Making of the Music for Death of Evil

DEATH OF EVIL Movie Premier
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Regency Fairfax Cinemas
Los Angeles, CA 90039

When I first discussed the score for the film Death of Evil with the director, Damian Chapa, he was really passionate about a sound for the film. He mentioned the mood and feel of singer Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance).  I have been a fan of her voice and some of the soundtracks she has worked on, but I also saw an opportunity to bring some of my own inspiration from Wojciech Kilar (Bram Stroker's Darcula, The Ninth Gate) into the DNA for the score.


'Night Of The Gun'
Theme From Death of Evil
written and produced by Don Bodin


Unable to hear the track? Download the MP3 here.



Knowing that Damian really wanted a haunting/ethereal female vocal on the score, I wrote melodies and phases in latin and brought in my favorite operatic Soprano, Elif Savas (www.ElifSavas.com).

A few years ago I had the pleasure of sitting in on a film scoring class conducted by composer Charles Bernstein of Nightmare on Elm Street fame. Charles has an incredible way of breaking down music and the feelings they produce in simple and easy to communicate terms. As I focused on creating haunting and suspenseful themes for Death of Evil using pounding yet sporadic repetition in the rhythm and melody, I often reflected on some of the concepts Charles proposed.


With Elif's erie vocals set as the lead instrument, I took to creating a different group of instruments to perform the score and was drawn to the "junk yard" percussion sounds that Michael Blair made famous on Tom Waits's Rain Dogs album.
I loved how the harsh percussion was so jarring - the striking of trash cans and pots and pans under the traditional string orchestration playing traditionally as well as in contemporary styles with an ominous organ drone creeping below them all.

Parachute Pants : or : finding personal voice

I don't want to sound like an old guy, but there is a certain point in your life where something leaves your mouth and you have this vision (complete with a cane, gray hair and osteoporosis) saying something like: "Would you darn kids turn down that noisy rock-n-roll music."

Luckily I still like the noisy rock n roll music (sometime very noisy) but I hear myself saying "these kids and there fashion - those pants where silly in 1987 - why do they think they are cool now?"

While taking classes at UCLA for a semester in 2005 to refresh my skills for film scoring, my then-teacher, now friend and accomplished composer Charles Bernstein taught me how music is fashion. He helped me to embrace my own fashion sense (music wise that is) and develop my sound, my style and find my voice.

This past weekend attending the TAXI music conference I saw skinny leg pants, purple bananas, studded bracelets and even one Michael Jackson 1984 red leather jacket - both material and metaphorical.

Like watching several bad 80's video in a row I heard many demos and wondered, "What style must this artist think they are wearing."

Since uncovering my "voice" I see how easy it is to walk around in a patchwork of others styles. To wear the musical fashion of decades past. To not know when to not wear white. (I rarely wear white as it is so I always forget .. . is it labor day ? groundhogs day? :)

I can now get out my army boots out from time to time and be comfortable. And even recently and found a way to be comfortable in those old particulate pants and my died black denim jacket covered in safety pins.
But now I see that they merely hang on my style, my voice.