The Heartfelt Music of Bluey w/ Composer Joff Bush

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
You're listening to Twenty Thousand Hertz, the stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds.

**Dallas Taylor** (0:10)
I'm Dallas Taylor.
At this point, Bluey is a worldwide phenomenon. And if you have kids under 12, you almost certainly know this show, and its quirky, loving family of cartoon dogs. But for those of you who don't know Bluey, let me tell you why my family and I love it so much. It's the rare show that speaks to kids in a fun and wholesome way, while also speaking to parents and the struggles that we go through. It's truly a work of art, from the clever writing, to the authentic voice acting, to the gorgeous animation, to the immaculate sound design. And then there's the incredible music.
What do you think about the music in Bluey? Do you think it's pretty or happy or sad?

**SPEAKER_3** (0:56)
I think it's like happy, happy and sad.

**Dallas Taylor** (1:00)
That's my youngest daughter, who's six. How would you describe the music in Bluey to somebody who's never seen it before?

**SPEAKER_3** (1:08)
It's kind of bumpy and gets in your head and it's pretty and makes you feel good.

**Dallas Taylor** (1:17)
If you could say anything to the Bluey team, what would you say?

**SPEAKER_3** (1:20)
I love it.
This much! Not much. I love it a lot.

**Dallas Taylor** (1:28)
Okay. Is there anything else you want to say about Bluey before we end?

**SPEAKER_3** (1:32)
I think that Bluey is just out of this world. And I really like Australia, even though I've never been there, but it sounds fun. My dad went there.
His name is Dallas Taylor.

**Dallas Taylor** (1:51)
It's true. I'm so fascinated by Bluey that I flew halfway around the world to Brisbane, Australia to meet the people who craft the show's sound and music.

**Joff Bush** (2:01)
Hi Dallas. Welcome to the Bluey Music Studio. This is where we make music.

**Dallas Taylor** (2:08)
Joff Bush is the main composer of Bluey. His studio is a quirky, colorful space filled with plants and knickknacks, as well as lots of musical instruments.

**Joff Bush** (2:17)
There's a bunch of stuff around here that might have been used in one episode or 10 episodes.

**Dallas Taylor** (2:23)
But even though Joff makes the music for one of the biggest shows on the planet, he doesn't often choose the highest quality instruments that money can buy.

**Joff Bush** (2:31)
Instead, I always like instruments that have a bit of character or a bit of a story to them. We start with this piano. The story behind this piano is that I wanted the cheapest, most broken piano they had in the shop, and I found one. I was like, oh, this sounds like cardboard. It's really quiet. I love it. And the shopkeeper said, I can't, in good conscience, sell you this piano. It's the one we use as an example to show how bad second-hand pianos are. And so that was their bad example piano. But I was like, but I love it. I'll take it. But I like things with character. And this was the next model up. So this was the one that they were willing to sell me.
But I use it on everything.
Ah, you know, this is the real test.

**Dallas Taylor** (3:18)
That little melody comes from Bluey's iconic theme song. In the main version that you hear when the show starts, Joff plays it on a melodica, which is a little keyboard with a tube that you blow into.

**Joff Bush** (3:35)
Then the famous melodica collection. This is a brand that we did the Bluey theme on.
But that's the sound of the show.

**Dallas Taylor** (3:53)
Hearing him casually play these little melodies that have become such an important part of my life was surreal. Later, he picked up a baritone ukulele.

**Joff Bush** (4:02)
The main guitar I use for Bluey is probably this one. This one was like a hundred bucks, but I like this one because it sounds like cardboard, which is a trite I like from guitars. But that's, that's, I like.

**Dallas Taylor** (4:18)
And that's the theme to a classic episode called Turtle Boy, where Bluey's little sister Bingo finds a toy turtle on the playground.

**SPEAKER_3** (4:26)
Do you want to play with me, Turtle Boy?

**Dallas Taylor** (4:36)
What do you look for in the sounds when you're sourcing? What are you latching on to?

**Joff Bush** (4:41)
It's pure feel. I can't talk to any of the staff at a shop or anything. I just have to play everything and just go, what feels good?
And then trust that. Because otherwise, someone will tell me what a good instrument is. And every time that happens, I always regret. I'm like, oh, why did I get this? Just because someone said it was good.