Those of you thinking Amit has been quiet of late will be interested to know this is because he's been busy scoring the the soundtrack to a feature film. However, he does have a single forthcoming on Klute's Commercial Suicide in June. We spoke to him to get the latest on these projects and what else he's up to at the moment...

How did you come to do a major movie soundtrack?
I've always loved film, even as a child I was fascinated by scoring and sound design. I actually worked on my first short film, the award winning Rent, before I became a recording artist. I then went on to work on several more shorts over the past few years and really enjoyed the process.

As I was preoccupied with working on my album Never Ending and numerous 12"s, I hadn't really thought about working on a feature until recently. Then Basement came along and it was the perfect opportunity for me to make the transition to features, as I had already worked with Asham, the director, on a number of his shorts.

Is this something you've wanted to do for a while?
Definitely. Having been a huge fan of film composers such as Jerry Goldsmith, Thomas Newman and, more recently, Johnny Greenwood, I was eager to have the chance to work on a feature myself. Also it's great to have an opportunity to compose music for another medium.

How has the experience been working on the soundtrack?
Before beginning the score for Basement, I had been working on tracks for a new album. The big difference between working on my own music and creating a score is the collaborative nature of the medium of film.

This did take some getting used to as I'm so used to working alone but I did enjoy this aspect of the process, from discussing the tone and atmosphere of a scene with the director to working with the sound effects team. I found it challenging and rewarding and I'm already looking forward to my next feature project.

What can you tell us about the movie itself?
It's a supernatural thriller set in England in the present day. We follow five young friends as they try to escape from the nightmarish situation of being trapped in the middle of nowhere in an underground bunker. The cast includes Danny Dyer, Jimi Mistry and Kirsten Wareing. It's being released by Revolver across UK cinemas in August.

Tell us more about the tracks on your forthcoming Commercial Suicide 12"...
The tracks on my upcoming 12" are Tokyo and Slug. I had always been interested in Japan and Japanese artists such as Akira Kurosawa and Beat Takeshi. Tokyo was written after returning from playing a live gig in Japan. I really enjoyed my time over there, from the city itself to the Japanese culture, and I was really impressed by the promoters who invited me over (the New Type Boys).

Slug is a good counterpoint to Tokyo as it was written within a period of non-travel and is very much the product of my home environment. In this way I thought it served as a point of contrast from Tokyo and seemed an obvious choice to go alongside it on the 12".

What are you currently working on in the studio?
I'm putting the finishing touches to the score for Basement as well as working on tracks for my new album.

Last year I was selected for B3 Media's Powerlab scheme to work on a project I created called Electronic Orchestra. I wanted to develop a format for converting some of my tracks from electronic pieces of music to scores that could be played by an orchestra. My mentor was Massive Attack's producer Neil Davidge and I spent time with him in their studios in Bristol coming up with ways of doing this.

Gradually I created a model for these musical 'translations' and the first of these, an orchestral version of my track Pirates, was played at the ICA last summer. I'm still working on this project and some of these pieces will feature on my upcoming releases.

You perform live these days, tell us about the show you put on...
Some recent gigs include A Bunch Of Cuts at Cable in London, Fabric and in Switzerland at the Lost in Nature festival. I love playing live as it allows me to combine music from different mediums, for example, I can use an excerpt from a film score that I'm working on and mix it with one of my tracks to create a one-off original live experience.

Done any remixes recently?
Yes, I just recently finished working on a Darqwan track called Warrior Stance, which was originally released on the Texture label.

Any plans for another album?
Yes, as I mentioned I've been working steadily on tracks for a new album and I'm really pleased with how it's coming along. Plus I'm also working on a number of 12"s, which will be released over the coming year.

It can be difficult to find the balance between my own music, the film work and other projects and as a result some things take longer to complete. However the good thing is that the projects influences each other and this helps me to keep a fresh perspective on the different mediums.

Tell us a bit more about the Order Of The People mix you've just done...
I have been meaning to do a new mix for quite a while and had been gradually gathering different tracks that excited me. I finally got around to starting work on it last month and The Order of the People Mix is the result.

Anything else you want to tell us about?
I'm looking forward to the year ahead. I have some great gigs coming up including Toronto and The Paradise Festival in Bali. Also, as well as the new music releases I'll be working on the film debut of acclaimed theatre writer / director Ursula Rani Sarma entitled The Woods, which is being shot this June.

 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/AMIT/108634149167236

http://www.myspace.com/amituk

http://www.reprisemusicgroup.com/agency/artists/amit.php

 

Download Amit's Order Of The People mix

 

• Amit

Related Links:

• Amit Plans Exit EP
• Hiatus Gives Away Free Album
• Video: Chase & Status ft. Plan B - End Credits
• Amit Interview
• Everywhere and Nowhere DVD Release

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