Music Q&A with Jimmy LaValle of The Album Leaf
Photo by Michael Raines
Last month, Node Records released the soundtrack album for Something in the Dirt, featuring an original score by recording artist, The Album Leaf aka Jimmy LaValle!
Something in the Dirt, the latest from Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Moon Knight, Loki, The Twilight Zone) tells the story of two neighbors who witness something supernatural in their LA apartment building. The two realize that documenting these unexplainable paranormal events could change their lives with fame and fortune. The journey plunges them down a frayed and uncertain path as they uncover the truth of the phenomena.
In this Q&A, Jimmy LaValle talked about the soundtrack, his creative process for soundtracks and other Album Leaf material, advice given to him by other musicians, and more!
Congratulations on the original score for the Something in the Dirt soundtrack! When you look back at your previous work for other soundtracks, what would you say was different about the creative process for Something in the Dirt?
Thank you! I’m really happy with this score. I always create unique synth patches from scratch to set the tone for each film, but I tried to play with different beds of instrumentation that are not common for me to score these characters. This score has flutes and clarinets from Hailey Niswanger, something I’ve never done before. That was really fun to experiment with. I also used my own voice as an instrument. I’ve never used my voice in a film before. I really try to do something new and unique for each film. But there was a lot of trial and error with this film. I went down many, many different paths. Once I landed on my direction, it got really fun to bring it all home. In reality, I really learn something new with each film and it leads me in a new creative direction where I try new creative experiments. But under it all, I do feel like all of my scores all have traces of my melodic sense and they sound like they come from my world.
How is working on a soundtrack different from writing music for other The Album Leaf material?
It’s just a different mindset. I really can’t explain it all too well, but when I start on a film, I have something I’m working with, being inspired by picture or story. When I’m writing for The Album Leaf material, I’m also trying new things, but I’m experimenting with sounds without any set inspiration. It’s just coming from me naturally when I walk in my studio in the morning to get to work. I’ve always thought it could be fun to make a record where the inspiration is coming from different scenes from films. Could be fun.
What instrument do you not play that you hope to learn someday?
I think I would love to be able to play brass. I’m starting to really lean towards brass, and the family of instruments are really deep and versatile.
What's the best piece of advice another musician ever gave you?
I have so many ideas of what kind of music I want to be making. Since I’ve released records as The Album Leaf for over two decades, there is part of me that feels tied to a certain set of rules and I have a lot of fellow musicians telling me to let that go and do what I want. I am trying to really embrace that with my future creative approach in both scoring and making records.
We all have our days where it may not be going as well as we’d like. People deal with their worst days in different ways. What helps you get through the bad days? How do you stay positive?
My family really keeps me going. Everything can get really tough and I can feel really flooded, and when I step back and look at who I spend my life with, my wife, our kids, I feel really lucky to have that support. With that, I just push through any day and try to reset myself for the next.
Thank you for taking the time for this Q&A. Any last words or final message for the readers?
Just a big thank you for taking the time. I always appreciate chatting. Thanks!