5Lbs of Pressure

Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

5Lbs of Pressure

Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Director Phil Allocco

Cast Luke Evans, Rory Culkin..

Music by Philippe Jakko

Label Plaza Mayor Company Ltd

Lionsgate Cinema

Trying to start over, Adam searches for redemption as he returns to his old neighborhood to put to rest his demons while the brother of the man, he killed seeks revenge.

(Composer – Philippe Jakko)
I talked to Phil Allocco, the writer/director a few months before the shooting. He explained to me the characters, the story, the mood, and talked about his view about the music. Being a musician himself, it was pretty easy to understand precisely what he had in mind. I loved the script, and the story board was a great source of inspiration as well, very detailed, with pics, mood board etc… I did quickly a few demo tracks, Phil was ok with my direction, and I started scoring as soon as the film was shot.

About the instrumentation and music, there was clearly two different levels for me: a dark level, for all the thriller parts, to support the tension. I used real instruments and electronic sounds to keep a cold feeling. But the real instruments were played in a unusual way: weird sounds with the cello, sulponticello, bow scrubs, harmonics… or piano sounds stretched, reversed. All together it helped to create some dark textures and pieces of music. On the other Hand, the second level is the bright side of the characters, the redemption, the humanity, the emotion. For that, the strings orchestra was the perfect medium with bright melodies and harmonies, and performed by great players, it gives a sort of “next level” of emotion.

We recorded the cello solo and the strings orchestra i have conducted in Abbey Road studio – London UK, and the electronic and pianos parts in my personal studio. 

(Director– Phil Allocco)
Philippe and I started working on the score before pre-production. The score was always very important for me to set the tone and feel of the film. These are several sections of the script that are driven entire by the score and imagery. I believe the first two demos Philippe created were the themes GRACE and REDEMPTION. They were so perfect and beautiful I knew we had the heart of the score. Philippe created such an emotional and thrilling score for this film and it was a joy working together.