Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder was approached by veteran actor turned director Sean Penn to contribute to the film Into The Wild. The film stars Emile Hirsch as Christopher McCandless, who embarks on a soul searching trip into the North American wilderness into Alaska.
Vedder, who usually writes on his own or with his band Pearl Jam, talked about working directly for Into The Wild.
Watch video:
Eddie Vedder Compares Writing For Film Vs Band
"This was really different because it was streamlined. You were writing to the film, you were writing to the story -- this story. It took away so many choices. So, instead of feeling like you were working within boundaries they were really a set of parameters that were really helpful. You know, the song had to be two minutes long, it was at this point of this journey, and that there had to be an instrumental halfway through so that a voice-over could come in. It was really great to work with."
He also talked about what he felt was his job in relation to his music and the film.
Watch video: Eddie Vedder On Contribution To Into The Wild Story
"I think that was the biggest contribution was just having a linear sound, even if that was just the voice or singing voice leading you comfortably from one bit to the next. It almost becomes what's inside the kid's head. And I'm sure, I'd imagine that telling the story was...becomes a collage for Sean, I think. He's got this incredible story to tell, and most of it is this kid on his own, out there, and getting from one place to the next. So he's using voice-overs and using stuff from the kid's notebooks and passages from books he was reading. I think maybe he felt the music in being useful in telling the story, some interior voice of the character. That's thing I felt responsible for."
Into The Wild is currently in theaters and Vedder contributed all original music to the film and its soundtrack. The movie also stars 40 Year Old Virgin star Catherine Keener, William Hurt, Marcia Gay-Harden, and Vince Vaughn.
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