Head Like a Kite

The movie soundtrack is often downgraded in importance when compared to the more typical album format, on the grounds that it's partly functional rather than purely artistic. But this is a leaky assumption when you consider Ry Cooder's score for 'Paris, Texas', Popol Vue's pioneering electronic collaborations with Werner Herzog, or Ennio Morricone's entire career. Can all this great music be seen as less relevant simply because it accompanies on-screen images?

Seattle resident Dave Einmo, the man behind Head Like a Kite, has made an album called 'Random Portraits of the Home Movie' which sets out to blur the boundaries of film and music in a fashion equally as radical as the aforementioned. He took time to describe his approach to The Skinny.

Influences? "People like Phillip Glass have certainly influenced me with films like 'Koyaanisqatsi', where he projected amazing images while playing live with a full orchestra. And also filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock and his composer Bernard Hermann. The dramatic music Hermann composed for films like Vertigo, Citizen Cane and Taxi Driver had a big influence on me."

Every track on 'Random Portraits' is directly inspired by, and sampled from, the Super-8 home movies Dave's father filmed on family holidays in the 1970s, lending the music a crackly, whirring, sepia-toned veneer. "Because the reels were only three minutes long, my dad had to be more selective with what he shot. And because he's trying to save film it becomes fairly random with short snippets of them in Paris on a train, then suddenly on a plane landing in London, and then sunbathing in Florida."

How does Einmo create music from these uncharacteristically inspiring home movies? "I was fortunate that my dad's camera had sound. So while he was capturing on film the family adventures he was also recording the audio. The sounds of all these cities, crowds and people back in the 70s have so much character. Many of these samples were manipulated with Mooger Fooger guitar pedals and old analog filters so that they became almost synthesized sounding and became an instrument on their own."

Einmo is convinced that HLAK amounts to more than a bout of nostalgia for a bygone childhood. "After almost every show, people come up to us and say how a certain clip brought back a memory of their vacation to Banff or Norway or wherever." Like his idol Glass, Einmo projects the original films while performing live. "It's a cool feeling to be playing 2,500 miles from home and look back and see movies my parents shot when they were young. The films feel like a member of the band because they've become so integral to the live show."

On the subject of other musicians who flirt with the possibilities of film, Einmo waxes lyrical on yet more influences, including the Scottish pair, Mogwai and Boards of Canada: "While a lot of it is dark, there is a beauty in the melancholy that feels uplifting. I think the difference in HLAK's music is that ultimately our songs embrace faster tempos so we can shake some booty."

An intriguing proposition, you might be thinking, so can we expect to see Head Like A Kite and their projector over here? "Definitely. We're hoping to come over soon."