Like the film itself, "COLOSSUS - Music From and Inspired By the Motion Picture" is NOT a typical Soundtrack Album. This album takes listeners behind the blur of the film's "Artificial Band" to hear the real heart of the project - the music. In the film, much of the music has been dissected, stripped-down, and re-arranged for cinematic effect. Here, we get the true songs, presented in their full rock-band versions. The film COLOSSUS is roughly half fiction / half documentary. Most things in the film that are presented as real are not, and most things that are presented as lies are in fact true. That interplay is, hopefully, the fun of the film, while also serving to illustrate the more serious themes of this elaborate rock-and-roll deception. But this album is different. As the character Ilya says in the film, "Music is always real." This album exists to prove it. Here, there are no lies, no obfuscations - this album contains only the purity of the music which inspired the project as a whole. While the style of the "Artificial Band" in the film would be considered Classic Rock, the music created by these musicians for the film goes far beyond that genre alone. The band on the screen may have been called "Artificial", and to a degree it was, in that writer/director Mark Hendrickson seemed to have no musical input at all (other than perhaps questionable lyrics). In reality, music was Mark's primary consideration for this project; everything else came after he felt he had written/chosen/arranged a repertoire of songs worthy of a major rock band. Did he succeed? That is for this album to present, and for you to decide. Enjoy! -----ALBUM CREDITS------ Fire In the Hole (3:19) Music & Lyrics by Ilya Sokolof Ilya Sokolof - Vocals, Guitar Josh Strange - Guitars, Bass, Drums, Virtual Instruments Kelly Muse – Keyboards Anastasia Grishakova - Keyboards Engineers: Josh Strange & Roman Medvedkin Mixed by: Josh Strange & Mark Hendrickson Ilya wrote “Fire in the Hole” several months after shooting COLOSSUS. He made a quick phone-video of the song (played live in-studio). Mark liked it so much, he made it Clark Larson’s Conspiracy Theme in the film. Mark returned to Moscow during post-production to track Ilya’s Vocals and Acoustic Guitar, then Josh recorded the rest of the instruments at Elk River Studios. Everyday People (2:57) Music & Lyrics by Sly Stone Mark Hendrickson - Vocals, Guitars, Drums, Virtual Instruments Wendy Sykes-Rodriguez - Vocals Engineer: Mark Hendrickson Mixed by: Josh Strange & Mark Hendrickson One of the first recordings made during pre-production of the film. The “Everyday People” sessions were used as a means of testing and tweaking the equipment at the newly created Elk River Studios. [The song didn’t make it into the film.] Ballad of a Thin Man (5:16) Music & Lyrics by Bob Dylan Mark Hendrickson - Vocals, Guitars, Drums, Virtual Instruments Owen Conforte - Lead Guitar Engineers: Mark Hendrickson & Josh Strange Mixed by Mark Hendrickson The first cover song specifically chosen for a sequence in the film, the lyrics of “Ballad of a Thin Man” define the central theme of the movie. Chan Song (3:41) Music & Lyrics by Mark Hendrickson Mark Hendrickson - Vocals, Guitars Josh Strange – Guitars Owen Conforte - Lead Guitar Bill Byers – Guitar Kelly Muse – Bass Daniel Colageo – Drums Wendy Sykes-Rodriguez - Vocals Engineer: Josh Strange Mixed by: Josh Strange & Mark Hendrickson Written in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia in 1995 (While shooting the feature documentary “Year of the Pig” with Gregory McKean); “Chan Song” was the first original song written by Mark for his proposed documentary about touring an American rock band in Russia, which he had already titled COLOSSUS. Shine (2:18) Music & Lyrics by Anastasia Grishakova Anastasia Grishakova – Vocals Owen Conforte – Guitar Maria Belova - Vocals Engineered by: Josh Strange Mixed by: Josh Strange & Mark Hendrickson Only briefly touched upon in the film, Anastasia’s song “Shine” was truly a profound part of the production experience. After many years at music school studying piano; Anastasia graduated and within a week came home to discover that her father had given her beloved piano away to a neighbor – deeming it “unnecessary”. For many years after, music was no longer a part of her life. As seen in the film, she took the job as hair/make-up stylist on COLOSSUS in hopes that she could become involved with music again. During production, Owen Conforte offered to give her guitar lessons, and after her first lesson she wrote her very first song, “Shine”. Comic Jam (1:12) (Live Improvisation) Owen Conforte – Guitar Josh Strange – Bass Daniel Colageo - Drums Engineered and Mixed by: Josh Strange A perfect moment of inspiration by the boys during a rehearsal at “The Big House” in St. Petersburg. Change Is Gonna Come (2:53) Music & Lyrics by Sam Cooke Mark Hendrickson - Vocals, Guitar, Drums Owen Conforte - Lead Guitar Kelly Muse - Keyboards, Bass, Virtual Instruments Engineer: Josh Strange Mixed by: Josh Strange & Mark Hendrickson This one was frustrating…. Originally, a 3-scene sequence was written around the use of “Change Is Gonna Come”. Unfortunately, Mark did not know that Sam Cooke’s estate was embroiled in a multi-year, multi-lawsuit battle with the song’s publisher, until after the sequence was shot. “No rights, no way, no how…” It’s a real shame because the audience missed their chance to see Ilya singing live on-stage with his face beaten and bleeding; oh well… No Trace of Day (3:16) Music & Lyrics by Bill Byers Bill Byers - Vocals, Guitar Josh Strange - Guitars, Bass, Drums Engineer: Josh Strange Mixed by: Josh Strange & Mark Hendrickson Funny Story - “No Trace of Day” was infamous among the COLOSSUS crew, as Bill’s love of singing it at full volume often went until 4am or later. (Ahh… the White Nights of summer in St. Petersburg) During post-production, Mark heard the live recording and said, “I can’t believe I like this song! It kept me awake so many nights, I absolutely hated it. But now that shooting is over… I have to admit I really love it.” Josh added electric guitar, bass and drums at Elk River and the song made it into the film twice! Dobrofest Jam (1:30) (Live Improvisation) Owen Conforte – Guitar Bill Byers – Guitar Josh Strange – Bass Daniel Colageo – Drums Mark Hendrickson - Percussion Engineered and Mixed by: Josh Strange Dobrofest is a large music festival held in Yaroslavl, Russia each summer. Landing this gig was a major coup for COLOSSUS, as Dobrofest regularly hosts 8,000 – 15,000 people a day, for 3 days. This was to be portrayed in the film as the band’s “Big Gig”, and “prove” to the film’s audience that the band was a huge success. After so many nightclub gigs that summer with almost no one in attendance, this was also to be the band’s real-life reward of finally playing a huge show. We were booked to be the 3rd Act on the last day, and as soon as we rolled up, we knew we were screwed. Huge, empty fields with a handful of stragglers in pup tents were all that remained. 10,000 people had been there the day before…. we played to about 50. As usual, our small audience loved the show and told us we were the best band of the weekend. “Too bad you guys weren’t here yesterday, the crowd would have loved it!!” Yeah…. [Not in the film - We tracked “Dobrofest Jam” live in the rehearsal room, as a music bed for a short promo-video we made to post on the Dobrofest website a few weeks before the gig.] Poison (Live in St. Petersburg) (3:49) Music & Lyrics by David Byrne Ilya Sokolof – Vocals Owen Conforte – Lead Guitar Bill Byers – Guitar Josh Strange - Bass, Vocals Daniel Colageo – Drums Mark Hendrickson – Percussion Engineer: Josh Strange Mixed by: Josh Strange & Mark Hendrickson As seen in the film, this version of “Poison” was performed live on a flatbed truck during a frantic day of illegal “hit-and-run” concerts we perpetrated on St. Petersburg in July 2011. This represents the live band in all its glory that summer. Your Side (4:40) Music & Lyrics by Mark Hendrickson Mark Hendrickson - Vocals, Guitars, Drums, Virtual Instruments Owen Conforte – Lead Guitar Allen Marcum – Lead Guitar Kelly Muse - Bass Engineered & Mixed by: Josh Strange & Mark Hendrickson Written in 1996, much of “Your Side” was tracked in the early days of Elk River Studios. Parts of this song are featured throughout the film. Time To Target (1:40) Music & Recording by Mark Hendrickson Mark Hendrickson - Djembe, Virtual Instruments [Had to get the djembe in the movie somewhere!] Sound of Silence (0:50) Music & Lyrics by Paul Simon Mark Hendrickson – Vocals Anastasia Grishakova – Vocals Owen Conforte – Guitar Josh Strange - Bass Engineer: Josh Strange Mixed by: Josh Strange & Mark Hendrickson Recorded on the last day of shooting, “Sound of Silence” was not in the band’s repertoire, but Mark had a last-minute inspiration. He wrote the new vocal melody overnight, had Anastasia work out the harmony in the morning, and then tracked it live in the rehearsal room. Little Tiny Small Girl (2:11) Music & Lyrics by Mark Hendrickson Mark Hendrickson - Vocals, Drums Josh Strange - Lead Guitar, Bass Owen Conforte - Guitars Engineer: Josh Strange Mixed by: Josh Strange & Mark Hendrickson [Didn’t make the film, but just too fun to be left off the album!] Too Far Gone (4:27) Music by Bill Byers Lyrics & Arrangement by Mark Hendrickson Mark Hendrickson - Vocals, Guitars, Drums, Virtual Instruments Bill Byers - Guitars, Bass Wendy Sykes-Rodriguez - Vocals Engineer: Stephan Bruck Mixed by: Doug McKean This recording of “Too Far Gone” is one of three original songs recorded in 1997, when COLOSSUS was first developed and Mark was trying to get outside financing. It is the first song that Bill and Mark worked on together. Lament Theme (0:56) Music & Recording by Mark Hendrickson Mark Hendrickson - Guitar, Virtual Instruments “Lament Theme” is one half of a guitar duet that appears several times in the film - sometimes with only one of the melodies being played (as here) and sometimes with both melodies played together. This is from the “Arriving at the Tents” scene in Act III. Miscreant (4:20) Music & Lyrics by Mark Hendrickson Mark Hendrickson - Vocals, Guitars, Drums, Virtual Instruments Bill Byers - Guitars, Bass Engineer: Stephan Bruck Mixed by: Doug McKean [Another recording from 1997; didn’t make the film.] ______________ COLOSSUS - Produced by Mark Hendrickson © Copyright 2013 Lackluster Entertainment, LLC All Rights Reserved