Adam Robl and Shawn Sutta combine their obsession with the process of composing and recording music with their passion for the art of filmmaking. Read our discussion below!
Describe your sound in 3 words
Each film brings out a different sound in us but for Poser we would say
Handel meets T-Pain (haha)
Tell us a few things about this soundtrack for Poser. What is the story behind it?
Poser is a film about a young podcaster, Lennon Gates, who yearns for access to the inner sanctum of the underground music scene in Columbus, Ohio. She decides to start a podcast, interviewing all these artists she admires so deeply. We knew we wanted the score to reflect Lennon’s inner experience with everyone that she is observing and interacting with. In the first rough cut the directors had a few classical based temp tracks and that we felt both captured Lennons high regard for the local artists and juxtaposed well with all the other music in the film, so we used that genre as a foundation moving forward. From there we were able to experiment more with some more modern sounds and recording techniques. Female voice became the central musical aesthetic we decided to lay on top of the classical based foundations. The vocalist, Gabriela Ferrer, we felt had the perfect voice for this score because her tone didn’t have the tradition classical timbre. This help us in achieving a classical modern hybrid sound we were looking for.
The first track of the album is based on a piece by great baroque composer Handel. If Handel were alive today, what kind of music would he compose?
Gonna go out on a limb and say Trap music hahaha just kidding! But honestly who knows. There might be some whole new genre happening right now if he was alive in this moment.
What is the Importance of a good soundtrack?
The score/soundtrack is pretty essential in setting the tone to any film. It can either help it soar or make it sink. You have a lot of power as a composer and the primary goal should always be do what’s best for film not always what is impressive musically.
Are movie theatres being killed by streaming services?
Yeah the theater has definitely taken a massive hit due to streaming. Unfortunately convenience always tends to lead the way into the future and sometimes not for the best. Seeing a film in a theater is such a magical experience that we are grateful we were able to really enjoy when we were growing up. That being said it is really nice to be able to binge our favorite shows and films at 3 in the morning if we want to.
How did you two meet and start making music? Would you reveal each other’s funny habits?
We actually met in college at the University of Miami. We were studying studio music, performance, jazz, and we got thrown into an ensemble together our very first week there. We had to kind of make something out of nothing with a really rag-tag group of musicians. And that whole thing was just so much fun. We had a great time, and whatever came out felt really good. So we started off on this really great collaboration and became really good friends in college. Then, a year after college, we ended up renting houses that were back-to-back and became neighbors. And totally by chance. I was living in one and he just happened to rent the other one. He was like, “I think it’s close to your house.” And then we went into the backyard like, “Oh shit! It’s right there!” At that time, we were both getting our studios together, too. We both had been performing a bunch and kind of wondering about the future and what we wanted to do. We were both just having this conversation about what the ultimate thing in music was. Like, what would we really want to do? And, film was the thing. Film music was this big goal that we didn’t have any foot in. We didn’t know anybody doing this kind of work, but that’s really what we wanted to do. So we just decided to go for it.
What isn’t a crime but should be?
Listening to Katy Perry haha
Thank you!
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