Interview: Pattern is Movement’s Chris Ward on mixing music with film, literally (album screening party at PhilaMOCA on 4/30)
When Philly experimental rock duo Pattern is Movement went into the studio to record its first album in five years, the pressure was on. Keyboardist-singer Andrew Thiboldeaux and drummer Chris Ward wanted to make sure whatever they did held up to their revered past work. And Ward, who worked on the record as a performer and in post-production, came up with an innovative method to test the music out. On Tuesday the 30th, PiM is throwing what they’re calling an album screening at PhilaMOCA for Cinedelphia’s Tuesday Tune-Out. Basically, the free event will be an album listening party – the guys aren’t actually performing live – where the public can hear PiM’s as-yet untitled new album for the first time, with visuals care of P.T. Anderson’s dark western There Will Be Blood. After the album plays, Thiboldeaux, Ward and producer Dave Downham will take part in a Q&A moderated by Weathervane Music‘s Peter English – to get details. Last week I caught up with Ward over Google Chat – he was on the tail end of his tour drumming for Strand of Oaks and opening for Phosphorescent. Find out more in our interview below, and see what’s in store / hear some brand new Pattern music in this event trailer.
The Key: How did you come to match the album with the film?
Chris Ward: I was part of the mixing team for the record and I wanted to experience the record outside of being a creator of it (as well as an engineer). I had the idea – when we finish a mix, let’s sync scenes of the movie that I choose to songs and see if they emotionally resonate. I wanted some distance, and it fucking worked. I look at it as a tool in the mixing process, and it helped us re-envision the record actually.
TK: So was the idea with that experiment to see if the music carried strong enough emotion or mood that it could change the way you look at There Will Be Blood, which already has a very defined mood?
CW: Not exactly. The idea of the experiment – or exercise as I call it – was to see if the songs could carry their weight against a film of that magnitude. A lot of that film is not speech, but rather landscape and body language / non verbals. That is why, IMO, Jonny Greenwood’s soundtrack is so powerful. Because it’s as landscapey as the film. So – to summarize – it was more a test for our songs. And it passed. But it also helped us realize the songs were there, but the production / energy was not. So we scrapped a lot of that first mix.
TK: What did you feel was missing, sound-wise? I feel like the new music has more low end than the previous three Pattern records.
CW: You are right on the money – the new record has low end that we never had before, and that is partly due to this exercise with the film. Bass to me is a non-verbal – something most people don’t think about because of its frequency resonance – but I can bet that when you hear a song and you are crying, the bass is a huge factor in it!
TK: So taking it beyond the mixing exercise and into the full-scale production at PhilaMOCA on the 30th, you’re going to play the studio version of the album through the PA, synced up to scenes from There Will Be Blood?
CW: Yup! It’s a quasi listening party, plus a film screening. We’re calling it an album screening.
TK: How long have you and Andrew been working on this record?
CW: We began working on it in 2009. We did a tour-only EP at Jeff Zeigler’s, and that was the beginning of the album.
TK: With this set of songs, since it’s so electronics-oriented – and the orchestrations in that dept are so complex – how did the songs come together? Did Andrew bring you ideas that you added beats to?
CW: Andrew wrote the songs / lyrics, tracked them from the ground up and then did vocals. I played drums last.
After the drums, he re-did some vocals and then we mixed it once. Then we changed some drums, some arrangements, added that bass, and then we mixed it a second time.
TK: When can we expect it to be released?
CW: It will be released on Hometapes in mid October – home of Matthew E White, Bear in Heaven, Megafaun, etc. It’s un-named at this point.
Pattern is Movement’s album screening party takes place Tuesday, April 30th at PhilaMOCA. The free, all-ages event begins at 7:30, and is sponsored by Pizza Brain – which doubtless means delicious refreshments.