Chris Connor chats with BAFTA-nominated Everything Everywhere All At Once composers Son Lux…
Everything Everywhere All At Once, has been one of the breakout Box-Office and Critical successes of 2022, with the film appearing well placed as we continue moving through awards season. One of the key components of the success of the multiverse action-comedy has been the maximalist score from experimental group Son Lux.
The group’s members told us how they got involved in the film, reactions to the script and collaborating with Talking Heads’ David Byrne and Randy Newman. Check out the interview below…
How did you first get involved in the film?
Rafiq Bhatia – When Daniels first reached out to us in the fall of 2019, the film was still in script form— nobody had yet been cast. When they explained their reasons for reaching out to us, we honestly felt very seen and moved. Daniels explained that they were contacting us because of our clear interest in reconciling seemingly opposite sounds and ideas — both in our output as a band and each of our solo projects. The film they imagined hinged on being able to recognize many universes almost instantaneously, and the music would need to play an important role in that. At first, the sounds of the universes would feel totally distinct; moving through them would feel almost like flipping channels. But eventually, the narrative arc of the story would require all of these seemingly unrelated universes to be reconciled into something integrated, with a weightiness that could help deliver the emotional punch of the story. Needless to say, we were hooked!
Had you seen The Daniels’ previous work?
Ian Chang – I had! I saw Swiss Army Man when it came out and of course their Turn Down For What music video when it broke the internet 8 years ago, so I had some inkling that we were in for a wild and wonderful ride when we got the call.
How did you find reading the script for the film with its scale?
Rafiq Bhatia – It was really funny, actually, especially because at the time we received the script the film was considerably longer with many crazy side plots that didn’t make the final cut. Ryan kept being like, “I think something’s wrong with my pdf?” Hard to blame him when one page is about an intense family conflict and the next one is all about a character named “Spaghetti Baby Noodle Boy.”
How did you find navigating the scope of the project with the different worlds?
Ian Chang – It was both incredibly fun and challenging. Rafiq touches on this topic beautifully in his answer to the first question, but I’ll just add that building the sonic footprint for the different worlds really stretched us in ways that we didn’t know we were capable of. In a way, the process of scoring this film mirrored Evelyn’s process of discovering different versions of herself from the multiverse, and I think many of the other departments experienced a similar journey.
How did the process for the score differ from your usual output?
Ryan Lott – Film is an audio-visual medium, and a massive aspect of the “audio” half is music. So at all times while scoring, even though you’re creating music, you really are filmmaking and it feels like it. It’s one of the unique joys of scoring. That said, with the enormous liberties and trust Daniels gave us in the process, we were free to be ourselves, which meant working in similar ways we do when creating records. It was the best both universes.
What was the starting point in composing the score?
Rafiq Bhatia – The first assignment we received was ridiculous: we had to compose the music for the Hot Dog Hands musical. When we had been discussing potentially taking this gig, we had brought up the fact that we didn’t really feel like we were the right folks to make music that was funny, per se. Daniels had explained at the time that there would be no need for that, that having the music be really earnest would help viewers suspend their disbelief and make the jokes hit harder. But of course, when we got down to brass tacks, there we were, trying to make versions of a song about slapping hot dog fingers against thighs for a love ritual. It was a really important lesson, actually—that we had drawn up these unnecessary boundaries on what we might be capable of or comfortable with. I think we all feel like dissolving those at the outset helped us be much more present in the process.
How involved were the Daniels in the development of the score?
Ian Chang – Daniels struck an amazing balance of being integral to the development of the score on a detailed level, while trusting us to define the sound of the movie in a way that is honest to our experimental spirit. With such an extensive score, they knew how to prioritize which cues to go over with a fine tooth comb. Every week, we’d have a zoom call where Daniels, the band, and sometimes the editor Paul Rogers would review and discuss cues that we had delivered. These meetings always left me with new insights on how we could be telling the story better. One of the reasons why they’re so good at giving notes is that they’re very musical! I think that having worked on so many music videos gives them a deep and unique relationship with music. In fact, they both contributed to the score: Kwan gives an intentionally busted trumpet rendition of 2001 Space Odyssey for the hot dog fingers ape origin scene, and Scheinert wrote the lyrics to the hot dog musical and voices the barbershop quartet at the CNY party.
Do you think you’ll work on more scores in future?
Rafiq Bhatia – Absolutely. We’re working on one right now!
How did you find working with David Byrne and Randy Newman for parts of the score?
Ryan Lott – Two legends!! Both gentlemen were an inspiration. David was integral to the writing process of This Is A Life, and we had a lot of emails back and forth, as well as a few Zooms (we did essentially everything remotely throughout the score’s development). We had so much on our plate—over 100 score cues—so we appreciated the kind of gusto and attention David brought to the process. He was present and humble every step of the way. Working with Randy was wonderful in other ways. We only had one remote session together, during which he learned the song I had written for him and recorded his lines of dialog (voicing the character Raccocoonie), and kept everyone laughing with his quick, self-deprecating humour. After a quick process of establishing the key he’d like to sing it in, he was off to the races, embodying a coarse but jovial animatronic raccoon like the best of them.
Is there anything else you’d like to cover about the score?
Ryan Lott – A couple of the cues the Daniels did themselves! They had their hot dogs’ hands in, well, everything.
Many thanks to Son Lux for taking the time for this interview.
Chris Connor
