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You've only recently scored the short Nigel
- so do talk
about the filmscore, its style and its musical influences for a bit!
It’s a mix of what you expect and some of the unexpected. For instance,
silly music, things going from silly to horror, and then, when there’s an
argument about wrestling not being fake, I go into this sort of romantic
era classical inspired work. That’s my fave time period of music to write,
and I loved how it makes the wrestling being fake or not argument
different than had I put your typical romcom music. Since I was luckily in
charge of releasing the score myself on my record deal, I made sure to
have the fun audio clips from the real movie that you can listen to.
Was all the music composed specifically for Nigel
or was some of it pre-existing material? I
always make custom material for director Paul Sutton’s movies [Paul
Sutton interview - click here] and everything I do.
Sometimes it might be me ripping apart an existing sound, but it is
nothing I ever used before from other projects being recycled. That is,
however, a real thing people do in Hollywood movies for visual effects.
Have fun looking that up sometime how blockbuster films try to save money
reusing past VFX scenes as if nobody notices!
How did you
get involved with the project in the first place, what drew you to it?
Paul met me at an abandoned warehouse in Las Vegas and showed me
briefcases of money enveloped in Louis Vuitton fabric if I scored the
movie, to be paid in cash, no questions asked. Actually, that never
happened, but only because Paul hasn’t been to America in a while, not
because he leads the boring nice dad life we all know of because he is
definitely the type to own Louis Vuitton luggage and briefcases more than
Oprah. JOKING OF COURSE. Sometimes people tell jokes
J
I enjoyed scoring Paul’s last movie, so he wanted to know if I would score
movies for him, so I said yes. I hope Paul works his way up to being rich
and famous so I in the process can ride his coattails scoring all of his
movies and TV shows.
What
can you tell us about Nigel's director Paul Sutton, and what was your collaboration
like?
He is very specific with what he wants, and then I do my thing. I enjoy it
because he lets me know, and it isn’t like the times you have a pop quiz
at school with an open essay. You sort of know what he wants, and you try
to make it happen for him. I was really afraid he would say “make it
emotional,” or any of the vague things I overhear hipster indie Hollywood
directors in America say, but then I remembered, Paul is too cool for
that. And serious. He spends his days acting, screenwriting and
directing, not talking about “the craft!” as he’s “in talks” at a coffee
shop in West Hollywood, surrounded by people who all try to outbluff each
other. And that, friends, is why the UK is so cool. People actually do
what they claim they will. And finish projects. Good luck, because the
same people in America writing a screenplay haven’t gotten to page two a
decade later You've also worked on Paul Sutton's previous movie,
The Pact - so what can you
tell us about that collaboration of yours, and how did you two first meet
even? Actor Keiron Goodwin was
supposed to be the lead role in my no-budget film Pandemic Breakdown. He
got sick but didn’t know with what beyond diabetes. We found out later
Keiron needed his gallbladder removed. Yikes! Paul filled in with his role
and came back for Pandemic Breakdown 2. I have on my own outside of
filmmaking loved recreating song ideas and lyrics I had from junior high
(ages 12-14) because I wanted to say “you can as a teenager write lyrics
and grow up to sing that music.” I tried to sound younger and like teenage
me, performing music in my bedroom. By coincidence, Paul had lyrics from
high school. He shared them, and we used them to co-write songs! It was
fun because Paul discovered a missing BMI (music performing rights trade
group like SAG-AFTRA for musician) song credit of his. Voilà! Back Nigel:
Do take us through the whole scoring process for the film all the way from writing to actually recording!
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People forget that I did all of my high school education online in
independent study with university-high school dual enrollment coursework.
I was so used to doing homework or studying back to back in the backseat
of the car on the way to Chicago or my great aunt’s house in Urbana,
Illinois. Sometimes wildly like, oh, the times I spent a month in Florida!
I did lots of coursework back to back too when I got to the University of
Texas at Austin. So when I compose work, I just prep like I’m at school
again and plan it really well. Most people in film scoring aren’t used to
that setup, so they’re absolutely shocked that someone can have a schedule
and get work done. So
I just sit down at the laptop and really plan things out. I crop out the
clips and drop them into Logic Pro to time them neatly. My computer is
stuffed of UJAM Instruments by Peter Gorges and Hans Zimmer, and
Spitfire
Audio, some U-He, just really fun, incredible studio level film scoring
products. You have no choice but to have fun. I’m obsessed with the idea
of an expensive orchestra, but that is ridiculously expensive, and in the
meantime, what I can control and churn out with perfection, no need to
worry about human error in machinery, is electronic sounds. I’d love to
layer real instruments on top, which is what studios do, live instruments
over electronic music plug-ins, but that is so expensive. I don’t want to
make Paul go into bankruptcy. But again, Paul has a stash of Louis Vuitton
and naps on a couch fabric made from real diamonds, so that’s probably not
a concern of his. I honestly can hardly get in touch with Paul. He’s
always off on a yacht with Jeff Bezos.
I've heard that you have recently also launched your own
clothng range - so what can you tell us about that endeavour of yours?
The Roswell Aliens Store by Lucky Pineapple Films is all about avoiding
being ALIEN-ating. The legend is per conspiracy theorists that in 2005, I
co-founded my company and all goals with the Roswell aliens, visiting
Texas from New Mexico! Today, they are still aboard my work, brands and
more! Anyone of any size or species can wear it! Our shirts are not mean
spirited. If you look at what’s out there, some T-shirt places online are
really mean. Or self-deprecating to the point where it comes off like it
contributes to poor self-esteem. I knew several young people who took
suicide as a way out. A friend of mine is a fairly young person who had
cancer. Lots of kids and teens I knew had chronic illnesses, some had
cancer. Family friends died sooner than needed to have been. Lots of this
is around. I wanted to make a product that makes someone’s worst day all
that much better and sell it online and in person.
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Selling merch is not easy. Everyone tries it and abandons it after they
see you aren’t going to make millions overnight. Some of the people I know
who gave up long ago are people who had self help positive themes,
Biblical quotes, pro-women, pro-LGBTQ, and things you think would take
off, but there is so much competition, and it’s just all about marketing
and hoping people like it. When they don’t become overnight success
stories for the business newspaper praises, they quit. I’ve been selling
things since 2005 and learning by mistakes. My mom still has my old
handmade glass cutting board from when I was selling those! So
far, The Roswell Aliens Store is my first brand that people unanimously
have fun with. Not everyone loves cat gift shop ideas or some patterns,
not everyone loves plain but cool solid shade hoodies which I also sell,
but so far, so good, with lots of work, on the aliens.
Any other current or future projects you'd like to share? My
music was on WWE wrestling this year! Very fitting for Paul’s new movie
Nigel, where wrestling is up for discussion.
WWE was a huge deal to me
because it is something everyday people all over the world watch and love.
My dad loves it. He’s a huge fan and follows all the wrestling news from
when he was younger. Your website, social media, whatever else?
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Feeling lucky?
Want to
search
any of my partnershops yourself
for more, better results?
(commissions earned) |
The links below
will take you
just there!!!
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My website: CinematNIC.com
Me on IMDb:
imdb.com/name/nm8200022/
Lucky Pineapple Films: luckypineapplefilms.com
The Roswell Aliens Store by Lucky Pineapple Films:
roswellaliensstore.com
Anything else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I
am always excited to score other people’s work! Or act in it, whatever you
want. Music is my background as a flute gal, but hey, I’m a phone call away whenever anyone needs me.
Always working on millions of projects of mine as far as no budget and
budgeted filmmaking too. Thanks for the interview! Hooray for interviews!
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