Stewart Eastham is a Nashville-based songwriter and producer who has made a career of composing and performing Rock-infused Country music. Until now. With his latest release, the multifaceted artist has defied all previous categorizations of his music. In the process he has created a dark and beautiful piece of work that bears no resemblance to any of the current radio-friendly music produced on Music Row. “Human No More (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” is Eastham’s entirely instrumental score to the 2020 horror movie of the same name. It is a complex and nuanced collection that is both a fresh take on horror movie music and complete redefinition of the artist’s own sound.
Born and raised in the foothills of rural Northern California, Eastham is a lifelong music and film fanatic. As a kid, when not spinning his parents’ Beatles albums he was reading, renting and watching horror. His love of music and film eventually brought him to Los Angeles where he studied film, acting and fronted his own band “Day Of The Outlaw.” Ultimately that group disbanded and Stewart launched a solo career which brought him to Nashville, Tennessee. For the past 11 years he has worked as a songwriter and performer in the city’s legendary Country music scene.
The pandemic found Stewart Eastham locked down in his home studio with no gigs and creative energy to burn. That is when he was presented with the opportunity to write the score to the story of a murky underworld where a lone wolf detective crosses paths with a possible serial killer harboring a personal vendetta. The resulting 12 track album is a dark exploration of complex emotional themes. Though written for the movie, the work stands on its own as a deeply nuanced collection that spans multiple musical genres. As such, Stewart Eastham has released “Human No More (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” as a standalone album. The record dropped worldwide to all major streaming services on June 25, 2021.
The album opens with the ominous distorted analog synths of the track “Tiny Imaginations.” From there we move through waves of electronic and organic instrumentation. Classical piano meets pounding symphonic percussion and otherworldly synths on tracks like the epic “Curious Crimes.” Throughout the record Eastham pairs traditional instruments with wildly creative original sounds. Orchestral strings, woodwinds and harpsichords are accompanied by deep sawtooth synths on tracks like “Aquaricum” and “Bright Eyes.” Dubstep inspired bass swells rumble beneath the Gothic drama of “Oblivion” and the many moods of “Unique Insight.” There is a strong Industrial vibe running through the entire record, especially on the über creepy “Forensics.”
I wanted the music to feel very organic and lived-in. To give everything an industrial, worn down feel, I used distortion on almost every sound you hear. I almost thought of the music as a decaying factory as I was creating it.
Stewart Eastham
Check out the excellent “Human No More (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” in it’s entirety below. You can also hear the track “Sunrise Bridge” on the Deep Indie Chill playlist. While he will continue to write more traditional Country and Rock for Nashville, Eastham also plans to move further into the world of film scoring. Follow the links below to connect with the artist. Get on his socials and get in the loop on all of the current and future projects from this vastly talented and remarkably versatile artist.