Moviescore Media will release TEST Original Motion Picture Soundtrack digitally on June 3. 2014. The soundtrack features the original score composed by Welsh born composer Ceiri Torjussen (THE CANAL, BIG ASS SPIDER). TEST (winner of the 2013 Outfest, presented at the 2014 Berlinale) is a drama set during the 80s, and features a moodily ambient electronic score.
“When director Chris Johnson and I started discussing the music for TEST we concluded that since the film was set in 1985, it would be cool to create a score directly inspired by 80’s music,” said Torjussen. “Our ultimate goal was to make music that would fit the period and gel with the licensed 80s pop tracks, but also address the emotional turmoil that the characters were going through when confronted with the new and terrifying AIDS virus.”
“Ceiri is an astute artist, professional and true collaborator,” said TEST director Chris Mason Johnson. “Independent film requires all three of these and I am so pleased with the music for my film TEST, a feature film about professional dancers navigating their way through the AIDS epidemic in 1980s San Francisco.”
Multi award-winning composer Ceiri Torjussen’s (pronounced Kay-Ree) music was described by the Los Angeles Times as a “sudden bolt of creative lightning”. Welsh-born, but based in Los Angeles, his credits run the gamut of independent films, documentaries, network TV, animation and numerous large-budget studio films.
Among Torjussen’s recent projects are his score to THE CANAL, which premiered at Tribeca 2014, as well as BIG ASS SPIDERwhich premiered at SXSW, 2013). He composed additional music for REPO MEN, heart-thumping action music for the blockbusters LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD and UNDERWOOD EVOLUTION and orchestral action comedy music for SCARY MOVIE II. He received a Daytime EMMY® Nomination for Best Original Score for his music to the hit animated series DIVE OLLY DIVE.
Being an accomplished composer of concert music, he has been commissioned by groups such as the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, The Vale of Glamorgan Festival and the Henry Mancini Institute. His work has been recorded and released commercially and performed worldwide, including the USA, UK, Germany, France and India.
To research the sounds he used for TEST, Torjussen explained, “I listened to a lot of 80s synth music, especially Brian Eno, Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, Cabaret Voltaire, Tangerine Dream, Giorgio Moroder etc. I worked with ‘retro’ sounds such as Moogs, DX7s, Arp2600s, Linndrum, and myriad other classic 80s synths.”
An astutely crafted drama set in the free-spirited San Francisco of 1985, writer-director Chris Mason Johnson’s TEST lovingly portrays this exciting and harrowing era as young Frankie (dancer Scott Marlowe in a breakout acting debut) confronts the challenges of being an understudy in a modern dance company where he’s taunted to “dance like a man!” Frankie embarks on a budding relationship with hunky Todd (Matthew Risch, HBO’s LOOKING), a veteran dancer in the same company and the bad boy to Frankie’s innocent.
As Frankie and Todd’s friendship deepens, they navigate a world of risk — it’s the early years of the epidemic — but also a world of hope, humor, visual beauty and musical relief. The captivating dance sequences were especially choreographed for the film by acclaimed U.S. choreographer Sidra Bell.
“I gained a whole new appreciation for 80s synth music – both in its amazing melodic power, and the amazing production value of this unique era in pop history,” said Torjussen. “TEST was a joy to work on, and one of the most exciting and unique scores I’ve had the fortune to write.”
The TEST – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be available digitally through Moviescore Media and on CD through CDBaby.com on June 3rd, 2014.
TRACKLIST
1. Dawn (1:11)
2. Big Smile (2:53)
3. Xxx Dance (5:47)
4. Enoesque (3:06)
5. Feeling Softly (1:41)
6. Hawaiian Ohio (2:23)
7. Star Dancer (1:04)
8. After Bj (1:11)
9. Anonymous Anxiety (0:41)
10. Tripped Out (2:47)
11. Hello Dawn (2:08)
12. Goodbye Dawn (2:29)
13. Bad Dreams (2:59)
14. Hello Sunrise (2:24)
15. Massage (0:45)
16. Weily Waltz (2:43)
