Published
Tue, Dec 14, 2021, 13:00
- RA spoke to the Berghain resident and Alessandro Adriani about working on the film.
Marcel Dettmann and Alessandro Adriani have spoken to Resident Advisor about their work on The Matrix Resurrections soundtrack.
Out on December 17th, the 24-track score was composed by Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer, who have previously worked together on Run Lola Run, Cloud Atlas and Three. The film is out on December 22nd.
Several electronic artists—including Dettmann, Adriani, Gudrun Gut, Thomas Fehlmann and System 01 (AKA composer Klimek and Paul Browse)—contributed remixes to the official soundtrack.
Adriani, who remixed the opening theme, got involved via his label Mannequin Records. "I couldn't believe it was real until the very last days when I sent the final premaster," he told RA. "Cyberpunk deeply influenced me, coming from industrial / EBM roots as a music listener and reading books like Naked Lunch. When The Matrix came out in 1999, it was suddenly like watching a full on underground thing having a worldwide cultural impact."
RA also spoke to Berghain resident Dettmann. Here's the interview in full.
How did this project come about?
Tom Tykwer is a good friend of mine, and a familiar face at Klubnacht. He introduced me to Lana Wachowski some years ago when she was in Berghain to celebrate during a city visit, so there was a personal foundation already. When they started shooting at the Babelsberg film studios outside Berlin I drove down and visited them on set, we got talking again, soon discussing music, the soundtrack, score… Finally I got asked by Lana if I would like to join the project, being part of the sound process, which I had not seen coming but was very thrilled about and of course said yes. Tom and Johnny Klimek handled the leading role of the score, my part was to bring in myself and my approach to sound.
Was there a specific brief for your remix? What did you use as inspiration?
I was able to pick a track from the score and went for the final motif, I liked its emotionality a lot. There weren't any guidelines for the direction, so I somehow pumped it up, elevated it to a club music tableau and reimagined it in a bit more club-friendly context. Overall it's very much pads-led, soulful-sounding, maybe almost sacral. The film and its story are the inspiration in this case. The message of The Matrix was always that, despite all misery and subjection, there's always hope for humankind. I think my remix is in line with this message.
Which scene did you score?
It's an action scene on a train, not sure how better to refer to it. Originally, I was asked to contribute sound design to the scene, and for me that was good enough. During the collaboration with Lana, Tom and Johnny, the idea came up to also do a remix for inclusion on the soundtrack. The remix on the soundtrack is not built on the sound for the scene that I was involved with, so it's actually two things: sound design by me, and a remix of mine of Tom and Johnny's original music.
What was the overall experience like working on such an iconic movie?
At first it felt like a huge accomplishment, honour and calling, it still is. As for so many of my generation, The Matrix series has been a pop culture constant over the decades. Looking back, the films put this black-leather-latex-fetish look on the map, which is being worn in club culture since many years now. Also the club scene in the first film where Neo meets Trinity was a fair depiction of a nightclub.
But I soon realised that the world of music and filmmaking are very different from each other, even if there's a certain overlap. My role for the scene was more of a service approach: fitting my sound aesthetic to a picture, pushing myself into the backseat rather than steering the car as I'd do with my own music. A film score doesn't allow for a big ego, or maybe it does if you did this many many times before. Me doing this for the first time, I had to learn what approach to a scene is necessary, that the scene, cast, acting, light, cut is the main part, and my part only enhances and amplifies what the film crew has already done.
It's a very humble but refreshing experience to realise that my club-informed approach doesn't work in such cases. Also the exchange with Tom and Johnny was very helpful as they provided me the necessary advice.
Have you been playing your remix in club sets? How does it go down?
Yes I did, but I'll not disclose the setting. I'm very proud of and grateful for it all, it's been a massive trip.
Watch the film trailer, and read more about Dettmann's work on the score via Playful Magazine.
Tracklist
01. Opening – The Matrix Resurrections
02. Two and the Same
03. Meeting Trinity
04. It’s in My Mind
05. I Fly or I Fall
06. Set and Setting
07. Into the Train
08. Exit the Pod
09. The Dojo
10. Enter IO
11. Inside IO
12. Escape
13. Broadcast Depth
14. Exiles
15. Factory Fight
16. Bullet Time
17. Recruiting
18. Infiltration
19. I Like Tests
20. I Can’t Be Her
21. Simulatte Brawl
22. Swarm
23. Sky Scrape
24. My Dream Ended Here
25. Neo and Trinity Theme (Johnny Klimek & Tom Tykwer Exomorph Remix)
26. Opening – The Matrix Resurrections (Alessandro Adriani Remix)
27. My Dream Ended Here (Marcel Dettmann Remix)
28. Nosce (Almost Falling Remix)
29. Bullet Time (Moderna Remix)
30. Back to the Matrix (Eclectic Youth Remix)
31. Welcome to the Crib (System 01 Remix)
32. Flowing (Thomas Fehlmann Remix)
33. Temet (Esther Silex & Kotelett Remix)
34. Choice (Psychic Health Remix)
35. Monumental (Gudrun Gut Remix)
Warner Bros / Watertower Music will release The Matrix Resurrections Soundtrack on December 17th, 2021.
