The band Guillemots are turning film composers. This summer they improvised a new live score for the David Lynch movie Eraserhead at the Latitude festival, even though, according to singer Fyfe Dangerfield, they had seen the film only once. "I feel like I understand the movie a lot better now," Dangerfield said after the gig.
Now the band are introducing cinematic elements to their autumn tour, which kicks off in November. The unconventional schedule will see them play a series of alternative spaces, from a Cornish cave to Lancaster's main public library and a converted cinema in Edinburgh.
At each concert, the band will replace the usual support act with an improvisation of a score to a short film. They are still in the process of choosing their material, in conjunction with film company Future Shorts, but they say they expect to come up with a selection of classics and new films alike.
"The films act like a sort of support slot - they last about 30 minutes," said Dangerfield. "Improvising to the shorts allows us to get totally lost in the music, and the visuals stop people getting bored. Otherwise we just have to play really loud."
