The Original Soundtrack behind 'A Shaming'
Filmmaker Joseph Marconi on the story behind the original soundtrack to his latest short film, ‘A Shaming’.
I first heard of Nigel Evan Dennis through his infamous graphic design handle, Electric Heat. In the early-mid 2000s, there was a small band of rockstar graphic designers—this was before Fiverr and the unfortunate ubiquitous democratization of the artistic process—and Nigel was among the select few who were just slaying it as a lone wolf designer, an auteur in demand by some of the biggest clients in the world.
We wouldn’t meet until years later when, in 2009, I’d invited him and his then band, A Lull, to stop by my photo studio in Astoria, Queens for a boozy hang and free photoshoot. We didn’t talk much then but apparently left a dent in each other’s consciousness.
‘Self’ / Photo by @nigelevandennis
‘Gear’ / Photo by @nigelevandennis
It would be another seven years when Nigel and fellow composer, Michael Curtis Brown, made the seemingly inevitable transition over to film composing when our relationship went into hyperdrive. Fueled by our common love for aesthetic exploration, we found our influences, ideals, and goals were nearly perfectly aligned.
However, when I approached Nigel and Mike about creating an original soundtrack for “A Shaming,” I could not have imagined the lengths they’d go to and the complex dimensionality they would add to a film I’d nearly abandoned for two years. Their ability to layer up emotions within the often dissonant chord structures is nothing less than superb. To say this film wouldn’t be complete without their music is an understatement. Nigel and Mike were able to mine out the film’s underbelly and give it a palpable beating pulse which is the soundtrack to “A Shaming.”
