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by andrez bergen
Andy Turner and Ed Handley
are two perennial faves here in the ramshackle offices of de-VICE, and most people know them better as Plaid - the
outfit that, through Warp Records in the U.K., released last year's excellent album Greedy Baby, along with Not
For Threes (1997), Restproof Clockwork two years later, and - arguably their best album - Double Figure
(2001).
While ostensibly an instrumental band, Plaid have also tried their hand working with vocalists like
Nicolette and Bjork, and both these vocalists contributed to Not For Threes.
Last year Plaid also collaborated with expat American
director Michael Arias to do soundtrack chores on his first feature-length anime production, Tekkon
Kinkreet, based on Taiyo Matsumoto's original manga.
The result? Brilliant. So de-VICE caught up
with Andy to find out more...
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de-VICE: How do you go about crafting a score for a Japanese
anime production?
"We started at the beginning, the original manga. Then we spent over a week with the director
going through the script scene by scene. We were able to formulate general ideas about themes for the main characters as well
as areas that required emotional emphasis. From that point we started writing to very rough animatics, and slowly as finished
scenes came in we were able to fine tune these ideas."
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de-VICE: What was your favorite cartoon when you were
a kid?
"Battle of the Planets - it might've been called something else in other countries. [Gatchaman
in Japan - ed.] It was about a group of kids and one robot dressed in bird uniforms who could form a giant flaming pheonix
when required, a handy skill. Dangermouse was also very cool, one of the first ventures for Aardman Animations [Wallace
& Gromit]."
de-VICE: What snack food do you dig when writing
music?
"It tends to be pizza, to be honest."
de-VICE: Who are your principle musical influences right
now?
"That's a tough one. We try not to copy anyone but we obviously absorb everything we hear. It's a combination
of Ennio Morricone, Carl Craig and the music from [Nintendo's game] The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, plus
a few thousand other things."
LiNkS:
PLAID interview in #2
director michael arias on TEKKON KINKREET movie
inestimable PLAID website
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