I'd been creating songs for a couple of years when Jason asked me if I could compose music for his new project. I was hesitant at first, but eventually I decided to go for it, even though I have no idea about music theory, and "The Suppression of Hannah Stevenson" is a full feature film... yolo, I guess?
Whatever I've created so far is a result of the mysterious workings of inspiration and improvisation. I follow the inner voice. During the course of this project, I've been trying to connect with the mood, atmosphere and emotions of the scenes, before allowing ideas to flow through me, only to be caught and immortalised on record.
I usually work on the film’s soundtrack in my room, in the evenings and at night... I hum and record melodies, whilst sipping tea in between takes. Later, I replace my voice with instruments (or re-record my vocals properly in my studio). I keep changing the structure until the piece is ready. When I arrive at a final-ish version, I sometimes ask other musicians to play and record certain parts for me, or to add something of themselves; such help is invaluable.
Since we can’t just meet in person whenever we want (I'm a Pole, living in Poland), I keep sending files to Jason. We discuss and modify my ideas together on calls and through shared documents (long live Google!).
Photo by Jakub Piotr Biernacki
It may seem like composing comes naturally to me, but each and every project I undertake is demanding and super challenging. I spend numerous days ruminating on how everything goes so wrong. Luckily, there are those happy days too, when I fall asleep feeling calm and proud.
It's always difficult to create music for somebody else and make them happy with my work without compromising my own vision too much - especially when our interpretations of moods and emotions vary. But, I think Jason and I are handling this demanding task really well. His ideas, however challenging I might find them at times, help me realise I can always do better than I initially thought, to the point where I myself am surprised with the outcome.
To wrap up, I'm really happy to be a member of the Suppression team! Though I am still working on the soundtrack, I can already tell you that it'll be sensual, intense and scary!
It will also be released as a separate album, so... keep your fingers crossed, we're almost there!
Eva Ajbrin