::Troy Sterling Nies is a fellow North Dakota artist from the opposite side of the state. He has composed music for some wonderfully off-beat and independent films. Frankly, rather than writing a bio, which can be found here, I’m going to get right to the Q & A.::

Q. You have education and training as a paramedic and as a musician. I generally hate questions like this, that attempt to tie seemingly disconnected things together…but do either of these occupations help the other? Or do they function as two totally different, disconnected things that you happen to do? What led to your interest in becoming a paramedic?

It’s a bit of a long story, but it started with the death of my father in a motorcycle accident in 1996. He was the type of person that believed in taking negative events and negative energy and converting them to something positive. I started working in Fire and EMS in 1999 and went through the progression of firefighter, CPR, EMT and eventually became a paramedic in 2004.

As a paramedic I see the spectrum of human emotion – when I’ve delivered babies it’s the joy in Mom’s face. Sometimes I see epiphany on an elderly person’s face when they are just crossing the threshold from life to death. I see anguish in family member’s faces when I have to tell them their loved one died even though I did my best.

I believe that people who work in EMS are exposed to some of the most raw forms of human emotion – we see the 5 stages of grief all too often:

1. Denial – “It can’t be happening.”
2. Anger – “Why Me? It’s not fair!”
3. Bargaining – “Just let me live to (insert task).”
4. Depression – “I’m so sad I can’t feel anything else.”
5. Acceptance – “It’s OK – I’m ready.”

Certainly the “dark-side” out-weighs the “light side” in EMS. I suppose that this is some of the reason why many of my compositions tend to lean toward that “dark-side.” There are certainly events from my paramedic profession that have inspired me in my compositions – I just wish there were more uplifting ones.

Q. I’m guessing your big break as far as music composition was the score for the silent film “The Call of Cthulhu” — how did you get the opportunity to compose the score for part of that film? What has happened to you professionally since that film? What opportunities have arisen?

I found the website to H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society (HPLHS) while searching for more information on Howard Philips Lovecraft, one of the fathers of American-Gothic Horror/SciFi Fiction. Also, being a literature and movie buff I found it very exciting that they were attempting a silent-film rendition of this Lovecraft classic. I submitted my resume, but was politely turned down. Almost at the last instant, I was contacted by HPLHS and they said that their composer backed out on them and they wanted me to take the position. It was an insane scramble to compose 40+ minutes of music for the feature as we had less than a month or so before it was to be premiered at the H.P. Lovecraft film festival in Portland, OR. It’s been shown in over 30 countries now and has become a cult-classic.

As a result of scoring this film, I’ve seen more of the USA, visiting film festivals and other events. HPLHS has provided me more opportunities scoring radio dramas, theatre productions and also the next film, “The Whisperer In Darkness.”

Q. In looking at your web site, there’s a general interest in Lovecraft, et. al. When did you become interested in this genre of fiction? What other ways are you involved?

My grandmother, Sonja, instilled a love of books in me at an early age. She first handed me J.R.R. Tolkien’s, The Hobbit when I was in the 5th grade. I spent many summers with my grandmother in New Salem. We were either in her garden or in the orchard. We had many talks about literature and music (she was also church organist for many years). She later gave me The Lord of the Rings trilogy and said it was “required reading.” Reading that was the beginning of my love for literature including fantasy and science fiction. My grandmother also gave me her piano and was responsible for the start of my piano lessons. I remember my mom getting mad when my dad, grandmother and I were all watching “Alien.” Yes, I had a cool grandma.

Q. What music projects have you worked on since then? What are you working on now? Do you have any projects that are not related to films i.e. composing music for a performance by an orchestra?

I’ve worked on a number of independent films, most recently, a documentary/horror film entitled, “In Search of Lovecraft”, which will be released soon. I also compose for theatre; recently for Theatre Banshee, a theatre production company in Burbank, California. I composed incidental music for their productions of Henry IV, Part 1 and Of Mice and Men.

I’m preparing the score for 40+ minutes of music from Henry IV, Part 1 to be performed by a local orchestra hopefully. I recently collaborated with Bismarck woodwind trio, ‘Apollo Trio’ who performed and recorded my Of Mice and Men music. Currently, I’m finishing up a composition commissioned by the ND Music Teacher’s Association which will be performed at their state conference at Bismarck State College in June.

Q. Do you create the final music on computers and keyboards, or do you do some work with orchestras or other musical groups? Have you worked with musicians in the state of North Dakota on any of these projects?

It all depends on the project. I’m a pianist, so much of my composing starts at the piano. For most independent films, I score orchestral or electronic music – I then do what is called a “mock-up” on the computer. Software now in the music industry has advanced to a point where many people have a hard time discerning between a “real” orchestra or an electronic one. I’ve worked with a number of ensembles and orchestras in North Dakota as well as other places – in North Dakota I’ve had works performed by Missouri Valley Chamber Orchestra, Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra (BMSO), Trio Apollo, as well as a number of other musicians.

Q. How does being from a sparsely populated area of a sparsely populated state affect your work and your travels for your work? (Los Angeles, etc.)

With the internet, it really doesn’t matter where you live to “do” to work. As far as being hired to score a film, it’s pretty much a necessity to live in Los Angeles. Now if you are A-list composer, you can live pretty much anywhere as you could afford the $1,000+ it costs to fly out of Bismarck to Los Angeles! (LOL – but really, no joke, it’s TERRIBLY expensive to fly out of Bismarck! I’ll add my name to the list who wishes we had better options in the air-travel dept.)

Q. Have you thought of moving permanently from North Dakota? What are your reasons for staying in the state?

I won’t lie and say it hasn’t crossed my mind. I still believe that I can live here in North Dakota and get my music heard. It is my goal to bring ‘film music’ to North Dakota. I believe I have a good start with building rapport with Missouri Valley Chamber Orchestra and BMSO. I like the idea of giving our musicians the opportunity to play for recording sessions and performing film music – an opportunity that they would only be exposed to if they lived in Los Angeles.

Q. Do you think your location has made it more difficult to find work? Or, has the “Internet age” helped reduce any geographical limitations?

Living in Killdeer doesn’t limit my ability to compose. It does limit my ability to fly out to meet with potential filmmaker collaborations etc. I’m still working on the solution to this. On the projects I have worked on, internet has proven to be a very valuable tool. I used Skype and iChat on a daily basis.

Q. Was it always your intention to compose music for films or were you interested in composing music in general?

When I was 5 years old, I listened to Beethoven’s 5th in C minor and the “Star Wars” soundtrack over and over and over on my Fischer-Price record player. I knew I wanted to compose music and play the piano at that age. My dad also exposed me to a wide variety of great music including Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Moody Blues and a number of others.

Q. What is your work process? That is, how do you go about writing a film score, or composing a piece? How do you pick your key themes?

Every project is different. I usually watch the film and I start to hear music in my head at that point. I really like directors who have notes for their movie – ideas of what they envision for scenes – because, really, you are there to realize their aural vision. I’m a visual composer – I can look at a picture, drawing, scene, event and I’ll think up music that could go with it. I’m always walking around looking at things – there’s a soundtrack always playing in my head.

Q. What are your thoughts on being a composer? On being a composer in North Dakota? What would you say to someone interested in doing the same?

I’d say GO FOR IT! We need more composers in North Dakota. I would warn them, though, that it’s very difficult to get performed. Our orchestras are dollar driven like any other organization. “New music” is almost a swear-word in some circles of the orchestra administration. We live in a dominantly conservative demographic. New music = noise to many and the orchestra committees are worried about losing sales – and rightly so. We don’t want to lose what we have, but in order to grow, I believe that they need to try new works, at least 1 or 2 a season. It’s the only way to education and “desensitize” (laughing here) our audiences.

Q. What are your top musical influences? Composers?

Beethoven and Bartok are two of my favorite in the orchestral realm.

On the contemporary side, I have a hugely eclectic library. I would say that as far as influences throughout the time line of my musical life they would include: Pink Floyd, David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Jethro Tull, Moody Blues, Tangerine Dream, Radiohead, Clannad, Enya, Danny Elfman, John Barry, Coldplay, Keane, Muse, Patrick O’Hearn, Phish, R.E.M., They Might Be Giants, Skinny Puppy, Martin Denny, Les BAxter, U2, Yes and a pile of others.

Q. Anything else you’d like to add about music, North Dakota, hobbies, etc.?

I love art, art history. I enjoy drawing and painting in water colors, acrylics. I have an obscene amount of books, some read some not read – and I continue to buy more. Hiking, canoing and camping/exploring are great escapes – especially in the Badlands of North Dakota. I love cats and am similar – although I think I’ve used 4 or 5 of my 9 lives. Any artists composers, adventures – I’d love to collaborate – contact me!

Troy’s Work:

• Diabolical Tales: Part III (2007)
• Diabolical Tales: Part II (2007)
• In Search of Lovecraft (2007)
• Diabolical Tales: Part I (2006)
• The Call of Cthulhu (2005)
• The Ethereal Plane (2005)

Cthulhu Links:

• Music in the Movies: The Call of Cthulhu review
• Movie and sountracke review of The Call of Cthulhu
• The Call of Cthulhu movie wikipedia page
• The Call of Cthulhu movie trailer (YouTube)

Buy:

• Call of Cthulhu DVD
• Call of Cthulhu soundtrack

In the News:

• Composing a craft of love (Bismarck Tribune)

Links:

• TroySterling.com
• Troy’s Blog
• Troy’s IMDB page
• MySpace Music Page
• ND Council on the Arts Page

Troy can also be found on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Just do a search.