Peter Gabriel is making music for WALL-E.
The legendary singer/songwriter announced on his website that he is writing a song, and contributing to the soundtrack, for the upcoming Disney/Pixar film. He will be assisting Thomas Newman, the award-winning soundtrack composer for such films as Finding Nemo and American Beauty.
Gabriel has been a professional recording artist since 1969.
Director Andrew Stanton First Approached Peter Gabriel in 2005
"We're working on a new song for a Pixar film," says Gabriel on his latest video blog. "Andrew Stanton, the director of Finding Nemo, asked in 2005 if I would get involved in . . . called WALL-E."
The former Genesis lead singer gives a quick synopsis of the film, emphasizing its environmental message. This was the big draw for Gabriel, as he has been heavily involved in many environmental and human rights initiatives over the years.
Gabriel is no stranger to scoring music for movies. He composed soundtracks for films like 1984's Birdy, 1988's The Last Temptation of Christ, 2002's Rabbit-Proof Fence and 2007's Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure. His songs have appeared in countless other films, including Gangs of New York, Barnyard: The Original Party Animals, Vanilla Sky and (of course) Say Anything.
"(This movie) has a lot of very cool ideas," he says.
"In the Pixar tradition, I think (WALL-E) will appeal to young kids. But there's a lot of content for adults as well," says Gabriel. "I've written a couple of new bits, but I'm also trying some glue on things that I've worked on before."
He also revealed that WALL-E director Andrew Stanton had "done some research with NASA experts, who explained that, as we spend more and more time up in space, our bones disintegrate. They don't do well in zero gravity. And so he has portrayed (humans) as these flat blobs floating around in armchairs."
You can check out Peter Gabriel's 13-minute video blog, in which he talks about his participation in WALL-E (among many other things), by clicking here.
Fun Fact 1: Peter Gabriel's next CD, Big Blue Ball, will be released independently, and it's due in April. This will also be Gabriel's first proper recording (the greatest hits compilation Shaking the Tree doesn't count) that will have more than a single word title.
Fun Fact 2: Gabriel has worked with some top-flight musical talent over the years. A partial list includes such names as Indian violinist/vocalist L. Shankar, Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor, Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour, synthesizer pioneer Larry Fast, the late qawwali master Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, singer (and Pope photo ripper) Sinéad O'Connor, Kate Bush, Paula Cole, soukous singer Papa Wemba, drummer Manu Katché, and once-and-current The Police drummer Stewart Copeland.
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