Ilan Eshkeri: 10 Years of The Snowman and The Snowdog

Composer, artist, songwriter and producer Ilan Eshkeri reveals how he recently teamed up with songwriter Andy Burrows once again for four special shows celebrating the 10th anniversary of much-loved Christmas film, The Snowman and The Snowdog.

When production company Lupus Sounds contacted Eshkeri a decade ago to recruit his expertise, they knew he already had a rich history of writing songs alongside score, aside from working with many bands and artists. They needed a composer who could help them realise the music for The Snowman and The Snowdog, a 2012 animated short film and the sequel to the original The Snowman, which captured the hearts of Brits nationwide with its magic 30 years previous.

The resulting song, Light the Night, was created in collaboration with Razorlight drummer Andy Burrows and serves as the centrepiece of the film, just as Howard Blake’s Walking in the Air did for The Snowman in 1982.

“I have to say, at first I was a little hesitant because I grew up watching The Snowman, like most people in Britain have done,” Eshkeri tells Headliner. “It's a huge undertaking when something is that popular, and it's a part of people's lives. There's a real responsibility not to mess it up, because otherwise you're sort of ruining people's Christmases! It could easily have been a bit of a poison chalice, but I thought really hard about it and agreed to do the job.”

The next step was to discuss which artists Eshkeri was going to collaborate with. Razorlight drummer and songwriter Andy Burrows, who was a friend of Eshkeri’s at the time, seemed to be the obvious choice.

“He’d recently left the band and was releasing some well received solo albums,” Eshkeri recalls. “At the same time it wasn’t like we were bringing in a huge band that would overshadow things. Andy had one daughter at the time – two now – and so he really connected with the kids aspect of it. He also had this little cloud dog called Rufus who was very similar to the Snow Dog, so it all just seemed perfect.

“When we started writing the song and the score together, we wanted it to be really cohesive. It was a big challenge, but looking back on it 10 years later, I feel like we did an alright job. As it was 30 years since the original, we made it more contemporary, and brought a broader pop feel to it.”

In The Snowman and The Snowdog, a boy finds an old picture of the snowman under the floorboards, having moved into the same house where the boy in the original 1982 film started his magical Christmastime adventure. That said, it made sense for Eshkeri and Burrows to make the new song feel more contemporary.

So were there any specific requirements when Eshkeri was approached again to work on the special 10th anniversary concert of The Snowman and The Snowdog?

“We did a series of concerts nine years ago and they were really well received,” he tells Headliner. “So we wanted to do that again. In some ways it's similar, and in other ways we're bringing some more special Christmas magic to it. The show starts with a classical performance from the orchestra, and then we perform The Snowman and The Snowdog with an orchestra and the band and the huge screen – it's really quite spectacular and beautiful.

“There’s an interval and then we come back with the band accompanied by the orchestra, and just play Christmas pop songs. It’s a bit like a singalong – all stuff that you hear on the radio every year. And then we're going to bring in a couple of really special guests who were invited to come and share the stage with us on a couple of different songs. It’s just like a Christmas pop concert really!”

Although Eshkeri describes it simply as a Christmas pop concert, the show is undoubtedly the perfect way to get into the festive spirit. And while he initially felt it was a risk to take on something so famous and well loved by many, he now feels that it has become just as much a part of the British Christmas tradition as the original film.

“I'm really grateful for that,” he continues. “It's not often in anyone's career that they get to create something that touches so many people and connects to a special time for them every year. It’s a really special thing to have had the opportunity to do, so I'm really grateful for that and I know Andy is as well.”

Right now, Eshkeri seems to be doing more of his own independent work, and is very happy to be doing so. He is currently working on a new ballet and is having conversations about various TV, film and video game projects, which he says he very much still enjoys doing.

“When you do that work however, you're part of somebody else's vision,” he reflects. “That's great because I love those collaborations, and I'm always seeking out healthy, positive working relationships, but also I can be slightly more picky because I'm getting so many more opportunities to create my own shows, like Space Station Earth.”

For the Space Station Earth album, Eshkeri got the opportunity to do an immersive tour with the European Space Agency and headed up a fantastic performance at the Royal Albert Hall with famous astronaut Tim Peake.

“I’m also getting more chances to do live shows with stuff that I’ve already created, like The Snowman and The Snow Dog, and also working in the ballet world and the classical or contemporary performance world,” he adds with palpable excitement. “What I'm not doing too much of at the moment is songwriting and working with bands, which I miss, but I'm sure that will come back; it's funny how things find you.

“I feel so lucky that my music has taken me on an amazing journey in my life. It really is funny how things happen sometimes. Tim Peake first heard my work because of the movie Layer Cake that I worked on, and then he followed my career and eventually contacted me and that created this whole amazing experience for me. Even with The Snowman and The Snowdog – the producers and directors knew my work so they wanted to meet me and things went from there. I feel so lucky that I get to make music and put it out there in the world, and it connects with people, and then they ring me up and we make more stuff together and then put that out in the world. So who knows what projects will come back, and what kind of thing I’ll be working on next!”