The pun is easy, but inevitable: Cristobal Tapia de Veer is right to smile. The Quebec composer is having an exhilarating fall, not only because he wrote the music for the number 1 film in North America, Smilebut because it also continues the adventure of White Lotusthe HBO series thanks to which he won two Emmy awards.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
In an interview, Cristobal Tapia de Veer, known as Cristo, struggles to find the right words to describe this abundant period. However, he knows one thing: listening to yourself pays off.
“In this job, you always have four or five choices. I could have refused The White Lotus. I could have refused Smile. But I followed my gut feeling [instinct]. I made the right decisions. It’s reassuring”, declares the multi-instrumentalist, in discussion on Zoom.
For the past two weeks, Cristo’s music has been giving goosebumps to moviegoers in Smile (in French, Smile), a horror film by American director Parker Finn, which tells the story of a therapist who witnesses a traumatic event involving a patient.
With international receipts that exceed 100 million US, the feature film sits at the top of the box office in the United States. It also dominates the ranking in Quebec, confirms the Cinéac agency.
No one thought it was going to be this big. It’s screwed up!
Cristobal Tapia de Veer
Terrifying, but fun
True to form, Cristobal Tapia de Veer has gone off the beaten track to concoct the haunting noisy soundscape of Smile. To reproduce the timbre of a “diabolical” laugh, the artist of Chilean origin notably used a daxophone, an experimental musical instrument composed of a thin blade of wood and a bow.
« Le but, c’était de faire le score [trame sonore] the creepiest [sinistre] of the year ! “laughs the ex-collaborator of Mario Pelchat and Bran Van 3000.
Cristo worked on Paramount Studios’ offering for almost a year, still from the Laurentians, in his home recording studio. The end result meets his expectations.
It reminded me of the classic horror movies I used to rent on VHS from the video store when I was a kid. Because Smile, it’s terrifying, but it’s also fun. There are punches, you shout, you jump… It’s not a depressing thing.
Cristobal Tapia de Veer
The hatching of Smile comes a few weeks after another milestone for Cristobal Tapia de Veer: his Emmy double for having signed the musical theme and the sound environment of Tea White Lotus (in French, The white lotus), beating in passing series like Squid Game (The squid game) and Lokia Marvel blockbuster.
“The first was like a shock,” says the lucky winner. The second, I freaked out! Two prices, it’s stupid! »
PHOTO CHRIS PIZZELLO, INVISION, SUPPLIED BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cristobal Tapia de Veer at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, September 4
Under the lights of the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, the animal lover dedicated his first trophy to Wilma, his beloved cat, who died just before the event.
Back to white lotus
In addition to reaping what he sowed, Cristobal Tapia de Veer is working on other films this fall. However, these are “top secret” projects which should not be leaked.
Heureusement pour nous, le diplômé du Conservatoire de musique de Québec peut discuter librement des nouveaux épisodes de The White Lotus, que Crave relaiera à compter du 30 octobre. Dans cette deuxième saison fort attendue, qui met en vedette Michael Imperioli, Aubrey Plaza et Theo James, le téléspectateur plongera dans l’univers d’un groupe de riches vacanciers installés au chic Four Seasons San Domenico Palace, en Italie.
Les enjeux [de la deuxième saison] are different. There are fewer political winks. The pictures are superb. And all the characters are interesting.
Cristobal Tapia de Veer
On the music side, Cristobal speaks of a “less violent shock”, far from the tropical-hypnotic rhythms of the Hawaiian edition. “There are influences from Italian music, classical music, opera… It’s much more harmonious. »
To meet this challenge, the former member of the group One Ton (Supersexworld) collaborated with Kim Neundorf, producer and director of the Montreal agency Free Run Artits. The latter describes the experience as “scary and super exciting”.
“Cristo breathes music. His level is extraordinary. His knowledge is more than exceptional. It’s crazy what you learn with him, ”he says.
Due to the hectic pace of the last few months, Cristobal Tapia de Veer has not yet taken the time to savor his success. However, he hopes to “open the champagne” by January. Maybe “around Christmas, when things will have calmed down a bit. »