The Devil’s Violinist - new film score

Here’s Jeff Lamb’s new short film, for which I had the pleasure of composing a solo violin piece.

When I first met with Jeff he told me how important it was for the music to be beautiful but haunting. And man, it’s vulnerable! It has no dialog, is shot on 35mm film, and the piece is performed live on set (with a film this centered on music, is there any other way to go?)

Much of the music I make is full of instruments & textures & such, so it was a fun challenge to compose something this stripped-down. Jeff put a lot of trust in me (thank you Jeff!) and it was a rewarding & fun collaboration all around.

I hadn’t written for solo violin before, and what an honor to have the piece performed by Barry Socher, who (as Jeff pointed out) has been in the LA Philharmonic since before we were born :)

Barry and Jeff came by my studio one afternoon to discuss and rehearse the piece. Barry has a really cool beard and immediately struck me as sensitive, expressive, and humble- all qualities I aspire to as a music-maker.

Hearing your piece come to life through an enormously talented musician is quite a thing.. you get a whole new sense of the possibilities. And though he has decades more experience than me, Barry was very collaborative and open to my little tweaks about this phrase or that phrase- a glissando here, an extra swell there- and quickly adapted each into his performance. Details like that are one of my favorite parts of music.

Hope you like it.

Barry & I. Someday I’ll learn how to not get freaked out and awkward when waiting for a camera to take a photo, but know I’m excited & happy to be here :)

p.s. here’s a nice writeup by Jeff from the Shorts Showcase site about making the film.

Violin and Paulilu

I’ve been recording like a fiend over the past few months and figure it’s high time to share a few pictures.

First up: just this week, violinist Cheryl Kim. Versatile, equally adept at vibrato-laden super-sweet high swelly parts and creepy scratchy textures. Cheryl made the excellent suggestion of using her mute for the higher/intense parts which helped cut back on resonance building up in the booth. If we were recording in a concert hall this wouldn’t be necessary, but for the dry/intimate sound I was going for this worked great.





On Wednesday, my buddies Paul and Lucia (Paulilu) stopped in with the very funny Jessica Chaffin (Ronna & Beverly, The Real Housewives of South Boston) to record some voices for an auto spot. Jessica spotted my recently acquired first cookbook (I’m 30… it’s about time, right??) and even gave me some suggestions of what to try next. No picture due to my smartphone’s tragic demise, but here’s Ronna & Beverly with a spastic dog: