On the occasion of the Los Angeles Italy Festival, we met Mark, author of the song “Golden”, awarded with the Oscar as Best Original Song. In this interview he tells the creative process behind the track, born in the film K-Pop Demon Hunters, and the surprising international success of the song.
Cinema is a universal language. What does it mean to you to see a song of the film get to such a global audience?
Cinema is really international. When you have a chance to work on something that doesn’t just talk to people in your country but manages to reach the public all over the world, you feel extremely lucky to be part of it. I think the whole team of K-Pop Demon Hunters feels this feeling. Seeing the reactions of the international public, even in countries like Italy, is something very special.
How was the song “Golden” born?
Everything started with film directors, Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, who had a very clear story to tell through these characters. In this film each song was born first of all from history. You have to understand what is happening to the characters and what emotion must emerge at that time.
For “Golden” we started from the narrative moment concerning Rumi, Mira and Zoe. We also had a beautiful musical track from The Black Label, written by Teddy, 24 and IDO.
From there EJ and I, working with directors, with music director Ian Eisendrath and our producer Michelle, tried to build the song around Rumi’s emotional path. He is a character who, on the one hand, seems to be at the top of success, but at the same time hides a very fragile part of himself. And it is precisely this conflict that gives way to everything that will happen in the rest of the film.
Did you expect such a great success for the song?
Honestly not. We loved the movie we were making and we were all excited to be part of it, but we didn’t imagine a success of this magnitude.
Sometimes it happens that many elements are aligned at the same time: history, music, the public who discovers it and shares it. Fans’ word of mouth was also fundamental. So if someone says they’ve supported the project since the first day, I can only say thank you.
How complex was the writing process of “Golden”?
Much more than you can imagine. When you work for a movie, you need to find something that works perfectly with history. That’s why we rewrote the song several times.
The final version of “Golden” that you hear in the film is probably the third or fourth version. Before arriving at the final one we had written six or seven different songs and made many changes along the path.
What was the hardest part to write?
Surely the bridge of the song, the moment when Rumi is alone in the room. We had to find the right balance: on the one hand it had to remain a real pop song, on the other the audience had to feel clearly what the character is trying in the deep.
It was a very delicate job, but I’m really proud of what we managed to create together with the whole movie team.
What does it mean to you to have won the Oscar for Best Original Song?
It is an incredible emotion. In the end we do this job to tell stories and to connect with people. Seeing that a song can touch the audience and receive recognition as the Oscar is something I will never forget.
L’articolo Interview with Mark Sonnenblick, author of the song “Golden”, Academy Award for Best Original Song proviene da IlNewyorkese.
