SXSW '26: Composer Jordan Siegel Talks Emotionality in “See You When I See You”
This interview was originally published on Film Obsessive.
Jay Duplass cut his teeth in the world of mumblecore films in the early-aughts with his younger brother, Mark. The two are known for films like The Puffy Chair, Baghead, and Jeff, Who Lives at Home. On their own, they’ve both done acting roles as well as solo-directed projects. Last year, Jay wrote and directed the SXSW-premiering The Baltimorons to rave reviews. He’s returning to the 2026 SXSW with See You When I See You, which premiered earlier this year at Sundance. Composer Jordan Seigel worked with Duplass on both The Baltimorons and See You When I See You. For both, Seigel had a quick turnaround time.
“I actually came on pretty late to See You When I See You. They had a pretty locked cut when Jay and Mark reached out in an email and said, hey, we got this new score we’d love to talk to you about. I think they were just gauging my interest and I was, of course, interested. I watched the film and I loved it. I emailed back and said, hey, I’m so inspired by watching the film, I wrote a little theme that just came out in ten minutes. I was like, it’s just a piano right now, but do you want to hear it?”
“Next day, Jay called me up, and he said, man, you got to be the guy. I had about two-and-a half months to score it. I like to score from a locked cut, but it’s rare. I think Jay is one of the few filmmakers who, at least so far, has brought me on toward the end of the post-production process. I love composing. It’s such a fortunate thing to be able to do, but it can be a long process.”
“Jay’s just the best. I mean, he’s such a great director to work with. He’s truly collaborative. He’s also just a really kind, warm person. We didn’t meet in person for the first time until the dub of The Baltimorons. We did all our spotting sessions on Zoom. From the day I started until delivery was probably less than three weeks. Jay was great. I would send stuff and his notes always made sense. I don’t think I’ve ever had what I consider a bad note. To this day, he’s just really, really kind and a great collaborator.”
“On See You When I See you, we had more time. He actually came over to the studio and we were able to work on some cues together, which is a really fun process.”
That first sketch of a theme is what you’ll hear in the finished film. See You When I See You was adapted by Adam Cayton-Holland from his memoir, Tragedy Plus Time: A Tragi-Comic Memoir. It centers on the Whistler family, and Aaron (Cooper Raiff) in particular. He’s a young comedy writer who is struggling with PTSD and the loss of his best friend and sister, Leah (Kaitlyn Dever).
courtesy of Jim Frohna
“That main theme trickles through the film in ways that are mostly subconscious. I wouldn’t think many people watching it would be like, oh, I’m hearing the theme right now. It could be an ambient cue where we’re looking at clouds and the theme is kind of ‘heavened out.’ It’s a really long version of the theme you’re hearing, but maybe not recognizing it.”
In a film like See You When I See You, it’s often the music that can push someone over the edge to an emotional release. That’s an extremely heavy responsibility that falls into Siegel’s hands, but it’s not one he takes lightly.
“It has to be very nuanced and it’s such a hard balance. That’s where it is helpful for it to truly be a collaboration. I’ve been working on this cue for whatever it is, full day, two days, a week, and so it’s hard to have that same first response to it. That’s why it’s helpful to have someone like Jay watch and be like, hey, I’m feeling this here, but there I’m not feeling it enough.”
“I never want to feel heavy-handed and say, hey, I want you to cry right here. I never want that feeling. At the same time, I don’t want the feeling of, I’m not really reacting to this, I feel like I should be crying. Maybe the score’s just too much in the background or it’s too ambiguous harmonically or whatever that may be. It’s really a balance and we played with that a lot.”
“The very first call I had with Jay and Mark, they were like, okay, this is a really tricky tone. This could easily fall into Lifetime movie territory, and we need to avoid that. Yet we want you to go super emotional. They’d be like, go for it, don’t be scared to go emotional, but at the same time, we always need to to take a step back and be like, is this too heavy-handed. There are certain scenes where we either had music and we took it out or we stripped it really far back.”
“There are barely any strings in this whole score. Usually, when I think of an emotional movie, or the movies that I grew up loving from the ’90s, these emotional scores, it’s big orchestra and strings. This is not an orchestral score. I hope the fact that you’re not relying on the same solo cello and big violin section, that you’re relying on instruments that hopefully are a little more nuanced in an indie palette can somewhat feel like, is this a song or a score?”
“I think that can help. Ideally, I don’t want the audience to hear the score. I just want them to feel it and be like, oh, that movie moved me and hopefully know I was part of that.”
Part of the film is Aaron’s flashback episodes. In those moments, Siegel and Duplass spoke about wanting these scenes to be laden with synths to make the audience feel as though they are with him and experiencing these deeply emotional moments as he struggles with his overwhelming grief.
“We want it to feel like you’re in his head, so the music is really featured there, but it’s also combined with sound design. You’re hopefully feeling this tension and this emotionality in those moments, without being like, why is this music so loud? I think it’s powerful to hear that.”
“Part of that palette was combining these synths together to create tension from this rising bass line. Jay also wanted to have a sense of emotionality throughout because even though these are very tense moments, it’s also deeply emotional for the main character. There are a lot of woodwinds fluttering throughout, and there are organic elements that hopefully create an emotional wall of sound.”
See You When I See You will play the 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival as part of the Festival Favorite program. While Siegel will not make it down to sunny Austin, he was able to support the film at the final Sundance in Park City.
“It was great. It was my first Sundance and the last Sundance in Utah. The premiere was really fun and emotional. It’s great just being able to meet everybody and celebrate our film.”
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