In a permanent state of evolution, Hollywood has always remained steadfast as a community that was built on escapism. And, yes, that includes horror films, too! Since the inception of Tinseltown, this playground of creativity has served as a global source of entertainment, disconnect and enjoyment. Within the confines of this booming industry are a select group of real-life characters that have managed to keep us all entertained. Hence introducing you to Eli Roth – the visionary, a dreamer and a hero who has worn multiple hats throughout his robust career.
Bursting onto the scene in 2002 with the renowned ‘Cabin Fever’ which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and became Lionsgate’s highest-grossing film of 2003, he followed with the global hit ‘Hostel’ that he wrote, directed and produced alongside executive producer Quentin Tarantino, who described the movie as “the best new American film” in a 2004 interview. Its undeniable success led to a sequel, ‘Hostel Part II,’ further establishing Roth as a genre pioneer.
Whether producing, directing Keanu Reeves and Ana de Armas in ‘Knock Knock,’ to writing, collaborating or acting, no job or opportunity was ever too small for him, hence his grandiose success. From directing the documentary ‘FIN’ alongside his executive producer Leonardo DiCaprio, to serving as Howard Stern’s assistant on ‘Private Parts,’ he has run the office of Frederick Zollo and even appeared in the films of surrealist David Lynch while helping launch Lynch’s website. It was this mentality that catapulted him to where he is today, having directed a wide range of films, generating over $474 million in box office revenue.
His portfolio of director work also includes ‘The Green Inferno, Death Wish’ starring Bruce Willis, the family fantasy and ‘The House with a Clock in Its Walls’ starring Cate Blanchett and Jack Black.
Roth is a skilled director, making his audiences fall hard and fast for his films by merging substance with brilliant storytelling. Throughout his career, Roth has made the kinds of movies that he wants to see and that’s precisely what makes Roth such an innovative trailblazer in entertainment. It’s his true passion for Every. Single. Detail.
As far back as he can recall, Roth has had an admiration for all-things-Italy, from the fashion to the food to the music. Naturally, when Roth crossed paths with a legendary Italian label, CAM Sugar, it was a match made in heaven. With over 2,000 original scores, CAM Sugar is undoubtedly the most extensive and representative catalogue of Italian original soundtracks, winner of over 500 international awards, including an Oscar as Best Original Score for Il Postino. Founded in Rome in 1959, CAM provided the music for some of the most outstanding, award-winning Italian films: Nino Rota for Federico Fellini (Amarcord, La Dolce Vita, 8½) and Luchino Visconti, Giovanni Fusco for Michelangelo Antonioni, Riz Ortolani with Mondo Cane and Luis Bacalov for the Oscar winning, Il Postino. The valuable archive includes original master tapes by Ennio Morricone, Piero Piccioni, Stelvio Cipriani, Armando Trovajoli, Piero Umiliani, Nicola Piovani, Philippe Sarde, François De Roubaix, and many other great Italian and French composers.
Enter ‘Eli Roth’s Red Light Disco: Dancefloor Seductions from Italian Sexploitation Cinema,’ a 20-track collaborative album between Roth and CAM Sugar. It’s a culmination of all things groovy, dedicated to blending style and substance to give true fans what they want; an escape.
With CAM Sugar and Roth’s team-up creating tons of excitement, and us here at WINGMAN MAGAZINE being tremendous fans of this brilliant filmmaker, we couldn’t wait to get him and his new creative partners on set to ask all about ‘Red Light Disco’ and its inspirations. So, to find out more, read on to see what Roth had to say!
WINGMAN: So, let’s start with your latest project; “Eli Roth’s Red Light Disco: Dancefloor Seductions From Italian Sexploitation Cinema,” with legendary Italian soundtrack label CAM Sugar. What made you want to work with them on this special project?
ELI ROTH: I’m a huge fan of Italian soundtracks. I listen to them all the time, when I’m writing, when I’m driving, when I’m walking – I just love the sound, mood and feel of that era. So many Italian genre movies from that time were dismissed as garbage or “Eurotrash” cinema, but for me, they’re truly a goldmine of style and incredible inspiration. If you can believe it, Italians dismissed Sergio Leone’s films until Tarantino made a huge defense of Leone at the Venice film festival in 2004 saying that Italians trash their greatest filmmaker. After that, many critics came out supporting Leone’s films as masterpieces. The sex comedies it’s me and a few festival programmers who defend them, they’re not on the level of Leone, but there’s so much to love about them. Often when critics dismiss genre films as trash I defend them even harder. I find most films today either unimaginative or pretentious repacking of previously done ideas masquerading as art, and these genre films were honest about what they were. They weren’t aspiring to be high art, they wanted to make people laugh, or scream, or thrill them, and that’s what makes them great. That was the goal, not a prize from an industry contest. But what’s undeniable about the films even to their harshest critics is the music. The scores and songs for these movies are amazing, and for years I have searched for them. They’re impossible to find, and that’s because most all of this music was previously unreleased. If I wanted a song from one of these movies I’d have to rip it from an import DVD or PAL VHS tape. Even the ripped music floating around on the internet had dialogue attached to it. I saw my friend Alix Brown was in Milan meeting with the CAM Sugar team, and I wrote her that I was jealous and that I’d always wanted access to that library. She made the introduction, and to my absolute surprise they asked me to curate a collection for them. I have been very vocal about my love of Italian sex comedies and films of this period, and they have been wanting to find creative ways to release their incredible library, so we thought this would be a really fun collection to do together. I wanted people who trust my taste in movies and soundtracks to give it a chance and introduce yourself to a world of really groovy previously unreleased songs. And if you’re a soundtrack collector or score nerd the way I am you’re going to love it. We have some very, very deep cuts as well as a few classics I knew that fans have been trying to find for years.
WINGMAN: What would you say your favorite track on the album is, and why?
ROTH: It’s hard to say. There are so many I love as music pieces and there are some I love for deeply personal reasons. For example, the song “Runnin’ Around” by Daniele Patucchi is a song I’ve been hunting for since I was twelve years old. It was used in the aerobics scene in the 1982 Spanish horror film “Pieces,” which is probably my all time favorite slasher film. The song itself is a ripoff of “Funkytown,” but if you’re a horror geek on the level I am, it’s one of those songs that we have all looked for but never been able to find. The music credits in those days just said “music by CAM,” so we knew it was part of a library, and it’s not a song you can find on Shazam since it was never released, until now. It turns out it’s from a sex comedy called “Bionda fragola” (Strawberry Blonde.) So that’s one I play on repeat even though I know it’s probably not the best song in the collection. I love the theme from “Taxi Girl” even though it’s under a minute. I wish that song would go on forever. And of course the theme from “Avere Vent’anni” which is one of my favorite Fernando Di Leo films and he wrote the lyrics for that theme song.
WINGMAN: Talk a little bit about the connection between Italian Disco, and Cinema. Where does your love of genre music come from?
ROTH: I think in America we got a lot of the Casablanca Records disco sound, like Donna Summer, and the Bee Gees side of Disco. But these movies evoke a period of Italian cinema where the cars were cool, the clothes were incredible, the women on screen were all stunningly beautiful and dressed amazing, the guys were macho, and everyone just looked cool smoking cigarettes in every single scene. You have a whole wave of comedies post Dolce-Vita Italy where the censorship was opening up and suddenly violence and nudity was allowed. Remember, the Italians created on-screen violence with Corbucci and Leone in their Spaghetti Westerns. It’s impossible to understand the importance of this, imagine Americans making Westerns and people get shot and the bad guy grabs his chest and falls to the ground with no blood. Then suddenly the Italians come along and it’s just a splatterfest – people being shot, on camera with blood exploding hundreds of times, in slow motion, close up, with electric guitar soundtrack. They didn’t have the same censorship rules Americans did, so they just went operatic with their violence. These movies changed cinema – because then the Americans started pushing for more violence, until you get films like “The Wild Bunch.” The same thing happened with sex comedies – the countries just kept pushing the boundaries and imitating each other, until you get these insane over the top off the wall movies that truly were satirizing the Italian machismo culture of the time. They’re very much of their moment, but as an artifact of cinema there’s such gold in there if you look at them with a certain lens.
WINGMAN: What is your favorite Italian sexy comedy of the 70’s, and which in particular inspired this project?
ROTH: I have many of them, but the one I love the most is “W La Foca,” which translates to “Long Live the Seal,” but really is a play on Italian slang for “Viva La Figa,” which is slang for “Long live pussy.” It’s something drunk guys would shout at a soccer match or write on the wall of a public bathroom. (I wrote it on the train car wall in “Haste 2.” ) So of course the movie is about Lory Del Santo as a nurse who walks around with an actual seal, and you can tell that she’s petrified of it but has to pretend it’s her pet. It’s an insane movie starring Bombolo as a doctor she goes to work for, and Bombolo is by far my favorite Italian comedy star of this period. He was a true man of the people, he was a regular guy who became an accidental movie star, and no matter how famous he became he was always eating lunch with the crew and if he got recognized in a restaurant he would often go in the kitchen and cook for everyone. But “W La Foca” (pronounced “Viva La Foca”) is so funny you can watch it without speaking any English and understand what’s going on. (I interview his daughter and granddaughter for the liner notes in the album.) It’s jokes like this: No one wants to do the dishes, which are piled sky high like they haven’t been done in a month. So they all agree that whoever talks first has to do the dishes. So no matter what happens, no one talks, because they don’t want to do the dishes. The boyfriend comes over and has sex with Bombolo’s daughter but he can’t say anything because he doesn’t want to do the dishes . Then the boyfriend has sex with Bombolo’s wife in front of him but Bombolo still can’t say anything because he’d rather get cucked than have to do the dishes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjx4DtPIYyo Or scenes like this one, where Bombolo orders special erection pills and the only way to make his erection go down is by whistling. Lory Del Santo plays the nurse, so of course she comes in and keeps whistling and he gets madder and madder. Also, the Seal farts ice cubes. It’s that level of humor. That said, it’s not my favorite score, and the music is not on the compilation, but it’s a great one from that period if you’re looking for an introduction. The movie and song that really encapsulates the vibe of “Red Light Disco” for sure is “L’infermiera di Notte” with Gloria Guida. “The Night Nurse,” directed by Michele Massimo Tarantini. (And yes, it’s Tarantini, not Tarantino. I do love them both, of course.) In the film she plays a sexy night nurse, so you can imagine what happens when Gloria Guida comes to your house at night to take care of grandpa. It has an amazing score, and at the end of the movie she enters a singing contest, and you can tell that Gloria at that time really wanted to be transition into being a pop star. In fact, she married Johnny Dorelli, a huge singer and actor in Italy. But this song “La Musica E” is fantastic – she really goes for it, like this is her audition for the world to show that she’s bigger than just being a movie star. When you see this clip, you’ll see exactly what I picture when listening to this album. So I had to put this song on there, I love it.
WINGMAN: You describe this project as “A party, from start to finish!” Can you elaborate on that vibe you’re creating?
ROTH: These movies had an amazing disco party vibe. You can see it in “L’infermiera di notte” and “Taxi Girl.” There’s always a scene where they go to a disco and it just looks like the coolest party with the grooviest furniture, drinks, clothes, the whole swinging vibe. Everything about it makes me want to live in these movies. So I wanted to curate a collection you could put on when you’re having a party and everyone’s hanging out or dancing or drinking or just having an Italian 70/80s disco feel. Also, I love driving around to music. It’s how I write. The best ideas don’t come when you’re sitting at a computer, they come when some asshole takes your parking spot at Whole Foods or cuts you off. That’s when I get my best deaths. So most of the time I’m driving around listening to music pretending I’m in some Italian movie. It’s great for that. Also people are always looking for a cool track for their reels and this collection is a treasure trove. I can’t take credit for any of it, but we went through hundreds of songs to pick the right ones in the right order. I’m a big vinyl collector, so I wanted very cool album art and detailed liner notes. We have some fantastic interviews, including one I did with Edwige Fenech about making the films of this period, and of course Bombolo’s daughter and granddaughter. It’s wild for them to see these films finally getting appreciated in this way as these classic time pieces of Italian culture.
WINGMAN: Speaking of music inspiring cinema, we recently lost a great in David Lynch, who was a mentor to you, and introduced you to the equally as legendary (and Italian) Angelo Badalamenti- whose work you used in your first film. What did you learn from these masters of film in terms of blending music and cinema?
ROTH: It’s hard to sum up what I learned from David, because there were so many things you just want to write down everything he says. Working with David was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. He was so open, so generous and such a force of nature it’s hard to even write about him in the past tense. I’m still getting over losing Angelo. Angelo’s music was the most important music to me in film school, I cannot tell you what it was like being at NYU in the early 90s when Twin Peaks was all the rage and we listened to the Twin Peaks score over and over. Blue Velvet was one of my all time favorite scores as well, City of Lost Children, it goes on and on. Angelo was just unlike anyone else, his music changed movies. And when I met Angelo and David, while I was still in school but working full time for a producer, I learned that Angelo and my mother had not only gone to the same high school in Brooklyn but played in All-City orchestra together. So it was like being with family. David taught me the greatest advice. Before I made “Cabin Fever” he told me “Keep your eye on the doughnut, not the hole. The doughnut is the information recorded in front of those little 24 squares per second. The hole is the rest of the bullshit, the back stabbing, the egos, the jealousy, and if you’re not careful it’ll suck you right in. Keep your eye on the doughnut, not the hole.” And it’s been my mantra on set ever since. I teach it to all the actors. Eye on the doughnut, not the hole. If we’re ever losing focus or getting distracted by bullshit it snaps us back to attention. Angelo, well, he was so generous, he did music for me for free on Cabin Fever because I couldn’t afford him. I gave him and David a back end point in the movie and I’m proud to say those two points are still paying dividends today. Angelo wrote some beautiful music for me, and we integrated the themes with my composer Nathan Barr. I’m doing a full album soon with TerrorVision records, with every single track Angelo gave us. We shot stuff like this, a video for his song Thank you Judge. That’s David in the mask. I play Naomi Watts’ cheesy new boyfriend at the end of the song. We shot this in the spring of 2000.
WINGMAN: You really have been a huge driving force of blending music and movies, producing “The Man With The Iron Fists,” which was written, directed, and scored by RZA. Having that kind of music to movies background, what tools of the trade have you learned when it comes to cultivating projects like this?
ROTH: I met RZA on a trip to Iceland with Elvis Mitchell and Quentin Tarantino. I had been with Quentin for the “Hostel” world premiere (yes, we just wanted to go to Iceland) and Eythor from “Hostel” arranged this event where Quentin came and showed Kung Fu movies. On the way back Elvis and Quentin were going to New York and RZA and I were going to L.A. but through Boston. Then a snowstorm hit and we were gonna stuck there, but at the time my parents were there, so I invited him over for dinner. I basically called my parents and said “Mom, I’m bringing RZA for dinner, he’s vegetarian” and my parents said “ no problem, we got you.” So we went in a blizzard to my parents house. Now, it turns out my father grew up a block from where RZA grew up in the projects in Brownsville, Brooklyn. They had gone to the same schools at different times, my dad in the 50s and RZA in the 70s, and both had made it out and knew what it took to get out of that. So there was again this instant connection through my parents. Turns out the flight wasn’t cancelled, they were waiting for us, so we ate, and raced back running through the airport like a Hertz commercial and finally making the flight. That experience really bonded us and the whole flight back he told me about this idea he had for a kung fu Universe and the Man with the Iron Fists. Now, RZA knows Kung Fu movies the way I know horror, but I also know how to write scripts the way he writes music, so I said let’s do this. I’ll work with you on it and let’s make this great, and we spent about a year working on the script. Not rushing, just really figuring out all out, the whole mythology, the whole world. He’d be on tour, I’d be on set, but we’d always meet up in person or talk on Skype or whatever and we finally got the script ready. Then I got it to Eric Newman and Marc Abraham and said let’s make this insane RZA kung fu rap movie, make the Wu-Tang movie we always wanted to see. And I didn’t want him to just go out there and fail, so I went with him to China for half a year and was on set every day. We even had multiple units going, it was so much to shoot we split the units and I had a unit and he had one. Second unit in China you can have a crew of 120, so it was a lot. But we got it done, and then opening weekend was Hurricane Sandy and Staten Island was underwater. It was wild. But I just wanted to see that movie exist. Quentin of course came on as executive producer and to present it and he flew to China and was just so proud of us. He loved that we were like his students in a way and we wanted to show the master what we were doing. Quentin truly is the best, he’s so generous and encouraging, and it was great to see him back together with Lucy Liu in China making this movie except now RZA was directing her and she was flying around on wires with her killer fan, and Russell Crowe swinging the knife and Daniel Wu and Jamie Chung and Batista pre-Guardians – it was such an amazing experience. Again, I learned so much from RZA just about life and philosophy and how to be as an artist and a person. An incredible incredible special friend, we were bonded for life after that. And this was back in 2010 / 2011 over that winter. We started shooting on Christmas 2010 in Hengdian China. It was wild.
WINGMAN: You have an amazing list of credits with so many incredible films. What are other musical moments from your films that stand out most?
ROTH: Movies for me are a chronicle of my life. Where I was at that time, what I was going through, who I was friends with, who I was dating, how I saw the world. “Cabin Fever” is very much about being 22, which is how old I was when I wrote it. I actually wrote the story for it when I was 19, so the film really reflects being that age. Music for me has become a way of mapping things emotionally. In the way that smell can trigger the most potent memory, music has the same power for all of us. It transports us instantly to that car ride or wherever we were when we were with our friends and that song came on the radio or where we were and who we were with when we all heard it for the first time. So each movie has music that represent a moment in time for me. I’m meticulous about selecting music, I love score but also have deep attachments to songs and most of the time I can’t afford them. I’ve had moments that I’m incredibly proud of like getting to use “Back in Black” in “Death Wish” because it’s a holy grail song. It’s so obvious and yet it works, every single time. I begged Gene Simmons to use “Detroit Rock City” in “Knock Knock” and he was gracious enough to let me use it, same with Danzig letting me use “Where Eagles Dare” at the end of “Thanksgiving.” “Knock Knock” I was very grateful to have The Pixies at the end with “Where is My Mind” and the allusion to “Fight Club” was very much on purpose. The song works in so many ways and for me there was no better way to end the film. But then there are those songs that are deep cut songs, like all the music from the band Sorcery I use. I love Sorcery, they did the soundtrack for a rare film called “Stunt Rock” and ever since I heard it I have to put a song from them in every one of my movies. I even put Sorcery posters all over McCarty’s room and played “Wizard’s Council” at his the McCarty Party in “Thanksgiving.” I just wrote it into the script, he’s really into Sorcery. Then there are songs I had been searching for my whole life, like Dale Gonyea’s “We Are Dead” which I heard once on the radio on the Dr. Demento show in 1982 and I never forgot it. Back then you had to hold a tape recorder up to the radio, which my brother did, but we only got about 3/4 of the song, so just having it in a movie for me was a victory. In “Hostel” I used amazing music from the early 80s when it was Czechoslovakia, music by Michal David (covering Umberto Tozzi) and bands like Team and Tublatanka. Music I had never heard before the shoot that my sound recordist Tomas gave me, and that we played non stop while filming. The song that I’m probably most proud of is the end credits song from my first film “Cabin Fever” which is a re-recording of the theme song from “Last House on the Left” called “Wait for the Rain.” The chorus, “And the Road Leads to Nowhere…” is hugely popular among horror geeks like myself, and while I was editing “Cabin Fever” (with no money doing it all for the promises of back end, which amazingly paid off) , I went to a screening of “Last House on the Left.” The David Hess music in the film just took me right back to being 12 years old at a sleepover watching that film on VHS at 1:30 in the morning. It was that deep, deep nostalgia I wanted to infuse into my own film, and my entire music budget was I think $1,500 for songs. Most songs can cost you anywhere from $25,000-$100,000 or in the case of AC/DC, $800,000. So $1,500 is not a lot. I tracked down David Hess and asked if he’d consider letting me use the songs, but that I only had a tiny budget. He said I would do it if I put some music in from his songs Bo and Jesse, who were singer / songwriters in their early 20s. I proposed re-recording the theme from Last House on the Left but with this kids singing, symbolically passing the torch of horror and music down to the next generation. David loved it, and we took all the money and paid a friend of his with a studio to record it. It was so powerful and works so beautifully, and when Tarantino saw the movie he couldn’t believe I used that music. He loved it, he told me that’s what said to him “this guy’s the real deal.” Oh, another great cue I got to use was John Harrison’s “Creepshow” music in my Grindhouse trailer for “Thanksgiving.” That’s always been one of my favorite scores, and again John was incredibly generous to let me use it. It really evokes the feeling of the early 80s horror which is what I wanted.
WINGMAN: Speaking of music being a driving force of making a scene, that was very much a large factor in “The Idol,” which I mentioned to you that I love. That show will undoubtedly go on to have a greater life as years pass. What initially drew you to it, and why did so many critics miss the mark on its excellence?
ROTH: I love Sam Levinson and I love Abel (The Weeknd) and they asked me to do a cameo for one day and of course I said yes. I love acting, but it has to be for someone I really respect as a director. I can’t stand the thought of being on someone else’s set thinking I could do a better job. It has to be someone whose work I admire in a way that I say I could never do that, but I can really bring something special to it and give a performance no one else can. That’s the thing for me, it has to be unique in a way that people don’t forget it. I never want to be boring, I want to bring my A game every time and surprise people. Sam and Abel were incredible. The whole vibe on set was so fun. I showed up and we’re at Abel’s mansion and they have me in this $2 million dollar car that I’m just terrified of scratching, but once I was in it I was right in character. Sam let me riff and I had so many insults and ridiculous things for every take they asked if I wanted to come back and be in more of the show. Of course I said yes and as the show went on my part just grew and grew. It really was the most amazing group. I mean come on, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Jane Adams, Hank Azaria and the Abel and Moses Sumney and Rachel Sennot and of course Lily Rose Depp who was absolutely brilliant. Troye Sivan, Susanna Son – I had a front row seat to the most brilliant, eclectic group of superstars and everyone was so incredibly nice. The vibe on set was so fun, everyone loved each other and were just kept riffing and no matter what anyone said during a take as soon as Sam yelled cut we’d all laugh and compliment each other. Mike Dean playing music for us all day – it was wild. And we were running 3 cameras with 35mm film the whole time. Such an incredible adventure. I know critics really tore it apart but I actually took that as a good sign. As I said before the only critic that matters is time, and years from now people will discover it without all the bullshit that was in the press about it and I think they’re gonna love it. It’s not for everyone but that’s why I think it’s great.
WINGMAN: You are one of the rare filmmakers that is also an extremely impressive actor. You were great on “The Idol,” and completely stole scenes in “Inglorious Basterds.” Being such an incredible writer and director, when you go into acting, what is your process in letting go of being at the creative helm, and how important is that to you?
ROTH: Thank you. I started as an actor. I love it. When I was 8 years old I signed up to do some after school play. It was something the teacher had written, and I remember I was a native American (called Indians back then) and I was bringing food for a Thanksgiving dinner or something. That’s all I remember, me showing up pretending to carry a box full of food to feed the pilgrims. This was in Massachusetts, so Thanksgiving as you may imagine is a pretty big deal. Anyway, I remember the director telling me where to go and me thinking that didn’t make sense. So I was arguing with him until he said “Well, how would you do it?” And I just knew. I just knew where everyone should go and what they should do. I saw it, clear as day. And I repositioned everyone and said it should go like this… And that was it. We did it my way. And that was the first time I directed. I didn’t know it at the time, but that was it. That was me acting and directing. So once I realized what a director was, at age 8, I wanted to do it. But I also deeply love performing. Now, if I’m going to act, it’s got to be for someone I really respect. I like being on set watching Sam Levinson do his thing thinking “How the hell is he doing this?” And of course I learned so much from watching Tarantino and David Lynch as well. Those two really showed me how to be an artist while making your film and never losing your sense of humor or fun. I’ve been very lucky that I’ve been in front of the camera for some incredible directors. I’d rather come in and just sharp shoot a very fun role and nail it than try to be in a lot of things and hope that one of them turns out good.
WINGMAN: Let’s bring it back to “Red Light Disco.” This film has such a specific style, and our shoot is clearly inspired by that, utilizing your talented wife’s fashions. Talk a little bit about the aesthetic you’re making magic with?
ROTH: I love that whole era of cinema, the Italian sex comedies of the 70s and 80s. These films are considered bottom of the barrel critically in Italy and many of them didn’t make it over here, but when I went there to do press for the Hostel movies in the mid 2000s I went to one DVD store in Rome and bought them all. I literally had a suitcase filled with probably 100 movies, it was the only way to see them. I just couldn’t believe what a treasure trove these films were. The style, the music, the absolutely ridiculous over the top humor, the beautiful girls the buffoonish men, it was a goldmine. So to have access to the original music that I’ve had ripped from the DVDs is pretty special and I wanted to bring those to music and movie fans globally. Everyone is looking for that cool song for their reel or to put in something they’re making and this can open them up creatively to a whole array of artists they may not know. The songs are really cool. My wife Vittoria comes from high fashion in Italy. She was on the design team in Dior and Cavalli, she went to fashion school in Florence, interned at Cavalli, J.W. Anderson, she really has incredible style and taste and knowledge of how to make high fashion. She started her own line of clothes called Unimpressed Studios (which she may be rebranding to her name Vittoria Buraschi soon) and they’re all stunning hand-made pieces using original fabrics from Italy from the 60s and 70s. Stunning rare prints and materials and original vintage buttons that she found in various hiding spots all throughout Italy , and she’s using the fabric to make these groovy late 60s, early 70s pieces. She wants to make clothes that we wish everyone was wearing, harkening back to that period when you had to look good if you left your house and it wasn’t just a pair of baggy sweatpants and a hoodie. The people in Italy in the 60s and 70s and 80s had such incredible style, but especially the space age late 60s. Alix Brown has the same love of that time period and has DJ’d in Vittoria’s outfits before. But her stuff is really spectacular, people can find it at unimpressedstudios.com or her IG @unimpressed.studios. We basically watch these movies and want to live in them. Our house is furnished with vintage Italian furniture from that period, posters from that time, exploitations movies, and we mainly watch Italian films and TV shows. I can’t explain why, I just love it, I must have been alive in that time because I feel too strongly connected to it. We named our daugther Donatella Sophia as a nod to Donatella Versace and Sophia Loren. That’s us, a mix of fashion and film. https://unimpressedstudios.com/
https://www.instagram.com/unimpressed.studios/
WINGMAN: Speaking of retro styles of cinema, seeing “Thanksgiving” go from trailer inside “Grindhouse” in 2007, to its own film in 2023 must have been a trip. When conceptualizing the film for the trailer, did a lot change from what was in your mind when it came to film?
ROTH: The trailer had to feel like a lost grindhouse film from 1980. It was tougher than I thought to adapt because you’re supposed to see the trailer during “Grindhouse.” It fits in with Planet Terror and Death Proof. On its own it’s hilarious but you can’t drag out that joke of a fake movie for 90 minutes, for me it gets a little boring and there’s no real stakes so you’re never fully invested. The intention was always to make a real Thanksgiving themed slasher film, with ridiculous kills, but not a joke. That was the dream from when I was 12 years old with my best friend Jeff Rendell, it was to complete the calendar because no one had done it. Growing up in Massachusetts it was so obvious to us. So Grindhouse just represented to test out an idea we had been dreaming of for almost 25 years at that point, It was a thrill to make it and after we did it, we thought, well, “why make the movie the trailer has all the best parts.” But then the fans shamed me and I knew they were right – I had to stay true to my 12 year old self and finally make the damn thing. It took a long time to get the script right just because we kept remaking the trailer. Finally I said “What if the movie from 1980 was real but every print was burned and the only surviving element is that one trailer someone hid from the secret police and this is the 2023 reboot?” And that freed us up creatively. We could use what we wanted but also subvert expectations.
WINGMAN: You are really one of the most talented filmmakers out there, and you’ve already worked with so many of the greatest in the business. Who else would you love to work with, and what other types of stories would you like to tell?
ROTH: Great question! First off, thank you, I appreciate that. I make movies for fans, not for awards and critical praise, which is nice when it comes but really I’m making films for those kids watching them at a sleepover in 15 years. Time is the only critic I care about, people still talking about Cabin Fever and Hostel all these years later really means they took hold of the culture in some way. And others like Knock Knock or Green Inferno will be discovered later. There are so many great people out there I’d love to work with. But it’s not always who you think. For example I saw Doechii’s video for “Denial is a River” and I thought “I’d love to make a horror movie her.” It’s the mash up that’s fun. Imagine taking that sensibility and creative approach and combining it with mine. That’s why I’m writing with Ariana Greenblatt, we’ll produce the movie together and maybe even co-direct if she wants. That’s what fires me up creatively, mixing my ideas with someone who’s got the same sense of humor or mischief but expresses it in a completely different way. Charli XCX of course is at the top of the list. She loves horror, I love her, so I know no matter what I do I’ll always go to her and see if she wants to be a part of it. And then it’s really just continuing the collaborations with the people I love working with. The whole cast of Thanksgiving, all of them. Quentin, obviously, it’s just too much fun. But I like working with people who are creative geniuses in their own right but not necessarily in the same field, like Snoop, 50 Cent, The Weeknd, they love horror and it would just be fun to mix creative energy and see what comes out. I don’t want to make the obvious movie, I like Monty Python, I like David Lynch, I like John Waters, I like Tarantino, I like films like Hausu (1977 Japanese film), I like when people look at me and say “wait, what?!? What the fuck?” That to me is a perfect reaction. I’d love to do some balls out comedies. Stuff that feels very un-PC and is hilarious and ridiculous, like the movies I grew up on. That said, I love the Terrifier films so it would be fun to mix it up with those guys and see what kind of films we could come up with. I’m at a point now where I just enjoy collaborating with people and doing fun shit. Let’s make some classics before we check out so that kids years later can watch it at a sleepover and get yelled at by their parents. That’s what it’s all about.
Wingman Magazine Spring Issue 2025
For our Spring issue, we are honored to have brilliant visionary director ELI ROTH with fun trendsetting DJ ALIX BROWN! A true master at all he does, ROTH has teamed up with prolific record label CAM SUGAR for an exciting new project! Icon stars Sasha Alexander and Esai Morales step into the…
When discussing musical sensation Alix Brown, it’s actually troublesome to professionally categorize her. Sure, she is a DJ by trade, but such a title ultimately seems limiting toward all she does—and the many hats she so stylishly wears. A true trendsetter and pioneer, this quintessentially chic bombshell has proven to be a master of many crafts. Parlaying one success into another, while always managing to tie her passions together in a very neat bow, Brown has catapulted herself into every corner of the zeitgeist.
An Atlanta native, Brown has traveled the world thanks to her many endeavors, starting with DJing at underground clubs and fashion parties. Blending her performative capabilities and je ne sais quoi, she became the go-to for designers like Gucci, Fendi, and Chanel. She further gained recognition through her work as musical director for iconic hotels like The Roxy and Soho Grand—inevitably mixing (or, shall we say, spinning) her universal passion for both luxury and global hospitality.
A seasoned musician, Brown has played bass in bands like Daisy Glaze, La Femme, Angry Angles and Golden Triangle. She recently released her debut solo 7” single TORMENTO—a sultry, cinematic track steeped in soft disco and intrigue. It’s the first in a new chapter that reflects her years in the music scene, both onstage and behind the decks.
A guru of fashion and an aficionado of Italian designers, her favorites range from icons of the ’60s and ’70s to the surrealism of vintage European film and obscure soundtrack records.
Beyond the spotlight, she is also an in-demand music supervisor and producer for film and television, bringing her impeccable taste and encyclopedic musical knowledge to the screen. A committed cinephile, she blends her love of sound and story in every project she touches. It’s her savvy cultural understanding that inspired her to connect visionary filmmaker Eli Roth and the legendary Italian record label, CAM Sugar. In what reads as an effortless matchmaking move, Brown paved the way for musical magic to ensue.
Boasting such a storied history – we here at WINGMAN couldn’t wait to talk to the wing-woman, Alix Brown herself. Now you can learn more about her accomplishments to date and dig into what lies ahead!
WINGMAN: So, first and foremost, talk about your friendship with the great Eli Roth. How did you guys meet, and what inspires you creatively with him?
ALIX BROWN: I first met Eli in 2024 when I started spending more time in LA with my partner, director Michele Civetta, who has known Eli for years through the film world scene. Around that time, Eli and his wife, designer Vittoria Buraschi, whose beautiful frocks we are adorned by, had just moved back to LA after living in Florence during the pandemic. Given our shared love for all things Italian; films, food, fashion, and music, it felt inevitable that we’d all hit it off. The moment I stepped into their home, I noticed a massive poster of Fellini’s Toby Dammit from the Spirits of the Dead trilogy, based on Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories and starring the incredible Terence Stamp. That film, along with Nino Rota’s hypnotic score, is something Michele and I had bonded over from the very beginning of our relationship. Seeing it displayed in their home was an instant confirmation that we were on the same wavelength.
WINGMAN: In understand you played a role in connecting Eli Roth with legendary Italian soundtrack label CAM Sugar for his latest project, Red Light Disco. Can you tell me how that came about?
ALIX BROWN: I started working with CAM Sugar in 2023 when Sara Castiglioni, then the international project manager, reached out to me through Lorenzo Ottone, the head of the CAM Sugar Journal. They had taken notice of my passion for Italian and French films and their soundtracks, so I was invited to help spread the word about the label’s expansion into the U.S. At the time, CAM Sugar was preparing a major reissue of the Planète Sauvage soundtrack from 1973, a film whose dreamy, psychedelic score by Alain Goraguer has long been one of my favorites. I helped organize 35mm screenings at Roxy Cinema in New York, and in Los Angeles, we hosted a listening party at In Sheep’s Clothing, where I had the chance to DJ and finally meet the team in person. Another reason for their trip, Sara had mentioned they were looking for a filmmaker to collaborate on a compilation of Commedia Sexy all’Italiana tracks. The first person who came to mind was Eli! We sent him the catalog, and when we all got on a call together, Eli immediately pulled out posters for Avere Vent’anni and Porno Holocaust… both of which, coincidentally, have soundtracks released by CAM Sugar. Naturally, those tracks made it onto the record, and the project came together in such a perfect, full circle way.
WINGMAN: You are quite the revered DJ, and you’ve really played all over the world. How did you get into DJing?
BROWN: Coming of age in Atlanta in the ‘90s was an incredible time and place for music. Alternative was mainstream, and college radio stations were at their peak, constantly introducing me to new sounds. I spent countless hours digging through the shelves at local record stores like Wax ’N’ Facts and Tower, buying Velvet Underground and Kraftwerk records just based off the artwork on the cover. By the time I was 15, I was going to shows alone, completely immersed in the local punk and rock ’n’roll scene. One night, I went to see the late, great Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls at The Masquerade, and that’s where I met Cole Alexander and Jared Swilley, who had just started their band the Black Lips. That moment was a turning point… I had found my people. Together, we built our own community with friends. I started DJing from my already growing collection, playing in bands, all while somehow managing to get into bars and clubs that didn’t seem to care how old we were. Looking back, it’s wild to think about how we got away with it all! After that, I spent a few years in Memphis, where I kept playing music, DJing, and even ran a record label before making the move to New York. That’s where my DJ career really took off.
WINGMAN: A lot of your early big breaks came from the merging of music and fashion, playing for designers like Chanel, Gucci, and Fendi. Can you talk a bit about how fashion and music correlate for you creatively?
BROWN: Fashion and music have always been deeply intertwined for me. Growing up, I was inspired by not only the sound but the fashion of the musicians I worshipped. Debbie Harry, Marc Bolan, or the UK punk scene, style was an extension of their prowess and they were the trendsetters back before everybody had a stylist. The same goes for Italian and French films I love, the music and the fashion are iconic. I think designers recognize that connection too, which is why they bring in DJs who can tap into that synergy. When I work with different clients, I dive into their vision, pulling tracks that evoke a certain era, attitude, or emotion. Whether it’s French boogie, Italo Disco or Nigerian funk, I want the soundtrack to enhance the experience and transport people.
WINGMAN: Your style aesthetic also lends to our shoot, as you very much lean into those 70 vibes. What are some of your biggest inspirations fashion-wise when it comes to how you dress?
BROWN: My style is definitely rooted in the ‘60s and ‘70s but with a modern twist. Those eras had such an effortless mix of glamour, defiance and individuality. Jane Fonda in “Klute,” Brigitte Bardot in “Contempt,” Anita Pallenberg in “Performance,” Catherine Denueve in “Belle de Jour,” women who had this effortless cool that wasn’t overly styled but still made such a statement. I love rich textures, tailoring, and vintage silhouettes with an edge and I think a touch of class is very important.
WINGMAN: One thing you’re especially known for in music is how diverse your tastes are, and your extremely versatile your music collection is. Are there any types of music you don’t like, and can you name a favorite genre?
BROWN: I really love all kinds of music and could never write off an entire genre. Growing up with my Texan mother, western music was always playing, and I still have a huge affection for Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson. At the same time, coming from Atlanta and spending time in Memphis, soul, blues, and hip-hop was infectious in the best way. It’s impossible to not love Little Richard, Otis Redding, Outkast, and Three 6 Mafia. Home listening, I tend to gravitate toward library music and film soundtracks, composers like Piero Umiliani, Riz Ortolani, Stelvio Cipriani and Edda Dell’Orso. That kind of cinematic, atmospheric sound is perfect for setting a vibe for the day. Lately when I’m DJing, though, I love diving into my Italo disco records! There’s something about that energy, the pulsing bass lines, the synths, the drama… it always gets people moving.
WINGMAN: Your latest ventures are more in being a music supervisor, with your backgrounds in film and music really bringing you to this point in your career. When going into the music for a film, what is the first and most important thing you think of?
BROWN: The first and most important thing I consider when selecting music for a film is how it serves the story. Music should enhance the emotion, atmosphere, and rhythm of a scene without overpowering it. I always start by understanding the director’s vision, what feeling they want to evoke, the world they’re building, and how music can elevate that. From there, I think about whether the soundtrack should be era specific, genre driven, or something more abstract. I love using music from friends and young indie artists or digging deep to find the perfect song, whether it’s an obscure track that feels fresh or a well known piece that takes on new meaning. Ultimately, the goal is to create a seamless connection between sound and visuals, making the music feel like an essential part of the storytelling.
WINGMAN: What film soundtracks have especially inspired you?
BROWN: There are so many film scores that have left a lasting impression on me… it’s hard to narrow them down, but if I had to… I think my love for music in film really started with “The NeverEnding Story” and the incredible synth score by Giorgio Moroder and Klaus Doldinger. That soundtrack was pure magic to my child brain… cinematic, ethereal, and emotionally transportive. It was the first time I truly understood how music could shape the atmosphere of a film. Nino Rota’s collaborations with Fellini are endlessly inspiring… Casanova, La Dolce Vita, Amarcord, and especially Toby Dammit. His compositions feel like characters of their own, whimsical and otherworldly. Vangelis’ “Blade Runner” is another all-time favorite; the synth driven score creates a futuristic soundscape that still feels timeless. the way it fuses electronic and orchestral elements creates a futuristic soundscape that still feels timeless. Ennio Morricone’s body of work is almost impossible to summarize… he’s done everything from classical to psychedelic, disco to giallo. His scores for Danger: “Diabolik,” “The Black Belly of the Tarantula,” “The Sicilian Clan,” “Days of Heaven” and of course “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”—along with all of his Spaghetti Western scores—are completely untouchable in their ability to elevate storytelling. Then there’s Angelo Badalamenti, whose collaborations with David Lynch are pure dreamlike perfection. The music he created for “Twin Peaks” and “Blue Velvet” is so haunting and beautiful. I’ve also became close friends with Elisabetta Umiliani, whose father, Piero Umiliani, was one of the most prolific Italian composers. I even got to tour his recently renovated studio in Rome. His soundtracks for “Baba Yaga,” “Five Dolls for an August Moon,” and “Moon Skin” are essential listening. As for needle drops, I’ve always admired directors who treat music as an extension of the storytelling. “Mean Streets” is a prime example… Scorsese’s use of The Ronettes and The Rolling Stones adds so much grit and character. “Pulp Fiction” completely redefined how people think about soundtracks, making every song feel essential to the narrative. “Lost Highway” and “Natural Born Killers” are both sonic fever dreams, blending industrial, rock, and country in ways that feel chaotic yet intentional, thanks to Trent Reznor’s masterful curating.
WINGMAN: You’ve really had an amazing path to where you are today, and so many incredible successes. What else would you love to add under the umbrella of your creative empire?
BROWN: I recently released my first song as a solo artist. The track, Tormento, was produced by composer and multi-instrumentalist Louis Fontaine, who creates lush, groovy soundtracks and library music, with lyricist Margo Fortuny. We’re currently working on a full album of soft disco tracks. A short film I produced that’s a modern reinterpretation of the 1968 Marianne Faithfull film “The Girl on a Motorcycle,” just premiered at the Beverly Hills Film Festival. Producing is another avenue I’d love to explore more along with music supervising some larger-budget films. As long as good tunes are involved, I’m sure I’ll be there.
Wingman Magazine Spring Issue 2025
For our Spring issue, we are honored to have brilliant visionary director ELI ROTH with fun trendsetting DJ ALIX BROWN! A true master at all he does, ROTH has teamed up with prolific record label CAM SUGAR for an exciting new project! Icon stars Sasha Alexander and Esai Morales step into the…