November 2014
APRA WRAP
A great night was had by all at the recent APRA Screen Music Awards. Sororal was up against some fairly big films and some heavy weight composers including David Hirschfelder (nominated for The Railway Man staring Nicole Kidman) and Christopher Gordon (nominated for Adoration staring Naomi Watts).
The nomination was great recognition of my hard work as well as the hard work of all the key creatives involved in Sororal. Hearing the Ashly Irwin Orchestra perform a 5-minute rendition of the score was a big thrill!
Congratulations to David Hirschfelder who took out the award for The Railway Man.
Copyright (C) Tony Mott
October 2014
SORORAL NOMINATED FOR APRA FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR
Off the back of international interest and a soundtrack release with prestigious Swedish soundtrack label Screamworks, Sororal has been nominated for Film Score of The Year at the 2014 APRA Screen Music Awards.
A Nakatomi Pictures production shot on location in Western Australia, Sororal is currently making appearances at genre film festivals around the world and lays claim to being Australia’s first giallo film.
The score's distinctive sound is comprised of a 10-piece brass section, 16-piece choir, two drum kits, electric guitar, electric cello, a barrage of analogue synthesizers and a Hungarian cimbalom. The score takes inspiration from prog-rock, kraut-rock, as well as Bulgarian choir music, 20th Century avant-garde classical works and classic giallo scores from the likes of soundtrack band Goblin and legendary Italian film composer Ennio Morricone.
Aaron Sterns, screenwriter of Wolf Creek 2, is among the fans of the soundtrack and labels it “haunting, eerie, and yet discordantly beautiful."
The 2014 APRA Screen Music Awards will be held in Sydney on the 12 of November.
More info here
August 2014
THE AU REVIEW - THÉRÈSE RAQUIN
I was recently interviewed by the AU Review about my work on the theatre adaptation of Emile Zola's classic Thérèse Raquin.
July 2014
AUSTRALIAN MUSIC CENTRE
The Australian Music Centre (AMC) has published a blog article I wrote regarding the Sororal Soundtrack release.
The AMC is the national service organisation dedicated to the promotion and support of both the artform of music and the creators and performers of contemporary classical, improvised jazz, experimental music and sound art in Australia.
CUTCOMMON INTERVIEW
I was recently interviewed by Sam Gillies of CutCommon Magazine. Topics include the Sororal soundtrack release, collaborating with filmmakers, my approach to writing film music, working with electronics and a bunch of other things.
BERGMAN'S PERSONA
My most recent project has me teamed up with film director Sam Barrett for a stage adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's Persona. This alluring and unsettling production is making its debut at the upcoming Monash Container Festival.
Elizabeth, a successful actress, mysteriously stops speaking one night during a performance. A plucky young nurse accompanies her to a beachside retreat to work through this strange crisis. The two women form a bond and enjoy an idyllic, quiet existence in which nurse Alma even confesses her deepest secrets to Elizabeth. The world they have built begins to crumble, as they both become aware of the intricate masks they wear. The seclusion forces the women to drop these masks and to confront the disturbing truth of what lies beneath them."
Cast: Hannah Monson, Emma Catherine-Hall
Composition and sound design by Christopher de Groot
Directed by Sam Barrett
SORORAL SIGNS TO SWEDISH SOUNDTRACK LABEL
My score for Aussie thriller Sororal has signed to prestigious Swedish soundtrack label Screamworks off the back of international interest in the soundtrack as well as a nomination for Best Original Music at the 26th West Australian Screen Awards.
Screamworks Records is fast creating a name for itself as one of the biggest independent soundtrack labels in Europe. Screamworks is currently the only record label devoted entirely to horror film scores.
The score is currently available through Itunes.
June 2014
WA SCREEN AWARD NOMINATION
I've been nominated for Best Original Music at the 26th West Australian Screen Awards. This is my fourth nomination since 2010.
In 2009 I took out the award for my soundtrack to the indie horror/comedy The Director's Cut.
The West Australian Screen Awards will be held on the 14th of July 2014 at the State Theatre Centre of WA.
For a full list of nominees click here
THÉRÈSE RAQUIN
I'm currently working on music for a theatre adaptation of Émile Zola's Thérèse Raquin. I will be performing the music live, which will see me playing piano, and various percussion instruments including bowed cymbals and bass drum.
Thérèse Raquin will be performed at Theatre Works from 14 Aug 2014 - 30 Aug 2014.
More info here
Synopsis
Based on and adapted from the 19th Century Émile Zola novel Thérèse Raquin tells the story of a young woman trapped in a life of servitude and the desperate measures she will undertake to free herself from her circumstances. Forced by her adoptive mother and aunt to marry her sickly cousin, Camille, Thérèse lives an unhappy and resentful life. When Camille moves the family to Paris Thérèse is doomed to a life of servitude and unhappiness working in her Aunts downstairs haberdashery. When one day Camille brings Laurent, a friend, to visit he unwittingly sets in motion a series of cruel and devastating events that will ruin all their lives.
(World Premiere - adapted and written by Gary Abrahams based on the novel by Émile Zola)
March 2014
DREAM HOME
I spent last week in development at the Northcote Town Hall with a theatre show called Dream Home.
Dream Home is an Australian gothic tale set around the renovations of a family house. I spent the week creating a myriad of sound and music.
Written by award winning playwright Emilie Collyer and directed by Luke Kerridge a second development period will ensue later in the year with a goal to staging the play in 2015.
January 2014
THE BURNING KISS RECORDING SESSIONS
This month I begin recording several instruments for The Burning Kiss soundtrack. Percussion, double bass, woodwinds, guitar and keyboard instruments will all be recorded in my home studio.
The Burning Kiss is an independent Australian feature film directed by Robbie Studsor.
Click here to watch the teaser trailer