George Sarah: Music for Electronica Part Three

We conclude our chat with the composer/musician behind MUSIC FOR ELEVATORS

By Abbie Bernstein     December 09, 2002

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER fans were delighted earlier this year when series regular Anthony Stewart Head teamed with composer/musician George Sarah to created the album MUSIC FOR ELEVATORS. CINESCAPE recently sat down with Sarah to discuss his work in electronica, and his collaboration with Anthony Stewart Head.

Sarah's fusion

of electronica and classical elements seems to connect with listeners: "The bottom line is whether other people get it. I mean, everyone [expresses] themselves creatively, but I think when it actually becomes art is when the other person gets what it is that [you're] expressing. So if I draw a red circle and to me it represents an elephant, but everyone else also sees it [as an elephant] somehow, then I've done that successfully. That's a very extreme example, but if you can do that, all of a sudden, it's like, 'This guy draws red circles and everyone will see the same animal in them,' well, he's going to make a living at it."

All of this led to Sarah's first solo album, OPUS ELEVEN and then to MUSIC FOR ELEVATORS. Curiously, although MUSIC contains 16 tracks, all with lyrics printed on the liner notes, only 14 songs are listed on the album. Sarah seems to think the "hidden tracks" aspect is a bit silly. "The record company thought they were being so clever and so unique."

Listeners who

wait several minutes after the conclusion of the 16^th song, "End Game," in which Head's lyrics lament things left unsaid at the end of a loved one's life, will hear a spoken-word reprise of the earlier "Owning My Mistakes," delivered by Head's BUFFY colleague James Marsters as a poem. This isn't a track per se, Sarah says: "It's one of those things where we all thought it was kind of neat. It was a mistake, actually, because [Marsters] did some backing vocals on that track ['Owning My Mistakes'], and it actually bled through." As to why there was a spoken-word backing vocal track to words that are sung on the main vocals, "When you're in a studio, you try 50 million things. Let's sing it, let's talk it, let's do it, let's yodel it, let's do whatever. You have everyone in the room that day and it's like, 'Let's just keep going - alright, James talk, dude,'" Sarah laughs. "We were mixing the song and we forgot to mute [the backup vocals], and the song ended and then you hear talking, and we were like, 'What was that?' It was purely accidental, but [we thought], 'Well, this sounds cool, let's put it at the very end.' It was one of those things that sounded really good on its own."

"It's another cool thing about Tony, that this record was for the most part about having fun and trying some new things. To exclude anyone that's a part of your life in it, that's ridiculous. It's like having a birthday party and saying, 'God, you've got some eclectic friends!' Why not bring those elements into something you're doing creatively and having fun with? I just think that Tony wanted to bring all the people that had a significant role in his life here in Los Angeles, because you know, he lives in England. It was fun to bring in these people. The record was done in five different studios. Let's go to my friend Sean's house to do one song. Let's go to my friend Stephan's house to do a song. Let's go to Scott Fritz's house to do a couple of songs - work with these people, each experience a little different and exciting. Same thing with the musicians. Veikko Lepisto's an amazing upright bass player, and he has a swing band called Royal Crown Revue. These guys totally kick ass, and to have him on board for a track ['This Town In the Rain'] is just great."

Sarah has

a new album, OSSIA, due for release in March from Transistor Records. He is currently collaborating with Australian singer/songwriter Angie Hart (who recently appeared singing "Blue," co-written by Hart and Joss Whedon, in the BUFFY episode "Conversations With Dead People") and looks forward to playing live again with Head when his MUSIC partner returns to Los Angeles (Sarah, Hart and Head recently appeared together at a benefit for the Wilderness Program of Children Are Our Future at the Joint). Sarah continues to perform with the String Trio, with rotating members who include Neil Hammond and Kristin Autry on violin, Jan Koon and Carter Duberry on cello and Ilona Geller and Alma Fernandez on viola.

Mostly, Sarah is happy that work and recreation are synonymous for him: "Writing music is the thing that comes most naturally in my life. It is the one thing where I am totally me, and if I had the ability to write 24 hours a day, I think I would just be a better person in general," he laughs.

Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at feedback@cinescape.com.