Orson Welles lost a shit-ton of film stock. Terry Gilliam had a
shit-ton of shit luck on “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” (then didn’t).
Claudio D’Amato’s “October Blue” never even finished shooting. And while it may
be premature to mention D’Amato in the same breath as Welles and Gilliam (for
example, I’ve never heard of him), he certainly did crash and burn a film
because of financial woes. So he’s got that in common with the auteurs.
Jesse Kapp made some lemonade out of all those unfortunate lemons. As
Touch Test, he was tasked with sketching a score for “October Blue,” and
despite the film’s unceremonious halt, Kapp saw his musical vision through to
completion. This is good news for all of us, because it’s freaking excellent,
and it would have made a great soundtrack to “October Blue,” or even something
NOT “October Blue,” if given the chance. But hey, his inspiration came from the
script and the footage that was shot, so I guess that’s where we’ll have to
leave it.
Unlike most film scores that actually need the visuals to really sell
what you’re hearing, “October Blue” stands proudly on its own. Perhaps part of
that is the style – Touch Test excels at melodramatic synthwave, the kind
lovingly curated by the likes of the Duffer Brothers in “Stranger Things,” and
also have you seen the “Midnight Predator” video by Mr. Eff? Love that one – it
also reminds me of excellent sci-fi indie “Midnight Special.” But “October
Blue” was intended to be “unflinchingly dark, … tracing the narrative of three
teenagers who are pulled into a violent suburban underworld.” That Touch Test’s
score does NOT follow that vibe is kind of cool – it’s way more stylized, and
the somewhat incongruous tone (I’m assuming from the description – I’ve never
seen any film) would still probably work amazingly well in a variety of
situations.
So take it from me – you don’t need a film version of “October Blue” to
enjoy its soundtrack. Touch Test has made very sure of that.
--Ryan
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