Issue 4 / September 2010

8
Bido Lito! September 2010
Bill Ryder
Jones
‘You must have been warned against
letting the golden hours slip by; but
some of them are golden only because
we let them slip by.’ J. M. Barrie.
There is nothing better than loving
and enjoying what you do. Music, like
any art, is principally for the fulfillment
of the soul, the creators release. With
many modern bands, there can be such
a hang up and emphasis on achieving
certain goals, that those golden hours
do pass them by, and the joys of being
and creating are lost. Thankfully, this is
not the case for BILL RYDER-JONES.
It has been two and a half years
since Bill left The Coral, in somewhat
of a haze of mystique. The reasons
for the departure are of little interest
now, but what most definitely is of
interest is the re-emergence of the
the resolves, that initial moment of
wonder that only lasts so long. Thats
what the book is about.”
And that offers itself naturally
for a musical score? “Yes, definitely.
There’s ten different ideas and that
leant itself well for writing the music.
I’d like people who’ve read the book
and hear the music to be able to
make the link between the various
different passages. Its not meant to
bend peoples mind’s or anything, but
I thought if somebody else out there
had done it, I’d be interested in the
idea having read the book.”
What would seem to some a marked
deviation from the musical trajectory
a way of bridging those two worlds.
Also, its about dramatics and with
bands, they often get it wrong. There’s
hardly any bands that do dramatics
which I like and who really get it right,
maybe apart from Arcade Fire and
Anna Calvi, who’s an amazing new
artist on Domino.”
I can tell that Bill holds Domino
in great affection and I suspect
that this has much to do with the
confidence they have shown in him.
By Bill’s own admission, his previous
endeavors secure him little favoritism
in his new arena beyond the nod of
familiarity and I suspect he’s keen to
reward Domino’s faith...“When I joined
guitarist with a new project and on
a new creative path. Having signed
to Domino Publishing, a wing of the
highly influential record label, Bill
scored A Leave Taking earlier this
year, a film produced in the North
West which received its world premier
at Cannes, and he is currently in the
process of scoring the Italo Calvino
novel If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler.
But what was it in particular about
Calvino’s novel that inspired Bill to
create music for it?
“Its a really tricky book to talk
about” Bill tells me, over a chai on
Bold Street. “The novel is based
around ten different opening chapters,
of ten different books. The point of the
book really is about those first pages
of a novel that really get you, where
which gave him such success, to Bill
feels completely natural, a development
of his skills as a composer. But is there
something in particular about the film
score format in comparison to the pop
song which gives him that freedom to
explore his ideas?
its full of promise. Like music in a way,
“I really love classical music and I
Words: Craig G Pennington
Photography: Jennifer Pellegrini
the first time you hear something that
you really love, before you think about
suppose I’ve always, deep down, been
a little bitter about the fact that I’m
where it goes or before you preempt
not some classical genius and this is
Domino I went down to meet up
with Laurence Bell to talk about what
I wanted to do and he suggested
writing a score for an imaginary film
and I knew straight away I wanted to
write a score for the book. It just works.
You totally get absorbed in it, without
sounding too heavy its given me eight
months of my life, which is really what
you want from art. I read it everyday.
I’ve written an hour and a half’s worth
of music and its almost finished now. I
think with music you have to work out
what it is thats unique to you, then
essentially thats what you are. I love
what I’m doing.”
And that is the single most
important thing. Bill has a fire in
his belly. He talks buoyantly about
Abel Korzeniowski and his score for
Tom Ford’s ‘A Single Man’, Shigeru
Umebayashi (another who made the
leap from the world of rock to film)
and Jonny Greenwood, “‘There Will
Be Blood’ has grown into one of my
favorite records ever, irregardless of
the film.” Bill is absorbed in his work
and excited about the future, with
hunger and desire to boot.
Bill Ryder-Jones has time and youth
on his side. He is watching those
golden hours slip by. And he is loving
every amber minute of it.
myspace.com/billryderjones
www.bidolito.co.uk