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Our brothers at Ghostly tipped us to one of our favorite electronic artists, Lusine, scoring the new Sam Rockwell/Kate Beckinsale film called “Snow Angels” (theatrical release March ‘08 - see trailer above) with longtime collaborator David Wingo.  If you’ve read our “Radiohead vs. Hans Zimmer” post, you know we drool at the thought of dope artists scoring dope films, so we had to hear more about it.  Lusine, aka Jeff McIlwain, took some time on the phone to chat about his creative process, the difference between scoring films and making albums, and what’s next for Lusine.  He and Ghostly were also kind enough to offer up a free download of the track “Locks” that he wrote with David Ringo, so click here to download the mp3.  Full interview is below. 

SEEN: Congrats on "Snow Angels".  The film has these great dark undertones but its set in a cold, bright, shimmery winter setting: perfect for the sound of Lusine.  Did you get the film simply because your sound was so apt for it?

Jeff McIlwain: My writing partner David Wingo, whom I’ve known since freshmen in college, and I are friends with director David Green.  [editor's note: check out this awesome trailer for Green's upcoming film "Pineapple Express"] David (Green) was kind of waiting for something that would work with my music I think.  He hadn't found the right thing until “Snow Angels”.  So it was a kind of combination of my sound being right for this specific project and the right opportunity coming along.

SEEN: There's also some great cues of yours in the trailer (along with The National's "Slow Show").  Does film scoring give you the opportunity to play with ideas and sounds you wouldn't necessarily have with a Lusine track or remix?

JM: Yes, definitely.  It also has to do with fact that its a collaboration, and in working with David Wingo we kind of have this hybrid sound.  David's in a band called Ola Podrida (Plug Research) that has kind of a folk/country type sound (he’s playing ATP by the way). When we play together its more of a hybrid sound that definitely yields interesting results.  We're on two different coasts – I’m in Seattle, he’s in New York.  One of us will come up with something and we'll send it to each other.  Sometimes if he sends me something I'll just completely chop it up and make something completely new with it.  And then sometimes its just backing up what he does or him backing up what I do.  It all kind of depends on what the scene calls for I think.

SEEN: It seems more artists are trying to enter into the world of film scoring. How did you and David make that transition from artist to composer successfully?

JM: Both of us had been involved in film scoring before.  When I lived in LA I worked for film composer Ed Shearmur on a few projects, and learned a lot about the process.  The software, the way to treat the scenes, the way to build up the cues and whatnot.  And David Wingo has been working on films for a while as well.  He basically started by scoring all of David Green's films.  Every David Green film to this day has been scored by David Wingo with help from his other partner Michael Linnen.  So both of us are coming to it with a little bit of experience.

SEEN: Would you consider film scoring liberating or constricting creatively for you?

JM: I kind of feel like being restricted is liberating in a way.  Working on your own music, you're kind of at a loss of what to do sometimes.  But when you have a specific direction or scene a lot of times it focuses your efforts a lot more, and it can be a lot more satisfying that way.

SEEN: Your music has been featured in various TV shows, like MTV's The Real World.  Are you interested in working more with TV, ads, games?

JM: Oh yes, definitely.

SEEN: Are you into video games?

JM: I’m not a huge gamer but I have an Xbox, and there are select games I’m really into. Halo, and Splinter Cell is by far my favorite.

SEEN: Do you notice the music when you’re playing games or watching tv?

JM: I notice when its music that’s really outside of the box. A lot of the times music that’s a little bit different, but still works, is what I notice a lot more.

SEEN: What's next for Lusine?

JM: I'm working on an album right now, it's kind of slow going.  I'm trying to put together some vocalists to work on it.  Maybe a little bit more pop-y, but also similar to stuff I've done in the past. I dunno, trying to change directions a little bit.

SEEN: Lusine is part of a progressive electronic music community, and your work has been remixed by Apparat, Matthew Dear, John Tejada. And you've returned the favor to them and many other artists.  How important is this cross-pollination to the IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) scene?

JM: I think its definitely important to have influences and hear where somebody is taking their music, or maybe even to see why you definitely don’t want to go there (laughs). I think keeping your ears closed and just focusing on your own music is not how I write.  I’m more trying to find influences everywhere I can, including the experimental electronic scene but in other genres as well.

SEEN: IDM - what are your thoughts on the word?

JM: I don’t like it very much.  I doubt you’ll find very many artists that like that term.  But I think it has a lot more to do with people trying to find that similar type of music.  I think its ok to categorize music for discovery purposes but the term is kind of ridiculous. 

SEEN:  Why did you move to Seattle?  Do you think being based there has an effect on your sound?

JM: I wasn’t crazy about LA and I have a bunch of friends that live up here.  So I moved up here, worked with David Wingo (who lived here at the time before moving to NY), and I think Seattle’s a great place to be.  There’s a small electronic scene here and we all know each other and feed off each other.  There’s a great electronic festival here every fall called the Decibel Festival.  The weather here is not always so great, and when its really rainy you stay inside and work a lot more.  It’s also a really beautiful place.  It’s green and lush, and the landscapes are really good for being in a good frame of mind to write.

SEEN: Other artists in the Seattle/Pacific Northwest music scene that interest you?

JM: There’s this guy here – Son of Rose - I really like his music, it’s not very similar to mine.  His music is really ambient and electro-acoustic in a way.  He uses pianos in a really interesting way.  There’s a label called Orac Records that’s great, they’re more techno with an experimental side to it.  And there’s an artist not too far in Vancouver called Loscil that I’m really into.  His stuff is really beautiful and ambient.

SEEN: Name some directors you would want to work with, or genres of film you'd like to explore.

JM: (laughs) Obviously I’m really into David Green’s style.  I would love to work more in action films, but I don’t know how easy it is to break into that Hollywood mold.  I think my music works more in reflective, cinematic kind of stuff.  Honestly I feel like I’m just getting started in this arena.

Download: Lusine - Locks (A Collaboration With David Wingo)