Music supervisor is a job that is part professional music nerd, part aural detective and part crate-digging business affairs exec. 5 Songs is a Deadline series that highlights the work of these below the line workers through songs and stories.
Overcompensating is a college-set ensemble comedy about the wild, chaotic journey of Benny, a closeted former football player and homecoming king, as he becomes fast friends with Carmen, a high school outsider on a mission to fit in at all costs. With guidance from Benny’s older sister and her campus-legend boyfriend, Benny and Carmen juggle horrible hookups, flavored vodka, and fake IDs.
Created by Benito Skinner and inspired by his life, Skinner stars as Benny. Wally Baram, Mary Beth Barone, Adam DiMarco and Rish Shah also star with recurring roles for Holmes, Owen Thiele, Kaia Gerber and Lukas Gage as well as guest appearances by Connie Britton, Kyle MacLachlan, Megan Fox, Bowen Yang, and James Van Der Beek.
It also features an appearance by executive producer Charli XCX, who is also executive music producer and lends songs such as Vroom Vroom, Boys, Boom Clap, Girls Night, Sucker, party 4 u, No Angel, Unlock it (Lock It), Nuclear Seasons, Claws and Sorry If I Hurt You to the eight-part series, which launched on Amazon last month.
Lucky for Skinner, as well as music supervisors Nicole Weisberg and Jen Malone of Black & White, Charli was on board just before she had a whole summer named after her with 2024’s Brat.
Charli XCX in Overcompensating (Sabrina Lantos /Amazon)
“She did the score, which was a huge thread to tie the sound of the show to. Using her music in the show and the score, it all fit so seamlessly,” Weisberg said.
The vibe was the 2010s. “Her music is so iconically 2010s and beyond. Everyone remembers when Boom Clap was out, everyone remembers when I Love It was out. She’s still performing these songs on tour now. It was living in that tonal space of high pop excellence to its core,” Weisberg added.
WHAT WAS THE FIRST SONG LICENSED FOR OVERCOMPENSATING?
Malone: It was Lucky from Britney Spears. There were definitely a couple songs that were must haves for Benny that were critical to the story and Lucky was one of them. The first ones were the on-camera ones or anything that was connected to dialog like Lorde’s Team in the first episode.
Weisberg: They were emotionally tied to Benny telling his own story, like, Super Bass by Nicki Minaj was a lived moment for him. A lot of the moments happened to him and then a lot of this music was tied to said moment. We really wanted to give him what he was feeling. Obviously, the My Chemical Romance song [Welcome to the Black Parade] was a huge use that became really important. He has so much heart and it’s just so pure that I think we were eager to get him what he wanted to help tell this story that he wanted to tell.
THE HARDEST SONG TO LICENSE FOR OVERCOMPENSATING?
Malone: The George of the Jungle theme song. It starts with a ton of research. Originally, for the publishing, I was dealing with the 88-year old widow of one of the writers, and then she passed me to her daughter. I was dealing with her for a while and the other part was owned by a company that I had to hunt down for Euphoria because they owned a master of a song used in that show. When I had to find it for Euphoria, it was through obituaries and then looking through old like photos and then comparing photos and making a lot of weird calls through white pages.
Weisberg: George of the Jungle was the one that I was like, ‘How are we going to get this’. Luckily, Jen had those contacts from before and found the new one that she needed. As you can tell, she will not stop. She’s the perfect person to put on a case, that’s her bread and butter. That was the challenge. Everything else was current enough and traceable enough to not have any story remotely like that attached to it.
THE MOST SIGNIFICANT SONG IN OVERCOMPENSATING?
Weisberg: It’s hard to say but I think Lucky. Lucky was a part of Benny’s live show that he’s been doing for years. That one was really connected to something inside. He’s telling that story from the very beginning of the pilot. Super Bass and Welcome to the Black Parade were also really important.
I didn’t expect to hear Surfer Blood or Fort Minor’s Where’d You Go, which features Far’s Jonah Matranga and Holly Brook.
Weisberg: It’s funny how many people comment on that Surfer Blood use. It was important to make that bar music what it needed to be. We’re building up the My Chemical Romance so the tension is building as soon as you get in the bar. We didn’t want it to just be a bunch of muzak. We wanted it to be from that time period and we wanted to feel like we were in this Idaho bar versus just using insert bar music here. We really wanted it to have a feeling of a hometown vibe. But also so many emotions are happening in the scene with Carmen and Grace bonding. Benny finally starts to accept who he is in the earlier episodes, and then goes back home, and he’s kind of straight into character again. Him toggling with who to be, upon returning home and seeing Sammy, the Surfer Blood song brought more emotionality to what could have, I guess, just been more wallpaper. Maybe that was unexpected for people to hear.
Malone: The Edge of Glory [by Lady Gaga] was a good get and something that was very reasonable. I think the Charli card definitely helped, but also, it’s a very real story, it’s very personal and pure.
Weisberg: When we’re requesting these songs, Benny’s lived this. This is his story. This is scenes from his real life, and this is the music that he really wants playing here. It was really attached to something. It wasn’t just an ambiguous pop song, it was a complete thread from beginning to end with him.
Does one get a discount if Charli calls Gaga?
Malone: No. We used her as part of the team, she’s part of the music. She didn’t make any calls or anything. We want to let talent do their thing, unless we have to, and we did not have to on this one.
FAVORITE SONG IN OVERCOMPENSATING?
Weisberg: Jen and I both really love [Charli XCX’s] Claws use at the end of episode five. That just kind of unexpected. Not every single Charli song was necessarily scripted. They were sort of like, ‘Here are a bunch of the Charli songs we would like to use’. Party 4 u landed at the end of episode four, Claws landed at the end of five with a total team effort, the editors and Benny sitting there trying a million things, showing them to Charli, and her being ‘Yes’. Vroom Vroom when they’re driving the golf cart, Icona Pop, I love it, but seeing the emotionality party 4 u for you and Claws brought was surprising to me. I also think Sleigh Bells’ Crown on the Ground in eight was a really good one. That was sort of not scripted, and kind of at the end happened and having the opening and the ending of that, it really brought me back to that time too with the Sleigh Bells moment and perfectly scored the oh, shit cliffhanger.
Malone: I also really like that we got Pop the Glock by Uffie in there.
Weisberg: Charli really loves Uffie and she was really influential and part of her coming up circle. That was someone that Charli and Benny put on our radar and we were hoping that we could get her in spiritually to fulfill what was happening. It’s when Carmen’s walking to the library in episode two so throwing in these indie moments was really satisfying amongst all of these huge songs.
Overcompensating Track Listing:
Episode 1: Lucky
George of the Jungle Theme Song
Lucky by Britney Spears
I Love It by Icona Pop and Charli XCX
Team by Lorde
Vroom Vroom by Charli XCX
Episode 2: Who’s That Girl?
Who’s That Girl? by Eve
Pop the Glock by Uffie
Like A G6 by Far East Movement ft. The Cataracts, Dev
Super Bass by Nicki Minaj
Episode 3: Black and Yellow
Boys by Charli XCX
Black and Yellow by Wiz Khalifa
Gucci Gucci by Kreayshawn
I’ve Seen Footage by Death Grips
Where’d You Go by Fort Minor ft. Holly Brook, Jonah Matranga
Love In Stereo by Sky Ferreira
Episode 4: Boom Clap
Boom Clap by Charli XCX
Girls Night Out by Charli XCX
Big Fish by Vince Staples
Trap Queen by Fetty Wap (performed by the cast)
I Love It by Icona Pop, Charli XCX
Boys by Charli XCX
Sucker by Charli XCX
party 4 u by Charli XCX
Episode 5: Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites
Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites by Skrillex
No Angel by Charli XCX
Rockin’ Zombie by The Crewnecks
Face Like Thunder by The Japanese House
Unlock it (Lock It) by Charli XCX ft. Kim Petras, Jay Park
Own It by DAAMM!! ft. Faith Vernon
We Are Your Friends by Justice Vs. Simian
Nuclear Seasons by Charli XCX
Claws by Charli XCX
Episode 6: The Edge of Glory
Everything Is Embarrassing by Sky Ferriera
Official (Instrumental) by Charli XCX
The Edge of Glory by Lady Gaga
Love Me by The 1975
Fuck the Pain Away by PEACHES
Sorry If I Hurt You by Charli XCX
Episode 7: Welcome to the Black Parade
All the Things by Beverly
Fuckboyz by Dead Obies
Happy Faces by Babe Youth
Let’s Talk by Death In The Afternoon
Floating Vibes by Surfer Blood
Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance
Sugar by Maroon 5
Episode 8: Crown on the Ground
Crown on the Ground by Sleigh Bells
Ribs by Lorde
Lipgloss (Instrumental) by Charli XCX ft. Cupcakke
Gucci Gucci by Kreayshawn
Doses & Mimosas by Cherub
Be Your USA (feat. Iiris) by EASYFUN
