Nils Frahm
Nils Frahm (*1982) is a German composer, pianist, performer and producer based in Berlin. His spring tour 2016 hrough major European cities was sold out.
In the film world he shot to fame through his soundtrack for Victoria (2015 D: Sebastian Schipper), that won him Deutscher Filmpreis: Beste Filmmusik 2015 (German Film Awards, Best film music), organised by the Deutsche Filmakademie. They published a good interview in German with Nils Frahm together with film composer Sebastian Pille.
In the film world he shot to fame through his soundtrack for Victoria (2015 D: Sebastian Schipper), that won him Deutscher Filmpreis: Beste Filmmusik 2015 (German Film Awards, Best film music), organised by the Deutsche Filmakademie. They published a good interview in German with Nils Frahm together with film composer Sebastian Pille.
Nils has been waiting for an opportunity to collaborate with a film director. It had to be the right film. And indeed, Sebastian Schipper approached Nils and he agreed to compose the music. The action of the film Victoria takes place in Berlin one late night and early morning. Nils Frahm's music captures the mood of the place and the sentiments of the young protagonists. Nils' music is part of the real life of young Berliners. In the interview that can be viewed on iTunes (starting at min 7'00) Nils was surprised that his music worked so well when the club music was removed to express the subjective mood of one of the protagonists.
20'40: Nils is into old instruments, tube amps, tape recorders . Since the film was shot (remarkably) in one take Nils Frahm also decided to record spontaneously with friends in single takes without a spotting session. He handed some 100 hours of music over to Schipper who made the selection.
24'00: Nils finds temp tracks useful as an indicator for what a director wants. Nils always tries to improve the proposed ideas, since directors often don't have a language to talk about music. The music supervisor can be a mediator in case there are problems and disputes.
28'15: Nils recommends that if a director knows exactly what s/he wants, what kind of music - s/he has to do it themselves. It is a question of trust.
30'50: Nils doesn't want to spend too much time on front of a computer. He wants life performers. Such an approach appeals more to the his musical imagination and coming up with a vision. Nils finds MIDI pre-production of film music problematic.
36'15 Music is part of a whole. Film is a total experience (Gesamterlebnis).
37'15 Audience questions
39'00 mix-down of the soundtrack for different release formats is automatic and highly problematic.
43'40 Sound design and music are strongly linked in Victoria. Nils worked closely with Fabian Schmidt, the sound designer. Nils focused on the sound. Existing location film sound is a power I can use - like in Judo.
46'00 Nils is interested in unique films and only wants to work for film when his music fits.
20'40: Nils is into old instruments, tube amps, tape recorders . Since the film was shot (remarkably) in one take Nils Frahm also decided to record spontaneously with friends in single takes without a spotting session. He handed some 100 hours of music over to Schipper who made the selection.
24'00: Nils finds temp tracks useful as an indicator for what a director wants. Nils always tries to improve the proposed ideas, since directors often don't have a language to talk about music. The music supervisor can be a mediator in case there are problems and disputes.
28'15: Nils recommends that if a director knows exactly what s/he wants, what kind of music - s/he has to do it themselves. It is a question of trust.
30'50: Nils doesn't want to spend too much time on front of a computer. He wants life performers. Such an approach appeals more to the his musical imagination and coming up with a vision. Nils finds MIDI pre-production of film music problematic.
36'15 Music is part of a whole. Film is a total experience (Gesamterlebnis).
37'15 Audience questions
39'00 mix-down of the soundtrack for different release formats is automatic and highly problematic.
43'40 Sound design and music are strongly linked in Victoria. Nils worked closely with Fabian Schmidt, the sound designer. Nils focused on the sound. Existing location film sound is a power I can use - like in Judo.
46'00 Nils is interested in unique films and only wants to work for film when his music fits.
Nils uses the piano in imaginative ways. His music is atmospheric and sparse with a retro, nostalgic feel about it. He often uses analogue sound technology. He frequently collaborates with other musicians, e.g.Ólafur Arnalds in an abstract music video called Four (see below).