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Sunday, September 18, 2005
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Trio scores with silent-film gig
Devil Music Ensemble provides ‘soundtrack’
Scott McLennan
Entertainment Columnist
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Devil Music Ensemble is working the movie-house circuit.
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Devil Music Ensemble presents “Big Stakes”
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When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Where: Ellis White Lecture Hall at
Fitchburg State College
How much: $10
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For most bands, the video typically comes after a song has been written
and recorded.
For Devil Music Ensemble, though, the visuals tend to come first. At
least when the innovative trio is performing one of its “soundtrack”
pieces, which are newly created scores for old silent movies.
“It’s great using film as the drawing board. The film absolutely directs
where we go with the music,” explained Tim Nylander, who plays drums in
Devil Music Ensemble.
Nylander, a Sturbridge native, teamed with guitar and synthesizer player
Brendon Wood and electric violin and vibraphone player Jonah Rapino in
1999 to form Devil Music Ensemble. The three met in Boston, where Devil
Music Ensemble makes its headquarters and plots ways to expand its
musical horizons.
Nylander explained how Devil Music Ensemble has recorded rock-leaning
material, assembled a 40-piece orchestra around its modern classical
compositions and delved into various ethnic and folk musical idioms.
“The purpose of the group is to explore music in many different ways,”
Nylander said.
But it has been Devil Music Ensemble’s work with film that has given the
band the greatest amount of freedom and recognition by allowing the band
to tour around the country giving performances set to silent films.
On Thursday, Devil Music Ensemble launches its newest tour from the Ellis
White Lecture Hall at Fitchburg State College. The ensemble will be
performing the music it wrote to accompany the 1922 silent Western “Big
Stakes,” a film directed by Clifford Elfelt that combines action, levity
and a bit of social commentary about race and the Ku Klux Klan.
Nylander said the band wanted to write for a Western after having messed
around with various expressionist and surrealist films (Jean Cocteau’s
“Le Sang d’un Poete” was the first silent film the band started jamming
to). An Internet search led the band to “Big Stakes,” the copyright for
which was up for grabs. The ensemble bought the print and now is in a
position to release the film with its own score.
The horror classics “Nosferatu” and “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” are the
other two full-length films currently in the ensemble’s repertoire. Both
those films are wrapped in various red tape, which makes it difficult for
the band to release the movies with its own soundtrack. The ensemble
twice presented its version of “Caligari” at the Bijou movie theater in
Worcester. Those who want to catch “Nosferatu,” the latest creation in
the catalog, can see Devil Music Ensemble perform to that film on Oct. 28
and 29 at Pothole Pictures in Shelburne Falls, Oct. 31 at Coolidge Corner
Theater in Brookline, and Nov. 5 at Brown University in Providence.
“Big Stakes” brought out the lighter side of Devil Music Ensemble’s
sound. The music lopes and strides, with the band’s sensibilities divided
between the prairie and the saloon. Still, the soundtrack has avant-garde
flairs in the way the instruments quirkily play off of each other.
“With ‘Caligari’ and ‘Nosferatu’ we go for a scary mood. We definitely
ham it up a lot with the Western,” Nylander said.
Nylander pointed out that Devil Music Ensemble really had no rule book to
follow in terms of how the music was performed for a given film when
shown in the movie houses of the 1920s. Every theater in every city and
town had musicians, typically organ players, improvising music and pop
tunes of the day to whatever was happening on the screen.
To a degree, the Devil Music Ensemble likewise improvises a bit from
night to night. Nylander explained that different film prints may run at
different speeds, meaning the band has to make sure its tempos and
changes fall into place.
And if the audience enthusiastically responds to a particular musical
portrait of a character or situation, expect the ensemble to capitalize
on that reaction elsewhere in its presentations.
But in general, the band creates soundtracks that fit the characters and
themes of a given film.
“The silent movies allow us to become the voices of the characters,”
Nylander explained. And movies with big casts are no problem as each of
the trio members can multitask and perform on two instruments at once
when need be.
Working the movie-house circuit has brought Devil Music Ensemble in front
of diverse crowds, with both music fans and film buffs supporting the
group’s efforts.
Nylander said that none of the band members was deep into film studies
before this venture, but each now has a greater appreciation for film.
And anything that nurtures an interest in the silent-film era seems
welcome in the film community.
“When we go to a college, even if we don’t see a huge amount of kids, the
ones who are there are really excited, and it tends to be a mix of film
students and musicians,” Nylander said.
“The way we look at it, if we can educate people about this type of film
or if people get inspired by what we are doing setting music to the
films, then that’s pretty good.”
Scott McLennan can be reached at tgmusic1@yahoo.com.
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