Gary Numan has gone from “Cars” to trains, scoring John Bergin’s From Inside film about a young pregnant woman traveling through a post-apocalyptic landscape by rail. The 2012 movie was originally screened at film festivals but a new deluxe edition DVD (out Oct. 21) offered a chance to take another direction musically. “I decided to go grander,” says Numan, 56. “More orchestral with some grooves.”
The new wave icon got a taste of the film business by scoring a B movie 23 years ago in London, but made a concerted effort to get into scoring after moving to Los Angeles. He took a fair number of meetings with film companies upon his arrival, and Lakeshore Entertainment was the first to call with an offer. Working with his producer Ade Fenton as co-composer, Numan, whose “Cars” was a top 10 U.S. hit in 1980, was pleasantly surprised that he could score in much similar a manner as making an album.
“I do the music first and let the atmosphere guide it from a lyrical point of view,” he says. “In a way, that’s like working in film.”