New AW Remix: Film School’s “Heart Full of Pentagons” and MTV

November 6th, 2010

DOWNLOAD: “Heart Full of Pentagons (Alan Wilkis Remix)” – Film School

Howdy Friends!

It gives me great pleasure to unveil my latest official remix of Film School’s “Heart Full of Pentagons.” I’m a big fan of the band, and I was flattered when asked to work on this. In case you’re unfamiliar with them, Film School is a five-piece from California, and their latest release, “Fission,” is their fourth studio album. You can order a copy here on iTunes, and you can stream the original version of “Heart Full…” here.

As you know, whenever I remix a song, I like to lose everything from the original version except for the singer’s voice. I always like to start fresh and build a new recording around the voice from scratch… And without fail, my favorite part is always finding that initial point of entry. I strip out each piece of the original song one at a time, until something hooks me in and inspires me.

In the case of “Heart Full…,” what grabbed me instantly was the sense of urgency in the singer’s (Greg Bertens) voice, and his repeating of the lyric, “I won’t fall down…” It gave me this feeling of “me-against-the-world” and of standing up to something, so I ran with that. I juxtaposed walls of harsh noise against softer/sweeter synth and orchestral sounds later in the song to create a sense of tension and resolution through perseverance, as if Greg is fighting through and conquering something each time the song plays. Does that sorta make sense?

I hope you enjoy what I’ve done with it, and by all means please feel free to download, share, and distribute the MP3 freely if you like it! Thanks as always for listening, and stay tuned for more new music from me.

Much love,
A

Also, P.S. my Temper Trap remix got a great shout-out on MTV this week! The band’s drummer aptly referred to me as a “New York dude.”

Entry Filed under: November 2010, Remix