The Angel
The Angel collage - from her 60 Channels "How It Goes Down" Video Still
Velvet Vision: The Story of James Bidgood and the Making of Pink Narcissus, is a documentary directed by Bart Everly and featured in our upcoming edition, FORM VOL. I.
Ahead of the October album release, we are excited to share The Lab Mag Exclusive Pre-release Selections from Velvet Vision (Original Motion Picture Score) by The Angel.
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While you read the article, click HERE to listen to the soundtrack
ahead of release.
When director Bart Everly needed a soundtrack for Velvet Vision: The Story of James Bidgood and the Making of Pink Narcissus, his documentary about the life and work of artist Jim Bidgood, he turned to someone he knew could conjure up the perfect tone for his film.
Velvet Vision explores the challenges of a brilliant artist blighted with mental health issues. The Angel manages to walk the fine line between past and present giving the film its signature soundtrack. It’s fun and poignant, hitting that elusive sweet spot. We asked her about life, music and how she got into composing and the joy of putting music to picture.
THE LAB MAG: How did your upbringing influence both the music you enjoy and the music you create?
THE ANGEL: I grew up in a one parent household, where my mother, who had very eclectic taste in music, turned me on to every genre out there. Ececlticism was baked into my music DNA. Hence, I have great love for soul, funk, jazz, reggae, hip hop, electronic, Sondheim musicals and the occasional opera. And apart from musicals and opera, you'll hear hints of my early loves in my recordings as The Angel, 60 Channels and my collaboration with Bristol's More Rockers as Jaz Klash.
Jaz Klash - (L-R) Rob Smith (More Rockers/Smith & Mighty), The Angel, Peter D (More Rockers)
Image courtesy of The Angel.
THE LAB MAG: As a musician, what did the transition to film composition look like for you? Did you always want to score films?
THE ANGEL: I never dreamed that I'd have the opportunity to score films, so in a way, I never allowed myself to want it. But almost like magic, certain things that I've manifested have brought opportunities to me. While I was busy writing and recording music as a recording artist, record producer and remixer, my sound brought filmmakers my way. So my transition to film composition was beautifully unexpected... It was like being invited into a wondrous portal filled with infinite creative possibilities, leading to my greatest passion; working to picture.
Composer The Angel and Showrunner Glen Mazzara - Sony Dubstage mixing an episode of "HawthoRNe" (Photo by Kiino Villand)
Image courtesy of The Angel
THE LAB MAG: Do you have a daily ritual?
THE ANGEL: Grounded meditation and energy work via Chakra clearing.
THE LAB MAG: Is there a discipline of music creation (i.e. DJing, producing, composing) that you most prefer to work in? Why?
THE ANGEL: Though I love producing and dj'ing, composing to picture for film and TV, is the discipline I prefer. I love being part of a team, collaborating with my directors, producers and showrunners as we create something larger than the sum of its parts. Being drawn into vastly different worlds, not only gives me a break from reality, it inspires me to do things with my music that I wouldn't naturally do without them. And because I work from a place of intuition and emotion rather than music theory, I'm always feeling-into my score to support the stories, performances, cinematography and editing.
The Angel DJ/Performance at The Echo. Image courtesy of The Angel.
THE LAB MAG: How did you meet film director Bart Everly and begin working with him?
THE ANGEL: Bart and I met in the 90s when I started releasing records under The Angel moniker. We were introduced by DJ, artist manager, music supervisor, multi-hyphenate Bill Coleman, who suggested that Bart would be a great photographer for me to work with and we have stayed in touch ever since. Back then I also played live with an eight piece band during the acid jazz, modern/retro era. And yes, I sported a mini-skirt or two back in the day, as you can see from Bart's 1995 photo of myself with two of my beloved musicians
L-R Greg Cook (keyboards), Louis Russell (guitar), The Angel. Image courtesy of The Angel
When Bart asked me to score his documentary, Let’s Get Frank, I'd already been scoring studio features like, Boiler Room and Gridlock’d. And from there, we talked about working again, eventually leading to Velvet Vision as Bart began his first interviews with Jim.
L to R Bart Everly (director), The Angel (composer) and Congressman Barney Frank at the New York premiere of "Let's Get Frank"
Image courtesy of The Angel
THE LAB MAG: How did Jim Bidgood and his work influence your creation of the score for the film?
THE ANGEL: I followed Bart's journey in making Velvet Vision. So over time, I read about Jim and took in as much of his art as I could find. And of course, I watched Pink Narcissus. After watching the first rough cut of Velvet Vision I asked Bart a ton of questions about things I was intrigued by. I wanted to understand Jim not only as the incredible artist that he was, but as a man, who despite all of his challenges, was able to produce the most beautiful, alluring, fantastical worlds through his stills and moving images. Because Jim's work, including his sketches, painting, production design, costumes he designed and hand-made, his choice of color palettes, choice of subjects and actors, created such lush and grand visuals, I felt pulled into the dreamy beauty that he created. And that informed my palette of instrumentation as well as my desire to match Jim by building lush soundscapes.
A film still from Velvet Vision. Courtesy of Director Bart Everly
THE LAB MAG: What was your process for creating the score of Velvet Vision?
THE ANGEL: Bart and I talked about what he wanted to feel as far as the emotion from lighter to darker as we progress through Jim's story. The first part of the film is all about Jim's childhood and early life, his intro to NY and becoming a drag artist. It's vibrant and uplifting as we first meet Jim. He's engaging, cheeky, perfectly irreverent and self deprecating.
Bart thought that the vibe of some of my 90s downtempo recordings were in keeping with his vision of having electronic loungey/jazzy pieces for the NY vibe and Jim's history with the 82 Club. But he wanted a distinct shift in tone once we get to the halfway point, where we learn more about Jim's challenges with his mental health, addiction(s) compounded by loss and grief.
My process is similar with all of my films, in that I create my score by working to picture. Bart and I had a marathon six hour spotting session, discussing every inch of the film and what could work stylistically and tonally. I wanted to dig deeply into the "whys" and "what happeneds." I really wanted to understand Jim. As I began sculpting my first collection of pieces, I found myself yearning to include horns and clarinet alongside electric piano and electronic atmospherics. Jim's old school processes, despite his late-in-life embracing of modern technology, made me want to blend some classic old school styles with the new... and that was in line with what Bart had in mind.
The worlds Jim created were warm, often trippy with stunning unreal backdrops enveloping the realistic elements... and as we get drawn in, there's a sense of floating or being under water with him. I wanted to capture the essence of all those descriptors. I also wanted to be able to underline the essence of Jim's tremendous passion and excitement as a creator, always hopeful and aiming to succeed, even when he couldn't help but self sabotage. He's buoyant, funny, intense and complicated... and underneath all the humor, I could always feel his despair. So there's a lot of subtext to the thematic pieces I created for Jim like, "That's What Art Is" and "Keep Tearing It Apart." I felt honored to be able to celebrate Jim and his life's work with my contributions to the film and look forward to releasing the score album this fall.
A film still from Velvet Vision. Courtesy of director Bart Everly
THE LAB MAG: What does FORM mean to you as an artist?
THE ANGEL: As an artist, I see FORM as shape. When a piece of music I'm creating evolves from a single sound, motif or riff, my layers of sonic sculpting and arranging, build and transform it into a tangible structure... and at that point is has FORM. And of course, in the context of Velvet Vision, we experience the male form in all its Bidgood-esque glory.
THE LAB MAG: How do you see the composition of music in the future with the development of AI and technology?
THE ANGEL: I've always embraced technology and have used many tools over the decades I've created music from the analog days through digital tape and today's digital files. Having said that, with AI I fear for the music industry, which has already been decimated with music entirely devalued by the royalty structure that has been established by streaming platforms. Unless we have legislation that will protect our copyrights as well as distinguish between human made music rather than music made by a bunch of prompts and scraped emulation, as a business and as an artform, we are all doomed.
For myself, AI will only ever be used as a tool rather than a creative non-entity. The joy I derive from creating music, is rooted in my ability to conjure up ideas from the ether and to figure things out when I'm hired to score projects... I like doing puzzles and when I'm working to picture I'm creating and solving puzzles. That's the cerebral part of my answer, but making music isn't just something I do, it is a part of me, my self expression and an emotional non-verbal extension of my ability to reach and connect with people all over the world as its own form of communication.
The Angel remixing Otha Fish by The Pharcyde at Hollywood Sound Recorders 1993. Image courtesy of The Angel
THE LAB MAG: What is the best advice you have ever received?
THE ANGEL: Be careful who you say no to.
THE LAB MAG: Is there a motto that you live by?
THE ANGEL: With all the choices a human can make, I choose to be kind.
THE ANGEL will be in conversation with Bart Everly at a special screening of Velvet Vision, for The Lab Mag members in Los Angeles on Monday 15th September.
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