Director Mark Phinney’s powerful new film Fat tells the story of a guy struggling to control his weight, and the emotional stress it causes him and those around him. Trips to the fast food drive-thru, to the corner deli, and to anywhere else that provides the food that provides the sanctuary are all woven into the tale of a main character who’s not always very likeable.
The comforting backdrop to the entire thing is Boston music. From scenes shot at T.T. The Bear’s Place in Cambridge to an endless display of local band t-shirts to roles and cameos from musicians in the Rationales, Razors in the Night, and Jittery Jack, our city’s music scene is as important to the film as Seattle’s was to Singles in the early ’90s.
As Fat screens tonight at the Brattle as part of the Independent Film Fest Boston (it’s sold out), we asked Phinney for a quick preview of the soundtrack, which features MG Lederman, Mean Creek, the Fagettes, Stereo Telescope, Jim Healy, Tasteful Nudes, Slowdim, David Mirabella of the Rationales, and others.
You can stream part of the soundtrack below, but Phinney warns that the Soundcloud below is incomplete and not in any kind of order.
“As far as how the music plays with the film, I feel it’s a backbone to it,” Phinney tells Vanyaland. “The whole scene. I felt each song chosen fit the moment perfectly. The rocking Mean Creek stuff, to the dramatic Ian Adams song to the tragic MG Lederman tunes when things in the film get real bad.”
Lederman’s song “Longfellow Bridge” plays towards the end of the film, a critical point where the music accentuates the moment. It’s very moving, and Lederman’s lyrics start to tell the story.
“That ending with the MG song is such a great closer,” Phinney adds. “The other stuff like Beatings credit sequence just blasts the end right open. Jim Healy and Swampbear capture that loneliness. Tasteful Nudes is beautiful in the love scene. Mirabella wrote the song for the film, making it that much more special.”
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