sees her mom and the opening of “Today” by Smashing Pumpkins hits right when her mom looks and sees the character of Harold Biddle next to her. That timing worked really well and was a good intro to the 90s for that scene and set the template for what that episode would be like going back and forth between present day and the 90s.
Conor: For me, I think choosing REM’s “Drive”to start our series off on is really exciting because, for me, I always judge television and movies based on the first song. If it connects with me, I’m like, ‘OK, I’m on board.’ That song is one of my all time favorites and is one that hopefully an audience will be surprised and delighted by and just be ready for the rest of the ride.
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