Distorted Beauty: Raffertie on Crafting “the Substance” Score
Interview with Benjamin Stefanski (Raffertie)
Conducted by Michiel Marsman
Michiel Marsman (MM): Benjamin, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me. I'm thrilled to have you as the second guest in this series about music and horror. After watching Substance, I was triggered by your score. It's bold, unsettling, emotional, and beautiful. I wanted to understand more about how it came together.
Benjamin Stefanski (BS): Thank you! I'm really glad you enjoyed it. It was a wild process.
MM: I rewatched the film recently and actually found the humor came through more on a second viewing.
BS: I completely agree. The first time I saw it was at Cannes, and we’d only just finished mixing it—maybe three or four days before. I was still delivering music right up to the wire. So at that premiere, I could barely even hear the score. It was all just a blur. But when I saw it again later in LA, closer to the release, it was a completely different experience. I could hear everything properly, the mix was polished, and the humor hit in a much clearer way.
MM: That must be intense—watching it back so soon after finishing.
BS: Absolutely. When you're that deep in the process, you’re still so close to it that it's hard to get any perspective. But sometimes that pressure actually helps. You don’t have time to second guess or overthink—you just respond instinctively. That gut-level decision-making can lead to really strong results, especially when there’s trust between you and the director.
Benjamin Stefanski (Raffertie) - Film composer
MM: And how was your collaboration with Coralie Fargeat, the director?
BS: Coralie was incredibly clear from the start. She knew exactly what she wanted and communicated it beautifully. That made things much easier. She had a real vision, and we clicked quickly. Some directors need more exploratory time, but she had such a firm grasp on the tone, the emotional core, and how the score should support it.
MM: Since this series is about scoring horror, I'm curious—do you have a particular connection to the genre?
BS: I do love horror. There's something about the genre that gives you a lot of freedom musically. It’s a space where you can be experimental and really explore emotions in an intense way. I wouldn’t say I set out to be a horror composer specifically, but my style seems to lend itself naturally to horror or horror-adjacent material.
MM: Any horror scores that left a mark on you?
BS: Jerry Goldsmith’s Alien score definitely had a huge impact on me. Also his score for Planet of the Apes, which isn’t horror, but it's so inventive. And Bernard Herrmann—just his whole body of work, really. More recently, it was probably hearing what Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross were doing that made me realize how my music could fit into the cinematic world. Their work opened a lot of doors for contemporary electronic scoring.
MM: Under the Skin came to mind for me while watching Substance.
BS: Yes, Mica Levi’s score is incredible. That one really stuck with me as well.
MM: You studied at a conservatoire, right? Did you always know you wanted to compose for film?
BS: At first, I thought being an artist and being a film composer were two totally separate disciplines. But over time, I realized I can’t really be anyone other than myself. Whether I’m making a record or scoring a film, it all comes from the same creative place. The big difference is that with a film, you’re helping someone else express their idea. But emotionally, the process is very similar.
MM: And when those emotional and visual elements come together just right, it can feel like magic.
BS: Exactly. That’s the feeling I chase. Those rare moments where everything aligns—performance, picture, music—and it becomes more than the sum of its parts.
MM: How did you first get involved with Substance?
BS: It was kind of a happy accident. My agent reached out in late 2023 and said something might be coming up. I sent over a reel without knowing much about the film. Coralie had already temped the entire movie with existing music, and she responded really positively to what I sent. We had a Zoom meeting after I’d watched the film—still in a near-final edit—and we just clicked. She knew the temp wasn’t the final sound, but it helped communicate the emotional shape she was after.
MM: That internal voice theme—how did that shape your approach?
BS: One of the first things Coralie talked about was the film’s portrayal of internal violence—the voice we all have that says terrible things about ourselves. I saw the film as a personification of that voice. Monstro, the creature, is basically that inner monologue made flesh. So the score had to reflect that intensity and psychological texture.
MM: Where did you begin sonically?
BS: Coralie encouraged me to send everything I was working on, even the rawest sketches. That’s unusual for me—I usually hold back until things are more polished—but she had an amazing ability to hear potential in rough material. She’d say, “The bit at 34 seconds is amazing,” and we’d build from there. It was incredibly collaborative.
MM: Let’s talk about the main theme. That techno-inflected track has really taken off.
BS: Yeah, it’s wild. That track grew out of one of the earliest sketches. It’s used when Sue is getting dressed in the catsuit and the camera circles around her. We wanted a sonic distinction between the two leads: Elizabeth’s world was more organic and nostalgic, while Sue’s was synthetic, processed, younger. That track helped define Sue’s musical space—and it became the defining sound of Substance.
MM: Did you compose to picture from the start?
BS: Yes, from day one. The edit was mostly locked, so I could write very specifically to scenes. That said, we were still experimenting—lifting elements from one cue, putting them into another, and seeing how they played. That kind of cross-pollination helped us find the unique voice of the score.
MM: I also loved the softer, nostalgic cues—like Elizabeth’s theme.
BS: Right, that grew from discussions about Hollywood nostalgia. Elizabeth is a former Oscar-winning actress, so we referenced composers like Bernard Herrmann and old Hollywood string writing. We wanted her world to feel lush and beautiful—contrasting the synthetic edge of Sue’s. Over time, the two musical worlds collide and become more chaotic and violent as the film progresses.
MM: The cue “Apartment” really stood out to me—so textural and strange. How did that come together?
BS: That’s actually just my voice. I recorded long held notes, then used a vocal harmony plugin combined with time-stretching in Ableton. The algorithm began chopping the audio in strange ways, creating these weird, juddering textures. It was a pure experiment, but it became a big part of the film’s sound palette. I like to work with a kind of creative economy—take one idea and twist it into as many things as possible.
MM: Do you work closely in-person with directors?
BS: Sometimes, if they’re in London and doing post here, I’ll visit the edit suite. But usually, I prefer working independently and keeping contact mainly with the director. Too many voices can dilute the creative vision. That one-on-one communication is where the best work happens.
MM: Do you mix your own music?
BS: Yes, out of necessity at first, and now out of choice. Mixing is a key part of my sound, and I do it as I go. Even if I eventually work with a dedicated mixer, I’d want them to preserve the core aesthetic. For now, I handle it all myself.
MM: And for surround mixes, how involved are you?
BS: I usually leave that to the dub stage. Most scores are essentially stereo anyway, and reverb is used to fill the rear channels. Unless you’re composing something that specifically needs spatial movement, stereo is the core format. But maybe I’ll upgrade to surround one day!
MM: After Substance, are more big projects coming your way?
BS: It’s been amazing to see the response to the film and the score. People are remixing the tracks, making fan art—it’s wild. I’ve had some exciting new conversations as a result. There’s a project I’m working on now that I can’t talk about yet, but it’s very promising. We’ll see where it all goes.
MM: Well, I can’t wait to see what’s next. Thanks again for such a great conversation, and congrats on a phenomenal score.
BS: Thank you so much, Michiel. It was a pleasure!
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