FILMUSIK LATE NIGHT takes on 1950′s Japanese TV special with sound designer Heather Perkins

On September 9th and 10th, the Evil Brain is descending upon the Hollywood Theatre. His cobalt stalactite-fingers are menacing. His overstuffed crotch is disturbing. And his tendency to dance the cha-cha-cha during fight sequences is, well, just kind of adorable. The Evil Brain is set upon destroying the Earth, but first he’ll have to contend with Starman, the Japanese man of steel. Epic chase scenes, slapboxing matches and poorly edited teleportations abound in this pitched battle for the fate of the world.

The onscreen antics are nonstop, but at Filmusik’s adaptation of Starman vs. the Evil Brain from Space, the real action will be happening in the pit, where wunderkind sound designer and composer Heather Perkins will conjure up an electronic soundscape to redefine this classic film. Perkins has decades of experience crafting sound for projects of every stripe, and her work blurs the line between digital and analog, real and surreal, music and noise.

FILMUSIK LATE NIGHT: Starman – Attack of the Evil Brain from Outer Space
September 9th and 10th- 10pm
Hollywood Theatre – $12
More info and tickets at Filmusik.com

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

For this special performance, Perkins is pulling out all the stops. “I will be moving a version of my entire studio into the theater,” she says, “so I am basically building a huge new instrument with many heads, each with evil brains of their own.” As the film plays behind her, Perkins will work magic on her eclectic array of gadgetry – perhaps a Vocoder for the Evil Brain sound or some keyboard blips for gunbursts, and definitely a Waterphone to get the show started. A liquid-filled brass instrument, the Waterphone produces “a sound you have heard a million times maybe without knowing what it was,” Perkins explains. “It can sound evocative if played right, but one false move and it sounds truly screechingly awful.  I’m not sure which outcome to hope for, honestly.”

HP – Once I did sound design for a pageant for the Winter Olympics, and it was huge. We had this giant bear that was going to come out on the ice, and they needed the sound of a bear catching a fish and slapping the water. That’s not in a sound library.

So here I am in my bathtub with all my microphones pointed into the tub and I’m hoping they don’t fall in. I’ve already fallen in. I’m splashing around. And that’s what ended up in the Winter Olympics pageant – me splashing around in my bathtub.

Perkins’ sonic wizardry will breathe new life into every haymaker, questionable costume choice and breathtakingly bad line of dialogue. Her expertly placed beeps and boops, whaps and thwaps might be just what Starman needs to finally defeat the Evil Brain. Don’t miss your chance to find out!

CLICK HERE TO SEE A CLIP FROM THE ORIGINAL VERSION

AN INTERVIEW WITH HEATHER PERKINS -

SOUND DESIGNER BEHIND “THE EVIL BRAIN

• Tell us about the coolest project you’ve been a part of.
Apart from the other time I’ve worked with Galen, and some great experiences working with Portland animator Rose Bond on some short films and indoor and outdoor video installations, I would have to say Electrogals, which is an electronic music festival featuring female composers that I started in 1995. It has continued to expand and grow, and it’s been really exciting for me. Producing the shows involves things that are not usually my forte, like having meetings, writing up grants and budgets, holding fundraisers, organizing other artists and writing tons of long emails. But it’s worth it. And I do get to play in the shows too, so that’s fun.

• What has been the most exciting part of putting this project together?
Well, I’m psyched to work with Galen again, and working to film is always exciting. I am trying not to allow the nerve-wracking aspect of playing a 78 minute score in real time get to me, but instead enjoy the blank canvas aspect of a project like this and the trust implicit in Galen giving me free rein. I can pretty much do anything! I will be moving a version of my entire studio into the theater, so I am basically building a huge new instrument with many heads, each with evil brains of their own. I decided to call it “The Hydra Approach.”

• The most challenging part?
Aside from moving all my stuff out of my studio and into the theater? Watching the movie. Not only is it sort of a long and comical good/bad movie which I have already watched multiple times, it’s also physically hard to watch the film while I’m playing. A lot of my gadgetry is sensitive to touch or proximity, so that requires me to pay attention to where my hands are, and it’s difficult to also see the screen. I am working on a through line sound guide that will keep me in synch, and hopefully we can get a big video monitor right in front of my face for the show!

• What sounds and experiences should audience members be most excited for?
The actual Evil Brain sound, which I am working on – possibly using a vocoder – and also the music for the fight sequences. And I will be playing the Waterphone live for the opening and closing credits, which is always exciting. It’s a sound you have heard a million times maybe without knowing what it was – I think the Waterphone is used in almost every horror film and TV show. It was featured prominently in “The X Files.” It’s an odd-looking brass instrument that contains water, and I play its tines with a violin bow – it can sound evocative if played right but one false move, and it sounds truly, screechingly awful. I’m not sure which outcome to hope for, honestly. I have a thirst for sonic danger.

FILMUSIK joins forces with composer Andrew Oliver to create a new soundtrack for the 1960’s rubber-suit kaiju monster-piece Gamera vs. Barugon. Live voice actors dub the film into english with the original 1966 script and The live ensemble performs the score live at the Hollywood Theatre.

Filmusik: Gamera vs. Barugon
August 26th, 27th
8pm – Hollywood Theatre
Tickets $12/10 Students/seniors
More info at WWW.FILMUSIK.COM

PICK UP TICKETS FOR THE SHOW

Everyone’s favorite incompetent-but-persistent Hero Turtle returns to the Hollywood Theatre in the epic Japanese monster mash Gamera vs. Barugon. After a scientific expedition gone awry, a vicious beast is wreaking havoc on Japan. With its whip-crack tongue, razor-sharp horns and deadly Binaca breath, Barugon is all your childhood nightmares rolled into one badass dinorhino.

Vanquishing Barugon is a tall order, even for a Hero Turtle like Gamera. Luckily, Filmusik has his back. A crew of voice actors, musicians and foley artists provide a live soundtrack to the film, adding new life to every roar and playing up the camp in every straight-from-the-script line of dialogue. Filmusik’s original score, composed by Andrew Oliver and performed in the pit by the Ocular Concern, is guaranteed to get Gamera – and you – all pumped up for the big showdown. Don’t miss the chance to add your cheers and jeers to the soundscape in this dazzling reimagining of a classic film. Gamera can’t do it without you!

ABOUT FILMUSIK: Based out of Portland, Oregon. Filmusik is a collaborative performance group of musicians, composers and actors creating a unique movie experience by performing a new soundtrack for classic films live in the pit.

Whether it’s a vocal chorus wailing away to a spaghetti western gunfight, voice actors dubbing the cartoon characters of Gulliver’s Travels or sound effects (foley) artists smashing crates together for a Japanese monster invasion, seeing professional performers creating sound for the movies live makes for an unforgettable experience.

ANDREW OLIVER is a pianist and composer from Portland, Oregon. He lived in New Orleans from 2002 until 2005, where he studied jazz at Loyola University and performed as both a bandleader and sideman. After evacuating from Hurricane Katrina in the summer of 2005, he returned to Portland.  He has performed throughout the Northwest and Europe with various musicians and groups, and in 2007, as pianist for Devin Phillips and New Orleans Straight Ahead, he was was selected to tour West Africa as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. under the State Department and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s “Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad” program.  He co-directs the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble, a 14-piece group performing and commissioning new music by jazz composers in the region, as well as directing the Kora Band, a Seattle-based ensemble fusing jazz and west African musical elements which has recently won “2010 NW Jazz Album of the Year” from Earshot Jazz for their album “Cascades.”  He is also the recipient of a 2011 ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award and a 2011 Oregon Arts Commission Fellowship.

GAMERA vs. BARUGON. After a treacherous expedition to retrieve a giant opal, disaster strikes as the opal reveals itself to be an egg which spawns Barugon, demon dog from Hell! Armed with a deadly tongue and cold beams, Barugon wreaks havoc on Japan. Gamera comes to save the day