Sheffield’s cinematic soundtrackers Mark Daly and Michael Harding worked together from 2004 to 2021, establishing a reputation in the UK for their unique live re-score events, performing at cinemas, festivals and other venues across the country with cult films including Dark Star (John Carpenter), Belleville Rendezvous (Sylvain Chomet), Un Homme Qui Dort (Bernard Queysanne) and The Straight Story (David Lynch).
The careful preparation and attention to detail that they brought to each project was incomparable. The fact that they also worked with the existing dialogue and incorporated it into their live performance, plus added other people’s tunes into the mix as well as their own tracks, meant that they were effectively working as music supervisors and sound editors as well as original score writers (but all done live in real time).
They also released albums on the Big Chill, Mareld and Disco Gecko labels, as well as appearing on numerous compilations. Along the way they’ve had music used in multimedia projects at Tate Britain and New York’s Leverhouse Gallery, worked with guest vocalists such as Sanchita Farruque (Nitin Sawhney, Trilok Gurtu), Anne Garner and Lisa Palmer, plus remixed acts including Banco de Gaia and Deep Dive Corp.
Releases
Animat – For Michael
Animat – Earplayed
Animat – Earplay
Animat – Undercurrents
Animat – All is Lost
Animat – The Wide Blue
Animat – The Last Man
Animat – Out of the Shadows
Animat – How To Be A Shadow
Animat – Slip into Gold
