Phoenix’s Thomas Mars explains how he is ‘directed’ by Sofia Coppola on soundtracks

Sofia Coppola met her husband, Thomas Marswhen he participated in the soundtrack of The Virgin Suicides (1999). The filmmaker divorced Spike Jonzedirector of She (2013) and Where the monsters live (2009), in 2003 — the same year in which Encounters and Mismatches arrived in theaters.

The film starring Scarlett Johansson It is Bill Murray also represented the continuation of a partnership between the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola It is Mars. Intentionally or not, the duo was creating a tradition since their first feature film. Sofiaby bringing together talents, each within their specialty, in audiovisual works.

Coppola directed the music video for “Chloroform”, and the French group made a special appearance in Marie Antoinette (2006). O Phoenix still used the film’s setting starring Kirsten Dunst to record the video for “Run Run Run”.

“It’s very easy,” said the band’s lead singer about collaborating with the director of On the Rocks (2020). In an interview with Rolling Stone Brazil, Thomas explained that working alongside Sofiawith whom she became official in 2011, “doesn’t feel like work”: “When she starts a project, the music is there from the beginning. She needs music from the beginning, she needs music to write scripts, and one thing feeds her another. It looks very natural.”

The couple, who have two children, also added their jobs in Priscillaa film that portrays the marriage of Priscilla It is Elvis Presley from the perspective of the ex-wife of the so-called King of Rock. Although Priscilla Presley collaborated with the film, the estate of Elvis did not agree to give up the rights to the singer’s songs so that they could be included in the project Coppola. She was then given the opportunity to bring a less obvious soundtrack to life with the help of Phoenix.

Especially in this last project, in Priscilla… When we worked on the soundtrack, it was a lot of fun, creatively, for the band and for me. I think I know exactly what she [Sofia Coppola] he wants. Also, she is very good at explaining to us what she wants. She is very technical. So, there is no room for confusion.

It’s easier to be creative that way. I don’t know if it makes sense, but it is. She loves music and manages to share her passion for it… We ended up speaking the same language. We also live under the same roof, so communication is pretty… Like, I know where things are coming from. She also knows where the music is coming from. So, she knows what she wants for a film, and I know what I can bring to a script or another project.

The Stranger We Love (2017) was cited by Mars to exemplify how thorough Coppola can be in her requests for the soundtrack: “In this film, which takes place during the Civil War era, she wanted very specific synthesizers, which she had heard before me. These synthesizers are very late 1970s, which go out of tune in the best way possible and that create these chords of tension that can be threatening”.

It’s as if I were a painter and she told me I can only wear blue and red.

“Thinking of Priscillashe described the sounds, the atmosphere and everything,” he added. “So, I knew she wanted specific sounds, like from the Wall of Sound era, with delays, echoes, something like that needle drop in the movie.”