Magnetic Fields mastermind Stephin Merritt is busy plotting a new synth-heavy record, prepping a documentary, and heading out on tour to support the release of Realism this week, but his calendar isn’t quite packed yet: “I’m working on a score for the 1917 silent film version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” Merritt told Exclaim, adding later: “I’m going to try to musicalize it to be more or less in sync with the moving lips of the actors, who actually talk a great deal, considering it’s a silent film.”
Not only will Merritt write the score to Jules Verne’s classic science fiction tale of Captain Nemo’s hunt for an underwater monster, but he will also be singing and performing with a live band at the San Francisco Film Festival in May.
In other “musicians scoring silent films” news, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and Steve Kimock wrote and performed music set to Charlie Chaplin’s silent films at the New York Guitar Festival’s Silent Films/Live Guitars series last week in NYC. Check out a nice review with pictures and a brief interview with Kimock here.