The Cinema Spotlight On… Cheryl X. Wang — Music Coordination, Supervision, And More (Interview)

Praises for Ti West’s X

JT: Yeah. Before I say anything about X, though—I have a few comments and questions that I want to say. I really loved the hype behind X. When the first trailer and the posters came out, I was like, “Okay, it’s … an adult film crew…” But it really doesn’t really tell you much about it[self] until you see it yourself. When it came out at South by Southwest [last year], people saw it and [were] like, “Wait, what is going on??”

Have you seen Pearl also?

CXW: Yeah, yeah.

Music as Part of the Narrative in X

JT: Personally with X, I think if it was not for the music, the film itself … would’ve sucked because that was the era—the ’70s and ’80s—where you really needed to have that strength of the music present there ’cause if you don’t, then it’s kind of boring.

CXW: Yeah, I think Ti West is such a great, great director and writer. I enjoyed Pearl and X and really looking forward to MaXXXine. I think one of the reason[s], personally, X is such a fantastic film [is] it’s groovy. Visually and musically, it’s very groovy. We both agree—the premise is so intriguing. Independent porno, it’s indie film. It’s [an] independent porno crew shooting in Texas in 1979. It already has all the elements in place. Everything can go wrong, and because it’s right before the ’80s hit.

The music—Joe [Rudge] did such a good job to choose the groovy soundtrack and we even had the guitar on camera [to cover] Fleetwood Mac. It’s a perfect soundtrack to the visuals. We have Mia Goth, Brittany Snow, and Jenna Ortega. We have all these ladies to give their all on-camera [with] all the killing, all the blood, all the gory scenes.

“Don’t Feel the Reaper”—remember this scene? That’s such a good use of music. It really puts you [into an] immersive experience. When I say groovy, it’s visual [but] it also fits perfect[ly] with [the] music.

Music Licensing Coordination on X

JT: For this film, you did the music licensing coordination. What is that like?

CXW: Oh, basically just doing the clearance. I will help listen to music that we are going to pitch to the director … so I will help assist the clearance side. For me, it’s another big part of working with music supervision, is to get to know all the rights holders, which [are] the labels and the publishers. Music supervision is work for the filmmakers, but our clients, like most [of] our collaborators, they are music industry professionals. It’s a perfect space for me because I love both film … and music, [and] it’s a great experience for me to just get to know, “Okay, so that’s how film works”.

It’s like going to film school. You realize, “Oh, it’s not just having a camera and [shooting a film]”. There’s being a producer. I gotta know [that] there [are] a lot of other different departments. You have to have the lighting, you have to have a sound, they had to have a script supervisor. The same thing with music supervision. You work for the director and producers—also with them—at the same time, you have to talk to the music, writers, labels, and performers. It’s all teamwork.

“Act Naturally”

JT: There’s a lot of music in this film, but… If I can narrow it down, what is the significance of “Act Naturally” by Loretta Lynn?

This is right when the sun has gone down and then [the adult film crew is] done with the filming of the… the film. That’s like dinnertime, it’s already nighttime. One of the lyrics is “Put me in the movies” or “See me in the movies”. What is the significance of that song?

CXW:
You mean for the scene? For the context?

JT: Yeah, including that specific song in that scene.

CXW: For me personally, it is more to have a kind of lighthearted feeling as they finished the shooting, and content and happy, but like, “What else could go wrong?” Yeah, the context is really—like you said, the lyrics [are] also hitting like in film.

Context for Music in Film

JT: Would that be the same thing for every other song, though? The lyrics matching with the context of those scenes?

CXW: Yeah, if it has specific lyrics, yes, it definitely could help the narrative. I think also when I personally watch the film, all those female characters definitely give the strong, carefree energy of like, “I just wanna get this done; I just wanna have a good time; I don’t care about the bullshit”. For me, that’s like the first couple of needle drops when she was in a dressing room, putting on makeup and on the road and after the filming—it was all that kind of, “Girls, we did the job and we are here, we are looking good, and we are just having a good time and doing our job”. That’s a very strong impression I got from the music.

Also, at the same time, it’s like—I don’t know what Maxine’s story gonna be about, but—it’s like rock stars for me. Those girls are rock stars, so I definitely love the energy from those needle drops. Sorry. I’m sorry. I could’ve answered better. (No, it’s fine.) Yeah, but yeah. Those girls are rock stars and to me it’s like the perfect song. They’re perfect songs.

“Bad Case of Loving You”

JT: X is a really good film, music-wise, story-wise, visually. At the grand conclusion, after everything has happened, there [are] end credits, so we have Robert Palmer’s “Bad Case of Loving You”.

There is no context because it’s just the end credits. What were you trying to look for in that part of the film? I took a look at the lyrics. Does it sum up the events that took place in the film?

CXW: Yes, actually, that’s one of the first songs I was helping [clear] when I joined the project. First of all, it’s definitely aero specific—it’s 1979—and we have a lot of rock music in that realm. For this specific song, it’s like, again, rockstar girl and leaving it all behind. [Maxine is] not a good news that she’s there and you wanna know her. For me, that’s a very perfect song for Mia Goth’s character.

Also, “Bad Case of Loving You” is like shooting porno—it’s about passion, it’s about love, it’s about intimacy. Yeah. And also killing, it’s also about the flesh, hitting each other. For me, it’s like the crime of passion, and ending with “Bad Case of Loving You” is perfect, on the nose.

Horror Love

JT: I should have asked [earlier], but where is horror in your preference for films?

CXW: I f*ckin’ love horror. Horror is definitely one of my favorite genres. [As] I said, when I was a kid, I [was] craving for a kind of stimulation. Horror is like—I love psychological thrillers. I love Mission Impossible when I was a kid; I love all those films that I have this intensity to just shove everything in your face. I love Cronenberg, my favorite director, Cronenberg. It’s all about the visuals and just really shows something that you [have] never seen before or like you—Horror is one of my favorite [genres].

On the next page, we talk about Asian representation in the film industry.