Tag: music
Feature: Making Music Sexy
by Suzan Ryan on Sep.13, 2011, under Features
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There’s little in this life more glorious than a perfectly aimed money shot, shown from 10 angles and drawn out over a microcosmic eternity. There’s a certain majesty to it, a self-contained grace and momentum that pushes on and on. But how many drum rolls does it take to make that come shot work? How many people prefer watching a good porno with the sound off? There are brave men and women around the world who face questions such as these every time they front up to work. Christopher Hart, the maestro behind big-budget Digital Playground productions Pirates and Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge, is one such courageous soul. Hart is a qualified recording engineer, songwriter and producer with a background in mainstream movies, television shows and commercials. His first attempt at an adult soundtrack—Pirates—netted him an Adult Video News Award for Best Music in 2006. “I didn’t look at it as composing for porn,” says Hart. “I saw it as scoring a film, and for that you need to know orchestration, arranging and the effects different instruments have.” Hart tells us that both Pirates and Pirates II had completely original scores, composed specifically for each movie. “We recorded strings, flutes and a huge variety of other instruments. The Pirates movies have about 90 minutes of non-sex scenes in them, which is comparable to feature films. We wrote more than two hours of music for each film.” But this is not the industry standard. “This is very rare in adult films,” explains Hart. “Usually, there’s no budget at all for a composer and they put in some music from a music library. That’s why porn music is often so bad. They say the music doesn’t matter, but the relationship between sound and image is important.” Closer to home, award-winning songwriter, score-writer and television star, Glenn Dormand, is another musician who fell into composing soundtracks for adult films. “I was working a day job and a colleague mentioned he was going to make a porn film with some money in the budget for a score,” says Dormand. “I’d just had a minor hit on the radio with a song Tex Perkins and I had written together (‘Fake That Emotion’), so I was the most famous musician he knew. I was in my mid-twenties and had just broken up with my girlfriend, which meant that I had one stipulation: I’d need to be on set to find true inspiration.” Dormand, best known for his work as Machine Gun Fellatio’s Chit Chat Von Loopin Stab and as a presenter on musicMAX, worked on porn soundtracks and sets between the demise of his first band, Vrag, and the many joys of his second, MGF. |
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Though he went into the process as “a pretty good lyricist and a terrible singer who knew nothing about soundtracks”, Dormand emerged from the unusual experience with a similar philosophy to Christopher Hart.“The main thing is to remember the composer plays a supporting role,” says Dormand. “The sex is the star, so the trick is to do everything possible to elevate the sex. “We wrote tracks that would work over a long period of time, whether that was 10 minutes or 20, and then we’d arrange them to best highlight the images. “Though the old ‘wah’ is an industry standard and surprisingly still works well, at the time we opted for drum and bass, which was very popular and effective. We’d build with string pads, then get crazy with the drums. We also used a lot of slide guitar.” Aside from the artistic details, the process of score production is fairly straightforward. The music is written, or cut together, scene by scene while the film is in ‘locked picture’ mode—meaning it is edited the way it should eventually be sold. “The tricky thing is, the director can do re-cuts and take out scenes after the film is locked,” Hart tells Penthouse. “That means the last couple of weeks before the deadline are crazy and consist of 18-hour days. “For Pirates, we also worked with the movie before all the heavy effects work was put in, so in the beginning we would only see the actors and a green background! We would write certain themes—the hero theme, the villain theme, the love theme and so on. And then we would compose scene by scene, and put in variations of the themes. In Pirates II, they travel around the world, so we got to write a lot of ethnic music, too.” However, Cherry2000, an AVN-nominated electropunk band from Sydney, experienced the process from the other end. Songs from the band’s first two albums were cherry-picked, and their music ended up on a soundtrack that was nominated for an AVN Award. “A porn producer named Jack the Zipper got in touch with us,” says Cherry2000 singer Rachael Chaos. “He was doing ‘alt-porn’ with an up-and-coming video company. He asked if we would like to give him some music to use in his films, and we said yes. It became an ongoing relationship, though we never got paid.” |
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That relationship took the band to LA in 2007 for the AVN Awards—the Oscars of porn—where they were in and out of Hollywood, surrounded by porn stars and eccentrics, and witnesses to the hedonism of an AVN after-party. It was during that little adventure that their quid pro quo relationship with Jack eroded to nothing. Before the tension, though, Cherry2000 had written the title track for Jack’s next film, King Cobra. The song didn’t make the cut, but the lyrics were printed on the DVD cover, with no credit given to the band. “It was annoying, but we were still flattered,” says Andy Rantzen. “The thing is, there were times when we felt we were being taken for a ride, but there were also times we did feel valued. People like Kimberly Kane and Eon McKai had respect for the musicians they worked with.” American porn star-turned-director Kimberly Kane, whose film Live In My Secrets won Best Music Soundtrack at the 2010 AVN Awards, acknowledges there is good and bad in the industry. “Most pornographers are in porn to make an easy buck,” she says, “so they’re all about quantity over quality—the soundtrack is the last thing they think about. “But great audio lends an important depth to any movie. I know the best pornographers in the world and they care about every detail of their films. That’s what makes them the best.” For Hart, it’s even simpler than that, “You don’t put on crappy music when you want to seduce someone, do you? You put on smooth jazz, sexy R&B or hard rock. A chain is no stronger than its weakest link, and a lot of directors seem to forget that.”
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Reviews – Books: Hey, You In The Black T-Shirt
by Meg on Sep.28, 2010, under Reviews
HEY, YOU IN THE BLACK T-SHIRT
MICHAEL CHUGG WITH IAIN SHEDDEN
MACMILLAN
Michael Chugg is not what the literati would call a sympathetic protagonist. Even in his auto-biography (written with Iain Shedden, music critic for The Australian), he is not a man it’s easy to root for—at least most of the time. But he is one of Australia’s most respected music promoters, and he is responsible for a string of tours that will always have a chapter in Australia’s rock history. Continue reading “Reviews – Books: Hey, You In The Black T-Shirt” »
WINNERS: CLUTCH CD “STRANGE COUSINS FROM THE WEST”
by Meg on Apr.01, 2010, under Past Winners
Congratulations to our winners:
-L. Hall, Seven Hills, NSW
-A. Oldland, Madeley, WA.
-S. Johnston, Queanbeyan, NSW.
-J. Klotz, Balwyn North, VIC.
-D. Williams, Diamond Creek, VIC.
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Shock and Australian Penthouse magazine are teaming up to offer 5 lucky readers the chance to win Clutch’s incredible Strange Cousins From The West LP. Continue reading “WINNERS: CLUTCH CD “STRANGE COUSINS FROM THE WEST”” »
Interview: Old Crow Medicine Show
by Cameron Murray on Mar.23, 2010, under Interviews, Reviews, Web Exclusives
Following a successful tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2009, electrifying American bluegrass band Old Crow Medicine Show is back! Cameron Murray talks to fiddle player and songwriter Ketch Secor (above, with the apple) about life on the road, Bob Dylan, and snuff…
How’s it going, Ketch?
It’s going pretty well, but it’ll be going even better when I get down under!
What do you most enjoy about touring in Australia?
I don’t even know where to begin. One of the things I love is simply being in a foreign place, where music is your language, where music is the thing that unlocks doors, where music is your passport. And I love the symbolism of bringing fiddles, guitars, banjos, harmonicas, a double bass, and all my best friends halfway around the globe to make music. There’s no further you can go than the land down under; if you go any further, you start coming home again!
How did you come up with the name ‘Old Crow Medicine Show’?
We needed a name that was going to sound good shouted on a street corner; a name that would call the people in. It needed to have a little rhyme and a good cadence, and Old Crow Medicine Show was just something that struck me while I was scrubbing dishes at a job and daydreaming about playing music.
How would you describe OCMS?
We’re like a rock’n’roll band with acoustic instruments. One time, we played the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, and we had a million people on our left and a million people on our right – the biggest crowd I ever played to. Well, they called us “the Rolling Stones of bluegrass”; that’s what it said on the side of the float, in marshmallow. So I think we’re sort of the marshmallow Rolling Stones of bluegrass.
What’s your favourite song to perform?
I like ‘Wagon Wheel’ – that’s been a good song for us, but we’re always putting pen to paper and coming up with new ditties. I was thinking I might steal that song about the kookaburra in a gum tree and write myself a mega hit!
‘Wagon Wheel’ was a half-finished Bob Dylan song that you completed. Have you ever met the great man?
I never have met Bob, but I did get a co-writing credit with him, so I guess he signed off on it. I think he’d probably like us because he was into string-band music when he was coming out of that folk scene in New York City, and there were more bands like OCMS in that era than there are today. Like Bob, we always have something to say.
Your frenetic live shows always get rave reviews. What’s your secret?
Though our band is so informed by American folk music traditions, we’re not a relic. You know, if the traditions that shaped us were ever behind glass, we busted on through that, jumped off the pedestal and raced down to the streets, where this kind of music belongs. This music is powerful stuff and it can’t be contained. I think it sounds better live than it ever could on a record.
I understand legendary bluegrass guitarist Doc Watson helped you out in the beginning…
That’s true. We were busking on a street corner, out the front of a drugstore in Boone, North Carolina, and a woman came up and said, “That sounds so good, let me go get my daddy.” And she walked Doc across the street not 20 minutes later. As soon as we saw him get out of the car, we were pretty excited, and we sure got nervous! But we played a couple of tunes for him and he took a shine to us. Not a year later, we were playing at the Grand Ole Opry.
When can we expect a new album?
I’m not sure, but I’m glad we’re gonna get a little bit of that Australian dust into our nostrils before we hit the red button. I feel like there’s still something to learn, and I’m glad we’re gonna do a little travelling in your country before we finalise our new record.
Will it be at all similar to your last record, Tennessee Pusher?
I don’t know. We haven’t even played in 2010 yet. Our first gig since New Year’s Eve will be in Wellington, New Zealand on March 24. I don’t know what’s in store for us, but I’m fired up, man!
You’ve played a lot of festivals all around the world. Do you have a favourite?
CMC Rocks The Snowys in Thredbo, mate! Get a dog up ya! I haven’t seen that many cowboys since Oklahoma…and I live in Nashville.
What’s on your rider?
I think it’s Foster’s and Vegemite, primarily, but it’s also taken up by numerous tobacco products; I like a moist, sweet snuff.
So the rider changes wherever you are in the world?
Yeah, I like it when we go to Holland! You ought to see the riders up there, man!
OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW TOUR DATES
March 2010
Wed 24 | The Opera House, Wellington, NZ
Thu 25 | James Hay Theatre, Christchurch, NZ
Sat 27 | Factory Theatre, Sydney, NSW
Sun 28 | West Coast Blues n’ Roots Festival, Fremantle, WA
Mon 29 | Mojos, Fremantle, WA
Wed 31 | Thornbury Theatre, Melbourne, Vic
April 2010
Thu 1 | Thornbury Theatre, Melbourne, Vic-SOLD OUT
Fri 2 | Mossvale, South Gippsland, Vic
Sat 3 | Byron Bay Blues Festival, Byron Bay, NSW
OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW TOUR DATES
March 2010
Wed 24 | The Opera House, Wellington, NZ
Thu 25 | James Hay Theatre, Christchurch, NZ
Sat 27 | Factory Theatre, Sydney, NSW
Sun 28 | West Coast Blues n’ Roots Festival, Fremantle, WA
Mon 29 | Mojos, Fremantle, WA
Wed 31 | Thornbury Theatre, Melbourne, Vic
April 2010
Thu 1 | Thornbury Theatre, Melbourne, Vic-SOLD OUT
Fri 2 | Mossvale, South Gippsland, Vic
Sat 3 | Byron Bay Blues Festival, Byron Bay, NSW
WINNERS: Gretchen Wilson country CDs
by Cameron Murray on Mar.22, 2010, under Past Winners
CONGRATULATIONS to our winners!
I. McKibbin, Beverley, SA
K. Wilson, Seymour, Vic
J. Bennett, Tongala, Vic
C. Chappell, Caboolture, Qld
K. Staines, Crows Nest, Qld
Bursting onto the American country music scene in 2004, Gretchen Wilson’s girl-next-door appeal and ballsy, honest lyrics made her an instant fan favourite. Continue reading “WINNERS: Gretchen Wilson country CDs” »
Reviews – movies, music, games and books
by admin on Jan.04, 2010, under Reviews, The Magazine
Check out the best in Summer entertainment with our reviews of the latest books, music, games and movies! Continue reading “Reviews – movies, music, games and books” »
Win a Video Hits Number Ones CD set!–winners announced
by admin on Nov.11, 2009, under Competitions, Past Winners
![VH THE NUMBER 0NES-2[1]](http://www.australianpenthouse.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/VH-THE-NUMBER-0NES-21-300x300.jpg "VH THE NUMBER 0NES-2[1]")
EMI and Australian Penthouse are offering five lucky readers the chance to win a copy of summer essential triple-disk CD Video Hits: The Number Ones.
Video Hits: The Number Ones (value: $29.95) brings together 60 certified Australian chart toppers from the 80s, 90s and 00s with a total of 290 of the hit songs making #1 on the charts – that’s more than five-and-a-half-years in the charts! Click the link to see the winners! Continue reading “Win a Video Hits Number Ones CD set!–winners announced” »
Win one of 10 Nirvana Classic Album DVDs–winners announced!
by admin on Sep.23, 2009, under Competitions, Past Winners
Thanks to our friends at Shock, we have 10 copies of the DVD, Nirvana: Nevermind, to give away. A look back at the recording of the band’s classic album, the doco features interviews with the group’s members and live songs from the band’s prime. Click to see the winners! Continue reading “Win one of 10 Nirvana Classic Album DVDs–winners announced!” »
Win a country music double CD!-winners announced!
by admin on Sep.02, 2009, under Competitions, Past Winners
In association with our pardners at Sony Music, we’re giving you the chance to score one of six Double Cream – The Best of Cream of Country CD sets! Click on the story to see the winners!
Continue reading “Win a country music double CD!-winners announced!” »
Reviews: Movies, Books, Games & Film
by admin on Aug.26, 2009, under Reviews, The Magazine
Books, music and games from Australian Penthouse… this month, George Pelecanos, Lisa Gardner, Lee Child, Max Frei, Robert Kaplan, Red Faction, Wolverine, Bob Dylan and M. Ward Continue reading “Reviews: Movies, Books, Games & Film” »
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