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You've recently scored the short Bag of
Tricks - so what can you tell us about your music for the film,
also in relation to its storyline?
I started with a copy of the screenplay Brantley had sent me and started
playing around with some presets in Logic to get some inspiration. Soon I
found things starting to fall into place. Thinking of Halloween, and the
rhymes children often recite, Timmy’s theme was then created. The
fascinating part is that the opening and closing credits, Candy to Die For
was composed entirely from how I had imagined Timmy from the text. I’m glad
I got that right.
What were your major inspirations when scoring Bag of
Tricks? The biggest inspiration for me was John
Carpenter’s Halloween.
The music is iconic, everyone knows what tune that is, and I tried hard to
give Timmy a theme that was simple yet spooky. I also tried hard to not
make it sound generic and wanted something different. Synth heavy, yet
modern. I would also say that Nightmare
on Elm Street was another movie I would go back to and study from
time to time. Now how did you get involved with the
project in the first place? Two years ago I was contacted
by my ex-boyfriend and current friend Brantley. He said he needed some
music done for a film he had written and knew I wanted a little exposure.
So here we are! What was your collaboration
with director Michael J. Coulombe [Michael
Coulombe interview - click here] like when scoring Bag of
Tricks, and how much creative control over the music did he have
or demand? It’s not always easy to take criticism or be
asked to take a different direction on your work, however, when you work
with others, flexibility is absolutely necessary. I do feel like the input
from Michael, Brantley, AJ, Patrick, Brian and others was vital. When you
think you can no longer improve is when, I believe, you need to hang it
up. Working with the talented group at Horror
House Media made me want to deliver a product that would match the
hard work and dedication they poured into the short. Do talk about the actual process of scoring Bag of
Tricks, from composing to recording! And what
are the general challenges of scoring a film compared to making music for
its own sake? For me, the process at first was chaos. I had
never done anything like this before! I always imagined creating an album,
but never, ever thought it would be for a horror film. So first, as I
mentioned earlier, I started with the script. Some correspondence with
Brantley and Michael assisted in getting the intro and Timmy’s theme
down. Then came the stressful part. Getting the film to score to! Many
visits to YouTube to listen to horror scores to make sure I was on the
right path. Horror fans are great people, but you also need to make sure
your shit is legit! LOL. My biggest challenges were finding the right
sounds for the right moments, the right mix. The biggest difference with
scoring for a film and doing music for me is that I actually have people
that depend on me to deliver for the film, so that music actually gets
completed!!!
Based on your experiences with Bag of
Tricks, could you ever be persuaded to score another movie? I’d
say that would be a good possibility. As long as I’m working with a fun
and laid back group of people, I’d love to. Just seeing people that
don’t know who I am actually enjoy what I have done is a huge confidence
booster. Creating music full time would be the ultimate lifetime dream. Other future projects you'd like to share? As
of right now I’m just working on building a little portfolio for my
small studio Stobe Music. It’s quite different than Bag of
Tricks, but Driving in Vermont is my newest single on
Spotify. That was inspired by, well, driving around in my pretty little
state, Vermont. What got you
into making music to begin with, and did you recieve any formal education
on the subject? I grew up in Southeast Missouri, right in
the middle of the Bible belt. I was raised singing and playing southern
gospel music. I then became interested in the alto saxophone and played
from grade 6 to 12. At age 12 I had a craptastic keyboard and started
learning how to play the piano by ear. I’ve never stopped. Aside from
briefly attending Mineral Area College for music and band in middle to
high school, I have no formal training. Do talk about your musical career prior
to scoring Bag of
Tricks? I’d say Bag of
Tricks is really my first break. I’ve had a few small jobs for
friends here and there, but this was my first foray in film. How would you describe yourself as a
musician, and what can you tell us about your preferred styles of music
and musical influences? A one-man band. I can play well
with others, but for most of my life, I’ve played alone. I’ve just
learned to make the best of what I’ve got, and musically, that’s
myself. As I touched on earlier, Southern gospel was definitely an
influence. Although I no longer live in that lifestyle, I can’t deny the
imprint it has left. Also Nina Simone has helped get me through some tough
times. Her ability to convey emotion and her raw musical talent is just
amazing. Lastly, yet the most influential, would be my Dad. He wrote his
own songs and really supported me early on in my musical discovery. It’s
important to have a cheerleader in your corner.
And since this is a film site,
your favourite movies ... and of course, films you
really deplore?
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Some favorites would be Chicago, The
Producers (2005), Halloween
(1978), The Conjuring,
and Beauty and the Beast (1991). I did not particularly like Freddy
Got Fingered. Your website, social media, whatever
else? You can find my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/stobemusic My
personal Soundcloud is https://soundcloud.com/user-631379058 Thanks for the interview!
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