Interview with Independent Film Composer, Artist & Filmmaker EDWARD HARVEY
When did you start your band(s) / project(s) and how long have you been making music for?
I started making music around 2004. It started out as a hobby and a bit of fun when I discovered music making software, which was a program called 'Cubasis' which was an entry level version of Steinberg's Cubase which I use now. I had an ear for music but didn't really play any instruments particularly well, so as soon as I discovered how to make a computer my instrument that was it, I was hooked.
If you had to describe the sound(s) to my readers what would you tell them to expect?
When composing for film I often like to use analogue synths, so there's definitely an 80's horror synth vibe going on but I'm also a fan of traditional orchestral film music so I try to include strings and percussion that sounds cinematic. When I'm composing my own music I often add my own vocals which are influenced by my love for gothic metal/rock and post-punk.
Is your music available on any merch format such as tape/cd/vinyl or digital medium? Where can listeners find it?
No physical media yet, maybe with future releases though. I have a couple of releases available on major digital platforms like iTunes, Spotify etc. which are my EP 'Murder on White Willow Lane' (2018) and first official single 'She is Haunted' (2016) and many more releases on my Bandcamp page.
If you had a choice of working with other artists who would they be and why? Any collabs at all in the past or lately?
Dream collaborators would be: John Carpenter, Gary Numan, Marilyn Manson and Dani Filth from Cradle of Filth. With John Carpenter I think I would like to provide vocals for one of his compositions and the other three I would love to feature as vocalists on a track of mine. In terms of collaborations I have done, yes. I recently provided vocals and wrote the lyrics for a track by another horror synth composer Cristian Bergagna which we named 'Love Bites on Fright Night'. That track is due for release summer 2018.
How has the reaction been so far to your music?
I've had a very positive reaction to my music from filmmakers approaching me to score their productions based on what they have heard and just the general fans buying, streaming my music and expressing their love for it in reviews or over social media. There's a few great quotes from reviews on my web page: www.enigmaticproductions.co.uk/edward-harvey
What would you like done this year in your life may it be musical or personal.
Well, think the next step for composing is getting my music on a feature film, TV production or video game as so far all my work has either been on short film or web. I'm also a graphic designer and filmmaker with my studio Enigmatic. I have been pushing the design work a lot more these days and what started out as only designing the covers and posters for my own work has developed into designing for others. In 2017 I designed covers for the indie label Pure Destructive Records on their releases of documentary soundtrack 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Shocking Truth' and cult 80s horror soundtrack to Night of the Comet. So more work like this will be great! I personally am doing less film directing these days so I can focus on the other skills but our other director in Enigmatic has film plans and I will be involved in those for sure, so new films are on the way too!
If there are any bands that influenced over the years to make you want to become a musician in the first place, who are they?
I think I covered this in the collaborations question really because those guys are also big influences. But I will add David Lynch as I'm a big fan and even though he's more of a filmmaker the way sound and music have been used in his films has been a big influence on me, we have his frequent composer, Angelo Badalamenti to thank for that but too but a lot of what Angelo has created is from the mind of Lynch.
If you had to describe the recording process of your music, how does it work best for you and what do you use?
With my own tracks, I often start by singing or humming lyrics, melodies or riffs into the voice recorder app on my phone, as a base to work from in my software, then I can expand on the music elements with a combination of sequencing and using the MIDI keyboard connected to my computer. If the track has vocals I then begin to write lyrics on a note pad and add more parts to the music and vocals/lyrics bit by bit. With music for films obviously that starts with a big chat with the director to make sure you fully understand what they want before I start the other parts of the process.
How long do you expect to make music for and what are your goals till the end of this year onto the next?
I haven't put a time limit on music creation, just going to keep going for as long as I can with it. I want to keep the Enigmatic studio alive going on to bigger and better projects and the same for me in music and design work.
How important is your work to you and what do you want others to get out of it?
It is very important to me, when you realize what you're best at in life you just have to keep pushing to pursue it or you'll never be happy with your life. With me mainly being a composer it's important for me to get that emotional connection across with the audience, so if they watch a film I've done the music for and it affected them in the way it was intended to and enhanced the experience, that's all I want, that's my job done.
Any last words for the readers of Autoeroticasphyxium zine?
Just to check me out if you haven't already and get in touch with the links provided. Whether you're a fan of the genre, or interested in hiring me for a production.
-Daniel M. Ryan
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