David Lynch interview: 'Even in the so-called dark things, there's beauty'

NOTE: This interview is a republication- Source BBC Culture (by Matthew Sweet).

From the darkness of Mulholland Drive to the soaring sweep of Twin Peaks, Angelo Badalamenti created the soundscape that accompanies director David Lynch's vision. The composer died in December 2022, and Lynch has now given an interview to BBC Radio 3's Sound of Cinema. "Even in the so-called dark things, there's a beauty," he tells Matthew Sweet.

Listen to the interview on BBC Radio Three's Sound of Cinema, which airs on 27 May at 3pm BST.

David Lynch: Angelo, he can do anything, he can write any kind of music. He studied all the classical things, but he wrote jingles for a long time, so he can kind of do anything. The secret to Angelo is that if you know what you want, you've got to bring it out of him. It's there in him but you've got to bring it out.

Matthew Sweet: You first met him on the set of Blue Velvet, can you describe how he struck you? Was it love at first sight?

DL: In a way it was – Wilmington North Carolina was where we were. I wanted to get a local band, not a good band, just a local, hard-working band to back up Isabella Rossellini singing Blue Velvet. We were working away, working away and nothing was happening. We've got Fred Caruso to thank because he kept at me: "David. This isn't working, let me call my friend Angelo" but he was calling him Andy then. Angelo went by Andy Bedali in the early days, bless his heart – he sure didn't have to do that, but he did and Fred said, "Andy will come up and make this right." And I said, 'okay bring Angelo up'. And the next morning he worked with Isabella in the lobby of her hotel which had a piano that was there and came at lunchtime and played it for me at the Beaumont house in Blue Velvet. And I said, Angelo, we can cut this into the film just the way it is! It's fantastic!

To read the full interview click here