Music & sounddesign Peter Miller

Organ played by Louise BellHarmonica played by Steve Blau

There was an LP and CD released of the film’s electronic music, and it has maintained a cult following over the years.

At time of writing, the composer still sold a ‘bootleg’, which is to say, ‘unofficial’ edition of the soundtrack at his site, though by being taken from the original PCM material, it is unlikely to sound like an average bootleg. (See here).

LP details:

LP WEA 255980-1 (CD/CA 255980-2/4) 1989All tracks composed, performed and engineered by Peter Miller except * Additional location sound samples recorded by David White, Craig Wood and Mark WardSynthesisers Programmed by Jake GenevaMastering by Leon ZervosThanks to Philip Mortlock and Bronwyn Gerathy

SIDE 1:Spirits Song * (3’49”) Vocals: Karina Hayes, harmonica: Jim ConwayGrave (2’15”)South (4’28”)Demon (2’30”)How Many Days? (2’38”)Wil-Boor & Orv-ille * (1’06”) Aeolin windharps made by Rod McDonaldFelix * (4’02”) Harmonica: Steve Blau

SIDE 2:Machine * (4’05”) Harmonica: Steve BlauShed (3’53”)Kiss (2’46”)Epilepsy * (3’22”) Organ: Louise BellBroomstick (2’05”)What? (2’14”)Doors (2’29”)

There was also a 45 spun off from the film:

45 WEA 7-257811 1989 (Picture sleeve)Produced and engineered by Peter MillerAustralian Performance February 1989Thanks to Philip Mortlock, Soundfirm-Sydney, Tony Espie & Greg Ryan

Side A: Spirits Song (3’49”)(Words and Music by Peter Miller) (Control), vocals: Karina Hayes, harmonica: Jim Conway, slide guitar: Steve Miller, keyboards: Peter Miller, synthesisers programmed by Jake Geneva

Side B: An Early Angel (3’50”)(Music by Peter Miller, dialogue by Alex Proyas) (Control) Featuring the voices of Michael Lake, Rhys Davies & Norman Boyd Keyboards by Peter Miller.

(Below: Karina Hayes, who ‘vocalised’ the Angel).

The music soundtrack was well received in electronica circles - here are the opening lines from a contemporary Rolling Stone review.

Composer: Peter Miller

As noted above, at time of writing, composer Peter Miller still had his own website, which contained this brief bio for him here:

Scribbletronics is the creative entity of Australian sound designer, musician and digital image artist Peter Miller.Peter is a graduate of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School and has been a filmmaker, artist and musician for over 30 years. During that time he has been the co-director of a film production company, the director of a music production company, and has initiated many original sound, music and visual projects.Peter lives in Melbourne and works globally.

Campaign Brief, 25th November 2006 provided some additional details about Miller here when he joined Beamo Music:

Peter Miller, one of Australia’s most acclaimed composers and sound designers, has joined Beamo Music.Highly regarded around the world for his commercial soundtracks, Peter’s unique music and sound design has featured on award winning international campaigns for Nike, Mercedes, Amnesty International, Heineken, Adidas, The United Nations and many others.His most recent sound design work has been on feature films for directors Gore Verbinski (The Ring), Jane Campion (In The Cut), Ray Lawrence (Jindabyne) and Phillip Noyce (Catch A Fire).In the past Peter has been approached by numerous companies, but has made this recent decision to join Beamo Music because, he said, “I’ve long admired the quality of work that has come out of Beamo and the great team who work there. I can think of no finer people with whom I would choose to be involved and I am truly looking forward to an exciting and fruitful partnership."New owner of Beamo Music, Chris Cudlipp, is thrilled that Miller has decided to join them. “Peter brings a striking and unique style to Beamo that complements our existing composers; Brian Beamish, Brendan St Ledger, Paul Gray and Vince Pizzinga. Together, I think they are the finest group of composers in the country." According to Rolling Stone Magazine, Peter is, “…one of Australia’s unsung musical heroes."The Sydney Morning Herald’s Metropolitan Magazine described Peter’s sound design as, “… the kind of sonic magic that people like Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois would marvel at."

(Below: Peter Miller)

(Below: on a lighter note, Miller on location for Spirits, dressed to double ‘Betty’ on some second unit filming).