The pressure that accompanies directing a movie as big as Tron: Legacy doesn’t sound altogether different from that of living on the game grid: much like Kevin Flynn himself, helmsman Joe Kozinski was literally living in another world for quite a long time, complete with technical malfunctions, multiple personalities (and/or programs), and even last-minute swerves in a race to avoid disaster.
“I just finished the movie Wednesday,” laughs Kosinski, plunking himself down in one of the plush red chairs at Apogee, inside famed LA indie radio giant KCRW on Saturday. “3 years of my life, and I’m less than 72 hours back in reality.”
In his conversation with KCRW Music Director and Legacy Music Supervisor Jason Bentley, Kozinski admitted that one of those very last changes in fact was to switch out one part of the score with another, and put it at the film’s closing credits. Afterwards, they dove right into a lengthy behind-the-scenes look at the soundtrack, and previewed some of its best cuts.
Having been a long-time fan of the French electronic duo, Kozinski admitted that “they’re great at maintaining that classic Daft Punk mystique.” He added that the first year was primarily him and Bentley trying to convince them to do it. “They’re very meticulous,” says Joe. “They don’t want to do anything unless they can (commit to) it, and think about it.”
Having never scored a movie before, Daft Punk spent weeks holed up in the studio — listening to various classic movie scores, slowly immersing themselves in an unfamiliar world. Insistent on certain things, like recording at Air Lindhurst studios in London — just to get the particular brass sound that they wanted — their perfectionism melded effortlessly with Kozinski’s own workhorse mentality.
So, were the two receptive to creative feedback, or distant and maybe difficult?
“There were times when we disagreed on some things, of course,” smiles Joe. “But agreed on other things too. We would push each other creatively. It made the collaborative process all the easier.” He thinks for a second. “It was just an awesome experience.”
And based on the samples, what we’re getting on the Tron: Legacy score is both old and new Daft Punk, obviously, as the French duo tries to take it up a notch and add that traditional score feel to their own sound. Here’s a recap of what we heard:
“Solar Sailer” : On this one, Daft Punk has created one of their catchiest and most effective melodies ever, one that will burn itself into your brain and keep you humming it for the rest of the day – over breakfast, at the water cooler, in the car, slowly growing more and more agitated as you realize the soundtrack isn’t out until December 9th, and then another 8 days before the actual movie. The hybrid of symphony and synth is a hint of what’s to come; sweeping cello melts with brass and builds into something truly epic, almost in the tradition of Hans Zimmer, before leaving the game grid in tiny, dying sparks.
“De-Rezzed” is the first single to be released from the soundtrack, and a throwback to classic, Discovery-era Daft Punk. When one of the T:L cameras malfunctioned, “something that happened a couple times,” chuckles Joe, “Daft Punk happened to be there on set when it did, we ended up just having a Tron: Legacy dance party.”
“Recognizer Capture”: ” This is where the 3D really kicks in,” says Joe. It’s a lumbering, foreboding symphony, and the first thing that came to mind is “Night on Bald Mountain” from Fantasia, which somehow seems appropriate given the glaring Disney logo that hangs over Tron movie posters everywhere.
“Adagio” is the background piece for Kevin Flynn’s tale of how he’s gotten to where he was on the grid. This is mostly a strings piece, melancholy and somber, before it moves to something more sinister; one might conclude Flynn’s time in Tron-land hasn’t been all roses. Again, there’s a bit of German composer Hans Zimmer’s influence evident here, particularly his early and more techno/dance-influenced synth work on older Tony Scott/John Woo movies. Still, out of all the tracks, it’s the most traditional, and therefore about as un-Daft Punk as you’re gonna get.
“Disk Wars”: Heavy on the percussion, with a smattering of 80′s-sounding analog synth. This track in particular earned the score the unofficial title of “loudest ever” by the engineers mixing it at Skywalker Ranch.
Bentley and Kozinski closed it out with “End Credits”: Like “De-Rezzed” and “Solar Sailor”, this is a classic-sounding Daft Punk, relatively untarnished by the traditional symphony score, and one of the best cuts. A reprise of earlier melodies, the closing track highlights Punk’s knack for rhythm, and will remind fans why the Legacy soundtrack is not just musical accompaniment; it’s one of the main reasons you’ll have your butt in a front-row seat on December 17th…it’s that good. (To give you an idea of the level of anticipation, fans have even been composing fake tracks and releasing them on YouTube disguised as real ones.)
Daft Punk – Tron Legacy (End Titles)
Words by Jeff Nau.
