Justin Bullock – Double Bassist || Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s Toy Story in Concert

The Fame Reporter interviewed Double Bassist of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Justin Bullock, set to perform in the nostalgic animated tale come to life, Toy Story in Concert on 11 April at QPAC’s Concert Hall.

Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) present Disney and Pixar‘s Toy Story in Concert, featuring the Oscar® and Grammy®-winning composer Randy Newman’s musical score, conducted by Nicholas Buc. Celebrating 31-years since it transfixed families across the world, a complete screening of the film will be accompanied by the full orchestra, featuring the lanky and likeable cowboy Woody and fearless space ranger Buzz Lightyear.

QSO will perform a live rendition of the immersive film score, featuring signature songs such as “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” “Strange Things” and “I Will Go Sailing No More,” to accompany the nostalgic and heart-warming on-screen visuals. Transcending generations, the concert is suited to all ages and offers families the chance to experience groundbreaking animation like never before.

Justin began his symphony experience in Hunter Strings, Newcastle Conservatorium Orchestra and then Australian Youth Orchestra programs. He studied Double Bass performance in Canberra while playing Guest Principal Bass in the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and Canberra International Music Festival before successfully auditioning for Queensland Symphony Orchestra soon after study. While in Canberra, Justin had the opportunity to work with fantastic national and international soloists and groups including Pekka Kuusisto, Lara St John, the Danish String Quartet, the Goldner String Quartet and many more.

We caught up with Justin to chat all about playing in the highly-esteemed Queensland Symphony Orchestra, his love for Toy Story, the challenges around performing alongside a film and more.

What is your earliest memory of Toy Story?
I can’t recall the exact moment, but I know my little sister used to quote the movie nonstop! There’s so many iconic one liners in the movie that my whole childhood was essentially just quoting anything from Toy Story.

Do you have a favorite scene in Toy Story?
My favourite scene is definitely when Buzz Lightyear has a rocket on his back. It was my dream as a kid to be able to fly, so it made those dreams come true.

How does performing alongside a film screen change your approach compared to a traditional to a performance?
There is a huge temptation to watch the movie, so we’ll try to memorise a few bars so we can have a little look.

The score of Toy Story is very difficult, so we do have to be really locked in with the conductor to make sure that the timing is precise.

What makes this experience special, especially for those who may not have been to an orchestra before?
It’s a really special experience seeing an orchestra play with a film, because when you hear the soundtrack for the first time, the music is usually a bit lower in the mix, so the dialogue can be heard by everyone.

When you’re in a really amazing sounding space like the Concert Hall at QPAC, you’ll be able to hear all these new sounds in the score. The different colours and sounds of all the different instruments will emphasise the emotional impact of the movie and bring it to life in a whole new way.

One of the greatest sounds you’re ever going to hear is the Queensland Symphony Orchestra playing at QPAC, and film music is the most wonderful way to start your journey into instrumental music.

The Randy Newman score for Toy Story is iconic. What stands out to you as a musician when performing his work?
It’s a really versatile score. I hadn’t realised Randy Newman had written so many other scores that I love… like Monsters Inc. and Cars. He also is able to write some amazing singles that could be standalone hits, as well as tying in orchestral music.

This score is so great that the music was actually nominated for two Oscars, ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ the song, and the score as well. This was during a time where it was really difficult to even be nominated. Newman would have been competing with the likes of John Williams and Hans Zimmer.

Is there a specific scene in Toy Story that feels especially powerful to play live?
Whenever someone’s in a fight or it’s one of those chase scenes, the orchestra are going flat out. Everyone is playing really fast, and lots of different instrument groups are interacting

How do you stay in sync with the film while performing? What’s happening behind the scenes to make it seamless?
Sometimes the conductor will use an audio click track to keep them in line with the movie or they’ll work off a visual click track. A lot of work goes into anticipating what’s coming so we’re able to react in time.

As musicians, we’re often listening across to the other side of the orchestra to link up our parts, also anticipating what we’re hearing so we don’t respond too late.

Nicholas Buc is our incredible conductor. We’re in safe hands because he’s an expert in the field of film, it’s his passion and his life’s work. There are moments where our timing has to be perfect within the millisecond to coincide with the movie, so Nick brings us into line and helps us maintain the tempo to bring the whole piece together.

Getting 80 people to follow in the moment using only a baton, gestures or facial expressions is an incredible feat. It’s powerful!

What drew you to the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and what do you love most about performing with them?
I auditioned when I was pretty young. I was 23 years old, and I always wanted to play with a professional symphony orchestra full-time.

I feel like I’ve got the perfect, dream job in a way because there’s not many places where you get to perform to such a high standard every day.

It’s always such wonderful music… we have to work quite hard to get there, but the end result is so rewarding.

Do you have any advice for aspiring young musicians?
You don’t have to be super talented to make it as long as you’re able to pick yourself back up after you fail or get some bad feedback. There’s plenty of players out there that are really talented, that don’t want to do the work and don’t make it but there’s also so many musicians who don’t start off with a whole lot of talent but work on their playing for many years.