Seattle avant-rock group Zen Mother (Monika Khot and Adam Wolcott Smith) beat out 40 Northwest musicians to win the Cue Northwest Music Residency, a partnership between Northwest Film Forum and Brick Lane Records. The residency includes a $2,000 prize to create and perform a live soundtrack for Alejandro Jodorowsky's cult surrealist/existential film The Holy Mountain in 2017, as part of the NWFF's Puget Soundtrack program.
The judges for the competition were Stranger Music Genius Erik Blood, KEXP's Sharlese Metcalf, Seattle Weekly's Kelton Sears, and Susan Laughlin Wood of the Seattle Composers Alliance. Contenders for the award included Hair and Space Museum, Meridian Arc, Medina/Walsh, Garek Jon Druss, Corey J. Brewer, and Bad Luck.
In a press release, Judge Metcalf said of the group, "Zen Mother are wonderful composers! Their sounds will make for a new listening perspective of this cult film that has deep meaning to a lot of people."
For their new composition, Zen Mother provided a cryptic promise: "When the 4th wall is broken, we will help it fall. When the imagery begs confusion, we will provide chaos. When comfort and solace is provoked, we will soothe you."
The band will have their work cut out for them. The Holy Mountain's original soundtrack contained phenomenal contributions from world-jazz innovator Don Cherry, session player extraordinaire Ron Frangipane, and Jodorowsky himself. A kaleidoscopic, profoundly mindfucking movie, The Holy Mountain will require of its composers vastly varying moods. (I'm curious to see how they interpret the "Fuck Machine" scene.) Best of luck, Zen Mother.
