Just a few days ago, I was walking past my local theater and saw that they were showing It Follows (review), the indie horror film that has received near universal critical acclaim. Even as a writer for this site, I’ve managed to avoid any spoilers, trailers, or reviews for the film once I heard that it was something special and deserved to be seen. So I walked into the theater to see when the next showing would be and, fortuitously enough, I stumbled in exactly one minute before it was set to start. I bought a ticket, plopped my ass down in a rickety theater seat, and sat back for a film that received an insane amount of hype. And you know what? I loved it.
Goddamn, It Follows is fucking great. It’s legitimately scary, expertly crafted, and is extremely entertaining throughout. The acting is very believable and the story leaves enough to the imagination to make things haunting for hours after the credits roll. And perhaps the best part was that I never felt safe watching the film. At no point did I feel like the characters were in a safe, secure place, which made the tension all the more thick and the paranoia all the more real.
But one of the main standouts is the killer soundtrack courtesy of Disasterpeace (aka Rich Vreeland). It blew me away with its minimalist electronic horrorsynth vibes and even on its own possesses the power to unsettle me greatly, causing me to look over my shoulder and be wary of the dark.
I reached out to Disasterpeace and was fortunate enough to get in touch regarding an interview. You can check out our exclusive chat below!
Follow Disasterpeace at his official website. You can also purchase the soundtrack on Digital/CD/Vinyl via Amazon.
BD: First of all, how’d you get attached to the film?
I scored a game called FEZ a few years ago. David loved the music and reached out to me via e-mail. Our initial discussions were straight-forward. We talked logistics and expressed our interest in working together. David touched base right before he started filming and then we fell out of touch for a year. When he came back to me, prepared to start scoring, I had a lot of work underway and did not have much time. I turned him down at first, but he could tell that I wanted to work on the film. After much discussion, I gave in to his persistence. I’m glad I did! We at first talked about exploring an aesthetic with guitars and other acoustic instruments. Over time, we realized that synths had the versatility we needed.
BD: Your music has been compared almost relentlessly and endlessly to John Carpenter. At what point does it stop being a compliment and become more a situation of, “Can’t my work stand on its own?”
Oh, I don’t really think about it too much. The reality is that we used John Carpenter as a reference for a few of the cues, so it makes sense. Outside of that though, my familiarity with his music is somewhat limited.
BD: Not to downplay the last question at all but as I listen to the music, I also very much heard other acts, such as Vangelis and Tangerine Dream, as potential influencers. Rather then ask if these influenced your music for the film, I’m much more curious as to what artists and bands actually drove you to pursue music.
As a teenager, my musical world revolved around guitar. Bands like Led Zeppelin, Tool, Rage Against the Machine, King Crimson and Yes really got me into writing music.
BD: There’s been a strong resurgence as of late for the whole “retrosynth” and “horrorsynth” musical style. What do you think has made it so appealing over the past few years?
Well, I do think the barrier to entry for making synth music is diminishing all the time. But for me, creating a synth-centered horror score just made a lot of sense, given my background and the limited amount of time we had. I’m always listening to new music but I never think deliberately about trends.
BD: What I found incredibly appealing about ‘It Follows’ was that it never pandered to the audience. It never had scenes that injected humor simply to alleviate the mood. The film maintained a constant and consistent sense of dread and terror, which was only amplified by your score. Did you feel that the lack of variety in mood restricted you and what you could offer or did it have the opposite effect?
I think there is subtle humor throughout the film, even in some of the darker segments. But I would imagine that the sense of the dread and terror is a bit minimized on me, because I helped create those feelings. I tend to focus on the characters, which I think is where most of the humor in the film comes from. Yara is an oddball and Paul is a bit desperate and I found them both entertaining. The pervy neighbor also deserves a mention.
BD: The film takes place in the Detroit area, which can go from beautiful suburbs to decaying landscapes. It’s also, in many places, basically a ghost town, with entire neighborhoods abandoned. Many times, when listening to the score, it sounded like the plaintive howls of ghosts, begging to be heard, as though the music was the voice of these ghost towns, the cry of the forgotten. Did Detroit itself influence the music?
Detroit certainly has a unique feeling to it, and I think that comes across in many of the film’s shots. For this film I worked in a fairly intuitive, unspoken way. Many things influenced my decisions, but it was all based on feelings and senses. I never set out to deliberately do something that was “Detroit”, but to me the film just oozes that locale, and things that ooze out of the screen will certainly seep into my work.
BD: The film has seen some absolutely unbelievable critical acclaim and that word of mouth has led to a fantastic response at the box office. Did you anticipate that the film would resound so strongly with the horror audience?
I had no idea to be honest. We were hoping for the best and I think things have truly exceeded our wildest expectations. This is my first feature film and I’ve never been much of a horror fan so this whole experience has been quite surprising for me.
BD: Speaking of the film’s success, your score is considered one of the highlights of the film. What does this kind of recognition mean to you?
It means a lot! People have told me that the music moves them, frightens them … To hear of such visceral reaction from listeners is pretty satisfying.
BD: Many composers leap at the chance to compose for a horror film, saying that it gives them a creative freedom that they rarely achieve in other genres. What do you think of this idea?
I totally agree! Scoring horror is a ton of fun. I had no idea what I was doing, to be perfectly honest. I just went with my gut feelings on things. I tried to make the cues as brazen and wild as I could.
BD: The notion of a shapeshifting entity that follows a person everywhere they go, regardless of how long it takes to get there, was really terrifying for me. If you found yourself in the same position as Jay, what kinds of shapes do you think would haunt you?
I’m sure for me it would be something a bit bigger, a bit uglier than the entities in the film. I try not to think about it too much though! Haha.