Clinton Shorter Talks 'District 9' Soundtrack, Pre-Order Now

Clinton Shorter Talks ‘District 9′ Soundtrack, Pre-Order Now

Despite having no release date at this time, film composer Clinton Shorter’s score to District 9 is now available for pre-order at Amazon.

Clinton Shorter is a film composer you’re going to hear a lot more about. On August 24 the Hollywood Reporter’s Next Generation of Film Composers to Watch will hit news stands and Shorter’s name is on the list.

Much like District 9 director Neill Blomkamp and star Sharlto Copley, Shorter was an unknown until the release of the now highly rated sci-fi film. He was completely unaware of how much attention District 9 was going to bring him, saying it’s nothing like anything he’s experienced before.

“It’s not even comparable,” Shorter says. “It’s been incredibly surreal and I’ve never experienced anything like this. It’s very exciting, and nerve-wracking at the same time. I’m really trying to enjoy it as much as I can, soak it all in and have fun…we didn’t really know how big this movie would be. I remember when I went to see the first cut of it in January with Terri Tatchell (writer), Neil Blomkamp, and Julian Clarke (editor). It was still in its early stages and the first thing I said was ‘Guys, this movie is the kind of movie that me and my buddies would just be dying to see. It’s a ton of fun’. I knew it was going to be good and they were excited, but nobody thought it was going to be anything like this. I don’t think even Peter Jackson thought it would be anything like this. [laughs] It’s gone out of control pretty quickly, but it’s awesome.”

District 9 isn’t the first time Shorter and Blomkamp have collaborated.

“I had worked with Neill over the years on his commercials and short films,” Shorter says. “When he called in late 2008 and asked me if I’d score his first feature I was all over it.”

One of those shorts was the original film that District 9 was based upon, Alive in Joburg.

“For [Alive in Joburg], we hired a singer and used various orchestral libraries,” he says. “The sound for the feature is quite different.”

Shorter says it was a challenge to give District 9 the feel that Blomkamp was pushing for.

“I spent the first several weeks experimenting with every African instrument I could think of. Neill was really pushing me to give the score an African sound; it was quite a task to maintain an African feel but give the film the darkness and edge it required. We incorporated African male vocals with some percussion from the region combined with other elements. With District 9 I knew from the beginning that I was going to go with more of a hybrid score of live and synthesized instruments. Without giving too much away there’s a mutation of sorts in the film and I wanted to have that mirrored in the music.”

Pre-order the District 9 Soundtrack at Amazon.

Source(s): Soundtrack Collector / Jawbone TV / Track Sounds

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 20th, 2009 at 3:53 am and is filed under All News, Interviews, Movie News, Soundtracks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.