Umbrella Academy: Gerard Way on the best TV soundtrack so far

It would be logical to create a new series with one of the most exciting soundtracks of 2019, produced by a rock star. But the executive producer of The Umbrella Academy, the filmmaker and co-founder of My Chemical Romance, Gerard Way, did not have the merit of bringing together the eclectic and amusing musical choices that underscore the dramatic drama of the Netflix superhero. .

Way pointed out that it was not him, but executive producer and animator Steve Blackman, who specified many of the musical choices in the series. Steve writes [songs] in scripts, "he said." He has a very clear idea of ​​what he wants, that's why he puts them in scripts and he encourages his writers to do the same thing. "

Blackman said, "The music had to be his own character for the series, and I wanted to use it to make a counterpoint, like using" Istanbul "in the pilot when the little Five turns all the people around him. I thought it was important to find a way to counter violence and make music in a different way, to live within the scene, as a character in its own right. "

Read more: Trailer 'The Umbrella Academy': Meet the new Netflix Misfit superhero team

He continued, "Music is important and we wanted the show to really have not only its own soundtrack, but also its own style, and part of that style was producing good music. We had Gerard and we thought we had to do everything, you know? "Why do better with whom?"

"The Umbrella Academy."

Christos Kalohoridis / Netflix

Way has created the original series of graphic novels with the artist Gabriel Bá, which traces an unusual family of people whose superpowers have not necessarily made their lives easier. During the first season, adoptive siblings, including Ellen Page, Robert Sheehan, Tom Hopper, Emmy Raver-Lampman and David Casteñeda, face both the death of their father and the impending threat. of the end of the world. Fortunately, they listen to good music along the way.

And although Way contributed some songs to the soundtrack, the other artists represented represented a wide range of styles, including Bay City Rollers, The Doors, Queen, Radiohead, Nina Simone and They Might Be Giants. Co-star Mary J. Blige, who plays the deadly badbadin Cha Cha, even contributed to the cover of Rod Stewart's "Stay With Me," as can be seen below.

Blackman said the producers wanted to include songs they could not get because they were "way too expensive". Artists are seeing Netflix and their price has gone up a lot. The numbers stunned us. So there are some that are unforgettable: artists always say no to you.

This included an unnamed song by Paul Simon, as well as a few others. But Blackman pointed out that "most of the artists explain to them what the scene is, the show, and they will come and they will say," Of course, agree. Then we of course pay for it. "

This is where Way's advice became useful. "As a musician, you often ask for music, you really want to know how it's used," he said. "Sometimes they can not be bothered to tell you, so you end up saying no. But you really want to know it and so I think it was a good approach. "

Blackman added, "Yes, from creator to creator, I want them to understand what we use it for, and when someone said no, I was never offended. I agree, okay, it's not just for them, the song, but we moved on to something else. "

In the first episode, these eclectic musical choices may culminate with a long dance sequence featuring Tiffany's clbadic 1980s pop song "I think we're alone now". Each of the five characters dances alone on the song, and each actor revealed to IndieWire that he had relative freedom to decide how each of his characters would dance.

Page said that she had worked on projects that did not tell you if "you are saying a word differently". This was not the case here. She described her movie "Umbrella Academy" as "a delightfully free collaboration experience, which I always prefer by far. I imagine that most would do it. That means there is less ego flying, you know? There are more stick relays happening creatively. "

"The Umbrella Academy."

Netflix

"They were very good," added Sheehan. "They looked at us in those moments and went: How do they dance?

"They basically put the music in a loop and turned on the camera and we all did our own thing," said Raver-Lampman.

Hopper also said, "We had so much fun. The film crew was laughing: you choose a dance step and you can see them all laughing. "

The crew was not the only one to have fun. The cast also showed up to watch other people's dance scenes. "I would show up to watch [Hopper]then he left, then he stayed and watched me, "said Raver-Lampman.

Although they had a lot of freedom for this sequence, they received a small contribution from Blackman – including a suggestion that Hopper would "kick Van Halen". Unfortunately, Hopper said, "It was not decisive, and it was such a good move.

Castañeda shouted that what made the difference was that Hopper accidentally hit the model in his room. "It made me laugh so much," he teased his co-star.

Another song chosen by Way and Blackman was Toploader's replay of King Harvest's "Dancing in the Moonlight," which will appear later in the season for a key scene between the characters of Hopper and Raver-Lampman. "The original is an older song, but I just thought it worked great at that time," Blackman said.

For casting, reading in the script of what could be played on the soundtrack was in some way useful. "You do not really think about that when you do the scene, because it's so compartmentalized," Hopper said. "But having that when you're reading is awesome."

Even though he did not know the song, he added, "I've had times when I was looking for it, then I had it while I was reading this scene and I was thinking: & # 's Oh, God, it's going to be so good. It's great to have it while you read it, more than anything. "

A tragic scene for the Castañeda character presents a slightly discordant selection – David Gray's song "Life is Sweet". It's a scene where the script did not specify the song, but it said that "in the script, there was no track superimposed on it, it had such a powerful impact when this song started . I was just – it's such a beautiful song. You know, I looked at my sister and she was crying. Yes, she was crying. "

That's what all good soundtracks do: make the viewer feel something.

The season 1 of "The Umbrella Academy" is streaming on Netflix. Check out the official Spotify playlist below.

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