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DIHS - Drive-In Horrorshow's Soundtrack
by Anthony J. Resta

Anthony J. Resta on his role as music supervisor for the film "Drive In Horrorshow".

Ajax Ray O'Vaque's video for "Love is a Twisted Melancholy Disease."

I began my transition from record producer to music supervisor in an interesting and unusual way. It began with a phone call from "Drive-in Horrorshow" producer Greg Ansin. Greg had heard a song written and performed by my alter ego Ajax Ray O'vaque and the song got stuck in his head. He said, "Ajax, we are making a film and we are interested in not only using your song, but also having you help supervise the process of choosing artists and songs for the film and a soundtrack." I had worked on quite a bit of music for film and TV as a composer at Bopnique - some past projects include the films "The Saint", "Squeeze", "Once You Meet a Stranger", "Love Actually", "Smart People" and the TV shows "Sunset Beach", "Providence", "Melrose Place", "Baywatch", and a bunch of soap operas. But I had never worked on a project that involved putting an entire soundtrack together. Honestly, I was a little intimidated by the offer. After our initial meetings we started listening to tons of submissions from songwriters and bands and then I started to get it. This wasn't all that different from putting a record together in Pre-Production. The main difference is that the artist was The Film and the songs were to be a collection of artists performing songs, rather than one artist performing a collection of songs.

Trouble On The Airwaves's video for "Bombshell".

Easy, right? Not exactly. There are thousands of amazing and talented people out there and trying to pick music that fits the targeted demographic of an audience for a film was a brand new world to me. We rolled up our sleeves and started communicating through email attachments and phone calls. We had many listening parties.

Those were probably my favorite part as I love a martini with the best of them. We searched the Bopnique catalogue of nearly 3000 songs for things that thematically aligned or magically malalagined to create a body of songs for the soundtrack. I worked with Director Michael Neel, Producer Greg Ansin, and Promotions Manager Aisha Singleton to pick the tracks. Four Bopnique artist songs ended up being used. One of them was mine, the song "Love is a Twisted Melancholy Disease" and I think the reason that one made it into the lineup was partially due to the fact that internet celebrity Sarah Morrison took a shining to it during a PR interview we had with her (Sarah is an internet Celeb, PR/marketing person and blogger extrordinaire). That and the Horrorshow crew really enjoyed the song. The second Bopnique artist chosen was John Courduvelis, the lead singer of the band Common Thrill. We chose a song I cowrote and performed with the band in the studio. I also suggested a cover of "Heart Full of Soul", a blast from the past by Sleight of Hand. I worked with Sleight of Hand in the 90s, and their version of "Heart Full of Soul" is a funky remix of the Yardbirds' classic morphed into a timeless dance track. Finally, I mixed "Bombshell" by Trouble on the Airwaves - a 70s-era retro mix. Quick, dirty, and raw.

John Courduvelis and Common Thrill's video for "Hollywood Nights".

I think we ended up with a really fun diverse set of songs and videos and the soundtrack is now available on vinyl and cd and for digital download. Do us all a favor and buy the music! Keep the industry alive for short money. Or go get it free on limewire and infect your entire computer. Either way it's been a fun wild ride that I am very excited to be a part of. Over the next couple of months the promotion for the film starts to kick into overdrive, so help us spread the word, ok? Below are widgets and info for you to help us spread the word virally. Don't just sit there. Dive in. Be a part of the post indie movement of quality music from quality artists who care. See you on the dark side of the moon.
ajr

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