Photo by Timothy Saccenti

M83: "Oblivion" [ft. Susanne Sundfør] (via SoundCloud)

When I last spoke with Anthony Gonzalez about a year and a half ago, he was frustrated with Hollywood. It was the understandable grousing of someone who deserved a break. With the possible exception of "epic," arguably the most common adjective used to describe M83's music is "cinematic," and Gonzalez had come to Los Angeles a few years ago in order get into the movie-making business. At that point, though, his efforts had resulted in a lot of promising meetings and eventual dead ends.

But then came 2011's Hurry Up, We're Dreaming and its old-fashioned, career-making hit "Midnight City", which Gonzalez admits "terrifies" him now. But it's resulted in accolades that hold far more weight in Hollywood than "critically acclaimed." Now he's Grammy-nominated Anthony Gonzalez, though he jokes, "I'm kind of glad I didn't get the Grammy [for Best Alternative Album] because otherwise, I'd be full of myself."

And now with his score to the new Tom Cruise sci-fi epic Oblivion, Gonzalez can finally add "Hollywood movie composer" to his resume. Sounds like a classic happy ending, right? Well, not so much. Looking back on his experience making the score, Gonzalez might be even more disillusioned by the film industry than before. "I started to work on this project with a lot of hope, saying, 'Oh, I'm going to do something super special and original,'" he says. "But you can't really, because there are so many people involved and so much money in the game that it's hard to change things. Hollywood kind of sucks the life out of you very quickly."

M83: "StarWaves" (via SoundCloud)

Still, he maintains that he's proud of the work he did on the soundtrack with co-composer Joseph Trapanese, who collaborated with Daft Punk on the Tron score and also contributed brass and strings to five songs on Hurry Up. And he knows it's a tremendous opportunity for his career, but it's also the first time since 2003's Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts that he wasn't clearly the guy in charge. He says the bureaucracy and demands of making a big-budget film nearly drove him to quit. (His next soundtrack will be for a French movie made by his older brother.)

He's also concerned about disappointing his fans, which is somewhat justified-- listen to Oblivion in isolation and you're struck by its lack of M83-style neon-lit synthesizers and booming drums. See Oblivion on IMAX, though, and it becomes clear that the film's sensory overload doesn't exactly leave much room for another "Don't Save Us From the Flames".

As far as the next M83 album, he hasn't started writing it, but he's aiming for something "shorter, more direct, and less cinematic." Reflecting on what's transpired since 2011, Gonzalez muses, "It's scary sometimes because I feel like it's almost going too fast and I'm overloaded with work and stressed out. But I can't complain. I hope it's going to continue."

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Pitchfork: How much information were you given about the movie before you signed on for the soundtrack?

Anthony Gonzalez: I didn't know much. I read the script. And I knew Tom Cruise would be in it-- you can't say no to Tom Cruise. It was fascinating for me to start with such a big project. I'm a science fiction fan, so I was a bit scared and skeptical at first, but [director] Joseph Kosinski really pushed me to do it.

Pitchfork: Did the work begin after Hurry Up, We're Dreaming came out?

AG: Yeah. I was on tour and they asked me for like three demos. I sent 17. I was working until 6 a.m. in the back of the bus. I put a lot of hard work on this job to get it. So when I got it, I was really moved and also like, "God, this is serious. Now I've got to do this!" With such a big movie, you can't only please yourself. You have to please the director and the studios and tons of people who are involved.

It took us one year to work on Oblivion with Joseph Trapanese, and I've been through all types of emotions. I almost quit. I couldn't sleep. I was so stressed out. I was on the verge of breaking down. We were touring a lot and I had to work on this at the same time.

"If there's no 'Midnight City' on my next album, what are the people gonna think about me? Are they still gonna love me? That's scary."

Pitchfork: How many times have you seen the actual film?

AG: I probably watched it in its entirety maybe seven or eight times. Especially with some cues, you become obsessed-- you're dreaming of the pictures. You can't sleep because there's this music in your head. It was hard, but I learned so much and I feel like I grew up a lot as an artist working on this film. You have to be consistent. You have to do quick turnovers when something is not appealing for the studios or the directors. I quickly realized that all the ideas of the music I had before working on it weren't going to happen because it's Hollywood and because it's a $150 million dollar budget. I'm not the boss. I'm just someone working for them.

Pitchfork: What kind of notes did the studio give you for the soundtrack?

AG: They needed something bigger, more orchestral; it was hard for me to be told that my music was too indie for the film. I was pissed most of the time, but this is how it works. It's like, "Take it or leave it." And I took it. [laughs]

Overall, I'm excited about it. But I'm stressed out because I know people are going to hate the soundtrack so much because it's different. People are going to expect a new album from M83, and that's not the case. But, I'm also super proud of it because Joe Trapanese and I worked so hard on it to make everybody happy at the studio. It's a two-hour movie and it's one hour 45 minutes of music, so it was a challenge.

Pitchfork: On the album cover for the soundtrack, it reads "original music by M83" and then "composition with Joe Trapanese and Anthony Gonzalez." Do you have boundaries set for "Anthony Gonzalez, the composer" and "M83"?

AG: I would have pushed for "Anthony Gonzalez and Joe Trapanese," because for me, this is how the score was done. I didn't want to involve M83 in that, but it's hard because Universal wanted to push M83 because of the success of "Midnight City". It's funny because sometimes big studios don't give a shit about you, but when you're nominated for the Grammys, you start receiving emails like, "Oh, congratulations. We're excited about the soundtrack." I'm like, "You didn't give a shit about me two months ago when I got the job, and now you're just acting like a ..." It makes you feel like there's something wrong with the movie industry-- you can write that, I don't care.

Pitchfork: How do you think people expecting another M83 album out of this soundtrack might react?

AG: That's my problem, not their problem. Now, it's gonna be hard to make an album or a song without having someone talking to me about "Midnight City". The song took up so much space in my life. I'll never complain about its success-- I think it's fantastic to have a hit that people can sing and dance to-- but I'm scared of it. If there's no "Midnight City" on my next album, what are the people gonna think about me? Are they still gonna love me? That's scary. I've been trying to make my career grow little by little, and on this album I took a bigger leap. But we'll see what happens. I'm excited and frightened at the same time.