[ep 095] Marcy Bulkeley on music as medicine, film scoring & finding purpose in sound

Marcy Bulkeley has infinite layers to her: powerful, creative, mystical, gentle, bold, and nurturing all at once. With over 25+ years in the music industry, she’s a respected music supervisor, having scored trailers and created original music for films like Dawn of the Dead, Inception, Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse & Looper. 

In 2019, she joined Universal Music Group as VP of Music Curation + Sync A&R. During the pandemic, she led an initiative to create music for meditation apps, collaborating with Kacey Musgravdes, Jhene Aiko, and Katy Perry.

After recently leaving UMG, Marcy launched her creative baby: Subtle Mother, where she guides musicians, producers & songwriters from across the globe in creating music as healing across all platforms. 

She grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut, where generations of her family were raised. Nature was woven into her early life, from the town’s gardens to lakes and rivers in upstate New York. Music was a constant companion—her mother had her listening to Michael Jackson and film scores, and her father would play her The Beatles and Cat Stevens. When she was 11-years-old, Marcy got the chance to go to a recording studio with her father and, after, told him she wanted to put music to picture. 

At 12, she picked up her first drink and her long journey to sobriety began. Through darker times, music was always grounding. After Emerson College, Marcy did stints with record labels, publishing companies, and music producers, leading to a coveted internship with the legendary G. Marq Rosswell. She discovered kundalini yoga, meditation, and breathwork during this era and got sober by age of 29. 

In this conversation, we explore how playlists are time capsules in one’s life; intentionality of film scoring & music supervision and the importance of lyrics; what she learned at UMG; birthing Subtle Mother into the world; what music as medicine means; creating with her husband Danny; and much more.

[TIMESTAMPS]

7:57 - Growing up

12:25 - Why sound tracks and film scores are important for her

23:21 - Did the way she listen to music change on her journey to sobriety

27:13 - Her creative process

33:47 - Her time with Universal Music Group 

57:45 - What to expect from Subtle Mother

01:00:53 - Where to find her

01:02:00 - Final question

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