14 Apr2013
Scritto da Maurizio Caschetto . Pubblicato in Interviste
During the last decade, soundtrack collectors have experienced a real age of plenty. Until few years before, seeing many historic film scores released on CD seemed an impossible dream. But any collector who looks today at his or her CD shelves will quickly realize that the huge quantity (and quality) of titles released in recent years by the various independent record labels went beyond the greatest expectations. Film scores long coveted and desired by fans all over the world (to the point of becoming an obsession) are now reality in their hands. As almost always happens in the world of collecting of all kinds, there's an inherent obsessive aspect (the piece, the rarity, the limited edition, the title is expected for decades), but this is not the point. The work of specialty labels is mostly important for its historical and archival value: these wonderful releases reflect the love and respect for the too often overlooked work of many great film composers.
Lukas Kendall, the owner of the independent label Film Score Monthly, has been one of the pioneers of this golden era of soundtrack collecting (an era which, as he tells us, perhaps is already reaching an end). Like many of his generation (born 1974), the passion for soundtracks started at an early age. At 15 years-old, his already adventurous spirit led him to establish a newsletter, in order to get in touch with fans like him in the United States and around the world to exchange information, opinions and material. The bulletin soon morphed into a fanzine, but Lukas was keen to give it the profile and the tone of a real professional magazine. And so was born Film Score Monthly, the first US magazine devoted to film music. In addition to articles and reviews, interviews with composers and thoroughly researched pieces started to appear. During his university years, Lukas prepared and published the magazine directly from his room at the college. Meanwhile, subscriptions and copies circulation increased, as much as contacts and links with the Hollywood film music industry itself. Soon after becoming a real magazine with color cover and even more interesting contents, Lukas - who moved to Los Angeles at the end of the 90s - founded the magazine's record label (from which it takes its name, FSM) and began to produce a series of CDs devoted to historical film scores from Hollywood movies. The production schedule focused mainly on lesser-known, obscure and sometimes even surprising titles, but there are also legendary composers and many scores of great popularity in the catalog (the full list of all releases is available here). After 15 years and 250 titles released, Lukas Kendall announced the end of FSM as he moves on to his new career as an independent film producer (his first feature film, Lucky Bastard, is opening now in the US).
In this long interview (presented in two parts), Lukas - a film score lover like us - tells us about his work and his history as a record producer in all its aspects: the joys, the difficulties, the surprises and the constant, relentless commitment required.
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