SWEET SOUNDS
*brass instruments building up*
The most important thing
That we've ever learned
My first reaction is,
"Great material for Tim, a natural", and yet...
...I also thought this is going to be tough, you know,
touching into much loved, sacred ground.
And that always puts a challenge on something.
But I was very glad he was doing it, it just seemed very Tim.
*music*
In the book, you know, at the end of each child's demise,
there's sort of like a great chorus kind of poem.
She goes on chewing till at last
Her chewing muscles grow so fast
We tried to, just take it to a different level and, you know,
use Dahl's lyrics...
...which I felt was important.
We kind of threw in a lot of different references.
These are Veruca's new found friends
That she will meet as she descends
The challenge that Tim gave me was that each song...
...should have a common Oompa-Loompa quality to it...
...and some rhythmic or melodic base that would carry through,
yet each one would be in a completely different format or style.
*music*
The first one is in fact modelled after a big Bombay percussive piece,
it was really fun, it was "Augustus Gloop".
Augustus Gloop, Augustus Gloop
The great, big, greedy nincompoop
I just had never had more fun.
Writing the thing, producing the demo, doing all the vocals, there are like fifty vocals on it.
And I sent it out to Tim not knowing what he's gonna think and he's going,
"Yeah, yeah! Ok, yeah, yeah, we're good, we're good, that's good".
This is the first song in the movie.
He wanted a quick number, quick...
...dance routine, which...
..."Augustus Gloop" is.
*music*
He described this...
...swimming sequence where the Oompa-Loompas are gonna dive into the chocolate and it's almost gonna be...
...like a Busby Berkeley moment with the synchronised swimming in the chocolate...
...and then back up.
And so then I wrote that section and added it in, I was having so much fun.
Now, of course, we must admit
Originally I thought, all four of the songs...
...would be based on the first one.
And he goes, "No, no, no, now".
*music*
The second one I did was "Mike Teavee".
And, "do something, like, crazy, you know, like Oompa-Loompa rock...
...and this will be like Queen, it should be like-".
And I'm going, "You're nuts. Alright, I don't know, what the heck, I'll do it".
Regarding little Mike Teavee
We very much regret that we
Regret that we
In some ways that was the hardest but that became the most rewarding, I think.
'Cause it ended up with- I think we worked out that Deep plays 29 characters.
Shall simply have to wait and see
If we can get him back to size
But if we can't
It serves him right
He's gonna hate this, this is crazy and he goes,
"Yeah, yeah, that's it".
Veruca Salt, the little brute
Has just gone down the garbage chute
And she will meet as she descends
A rather different set of friends
And now, for Veruca, it's like...
...psychedelia, it's hippie, it's Mamas & the Papas meets ABBA meets this, meets that.
So I was going- At this point I was like, "Great".
I was just like, "Dive right in".
...an oyster stew
A steak that no one else would chew
I remember the sequences, I was writing them, my wife would come down and...
...there were some parts where I'd stop and I just- I was laughing, I couldn't keep doing it.
And I would like have to calm down and do it again.
And I was going, "Check this little section out".
Listen close and listen hard
The tale of Violet Beauregarde
This dreadful girl, she sees no wrong
Chewing, chewing, chewing, chewing, chewing, chewing all day long
And the last one, what's it gonna be?
And I say, "I think it has to be seventies,
shaft, blaxploitation,
film".
And he goes, "Yeah, I think that's the way to go".
Got my guitar and my wah-wah pedal out, which I hadn't used in ages, and I'd like, really...
...get into the whack, whack, whack wa.
I just loved it 'cause it's got a kind of cool, slightly Temptations feel to it.
...her giant chin
Sticks out just like a violin
Chewing, chewing all day long
But then there was this common link between all the songs, which is that...
...they're all sung by a big group.
At first I didn't think we could pull it off 'cause-
How do I get this style to this, this song, this feel?
Yet, it's all Oompa-Loompas singing in group.
*music*
I'm kind of used to doing like kind of a one-man-band...
...type of presentation so...
...when I started cutting the Oompa-Loompa songs,
I didn't know what I was doing moment to moment, I was kind of improvising but I had mic there...
...and I would just grab the mic and I would sing...
...eight parts and I would mix the eight parts down the two,
then I would lay down ten parts, then I'd lay the ten parts down the two.
You know, alright, I gotta do four tracks of:
*low singing*
You know, and I gotta get into that mode and then...
...I got those and then I got:
*high singing*
And i gotta get like the falsettos and I have to do it eight times.
And at a certain point you start kind of going crazy, you know, so like-
And I'm recording them really lousy,
just as an idea for Tim.
And, of course, the next thing I know is the song is in production and like everybody is hearing these vocals and I'm going,
"Wait a minute I just was doing this temporary, just for you to hear".
And he goes, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's fine, that's fine".
And it's like, it's on the stage being played back and dancers are like working out the choreography.
*inaudible*
Good.
Thank you very much.
Danny Elfman's music is so great.
It's great for a choreographer.
You just see pictures immediately when you hear it.
This greedy brute, this louse's ear
Is loved by people everywhere
For who could hate or bare a-
I told Tim, I said at a certain point I felt like...
...he was sending me off to like "Jason and the Argonauts" or something and it's like,
"And now you will go to the island of Crete and you will find the fleece...
...that no one has been able to get in the cave of decibels and bring it back to me".
And I was like, "But it can't be done".
Then, ultimately I would do it and I was like, "Alright".
Oompa-Loompa, Oompa-Loompa, Oompa-Loompa, Loompa, Loompa...