Though most people associate the Seattle grunge scene with acts like Nirvana and Alice In Chains, not as many know about the weirdo brilliance of TAD. Led by the inimitable Thomas Andrew Doyle, the band made a mixture of thrash, sludge, punk, and country that would help define the scene around them; it’s generally regarded that TAD is one of the first grunge bands. But though they never got their due, Doyle has kept busy — according to IMDB, he’s doing music for both a horror movie and an animated show.
The movie is titled The Boardwalk, while the show is a lo-fi web series titled Fundamentally Cynical, both directed by one Preston Hazard. The Boardwalk is listed as Doyle performing only the music, while in Fundamentally Cynical he lends both his music and his voice talents as Thomas The Lumberjack.
Regarding his relationship with Doyle, Hazard says, “I first met him, believe it or not, on Twitter. He posted something about one of his instrumental film scores, and I just re-tweeted it and commented with something like, ‘This thing is so cool I wish I could use it in my animated horror TV show.’ I assumed he wasn’t even going to see it, let alone answer me. But I was amazed — by the next day he had DM’d me, and told me that he’d be more than happy to let me use his music. So I stuck his soundtrack into one of my episodes, and sent it to him. He absolutely loved it, and asked me if on the next episode I could send him the entire script so that he could compose music specifically for the show.
“Since then he’s been composing each episode (now three in total),” he continues, “and has even voiced a few characters, including a fictional version of himself, and a zombie in an upcoming Halloween special that comes out on the 31st (he’s also composing the special). Then a few months back, he sent me his new record for me to listen to and tell him what I thought. So I did, and it made me think of a really cool horror film idea. So I called him up and asked him if he be willing to compose the music for this new horror film. He seemed very excited about it, and told me that he would love to.”
Check out an episode of Fundamentally Cynical featuring Thomas The Lumberjack below:
The Boardwalk comes out December 8th.
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Words by Chris Krovatin