How to Score a Neo-Noir, Paranoid Thriller Like 'Gazer'

Steve Matthew Carter is a Nashville-based media composer working in film, TV and advertising. He most recently scored 2025's Gazer, a neo-noir, paranoid thriller directed by Ryan J. Sloan that premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and distributed by Metrograph Pictures.

It's a creepy movie where the music takes you through all of the characters' emotions and leaves you terrified.

It was a pleasure sitting down with him to talk more about his world.

Let's dive in.

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NFS: Could you describe your primary influences for your Gazer score?

Steve Matthew Carter: Gazer’s score is rooted in 1970s jazzy paranoia mixed with more modern ambient textures. Taxi Driver and The Conversation were big influences. We chose saxophone to be a primary instrument in the score as an homage to Gene Hackman’s character Harry Caul, who iconically plays one in the film, but it’s never used in David Shire’s score. Director Ryan J. Sloan and I also spoke about Alan Pakula’s films of the 70s like Klute, All The President’s Me,n and The Parallax View. For some of the more modern influences, I was thinking about the textural work of Tim Hecker and Colin Stetson. I wanted Gazer’s score to have a certain lonely, inward energy with a blend of melody and ambiguity.

NFS: I understand this film was a labor of love amongst you and several New Jersey natives. What was it like to make a film with such close friends in your home state?

SMC: It was incredibly special. I’ve known Ryan and Ariella for years, and we all love to see New Jersey represented on film. We wanted the score to reflect the working-class, industrial feel of the Newark, Kearny, and Harrison areas where the film was shot. Because everything was so local and DIY, I got to be on set for a few days and hang with the cast and crew, which is rare for a composer. There’s such a great homegrown camaraderie between everyone who worked on this film, and I think that adds to the authenticity of it.

NFS: How did your score evolve throughout the production process, considering you and director Ryan J. Sloan began collaborating on certain cues before filming even began?

SMC: When Ryan shared some early drafts of the script, he gave me two directions: he wanted the music to feel like a world you can’t escape from, and he wanted a melody that Frankie’s daughter could hum diegetically. That melody became the main theme, and some of the early pieces I wrote made it into the final film. Ryan even played my early cues on set to help the cast and crew tap into the atmosphere of the film. That helped everyone stay emotionally anchored across the years-long fragmented shoot.

NFS: Were there any instruments or tools that proved especially crucial in your compositions for Gazer?

SMC: The Subharmonicon from Moog was huge for me because I could create polyrhythms that reflect Frankie’s fractured sense of time. Baritone and tenor saxophone, played by my friend Harrison Bieth, became the emotional throughline. I also leaned into synths like the Lyra-8 from Soma Laboratory and the Strega from Make Noise for texture and noise.

I also brought in my cousin Andrea Deeb on violin for the nightmarish flashback scenes that were scored entirely with processed violin to create a totally distinct sonic world. Cinematographer Matheus Bastos pushed the film stock to a more reddish, grindhouse look, and that inspired me to think differently about the nightmare scenes and make those feel distinct from the blue-ish hues in Frankie's real life. We didn’t have a big budget, so we relied on sound design, tape hiss, analog degradation, and favors to give the score its gritty feel.

  Steve Matthew Carter Credit: Jaclyn Antonacc

NFS: Gazer seems to be a notable departure from your previous work on the coming-of-age film Escaping Ohio. How does your approach differ or remain consistent across varying genre films?

SMC: Gazer was definitely a departure from Escaping Ohio, which had such a warm, heartfelt tone. I tend to gravitate toward darker, more experimental material, but I love working with director/actor/writer Jessica Michael Davis. She really helped me find my voice in the rom-com space, and I’ve also had a great time collaborating with her on her darker work, like Betty Bites Back. Both projects pushed me in different ways, and I’m grateful for that range. My core approach doesn’t really change; I always work with the director to find the sound of a world, regardless of genre or style.

NFS: It is rare for independent films such as Gazer to get a theatrical release in today’s cinematic landscape. What did it mean to you and your collaborators for audiences to be able to see the film in the cinema?

SMC: We always knew we wanted Gazer to play in theaters, and we fought for that. Getting to finally share that with an audience was incredibly gratifying. The 16mm film stock directly influenced my decision-making in the score, and to see it blown up at places like Cannes or the Angelika in NYC was an absolute dream. We also hope this can inspire other young filmmakers to make things they want to see because that’s really what we set out to do with Gazer.

NFS: Because of its protagonist’s rare brain disorder, Gazer can be an effectively disorienting film at times. How did you try to evoke this feeling with your music?

SMC: Frankie’s condition makes her feel like an analog person in a digital world. Her daily life is frustrating, and I wanted the music to mirror that. I used radio static and rhythmic instability to create a sense of disorientation. Synths and performances from my live players helped me craft cues that drift in and out of sync, echoing her warped sense of time. There’s a lot of noise and distortion, but we have a main theme that’s hummed by her daughter, and that acts as the emotional anchor. And none of it would land the same without Ariella Mastroianni’s performance. She completely grounds the film.

NFS: Is there anything else you’d like to discuss or share about your work or broader creative philosophy as a composer?

SMC: I loved collaborating with Ryan and Ariella because I’m always thinking about character, texture, and tone, not just scoring moments but helping build a world, which is how we found the sound of Gazer. I feel incredibly lucky that this was my first theatrical release, because it gave me space to explore some of my boldest stylistic instincts and really lean into what excites me most as a composer. I hope my next projects continue to allow me to work with creative people I’m inspired by.