Working on Bond score was a ‘dream job’ for British guitarist, says Johnny Marr

Johnny Marr has said working on the score for the new James Bond film was a “dream job as a British guitar player”.

The former Smiths guitarist collaborated with composer Hans Zimmer on the music for No Time To Die, which opened in cinemas this week.

Marr said he associates James Bond soundtracks with the guitar.

“The job of the guitar in the music is certainly when there’s action. No doubt about that,” he said.

“When Bond is about to go into Bond mode, whether it’s a car chase or a heroic moment, I have that association.

“When he’s about to be heroic, suddenly you hear the guitar.”

Marr said there are parts of film scores “that simply sometimes you expect something to be really loud”.

“But you discover it’s much more effective when it’s really quiet.”

He added: “These are all things that I’m starting to notice more and more as I’ve worked on films.

“It’s just not doing the obvious.”

Marr said that Daniel Craig, who had his last outing as James Bond in the new release, took a keen interest in the music in the film.

“A couple of times in meetings, Daniel Craig’s name has come up about how he feels about the music,” he said.

“It’s become quite evident early on how much he cares about the work.

“In my limited experience, I’m sure all leading actors do, but it’s evident to everybody on the team that he really is into every aspect of it and the music’s very important.

“He’s super invested in that side of it.”

Marr and Zimmer have previously collaborated on the music for films including Inception and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

US singer Billie Eilish recorded the film’s theme song.

At 18, she was the youngest artist to record the title song for a 007 film.