Vince DiCola Speaks Out

Based on his recent appearance at the OTFCC, Vince DiCola, composer of the musical tracks on the original Transformers movie, has written a letter to the Transformers community, which was posted over at the allspark board by resident poster Tim Finn. In his letter he thanks the people who supported him in his past and recent endeavours, but he also shed some light on his personal views for the upcoming Transformers movie, in regard to the score of that one and recent heated debates that have been going on over at the don murphy board and its Transformers forum. The letter reads as followed:

To the TRANSFORMERS fan community,

First of all, I'd like to thank Glen Hallit and all the staff at 3H
Productions for inviting my family and me to this year's OTFCC
convention in Chicago. We had a great time once again and I appreciate all the hard work Glen and his staff put into the preparation for these events in order
to make them a memorable experience for all, fans and guests alike.

Secondly, I want to thank all those who purchased my new CD, "Falling
Off a Clef", at the convention. This is the first release of mine in quite a
while that doesn't feature any material directly related to
TRANSFORMERS, and truthfully I wondered how it would be received by those who are so familiar with my original TF score and other past works of mine. So
far I'm very pleased with the comments that have been coming in. Some have
even said the current material represents a "significant step forward", and
that's certainly music to my ears! So thanks to all who bought the new
CD and please spread the word. The disc should be available for purchase
online at vincedicola.com within a few weeks.

Even though the liner notes on my new CD mention this quite
prominently, I just want to thank my friend and fellow composer Kenny Meriedeth once again for allowing me to feature the music from the movie "Sci-Fighter" on
this new solo release. Kenny was actually offered the opportunity to score
this movie on his own and very generously invited me to collaborate with
him. So a big "thank you" to Kenny, both for bringing me in on this opportunity
and for allowing me to feature the product of our collaboration on my new
solo CD. I'm very proud of the music Kenny and I composed for
"Sci-Fighter", and as it makes up a good portion of my new CD, I just wanted to make sure proper credit is given where it's due. Thanks again, Kenny.

Last but not least, I thought it might be a good idea to share some of
my thoughts concerning the new live action TRANSFORMERS movie. Many
people were kind enough to come up to me at the convention and express their
support and enthusiasm for the idea of me being involved with the music
for the new movie. Also, I've seen some of the comments posted on the Don
Murphy forum and I'm grateful to those who thought to write in and
express their support there. Of course I realize that on any forum there will
always be mixed opinions, and I couldn't help seeing some of the
less-than-encouraging comments on the Murphy site, but I'm actually OK
with that. It HAS been a long time since I've released any new film music,
and I certainly can't blame anyone for questioning whether or not I'm up to
the task after so many years have passed since my original TRANSFORMERS
movie score and the ROCKY material were first released. It also must be said
that I truly admire and respect most of the other composers who have been
suggested on the forum. Certainly people like John Williams, Alan
Silvestri, Don Davis and others in that esteemed group of talented
composers have track records that speak for themselves, and I myself have enjoyed their work immensely on many occasions.

Some people have mentioned that they don't understand why it's not
simply a 'given' that I will be chosen as composer for the new movie. Let me
explain... Who is ultimately chosen to direct the movie, how much
influence the producers will have with the director, how much or how
little value will be placed on the fact that I scored the original movie, how
much additional fan support I'm able to drum up over the next year or so,
how much or how little emphasis the producers and director actually place
on fan support... These are just some of the factors that will ultimately
influence the decision as to who is chosen to score the new movie. If
I am fortunate enough to be considered for this opportunity, I will most
likely be competing with some major composers who have a considerable amount
of recent major credits. Do I desire this opportunity? Absolutely! Do I
feel I could do the new film justice from a musical standpoint? I have no
doubt at all. Do I feel I'm a better choice than any other composer? That's
a tricky one. I will say that a lot of movie scores have begun to sound
alike to my ears in recent years, and it seems to be getting more difficult
to differentiate one composer's style from another. I do feel I could
bring a unique slant to this particular project based on what I did for the
first movie and how I envision the music getting 'ramped up' for this next
one.

My plan is to collaborate with Kenny Meriedeth if I am offered this
opportunity, since the work we did for "Sci-Fighter" is an effective
demonstration of a musical direction that may be apropos for a movie of
this nature. For what it's worth, I'll just say the following regarding my
vision... Large orchestra and choir, but with an intense and
unrelenting rhythmic foundation. I feel that only a handful of composers have
effectively captured the marriage of these styles, and I can honestly
say we would passionately pursue a musical concept and energy that would
effectively support the type of movie we all hope this new one will be.

For those of you who haven't heard the new CD and may be interested in
checking out what I've been up to lately, please visit vincedicola.com.
As I mentioned earlier, the CD will be available there soon and we hope to
have some audio samples available there to listen to as well. Specifically
for the convention in Chicago, I prepared an updated version of the main TF
theme. Unfortunately this track wasn't completed in time to make the
new CD, but my performance of it in Chicago was extremely well received. I
put a lot of time into arranging and recording this piece and the
audience's reaction made my preparation worth all the time and effort. I may
decide to feature an excerpt from this track as well on the web site. Stay
posted.

Well, my wrists are getting tired from all this typing so I guess I
better sign off for now. Thanks again to all those who so whole-heartedly
continue to support my work. Thanks also to those who helped make our
experience in Chicago another enjoyable one. Here's hoping for good things in the
future.

Cordially,
Vince DiCola

vincedicola.com


Special thanks to Blacknife of the donmurphy.net board.