Dutch Falconi

Since the release of my LP Bloom & Brimstone, many folks have said that my music belongs in film and television. Certainly, I’d love to oblige, but as of this writing the stars have yet to align and my seemingly non-stop efforts to be heard above the din have failed marvelously. While I realize composing to picture is different than composing to images conjured from the imagination, I remain a steadfast adherent to the notion that music is transformative and that it’s the great conduit of emotion and ideas. So in the absence of a cinematically paired project, I decided to Hell with it— I’ll just score an imaginary film. With that, Ladies & Gentlemen, I give you, Budapest Undead.

As the soundtrack & score to a horror movie that never existed, Budapest Undead is a concept album of sorts. Released around Halloween by design, the hope is that it’s received as more than just spooky orchestral music with a Hungarian / Eastern European flair. In keeping with the old adage that the book is always better than the movie, my wish is that through the music, the listener will be able to transport themselves into their own personal horror film narrative. Imagine the flickering marquee: Now Showing in minds everywhere—Budapest Undead.

Although cliché, everyone is familiar with the horror genre and I figured most listeners could effortlessly generate the cinematically tinged images required to accompany the music. The Undead part of the title is purposefully a little nebulous and while it skews toward the West, the suspension between living and not, seems to have near universal resonance. Of course Budapest, the great capitol city of Hungary, ties into the cimbalom instrument I use frequently throughout, and as an old European city, it represents a lively collision of tradition and modernity whilst remaining timeless, beautiful and eminently mysterious.

While all tethered together in service of theme, each piece represents its own narrative in miniature and I’ve tried my best to title them in the spirit of their conception. Still, I’d like the listener to fill in the gaps and bring their own images and story points to the experience, and that’s why I’ve intentionally remained somewhat mum on dictating story.

For those desperate to hang precious bits of flesh onto setting, I offer the following possible points to get you started: driven by the constant pulsating desire for sex and blood, the immortal undead are enthralled by novelty in both departments. So when the ancient Pharaonic elixir that allows for psychic control, flight and invisibility is stolen, the timeless order of the great Houses rests on a nest of vicious, beautiful, and rebellious female vampires for its return. As suspicion gives way to prophecy, a violent struggle wrests control away from the Masters and an unlikely young vampire ascends to be anointed Queen.