So you've probably seen the teasers for Volcom's new movie project, 9191 (if not you're blowing it, luckily you just have to scroll down) by now. Among the few logos at the bottom of the poster you might have not recognized one of them, it says simply Baron. Well, DJ Baron is the man behind the sound in 9191, creating an entire original score for Gigi's film, which is something even most Hollywood movies don't have! Find out a bit more about the man called Baron (and make sure you get your ass to one of the many 9191 premieres that are coming to a city near you all across the globe).
How did you first get involved with the 9191 project?I worked with Volcom on the Extremely Sorry (Flip Skateboards) soundtrack, consequently Jake (Price) and Billy (Anderson) came to the premiere. Billy called me up in January and made me and offer I could not refuse, it was the Gigi movie!!!!!!!
What was your first impression of Gigi, did you see footage of him snowboarding or meet him in person first? Gigi is fucking rad, I knew of him, he's a legendary dude and has had a long and illustrious career, so I had seen footage of him over many years. We first met in person in January of this year, when Jake, Gigi, Billy and I hashed out a cunning plan.
Take us through the process of writing the score for 9191. Is it different to scoring a normal movie? Well, every project I work on has its different quirks and this one was no different. I've gotta pay absolute homage to Jake Price though, that guy is seriously on his shit, he works with James Bond precision. It made anything seem possible.
9191 Teaser:
Do you snowboard? If so, did you ever use your own personal experiences on the mountain as inspiration when scoring 9191? I have snowboarded and I really enjoyed it, all of my friends in Europe ride so I have had a lot of exposure to it. The main motivation and inspiration to this movie and the way it turned out was Jake and Gigi, making a movie about one person is way different to making a regular soundtrack, you can go way deeper with the styles and arrangements of the songs. Jake and I have very similar tastes in music and this was also a big help, I had 100% trust in what he was doing and vice-versa.
Do you think snowboard choreographed to music would ever work or is it better to do it the other way round? I think it's better to write something based on the vibe of the riding, the scenery and the director's vision. It may be possible to work the other way, although it wouldn't hold much interest for the rider, I don't think.
Does music or video affect one's emotions the most? What about when they are combined together? For me personally, making a piece of music, giving it to someone you respect (i.e. Jake) and have them combine working it with footage to create their vision of how it should be is like the final frontier. In terms of personal satisfaction, it blows me away, it becomes something else when the music is combined with footage.
What was your criteria for selecting the people you collaborated with on this project? First of all I worked with Jake and gigi on the direction and then I assembled all of the instrumental tracks based closely on a flow plan we had for the movie. Once that was done, Jake laid them in the timeline and I started making decisions on who we should reach out too. I then went back and forth with Jake on our options and what would work. Some of the people, like A Place To Bury Strangers, are some of my favorite artists, so it seemed like a great chance to get them in the mix. When Jamie Lynn expressed interest in singing, we all jumped at the chance of that happening. Hesta Prynn was a friend of a friend, her contribution is incredible and Dave Lombardo is someone I would always collaborate with, for sure the best metal drummer of all time and in there with the best drummers ever, it's always a total pleasure working with him, I have nothing but the utmost respect for him.
What other snowboard movie soundtracks are you into, if any? I like 9191, the Gigi movie !!!!!!
Will you be on the whole tour with Gigi and Jake? I'm gonna be on most of it, the ones I will be at will be the towns where we can do music press to support the soundtrack as well as the film. I'm only just about recovered from the carnage that was the Newport Beach premiere.
What does the future hold for Baron? Well, I would definitely like to work again in snowboarding, although it would have to be something pretty special to top this project, without question. In terms of action sports soundtracks, there will definitely be a new Flip video, so I will be heavily involved in that. I have been made a few offers concerning next year, so currently working out what I want to do. On the production side of things I am working on Chris Cester's (from Jet) new project called "The Dogs", which is sounding pretty heavyweight. I also have half a record made with a vocalist called Erin Lucas which we are in the process of finishing right now, also pretty pleased with that one. I dunno, maybe I may get a vacation at some point?!?
LISTEN TO THE FULL 9191 SOUNDTRACK HERE!
