What happens when a four-day journey in the wilderness turns into a fight for survival? This is the premise of Dark Sky Films’ horror movie, Loop Track, which is currently available on VOD. The official synopsis reads: “Seeking peace and quiet, highly anxious Ian sets off on a multi-day hike through the New Zealand bush. His solitude is interrupted by other exuberant hikers – Nicky, Monica, and Austin – as well as his overactive mind. As the walkers head deeper into the wilderness, Ian becomes convinced that someone, or something, is following them through the trees. This presence reveals itself when the hikers are at their most isolated, plunging the party into a bloody fight for survival”.
Accentuating the tension and suspense of the story is the score by composer Mike Newport (Baelin’s Route, Mega Time Squad) who thought outside of the box for the score and made instruments from native bird and bush sounds. Mike’s Loop Track score is now available digitally, and to learn more about the score we conducted the below Q&A with Mike…
Can you talk about how you first got started in the composing world?
Sure! I grew up in a house where, thanks largely to my parents, great music was always playing. I was already playing a few instruments, and was playing in bands in the early 2000’s when I started toying around with recording; breaking songs apart to see how they were made, layering multiple tracks of myself to see what happens and I realised I found it so much more rewarding musically than playing the drums sitting at the back of a band. I loved that I could do it on my own schedule without needing to wrangle 4 other people of varying moods, and ultimately taught myself to get the music I’d always had in my head out one track at a time so other people could hear it too.
I’d always loved films, and as soon as I realised writing music for films was a career, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I started scoring short films, got a showreel together and over time branched out into features, TV shows, trailers and commercials. One thing I love about composing for films is that you’re part of a team helping someone else tell their story – and the best way to support it musically changes with each project.
Your music has been featured in trailers for Pirates of the Caribbean, Altered Carbon and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children to name a few. How did that come about?
I was in Los Angeles in 2013 attending the Billboard Film and TV music conference. A publisher there heard my music and said, “hey you should write trailer music!” I’d always loved movie trailers and writing big cinematic tracks, but at that point I had no idea that trailer music was its own genre. So I went away, I wrote a ‘trailer track’, put it on YouTube (cue my Justin Bieber moment) and after some research sent it around to a few trailer music houses and got a quick reply from one guy who ultimately signed me, and that was it! I was writing track after track, full live orchestra – it was fantastic. These would be packaged up as albums and sent out to trailer editors to cut trailers to, and those placements above started happening soon after.
It all felt like a rocket ship going off overnight, but of course it was really about 15 years in the making to get to that stage and be ready for the opportunity when it struck.
How did you get involved with Loop Track?
I’d been a fan of the director Tom Sainsbury’s work for a long time, so I was really excited to hear he was developing a feature, and delighted to get sent the script to read. It was so well crafted; funny, intriguing and to me the most attractive prospect was it clearly had a lot more going on than initially meets the eye. Layers of metaphorical comments on mental health, asking for help and unwanted social interactions. Without wanting to give away spoilers, I also read the twist in the 3rd act and in all honesty just thought “this is so outrageous, how on earth are they going to pull this off?” Count me in!
What was your favorite scene to score in Loop Track?
There’s a moment in the third act where everything changes, and we finally get a reveal of what has really been happening throughout the film; the entity that our protagonist Ian has been sensing has been watching him in the forest all along.
From this scene onwards, I wanted to switch the score up from subtle ominous soundscapes and score the film like Jurassic Park – huge orchestral themes, massive synths, epic percussion. A total rug pull from the sonics we’d heard until now, just to make sure the audience were kept guessing on this crazy ride.
That said, scoring this film had SO many highlights, and me and my assistant (James Cullen) to this day are still quoting it.
The expectation level for horror film scores has become pretty high. Did you feel any extra pressure knowing that Loop Track fell into the horror genre?
Absolutely. I’ve scored a lot of horror films, but regardless of the genre I always want to push myself to do something unique, and explore some new ground. With a film like this you always know there will be eyes on it, and as you say the bar is set very high, so I certainly spent an inordinate amount of time on this score really crafting it, each individual element, every scene. Making sure the tension levels felt right, the comedy was working and yet the foreboding dread keeps building. We were also very aware to make sure there wasn’t too much music in the film, which can start to detract from the impact it has.
Did you gravitate towards one instrument more than others for the Loop Track score?
One thing I’m really proud of in this score are the instruments I made from native bird and bush sounds, which form the backbone of the whole score.
My starting point was the concept of how much of the score could be made from sounds from the location where it’s set, so I just started experimenting with how I could musically support the story of Loop Track with these elements. A male kiwi call slowed down and processed through an effects chain of reverbs, echoes and distortion became this ghostly haunting tone throughout that feels real and organic but also totally unrecognisable and otherworldly. The sound of wind and trees creaking turned into a deep ominous percussion theme that plays each time the protagonist Ian feels like he senses something watching him in the trees.
You released the film’s soundtrack; do you have a favorite track from the album?
“Ian’s Lament” is up there, scoring this scene came together surprisingly quickly but was crucial in terms of what’s happening in the story. Without giving away spoilers, Ian has been pushed into confronting something he really didn’t want to, and committing an act which in one way could seem victorious, even heroic – but it was really important that the overarching feeling was that this was regrettable, and it’s a big release of emotion for Ian. I love the scene and how it lands, I think Tom Sainsbury’s performance as Ian is incredible and I think musically it’s reflected well in the soundtrack. It’s also a surprisingly emotional piece amongst crazy horror stuff, action and dread!
The track “What The F*** Was That?” Would be close behind though, it covers a lot of musical ground.
What else would you like readers to know about you as an artist?
What I love as an artist writing music to picture is the sheer variety that I get to cover – I could be scoring a horror film one day, a kids cartoon the next.
I love working with up and coming as well as established filmmakers, so I always welcome people getting in touch – mike@mikenewport.com.
Is there another composer you would like to collaborate with someday?
I love Cristobal Tapia de Veer’s work, particularly for The White Lotus, and have been a big Daniel Pemberton fan for ages. Both so creative, pushing boundaries. If either of them ever called me, I would definitely answer.
I’ve started collaborating more with other composers over the last few years, I think it’s really important to realise how many different ways of writing music and working there are – and to shake things up rather than get too stuck in set ways of working. It’s amazing the things that can come about too when you combine your tastes with someone else’s.
What Netflix shows are you currently watching?
Not strictly Netflix, but Black Mirror, The Bear, The White Lotus.
Many thanks to Mike for taking the time for this interview. You can learn more about Mike and his work here.
