Thom Yorke discusses Suspiria film score: “I was making spells”

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Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke composed his first-ever film score for Luca Guadagnino’s remake of Suspiria. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival this weekend and Yorke participated in a panel discussing the project (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Yorke admitted that it took “few months to even contemplate the idea” of scoring Suspiria and living up to Goblin’s original iconic soundtrack. “When they first came to see me, the producers and [editor] Walter [Fasano], I just thought they were mad, because I’ve never done a soundtrack before. And Suspiria is one of those legendary soundtracks.”

“It was one of those moments in your life where you want to run away but you know you’ll regret it if you do,” Yorke added. “I watched the original film several times, and I loved it because it was of that time, an incredibly intense soundtrack. Obviously Goblin and [director] Dario [Argento] worked incredibly closely when they did it together.”

Once he began working on the score, Yorke likened the process to  “making spells.” He elaborated: “I know it sounds really stupid, but that’s how I was thinking about it. It was a sort of freedom I’ve not had before. I’ve not worked in the format of song arrangement. I’m just exploring.”

In addition to Goblin’s original score for Suspiria, Yorke said he took inspiration from Krautrock and 70’s-era Berlin. “It was just a really cool way to totally immerse myself in an area I wouldn’t normally go with full permission,” he added.

Suspiria hits theaters on November 2nd. Details on the soundtrack’s release are still forthcoming, but on Friday, Yorke posted a cryptic teaser to Twitter. Some of his music can also be heard in the film’s previously revealed trailer.

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— Thom Yorke (@thomyorke) August 31, 2018

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