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In a television landscape filled with high drama and heavy emotion, Acapulco stands out as a rare gem: lighthearted, deeply human, and infused with warmth. At the heart of that emotional resonance is the music, a vibrant, heartfelt score that reflects the show’s unique blend of comedy, nostalgia, and Mexican cultural richness. Bo Boddie has been with Acapulco since the beginning, crafting a sound that’s as joyful and nuanced as the story itself. In this interview, they share what it’s like to score a show where positivity isn’t just on the screen, it’s part of the creative DNA. From collaborating with showrunners and music supervisors to discovering unexpected inspiration in a granular delay pedal, we dive into the process behind the melodies, the themes, and the emotion that make Acapulco sing.
Acapulco is described as a warm, uplifting show that really connects with audiences and the people who work on it. What’s it been like scoring a project with such a positive spirit?
It’s been a truly wonderful experience – the spirit of the show is truly embodied by everyone working on it. It’s certainly not unusual to feel a sense of pride for any given project, but with Acapulco, there really was a sense of love and positivity permeating everything we did – we were not only invested in making the show the best that it could be, but also really enjoyed each other’s company. Of course, the majority of my involvement with the show was during post-production, but judging from all of the interaction I’ve had with cast and crew over the years,it’s well in evidence that everyone felt the same way, and that was particularly clear in the power of the relationships we built during the show’s duration.
All of that said, writing score for the show was a pleasure – I was fully licensed to lean into and embody the spirit that you’re talking about without a trace of irony – to be able to provide a very pure support of the emotion and comedy so evident over the scope of the series was so welcomed; I always looked forward to our spotting sessions and score reviews, and truly enjoyed the collaborative quality of the work. Our showrunners, Austin Winsberg, Sam Laybourne, Chris Harris (season 2), Jay Karas (season 3), and all of the writers had such a strong sense of keeping the perfect balance of sweetness, comedy, and drama that really made the show tick. In addition, our music team, comprised of Joe Rodriguez, Javier Nuno (music supervisors), Jaclyn Newman (music editor), and Jason Soudah (score mixer), made everything a joy.
What were your first thoughts when you learned you’d be scoring a show set in Mexico? How did you prepare musically?
I was excited for the challenge, it’s one of the great things about this work – you often have to stretch and push yourself when it comes to exploring different musical genres, so every new project is a great learning experience. With Acapulco, I had the great benefit of collaborating with our music supervisors Joe and Javier, who had put together a big playlist of classic Mexican music, from which I was able to extract a lot of ideas for rhythms, harmony, and instrumentation. Early in the process, Joe’s ear was a litmus test for authenticity, and I could always rely on his feedback, helping to ensure the music stayed true to the show’s Mexican setting rather than drifting into a broader pan-Latin or Caribbean palette. In addition, since the nylon string guitar is a big part of the score, I really had to do a lot of practicing to get into good enough shape to perform all of those parts.
Every character has their own theme, how do you approach writing a theme that captures the essence of a person on screen?
In retrospect, it feels osmotic. Coming into the show, I was open to exploring the score through a variety of approaches, but it quickly became evident that it was going to be the strongest framework. There are a lot of themes, and they are both character and situation-based based with plenty of crossover given a particular scenario. As for how the themes were written, it has a lot to do with how I responded to the scene I was scoring at a given moment. It always seemed very easy, and often, that first pass of score would become the theme after the fact – I don’t remember too much agonizing over what a particular motif should be, although my realization of ‘writing a theme’ for a new character definitely became a part of the process. A big part of it was just trusting my instincts in the moment and then refining if necessary, and generally speaking, those pitches were well received. As a rule, I tend to try and honor the gut response to what I’m seeing/feeling – and know that with some familiarity, whatever that was can easily become something that seems inevitable. Certain characters definitely had more story-driven roles that could be more narrowly focused; for instance, Alejandro Vera’s theme has an element of foreboding and darkness, or Dulce, whose theme has an element of mischief. The real fun with using this leitmotif approach is the ability to retool themes and use them as allusions in different scenarios, which really helps add an additional layer of resonance to the story.
Can you share a scene or episode that stands out to you as a particularly powerful or rewarding moment to score?
For this question, I think I’ll focus on season four, during which there are plenty of great musical moments. At the moment, I’m thinking of episode 5, which revolves around the creation and unfolding of a dinner party – loaded with subtext and culminating in an unexpected conclusion. The theme starts early in the episode in its most simple and elemental form, and each time we go back to revisit it becomes more involved and emotionally charged, incorporating some moments of tighter scoring to emphasize the action; as it builds and becomes more frenzied we ultimately see what all of the pressure yields and the cue changes mood radically to cover the end credits – which actually end up acting as the main titles for episode 6. I was really happy with how this one turned out, and I think it serves as one of the more standout musical moments of our last season.
How has the music evolved over the course of four seasons? What’s changed, and what’s stayed true to the original sound?
For certain, the main instrumentation elements have remained strong – nylon string guitar, brass, percussion, upright bass, Farfisa/Vox organ, and occasionally electric guitar and strings. In season one there was more experimentation evident in the sound, at that point I was also writing a lot of eighties inspired cues that tracked more in the source vein – they were great and a lot of fun, but ultimately seemed more like outliers when it came to consistently tracking the emotional thread of the story, although some of those old gems do come up every now and then. I think the evolution has been more a distillation of themes and core elements over time – everyone had a very good sense of what really worked, and was most familiar and supportive to the narrative, which, as it turns out, are most of the core elements that I originally employed in the pilot.
Are there any go-to instruments or plugins that always seem to find their way into an Acapulco cue?
Well, almost every cue starts out with guitar, and from there, usually some percussion and upright bass. Trumpet and reed organ are also a pretty big part of the sound. Plug-in-wise wise the Arturia models of the Farfisa and Vox organs have been indispensable, as well as some percussion from Toontrack and strings from the Spitfire Audio sample libraries. I also like to use the UAD Capitol Chambers and EMT140 for reverbs – and that said, another big part of the sound is score mixer Jason Soudah’s wonderful mixes – he’s the last stop on every Acapulco cue.
Can you describe a moment where an unconventional sound or piece of gear led to a breakthrough in a cue?
The end credit cue of episode 107 would be a good example of this – We were looking for something a little sonically different at the end of that installment, kind of eighties-inspired but also with some contemporary flair. I had just purchased a Hologram Microcosm, which is a pedal-based effect incorporating looping, granular effects, and a lot of idiosyncratic delay and pitch shifting options – it’s a really beautiful-sounding multi-effects platform with a lot of ambient atmospheric vibe built into it. I just plugged a guitar into it for the first time, turned a knob, pushed a few buttons, and came up with something that added a lot of dimension and interest that otherwise wouldn’t have been there, of course, only really scratching the surface of what it’s capable of, but instantly effective.
What’s something most people don’t realize about composing for a feel-good, comedic series like Acapulco?
That it really feels good! And that finding the right balance of emotional warmth can actually be a challenge to score without sounding saccharine or forced – it takes sincerity and simplicity.
What has scoring Acapulco taught you as a composer?
The most significant takeaway for me has been developing a deep love and appreciation for the wide and rich diversity of Mexican musical styles. I feel like one of the biggest accomplishments was to be able to synthesize those ideas and incorporate them into needs of providing a dramatic and cohesive score; and yet, I think that even though the score is inspired by a musical tradition, it definitely also has it’s own unique character, so learning to use those elements and style while also providing balanced support for the story was a great lesson.
What advice would you give to emerging composers trying to develop a unique sound while still meeting the demands of a TV production?
I would say that while having a unique sound is a great thing to keep in mind, that unique sound is inherent to everyone as we all uncover our preferences and habits when composing massive amounts of music for a series. That said, a TV composer’s first priority is always to serve the creative vision of the story being told, not to mention the desires and opinions of the showrunner and other creative voices in the production. There are always projects that allow the composer to stretch and have a more powerful voice, but more often than not it seems that plainly supporting the narrative is the chief priority – Perhaps a bit glib, but on occasion I’ve found myself saying that anything that distracts me from the narrative is a liability – especially if it’s score that is pushing an agenda. Simplicity is definitely underrated, but it is often the most impactful approach for underscore. So my advice would be to recognize and pay credence to your unique voice – but only to the extent that it’s in service to the most elegant support of the narrative.
