Hear My Eyes smashes together two of Time Out's favourite pastimes: going to the cinema and seeing live music. The idea was brought to life by Melburnian cinephile Haydn Green. Ahead of screening Xavier Dolan's Heartbeats (with a live score from GL), we had a chat to him to find more out about the project.
How did you get the idea for Hear My Eyes?
The first time I came across a film being reinterpreted by musicians was when I was living in Berlin. I saw the silent film Metropolis at the Babylon Theatre with a group of friends, and whoever organised the event had asked a local DJ to create a new soundtrack to the film. It was incredible to see the film in such a new way! After that, I decided to start producing similar live score events back in Melbourne, but with contemporary films and live bands.
What's your background in film/music?
My parents met in a soul / rock band in the 70’s and have been playing ever since, so they’ve obviously had a huge influence on me - as well as my two older brothers, who have great taste in music and are both talented musicians. We’ve all played in numerous bands over the years, but after high school I primarily focused my energy on studying cinema and being involved in the film industry. Currently I’m a short film programmer for the Melbourne International Film Festival and a feature film programmer for the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival, which means I watch and review films for both festivals. I’ve also recently finished a postgraduate degree in arts and cultural management with a focus on film.
Why did you select GL to score this film?
Heartbeats is an incredibly fun and energetic film, filled with vibrant colours, stylised slo-mo scenes and blood pumping sexual energy. When I was deciding on musicians for the project, I knew whoever I chose had to posses the same level of chic, and with all that in mind, it didn’t take me long to decide on GL. With Graeme Pogson’s glittery synths and Ella Thompson’s strong, sexy vocals, GL suit Heartbeats perfectly.
What's on the horizon for the rest of 2016?
At the moment we’re in the middle of a Winter residency at Howler in Melbourne, which means we’ve got another two nights of short films and live music coming up in July and August, which’ll be a lot of fun. We’re also planning a Canberra / Sydney tour of another show we produced earlier this year. And we’ve got another two small scale projects plus one large scale project in the works, all scheduled for late this year - lots to keep us busy!
If you could see a live score done by any band in the world to any film, what would it be?
Wow - my head is spinning. There are so many combos that I’d love to see! Ok, without giving it to much thought I’ll say Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey with a live score by Radiohead. Or Ingmar Bergman’s Persona with Aphex Twin. Or Guy Hamilton’s Goldfinger with BadBadNotGood. Ahhh, I could play this game for hours!