Hollywood might be a well-oiled, corporate machine, but projects do not always run like clockwork. As in any creative pursuit, things overrun, problems arise. Unfortunately, as one of the last links in the chain, the film composer must be able to cope with the tightest of deadlines.

Years of work, millions of dollars of studio and investor money, even whole careers, might all rest on you. Dwell on it too much and you can go a little crazy. Fortunately, Tripi has learnt not to let the pressure affect him.

“You never really want to force it. I’ve learnt that you need to practise and be comfortable with your tools and, at some point, you have to trust in your abilities that this very simple, almost throw-away, idea you might have in your head can be produced into something fully realised, something that you can say “well, that little idea just sparked a whole score”.

“When you’re looking at a really rushed deadline, having confidence in what your abilities are and your style, knowing that every little idea that you come up with you can turn into a bigger, more complete idea, is really valuable and really makes working efficiently possible.

“That’s not to say you won’t find yourself sitting there at midnight scratching your head saying “I have no idea”, but a big part of it is, hopefully, you knowing your sound and knowing your style and knowing how to turn that small, little spark of an idea into something bigger by just applying yourself.”

To give you some sense of timescale, four weeks would be considered a fast turn-around for a score, assuming around 60 minutes of music is required (generally two thirds of the length of the film, though of course this can vary greatly). In contrast, Tripi and Cliff Martinez (former Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer and now acclaimed film composer) were working on Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 thriller Contagion for several months. This was because they would be given updated versions of the movie every few weeks and had to keep adapting the music accordingly.

It was in the middle of Contagion that Tripi assisted Martinez in scoring Nicholas Winding Refn’s Drive (2011), the cult noir thriller starring Ryan Gosling. It is one of those unique instances when a film’s music is so powerful that it almost becomes another character. In fact, it had such an impact that, in a slightly flawed tribute, BBC 3 decided to show the film in 2014 with a new soundtrack curated by DJ Zane Lowe and came in for some criticism for those loyal to the original.

What was it like to be involved in such a seminal piece of work?

“Drive was a special project for us”, says Tripi. “Cliff Martinez was asked to score it when we were working on Contagion. We put that film on hold, and scored Drive in five straight weeks. It came out very easily and organically. It was definitely a cool film when we saw it for the first time, so there was a little pressure on Cliff’s team not to ruin a good product. I’m glad people dig the music so much.

“I have a limited edition, pink double vinyl copy of the soundtrack. It’s sort of a family heirloom now. It’s also the one and only time I’ve been credited as playing sitar on a film score.”

Tripi became friends with Martinez around 10 years ago, hanging out and chatting about sound design and “crazy music stuff” for about a year before working together.

Over the years, Tripi says, a kind of working shorthand has built up. “I’d say our collaboration involves me taking on a role of producer where I just do whatever needs to get done to make the finished score sound as good as possible.

“Sometimes it means trading ideas back and forth; sometimes it’s coming up with really interesting and unique sounds and approaches for a cue; sometimes it’s adding orchestra onto a cue that’s almost done [cue is shop talk for an individual piece of music in a movie or TV show].”

Tripi is a true multi-instrumentalist, even to the extent that he is no longer sure what his primary instrument is, but the majority of the time finds himself playing a lot of metal drums, bass, guitar and piano. He had a classical upbringing, initially playing the bassoon in the school orchestra and then moving into heavy metal and the bass guitar and also electronic music (especially drum ‘n’ bass) before he returned once again to classical and film music.

He got his initial break by winning a fellowship with the Academy of Television, Arts and Sciences Foundation to study TV music. That year William “Snuffy” Walden, the renowned Emmy award-winner who has scored numerous TV shows, including West Wing, Roseanne, and Friday Night Lights, had taken on this mentoring role. He made Tripi his assistant, thus providing priceless, on-the-job experience.

“I was very green and fresh off the boat, as they say,” says Tripi. “I learned to drink coffee like a real man and multitask with reckless abandon. We were doing seven TV shows at the time so it was a lot to digest. One of my first days at work was going to Capitol records with him and recording the title for a TV show.”

And the key lesson he learnt?

“I feel like I came out of that job with Snuffy having a new perspective on patience and making sure things are right. Making sure that if it’s something that we’re sending out into the world - a TV score, or a demo, or a film - a little patience goes a long way to making sure you get it right and have done the best job on it.”