Hans Zimmer needs no introduction. The German composer who won an Oscar for the soundtrack of the animated film The Lion King in 1994 is also responsible for the soundtracks of must-see movies like Gladiator, Interstellar, Inception, Pirates of the Caribbean, the two Guy Ritchie adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy and many other Hollywood blockbusters. With such a track record, one can expect a spectacular and unique studio!
The space is completely different from the average studio and Hans Zimmer has created a unique environment offering an atmosphere that is extremely elegant, refined and cozy. Filled with incredible gear, instruments and priceless works of art, this uniquely decorated space stands as proof that a recording studio doesn’t have to be a neutral room with a few Persian rugs on the floor and cables from floor to ceiling. Hans Zimmer favors a more luxurious, boudoir-like atmosphere.
Zimmer has created some memorable movie scores in this room, which he describes as a reflection of his imagination.
Originally from Germany, Hans Zimmer moved to Hollywood in the 1990s after having cut his teeth as an independent film composer in London. By the time he discovered the space that would become his main studio, Zimmer had already won an Oscar and earned his place among Hollywood’s most renowned film composers, but he still missed his native Europe.
“It was a midlife crisis moment where I was going to leave everything behind and go back to Europe,” Zimmer says. “I was never going to have a midlife crisis that involved a yellow Ferrari and a blonde to go with it. I realized that the part of Europe I was missing was no longer there anyway.” Even more surprisingly, the initial inspiration would come from a 19th century brothel located in Vienna.
The room is covered with various tapestries and wallpapers of a lush and baroque red, even the ceiling. Another more conventional aesthetic inspiration, the composer confides: “just down the road from where I lived[en Allemagne] , lived this remarkable man who restored the cathedrals of Strasbourg and Cologne. He lived in a medieval tower and owned a 2,500-pipe church organ. And when I was a kid, that’s where I really learned and enjoyed music, because at 6 years old, I could just go to his house, turn on the organ and make a hell of a racket. Everyone in town probably thought it was a horrible ruckus, but this guy kept saying, “No, it’s great. Listen to his bold harmonies.”
Simultaneously a music museum in which one finds priceless period instruments and equipment, a cabinet of curiosities, and a reproduction of a typically European late 19th century aesthetic, Hans Zimmer’s studio is both a peaceful refuge and a source of inspiration for the composer and we understand why.
