Supreme Music Asks Chuck Willis: And What About Music?
Music is an integral and powerful part of human culture. Its’ many forms tell stories which bring us together and set us apart through the endless possibilities of its expression.
Throughout history, music has told the story of our human lives, encompassing the secular, political, religious and technological forces of time and place, from the music of indigenous peoples to traditions of classical, folk, jazz, rock, pop, hip-hop, electronic, and many which continue to grow, evolve and intersect.
Editors hold big power in choosing a musical mood for an advert’s direction, since often it’s what they cut to is setting the tone right from the beginning of a film.
We had the honour to talk to one of the best: Chuck Willis.
Q> Please tell us your name and what you do professionally.
Chuck> Chuck Willis. Editor/Lost Planet.
Q> Can you tell us about your first truly memorable musical experience and how it impacted you. Why do you remember it so clearly?
Chuck> I bought the White Album at a very early age. I worked in the fields of Wisconsin picking strawberries, cherries and apples to earn enough to buy it. It was my first big purchase. My first album! I felt very grown up and of course I loved it. It was vinyl so you placed the needle on the album and tracked through the songs the way the artists wanted us listeners to hear it. It made a difference and it helped shape my taste level. You need to hope those early influences are good ones.
Q> Give us an insight into the most memorable project you executed and how music played a role in it?
Chuck> Music always plays a huge part in my edits. I need the music before I start putting images together. Often it may be a spot that eventually has no music at all, but I prefer to cut with a track to get pacing and mood, if only to remove it later. I used to cut many of the Saturday Night Live Parody spots. When asked to do the show opening, I loved cutting NYC images to that iconic SNL Band music. When you hear the band kick in with that signature sax, you know it’s time for SNL. NBC ended up using that opening for many seasons.
Q> Is there someone in your family who had a powerful influence on your musical life?
Chuck> My Dad was a jazz bass player. He was self- taught and would go up to Saranac Lake and sit in with big bands at all the hotels. I think it was just a way to pick up girls. During WW II he served with the Mighty 8th Airborne on a Flying Fortress “The Dry Martini and the Cocktail Kids.” He was stationed at Chelveston, England and would travel to London and to play in the USO shows. I grew up always hearing Big Band Jazz, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, and many, many more. We always had the latest Broadway albums in the house: My Fair Lady, Camelot, Guys and Dolls. My Dad did not earn a living as a musician, but he was always playing and there was always music in the house. When he retired, he had a little jazz trio that would play all summer at the hotels in Bar Harbor, Maine. I still have his bass; it lives in the corner of our living room.
Q> What's the most unexpected place or situation where you've found inspiration for a music or sound approach?
Chuck> Hard to say. I listen for music and sound in everything I do, it’s always part of the fabric, so would not say unexpected. I’m the type of person who is always tapping to the beat of something. It drives my wife crazy.
Q> What topics or developments in the world of music do you particularly like - or dislike - and why?
Chuck> Honestly, right now the world of music seems dead. When you think of how fertile music was from the ‘60s-’90s, the British Invasion, Rock & Roll, New Wave, Punk, Disco, Alternative, it just seems like there is nothing out there right now. Music today seems very controlled, very prescribed. Nothing very exciting. Certainly nothing new. Where’s Dylan, the Beatles, the Sex Pistols, Blondie, Oasis, The Smith’s, REM? You can see it in so many commercials, they’re grabbing music more from the past than the present, Grand Funk Railroad, Neil Diamond, Doris Day, I recently used “All By Myself” for a Lays commercial.
Q> Can you tell us about your favourite recording or mix session?
Chuck> For the NBC 75th anniversary show I went with the SNL director and sat in on a Howard Shore, 70-piece orchestral recording. It was spectacular. When I first started in the industry, we used to go to all the music sessions. At the time they were all live, very little synth. I remember a woman came in rolling her harp. I also remember singers gathered around a mike recording jingles. You really got to witness the craft of making music. It was magical…and fun!
Q> In what ways do you think AI is helping in your role - and what pitfalls do you see?
Chuck> I am trying to stay away from AI. I know it will come for me eventually. AI goes against my basic creative spirit. Machines are tools with which we use to create, not the other way around.
Q> Making music in 2055 will be like _________________. Who will the stars of tomorrow be and how will they be discovered?
Chuck> I am hoping that music will go back to its roots. It’s a bit like film editing. The digital technology made it possible for anyone to edit, but not everyone can. The same is true for music. Going back to an earlier sound when instruments were played, and lyrics considered. When music meant something and elicited a real emotional response and transported the listener to a special place. I think the stars of tomorrow will be the rebels, the outsiders, people who make music because they spiritually have no choice, not because they want to get rich and famous.
Q> Would you rather write the title song for a rom-com, zombie or Dracula film - and why?
Chuck> Rom-Com. Much sweeter. More emotional. More memorable. Listen, I get it, Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells is very haunting, as is John Carpenter’s Halloween theme, but do I want those pieces of music in my head eliciting images from those movies or would I rather hum Singing in The Rain?
#SNL #lostplanet #suprememusic
