If composing is painting, then Jherek Bischoff knows the poignant tonal hand movements to convey all the colors of anguish in “Exhibiting Forgiveness.” As written and directed by acclaimed artist-turned-filmmaker Titus Kapher in his emotionally devastating feature debut, “Forgiveness” is the stuff of beyond obviously autobiographical wounds. Here, the self-taught artist imagines himself as Tarrell (André Holland), a painter wracked by memories of the abuse he and his mother suffered at the hands of the crack-addicted La’Ron (John Earl Jelks). When the now seemingly cleaned up father re-enters his life, Tarrell must examine his own relationship with his singer-wife Aisha (Andre Day) and young son, a process of anger and healing that spills out in his canvases, and the old neighborhood that transforms itself into paintings.
Hailing from an alt. rock world far divorced from Tarrell’s beyond their commonality of teaching themselves their art, the American-born Jherek Bischoff’s collaborations have ranged from William Shatner to the Kronos Quartet, with his music being played by the likes of the BBC orchestra and Carnegie Hall. With one violent western score behind him on the “Organ Trail,” “Exhibiting Forgiveness” now shows Bischoff’s devastatingly poetic way of playing far more internal chaos, and the way to claw out of it to find spiritual healing. Jazz and gospel inflections thematically merge with solemn, soulful piano and a soothing female voice. Menacing textures wake Tarrell screaming from sleep to punch a hole in his wall, while nostalgic, surreal textures transform a childhood neighborhood into ironic canvases of the black experience. It’s a deeply reflective, yet subdued score as tone poem, taking a lyrical approach to a demon-driven creative process and how to come to terms with childhood hell, whose instigator now reveals unexpected shades – all leading to the film’s moving, climactic title. It’s a musical portrait of an artist quite unlike any other that’s been scored and shown before, a most promising exhibition indeed for Bischoff’s unique musical colors.
Tell us about your start as an alt. musician, and what led you to composing?
Growing up, I was a sponge when it came to music. I really enjoyed learning from every gig and every musician I could hang with. I played bass in every band I could. It taught me so much about collaboration and about how to fit into any situation. It also taught me what to look for in other potential collaborators. Through that, I grew a pretty incredible community of musicians in Seattle, and then when I moved to LA, instead of losing that community, I just gained another one. I got the chance to tour the world for well over a decade pretty full time and just soaked in everything I could.
I started writing songs right away when I began playing music and was always naturally interested in arranging. Even in a 3-piece rock band, I paid close attention to how everything fit together and really loved to focus on that. That led me to teach myself how to record and produce records. A funny thing happened where the bands I was recording kept getting more and more ambitious and we started adding all these orchestral elements. We would invite players to record and they would ask, “What do you want me to play?” We would respond, “I don’t know, some cello stuff…” So, I realized quickly that I should teach myself how to read and write well enough to get an initial idea across. That skill just kept developing and I remember a distinct moment where I muted the guitars and drums and what played back was symphonic music. I had written it all out! I didn’t even realize I was doing it, but I unintentionally became an orchestral arranger. I kept honing those skills and then started composing my version of pop songs using the orchestra as the band and dropped the rock stuff for a bit.
(Photo by by Christian Faustus)
What was it like to collaborate with such artists as William Shatner and Neil Gaiman?
Absolutely incredible. They are both geniuses. William Shatner has this incredible energy when you are in a room with him. He loves to work and create and it really ignites inspiration. He wrote a bunch of short stories about his life going to space, growing up, etc. I set four of those stories to original orchestral music and we performed them with the National Symphony Orchestra at The Kennedy Center. It was an unreal experience.
I have worked with Neil Gaiman on a handful of things, but the one I am most proud of was the theater adaptation of “The Ocean at the End of the Lane.” Reading that story over and over again and watching table reads etc., it really made me realize the depth of his imagination. I just couldn’t believe how rich and creative the story was. The show was first produced at the National Theatre in London and later transferred to London’s West End twice, and also a year-long tour of the UK. When people ask me if I were ever pigeon-holed into a genre of music what would it be, it would be the music I got to make for that show. I just loved that world.
You got your feature scoring start on the western thriller “Organ Trail.” What was that experience like?
I co-composed that with my dear friend Craig Wedren. He has been a real mentor to me in life and in work. I moved to LA because he offered to teach me the ropes of film scoring with a lot of freedom and I took him up on it. I worked on some different films and tv shows he was working on and then my theater/opera career sort of took off, so I had to focus on that for a while. But when he got the script for “Organ Trail,” he thought it would be fun to score it together. We experimented a lot and had tons of fun. We both love to put in long hours and get into a zone. The director for “Organ Trail,” Michael P Jann, wanted a really crusty score – like a string quartet played by drunken pirates. So I played all of the strings on it because I am not the best string player. It was wonderful.
Were you ever at an exhibition and were struck about the pain and rage that resulted in what was on the canvas?
Absolutely. The biggest reaction I have ever experienced was seeing a Francis Bacon retrospective in San Francisco about 20 years ago. It was absolutely stunning and visceral and really changed my life.
Titus Kaphar (middle) directing “Exhibiting Forgiveness”
How did you come aboard “Exhibiting Forgiveness,” and what was your collaboration with Titus like? Given how devastatingly autobiographical the film seems, did he confide in you what happened between him and his father?
My dear friend Michael VQ who was working as Titus’ assistant at the time (who has since become the president of film for Titus’ production company, Revolution Ready) suggested that Titus send me his script. Michael and I have played music and toured together off and on for 25 years! They were interviewing some A-list composers, but Michael stuck his neck out for me. I read the script immediately and within two days wrote and recorded six pieces of music with real strings, real horns… everything. Titus was impressed with my speed and passion and he went to bat for me to be the composer. It was a battle for sure and I am so honored he trusted me with such a personal work. We spoke about a lot of stuff regarding the film and we surely touched on that, but I mostly just went off the script and let that tell the story. We talked more about music, specifically about bass as we’re both bass players. We talked a lot about texture and color because he’s, of course, a world-renowned painter, so we talked more about that stuff.
Were there any inspirations for your score?
I actually don’t tend to really work that way. I really let the script and Titus direct me. Titus from the get-go said he wanted intimacy and for it to be a small ensemble. He didn’t want reverb covering blemishes up. He wanted to hear all the flaws. I drew on my classical world chops a bit, but the most fun part was really incorporating the bass and reconnecting to some of my earlier deep interest in jazz. So I thought finding some sort of blend between those worlds would feel universal. There was no temp music for the film. They actually temped it with the demos that I had made after reading the script, which ended up being about 80% of the score.
How did you find your musical colors for “Forgiveness?” Was it important to give this a “stripped down” feeling as such?
That was mostly through conversations with Titus about texture and color. He was very attracted to felt piano and I realized it was because you do hear all of those creaks and clacks and imperfections. So I decided to go pretty deep with that idea and super close mic’d every instrument so that you would hear all the breaths, the bow scraping, the piano clacking. To hear all of the humanity very up front. I felt it mirrored the film’s message that there are so many versions of forgiveness and nothing is perfect.
How did you want to draw on elements of black music like jazz and gospel here?
I did indeed take this as an opportunity to bring in some jazz elements. When I was in my teens and 20’s I was obsessed with jazz and thought it might be where life was headed. I took it as an opportunity to bring in a couple real legends, too, including Theo Croker (trumpet) and Mike King (piano). However, we steered away a bit from going too deep in that direction. I think that one of the more powerful things about this film is that even though we might not look the same, most if not all families have been touched by addiction and abuse. Titus encouraged me to focus on being more universal and to not focus so much on it being a black film, but more about it being a film about forgiveness and about art as a healing way of dealing with trauma.
Tell us about getting inside of Tarrell’s head
The great Andre Holland is an amazing actor. I watched his eyes a lot. He can say so much with so few words. Honestly, a lot of the time it was about staying out of the way of his performance because it genuinely did not need support. Sure we are making a movie, so there are plenty of times where I did support, but his performance really stands on its own.
Talk about playing La’Ron’s character. Did you have any “forgiveness” for him that you wanted the score to bestow on him?
It was important to Titus to not portray La’Ron as a villain. We talked about how in his real life as a child he viewed him as a villain, but that when he filmed his father talking about his upbringing (as in the basement scene of the film) he realized he was not a villain at all. That outside circumstances and generational trauma were what made him how he is. Knowing this backstory and certainly knowing people in my own life that have struggled with addiction, mental illness or generational trauma, it’s really important to remember there are very few real villains out there. There are so many factors that make us who we are. We are fragile beings. This film talks about different kinds of forgiveness. To forgive but not to forget pain that has been inflicted.
There’s both a visual and musical surreal quality to “Forgiveness” that ranges between dreaminess and nightmare. How did you want to capture that?
Even in the script, I could tell that there would be a surreal and dreamy quality to this film and that is one aspect that excited me the most. I could tell that there would be quite a few moments throughout the film where image and sound would be doing all of the storytelling without dialogue. In these moments, I could stretch out a little more, but we never wanted it to get too big. My music already tends to kind of walk a line between beauty and a darker more abstract sound. I really like walking that line and putting contrasting colors next to each other. I think Titus heard that in my music and is part of why he chose me as the composer for this film.
Could you talk about scoring the scene of young Tarrell and La’Ron’s “workday?” Was it psychologically hard for you to work on it?
Absolutely. It’s easy to forget sometimes what it takes to be a film composer. Some days at the end of the workday I would find myself a bit withdrawn and just not feeling great at all and I would wonder what was going on… And then realize, OH, of course, I just watched a scene of some pretty traumatic stuff on repeat for eleven hours straight, trying to score the thing. I am sure it pales in comparison to what actors go through, but in some ways when scoring, I feel like one of the actors going through everything with the other actors and it can be pretty overwhelming.
Given how traumatically overwhelming the film is, was it important for you not to have your score drift into “horror music” as such?
Yes. I wanted more tenderness than horror because the actors were already doing so much of the heavy lifting. If the music was to mirror that, it would feel off-balance. It was more about trying to help feel a fuller picture and not go too much in one direction. My go-to feeling for this film was a hopeful melancholy. I felt that that emotion worked with the message of the film really well. So a lot is in major keys, but played in a way or created with that in mind and it does a kind of thing that just played well.
Composers have accompanied scenes of artists painting throughout film history, but what do you think makes scoring those sequences different here?
Well, I didn’t ever reference how it has been done throughout history. I tend to not really pay much mind to that and just trust my ear. I will say that most of my favorite musical moments of the film are the painting scenes. I wanted all of those scenes to feel as close to how I personally feel when I am creating, where time flies by and it just feels like a form of meditation. I can be happy or sad or really feel any way before walking into the studio and as soon as I dive in, everything tends to wash away and I just kind of get lost in it. I wanted to make sure that his painting scenes all felt as much like that as I could.
Tell us about the songs in “Exhibiting Forgiveness?
The main song in the film is called “Bricks” and is one that Andra Day and I co-wrote. When signing on to this film, they mentioned that Andra was confirmed to play Aisha, they were going to need a song and that there was a potential to collaborate on it. I was super excited by this but figured, she’s got her people, and that it would be cool but likely not going to happen. To my amazement, she was really open and excited to try working together even though she had no idea who I was. I think a lot of that is how much trust everyone had in Titus actually. We spent about five days in a studio in Brooklyn. The first couple days we were searching for the vibe and then Titus came into the studio and remembered a specific demo I had made after reading the script and we all kind of went: “Oh yeah! That’s the song!” Watching Andra write the lyrics and come up with the melody was so inspiring. She is a true artist. Then, being in the control room hearing that voice. It was just magical.
At what points do you think the art of music and painting intersect?
Everywhere. I mean the more I learn about music and every other art form, the more I realize that it is all the same. Also, part of Andre Holland’s preparation for this role was spending three months learning to paint with Titus. Hearing them speak about the similarities of acting and painting are fascinating. In talking to Titus in preparation for composing for this film, we definitely talked in texture and color more than notes and rhythm, even though he is a musician himself, it just made more sense to talk that way.
Painting by Titus Kaphar
How important do you think pain is to art, especially music and composing?
Well, I think every emotion and feeling is important to making art. I learned a while back, from a theater director I was working with, the power of light and dark for instance. How black looks blacker after seeing white and the other way around. So I think pain is only as important as pleasure is. It’s all just about context and it’s about what you are balancing with.
How do you think alt. composers like yourself are changing scoring – especially given the “traditional” score this might have had? Do you think that approach makes this film stand out even more?
I do indeed think the score for this film kind of sets it apart. I tried to make sure it still really fit the movie, but I was excited to get the opportunity to create a somewhat unexpected score for this film. That said, I can’t wait to work on a big orchestral score, because I have a few whole other sides to what I do that I just can’t wait to share.
Tell us about your score for the upcoming documentary “Small Town Universe,” and what’s ahead for you?
“Small Town Universe” is a documentary about Green Bank West Virginia and the largest moveable radio telescope. It explores the small community that lives there without cell phones or anything that emits radio frequencies that interfere with the telescope, and how it impacts that community. It also follows a wonderful young woman named Ellie as she grows up, how much of an impact the observatory has had on her life, and how it inspired her to follow a path of science. It’s a lovely film. The music is mostly synths and strings. Once again, I again play the majority of the instruments. It was a real pleasure to work on. I also recently wrapped another feature co-write with Craig Wedren, “Alma and the Wolf,” re-teaming with Michael P Jann again, which was a blast. I am also working on some records, a score for a play of “The Great Gatsby” out in Sweden, and a couple of my opera/musicals are playing at theaters around Germany. I am definitely looking forward to my next film, too!
What do you want people to take away from the film, and your score as a listening experience on its own?
I really hope that everyone who listens to the score will have seen the film, too, and that it reconnects them to moments in the film. Some people have told me the music is really meditative, so if it offers people a sound world to live in and reflect in their own lives, that would be more than I could hope.
Photo by Mayumi Heider
Did scoring this make you reflect on people you need to forgive – or ask for forgiveness from? And did it make you want to that?
For sure, and interestingly it also made me reflect on the actual positive and wonderful relationships I have and to make sure that those people know I appreciate and love them. I find myself telling all my friends I love them more often.
See “Exhibiting Forgiveness” in theaters with Jherek’s score on HERE. Visit Jherek Bishchoff’s website HERE
Special thanks to Christian-Gabriel Endicio at White Bear PR
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