If you frequent the Music section here at Milwaukee Record, you’re probably no stranger to Nicholas Elert. The Milwaukee musician has an extensive body of experimental electronic solo work and his top-notch guitar playing was on full display in his past projects like Northless and Bad Grades. He also runs live sound at X-Ray Arcade and other places around town. Beyond that impressive and wide-ranging aural output, Elert has delved into the realm of film composition with some regularity.
More specifically, Elert has provided the score to an array of horror films. He’s set the score to visual works including Black Mold, Dead Weight, The Stylist, and Pity. However, his latest composer credit might be his biggest to date. Last year, a feature film called Marshmallow was released. The movie—about “a once-fabled campfire tale” that becomes real—features Corbin Bernsen (Major League, L.A. Law), Paul Soter (Super Troopers), and Alysia Reiner (Orange Is The New Black) in its cast. Since its release, Marshmallow has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and audiences alike, and it’s just been added to Shudder.
In accordance with the film hitting the popular horror-centric streaming platform, Elert also released Marshmallow‘s original score on Bandcamp this week.
“Director Daniel Delpurgatorio had a pretty specific idea about what the music should do, and thankfully it was the sort of thing that I absolutely want to do all the time,” Elert said in a recent newsletter post. “People seem to either love the music or fucking hate it. So that’s fun. Have a listen and go watch the movie.”
Though we’ve yet to see Marshmallow, we’re definitely planning to sign up for a Shudder trial after hearing the 38 brooding, ominous, and ambient-leaning tracks Elert fashioned to accompany the frightening footage.