Film composer Hans Zimmer and the electronic musician and film composer Junkie XL were well aware they were taking a meandering journey as they spoke about the evolution of electronic music as used in film scores during the International Music Summit on April 16.
Their stories connected dots between the innovative German bands Can and Kraftwerk and the scores of films such as “Inception” and “Amazing Spider-Man 3.” They spoke about the inspiration of scores for “Blade Runner,” "Midnight Express” and “Chariots of Fire.” They also got into the nitty gritty of modular synthesizers and various devices they have collected -- and never discarded -- over the last 30-plus years.
“We've been Trojan horsing, pushing the orchestra to evolve and finding new ways to record,” Zimmer said at the gathering at the W Hotel in Hollywood. “Electronic music lends itself to an abstract way of storytelling, so it keeps evolving. There's a whole movement truly driving music further and there is no other music innovating [as much as film music]."