Thom Yorke Sheds Light on 'Suspiria' Score

The Radiohead frontman says the experience is "absolutely terrifying"

Photo: Rick Clifford

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Jun 8, 2017

Last month, it was revealed that Thom Yorke was set to score the remake of Dario Argento's 1977 giallo classic Suspiria. Now, the Radiohead frontman has spoken on the experience of writing music for film.

Speaking to BBC 6 Music, Yorke said his first time scoring a film is "absolutely terrifying." "It's hard because I'm way out of my comfort zone, and I can't read music so it's not like I'm writing for orchestra," he said of writing the Suspiria score, which was originally composed by Argento and Italian horror-prog greats Goblin.

"I'm building it all myself. In fact, I watched Blade Runner twice at the weekend. 'Oh, that sound, I could do something like that, that's quite easy,'" he joked. "'I'll rip that bit off there and that bit there and I'll be fine.'"

In keeping with the Blade Runner theme, Yorke described how Vangelis' score for that film served as inspiration for his own work:

Vangelis, it's his hands that made that. Which encouraged me. Because that was the thing I was finding most daunting. Normally [scoring] a horror movie involves orchestras, these specific things. But Luca [Guadagnino], the director, and Walter [Fasano], the editor, are very much, like, find your own path with it. ... I just have to find a way into it.

Suspiria has wrapped filming and is currently in post-production. Directed by Luca Guadagnino, the film stars Dakota Johnson and Tilda Swinton. Hear Yorke in conversation with BBC 6 here, as well as down below.

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