One of the most enjoyable perks in film journalism is getting to talk to creative individuals about their work. On this site we’ve been fortunate enough to meet with numerous storytellers; we love taking deep dives with the talent at hand to find what inspires them. Some of the best interviews are ones that yield behind-the-scenes stories, triumphs and lessons learned. All in all, the road to bring any production to the public is a long one – but it can certainly be fun. And that’s why people in film consider the work an all-or-nothing pursuit. Last week, we had a kitchen sink discussion with Alden Ehrenreich. He’s been working…
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Interview…Jasmine Myra on Spiritual Jazz, Personal Journeys, and ‘Horizons’
As an art form, music does what it does best when it moves you. But just what does it move us to do? Do we climb a snow-capped mountain because we listened to Vince DiCola‘s music for Rocky IV? Do we enlist in the military after hearing “God Bless the U.S.A.” by Lee Greenwood? What about when the music is so mellow, you just want to have a coffee with the person who made it and get to know them better? Well, that last one is why we’re here today. Jasmine Myra is a Leeds-based composer, saxophonist, and bandleader – while she may look incredibly youthful, make some no mistake,…
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Interview…Kilamanzego on Identity, Electronic Sounds and ‘Black Weirdo’
If you’re on the hunt for new music, and are open to a palette expanding paradigm shift, you can’t do any better than Kilamanzego [“kill-a-man’s-ego”]. The moniker for Kay Oko (an experimental electronic music producer, vocalist, and visual artist based in Philadelphia) becomes her performer name – which initially was almost “Kilimanjaro” to pay homage to her African culture – that playfully and confidently makes a bold statement of women’s empowerment as a unique force in the electronic scene. We first heard her work on Bandcamp and were instantly hooked. After per-ordering her newest work, the pull-no-punches album called “Black Weirdo” has been playing non-stop in the car, my headphones…
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Interview…Derek Presley, Lola Lott and Jason Starne on the Deep Fried Noir of ‘Tonic’
We’ve all seen the movies where a character is a one-man army, or everything just happens to work out for them, right? Well, what if this particular man – the one carrying 100% of the story – is about as hopeless and down on his luck as you can find? In many ways that’s more appealing because it’s their flaws, quirks and weaknesses that shine brighter than their strengths. So let’s take a look at one such a character, Sebastian Poe (played by Billy Blair), in Derek Presley‘s latest film. Written and shot here in Dallas, Tonic tells the tale of a barfly jazz pianist who must commit murder in…
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Interview…Paul Haslinger on Electronic Soundscapes, Subtext, and Scoring Processes
If you were around in the ’80s, few things defined “cool” like music did. And, film fan or not, the top of that list is most likely going to be Tangerine Dream: the German electronic music outfit who dominated airwaves and theaters with their cutting edge electric sound. One key member of that ensemble pushing the electronic side of the band was young Paul Haslinger who joined up with them after their big hits like Sorcerer and Risky Business. Bringing a younger video game sensibility, he helped change the course of their sound for the better and contributed plenty including scores to Near Dark, Miracle Mile and Three O’Clock High.…
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Interview…Composer Randy Edelman on Songs, Scores and Career Retrospective
Most of the time, a film would be nothing without the musical score. We hold the music in higher regard than the narrative itself, and our heroes have always been film composers. Getting to run this site for almost fifteen years, I can admit to just plain geeking out when speaking to people in the film music community. Case in point. Randy Edelman is a legendary singer, songwriter, orchestrator, conductor, and a seasoned music man who has quite literally scored our childhood. Just looking at the impressive list of titles to his credit (Dragonheart, Beethoven, Troop Beverly Hills, The Mask, My Cousin Vinny, Angels in the Outfield, Shanghai Noon, Daylight)…
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Interview…Director Brett Simmons on Music, Muses and Meeting Your Heroes
It should be news to no one that Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Edgar Wright and Brett Simmons are big names in film. Granted you might not know the latter (yet!) but these filmmakers all share the same level of encyclopedic knowledge about the industry and important films which they use to take viewers on rides they’ve never had before. They make films the way they want and, more importantly, the way we fans want to see them. A sometimes hodgepodge of ideas and inspiration from what spoke to them through the years can be an instant hit and keep us talking long after the credits have rolled. Anyway, Simmons belongs…
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Interview…Composer Nathan Johnson on Harpsichords, Travelogues and ‘Glass Onion’
For those of you needing a classically clever whodunnit to add to your cinematic plate this holiday session, look no further than Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion. The next installment in Benoit Blanc mystery series is whip smart, hilarious, exquisite and layered…you know, like an onion. Herein, Johnson and company outdo everything in their last detective yarn. Bigger stakes, bigger laughs, bigger onions – it’s an exceptional outing! Every element just sings, and again Rian enlists his cousin Nathan Johnson to write a fitting score to accompany the masterful story. While subsequent yarns in the series are meant to be stand-alone events, the further adventures of the Kentucky-fried character required Johnson…
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Interview…Fest Friends: Natalie Metzger, Joe Badon, Tiffany Kimmel, Dawn Luebbe and Margaret Miller
Fantastic Fest 2022 was one of the very best – it’s certainly tops in my book for all the years we’ve covered and attended. One take away that is more impactful and enduring than seeing some gonzo foreign film, sitting for a secret screening or getting in on the ground floor for the next big genre spectacle is the people. Whether it’s the fans, the festival staff (including those hard-working volunteers!) or the filmmakers, there is a certain kind of magical haze that only exists on the festival circuit. Moreover, I fondly (and sometimes fuzzily) recall the conversations, chance encounters and unexpected friendships that have emerged from being in the…
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Interview…Composer Theodore Shaprio on ‘The School for Good and Evil’, ‘The Pirates! Band of Misfits’ and Cracking Musical Puzzles
For more than two decades, Shapiro has been solving cinematic puzzles both light and dark. He scored some of Hollywood’s classic comedies—including Idiocracy, Old School, Tropic Thunder, and Dodgeball—with regular collaborators such as Paul Feig, Todd Phillips, and Jay Roach. He’s also cracked the code of political dramas (the Emmy-nominated Game Change, Trumbo), adventures both animated (Spies in Disguise), and unconventional (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty), as well as sexy, stylish mysteries (A Simple Favor). Shapiro is like a character actor, putting on different musical costumes and adopting accents to disappear into roles much like Jessica Chastain in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, which he scored with rays of…
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Interview…Barry Burns on Mogwai, Signature Sounds, and Never Reading the Manuals
When it comes to one-of-a-kind sounds, look no further than the Scotland-based, post-rock band, Mogwai. They hit your ear drums with a one-two punch of style and experimentation, and always take you on a true musical journey. We first stumbled on them while I was visiting Japan in 2006. Maybe it was the reference to Gremlins that caught our eye, but once we heard “Auto Rock” we were hooked. Over the years, they have lent their skill and sonic textures to film, shows, documentaries and rocked out plenty of stadiums. In 2016 however, they really outdid themselves with the score to Kin by our friends Jonathan & Josh Baker. Not content…
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Interview…Ultraboss on Strings, Shredding, Bach and Yacht Rock
For those of you on the hunt for new music and sounds you’ve likely never heard, Bandcamp has your fix. It’s an independent music platform that touts and supports thousands of artists from around the globe. My handle is RidgeRacer4, and over the years I’ve been introduced to hundreds of amazing sounds and albums. But the rabbit hole goes infinitely deeper. There’s literally a never-ending sound reservoir that keeps getting filled with more unique music each day. One artist we’ve really taken to is synth and six-string prodigy, Ultraboss. His real name is PJ d’Atri and PJ lives in Austria. Since I’ve been so drawn to the music on Bandcamp,…