Eric Andre, a comedian and actor known for his innovative and quirky talent behind the long-running show "The Eric Andre Show"« on Adult Swim, became the subject of some of the most bizarre, surreal pranks, stunts, and hilariously awkward moments ever shown on television.
But Andre's latest project may be even more astonishing. Under the not-so-serious name BLARF, Andre has released a surprisingly serious album of classical music entitled Film Scores for Films That Don't Exist (now available on Stones Throw Records). Created in collaboration with composer Pratik Rajagopal, the album features eight works for full orchestra, ranging from the amusing (1869 Overture, essentially a very off-key interpretation of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture) to the truly beautiful (Stars Without Light), that play with both the archetypes of film music and the composers who write it.
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Andre, in fact, is no awkward newcomer: before he switched to comedy, he was a serious double bassist and studied at the prestigious Berklee College of Music (where he also studied conducting, a skill he recently applied in front of an orchestra at the only concert of this music to date, at Los Angeles's Zipper Hall in late April).
«For me, it’s like a dream come true,» says Andre about the creation Film Scores album . "I'm just glad it all worked out, and I'm so grateful to Pratek for pushing the project through to the very end." In an interview with Billboard, he discussed his conservatory past, conducting an orchestra in Hungary, and BLARF's plans for the future.
In an interview Pitchfork about your first album BLARF, Cease and Desist 2019, you said, "Try listening to it for even six minutes, it's fucking unbearable." I wouldn't say that about this album!
I think I've always wanted to make completely different albums every time. I've only released two [BLARF] albums, so you don't really notice that trend until I've had three, four, or five albums. Comedy is a full-time job, so it's just a passion project, and I don't have the time to do that much, but it's always been something I've wanted to do. I started doing comedy in my 20s, somewhere in the middle of college, and then I just switched to it, but I've always wanted to continue making music, not for commercial success, but more for my own creative satisfaction.
How do you know when it's time to start a new BLARF project?
I'm constantly working on it in the background between gigs—it takes time, and then I release it. I'm still creating new music; I'm trying to make new hip-hop loops in Ableton, trying to master Detroit house, ghetto techno, and a little jazz. Prateek, who I worked with on the album, just scored a Bollywood film, and I was like, "Wow!" I was disappointed that we didn't include anything Bollywood or Indian, or anything jazz, on the album. So I'm already thinking about doing a jazz composition and then going back to electronic music, because it's much easier to create than working with orchestras. Laughs ]
How did you and Pratik first meet?
Originally the music for Andre's film "Bad Trip"« (Bad Trip ) was supposed to be written by Ludwig Göransson. Ludwig was very busy, because he already had his third Oscar, and his then creative partner, Joseph Shirley, took over the work on «"Bad trip"» ; then Joseph worked on the film «Trolls» , and I also worked on the film «Trolls» , and he's a really sweet, talented guy. And I love film music; I love Ennio Morricone, film music is very emotional, it's like this forgotten part of the music industry. [I told him how] I'm constantly coming up with ideas for compositions, and I asked if he could help me? And he's also incredibly successful, busy, and has kids, so he said, "I'd love to, but I can't even keep up with all the work I need to do, but I have this protégé, Prateek, who's just a musical wizard.".
Prateek was very young, enthusiastic, incredibly talented, and well-versed in all musical genres. No task is too difficult for him, he handles pressure and stress very well, and enjoys challenges, so he was very passionate and enthusiastic from the very beginning. I wouldn't have completed this project if it weren't for Prateek.
What was your collaboration like?
I'd start with voice memos and song ideas, and then I'd go to Prateek's office and studio, and he'd lay out mini-demo versions of what I'd sung to him in those voice memos, along with the orchestration I'd suggested. Then we'd sit in his studio and just try to figure out where the song wanted to go, where it was going. Sometimes we'd hit a dead end: "What's For Dinner" ends in a kind of death metal way, simply because we couldn't think of an ending. So, jokingly, we'd say, "I don't know, let's make it a death metal ending!" And then I found out in real time that Prateek is into metal and plays in an Indian death metal band. His band is amazing, I didn't even know that. That kind of metal is very technical. Jazz, classical, and metal players are just masochists.
He wasn't just a collaborator who helped me develop these fragmented ideas, but also a sort of showrunner, a producer who made sure we found an orchestra in Budapest, Hungary. He constantly pushed everyone to do things right, and not necessarily the cheapest way.
Have you performed as an orchestra conductor in Hungary?
During the recording, most of the orchestra was conducted by their own conductor, but I played along a bit, and then when we gave the concert [in Los Angeles], I conducted myself. Conducting is not as difficult as playing the double bass—that was much more exciting for me.
What was this whole situation like? What did the orchestra musicians think of you?
I think it was a combination of intrigue and confusion from start to finish. But I love conducting. I adore it. «"Fantasy", Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny were my first idols among conductors. I took conducting lessons in school, and I really liked my teacher, Francisco Noya—he was very, so to speak, spiritually developed in his approach to conducting, he was simply an incredibly colorful personality, a very memorable professor. He could be very demanding during lessons, but in reality, he was very gentle and kind.
I absolutely love having an orchestra at my disposal. I was absolutely thrilled. It was like how astronauts go into space, they're in this trance, like they think, "When else will I get a chance like this?" and they're simply enjoying the majesty of the universe. It was a true dream come true.
Did you consider all these works as a single whole for the film or as separate elements?
No, I thought each film was chosen differently. The first one ["The Last Gunfight"] was like a spaghetti western. "Mercury Dripping Down My Spine" was like an Ari Aster or Panos Cosmatos horror film. The other challenge was finding comedy in instrumental music—how to achieve comedy without words?
Some of the pieces do seem downright funny, but most of them start out like they're going to go in one direction and then definitely turn into something more unexpected by the end—in Piano Concerto No. 0, for example, it feels like you're literally killing the piano at the end.
As a kid, I used to get so frustrated practicing piano that I'd throw my books on the floor if I got to, say, a Mozart passage that stumped me. As I got older, one of my professors, Whip Brown, always said, "Practice slowly, learn fast; practice fast, learn slow," and that's the best advice for any temporary art… I have to remind myself of that every day. [But] I had dark fantasies about constantly destroying my instruments, and when you play stringed instruments, the better you get, the more they're worth. So it was cathartic, like taking an axe and setting fire to a piano.
Wait, are you literally destroying the piano?
Yes, I actually smashed a piano, a cheap piano we found on Craigslist. I love John Cage and the way he played with piano strings, so I wanted to hear what it would sound like if I chopped the strings with an axe. One day, The Eric Andre Show , I think I stepped on a few cellos and I remember the art department saying, "You I liked it "What do you mean, do this? These are works of art!" And I replied, "I really liked it!" We had cheap Sam Ash cellos. I wasn't stomping on a Stradivarius.
I saw a video where you go around asking people to listen to music and tell you which movie they think it goes with. What's the strangest story you've ever been told?
I don't even think most people get to that point. People ask, "« You »You compose classical music?!« At the door they were like: “ What?!"» So I have to tell you practically everything I've been telling you for the last 45 minutes. They can't even get past the first level [ laughs ]. You've seen the best answers! Closest friends ask, "Do you play music? Do you compose music?" I'm not even talking about comedians or public figures, but just drinking buddies who say, "You didn't tell me that? I don't know, you didn't ask!"«
So, we've established that you have a large amount of video footage to process, but beyond that, what's next for BLARF with this lineup? Do you plan to play more shows?
Yeah, I'd love to do more shows. We're going to edit the show we did and hopefully sell it to a streaming service or put it on YouTube. When it comes out, I think the album will almost be a companion piece to this special. My Netflix special is a stand-up comedy special, my HBO special is a concert special. The Eric Andre Show , and this special, regardless of the platform, will be something of an orchestral music special. I like this evolution, with each of my specials changing formats. So that's the next item on my musical agenda.
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