Frank Ilfman is an award-winning film composer renowned for his ability to blend genres into emotionally powerful, sonically rich scores. With a classical foundation and a deep passion for electronic experimentation, he creates immersive soundscapes that merge orchestral depth with contemporary edge—elevating storytelling and captivating audiences worldwide.
I caught up with Frank to talk about his early musical experiences, how he started composing music and the making of one of his latest releases IIlfman + Sonitus Mortis : MOTUS
CMM-What was the first music that made an impact on you as a child and what artist or band made the biggest impact on you?
Frank-As a child I was exposed to many types of music as my parents had a very big record collection from opera to Rock & Roll, but I was very impressed by old film soundtracks from Bernard Hermann, Ennio Morricone to the other side of the more electronically stuff from films like
“BLADE RUNNER” BY Vangelis or Tangerine Dream’s “The Solider” and “Kamikaze 89”.
CMM-When did you start playing instruments and making your own music?
Frank-I started playing Trombone at the age of 11 and after a few years I moved to play piano and organ and by the time I was 14, I bought my first synth and started playing with sounds and composing my own pieces, i was fascinated by what those machines can do after watching and hearing Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream and more synth pop like Howard Jones.
CMM-You recently released a record as Ilfman + Sonitus Mortis called “Motus”. What was the writing and recording process for the album like?
Any particular gear that played a key role in the album?
Frank-I wanted to stay clear from my normal approach when doing film scores or conventional classical writing and together with Berlin based sound designer Uno, we set up Sonitus Mortis. We wanted to harness the new power of AI and use it as a tool to create sounds that we could hear in our heads, we wanted to create sounds of a dystopian element, a very dark brooding feel.
After we seen what the AI would generate, we took it over to my old Roland and Moog synths, we recorded the sounds to old tape reels and
create some loops, focusing purely on the sound itself then any melodies or stracture, just the freedom to process sound as it comes to mind.
Once we had our recording, we took those into Cubase and Protools and manipulate those even more with external space delays and other vintage
compressors and just improvised with those audio layers, we then added some more synth layers all recorded live with some altered piano and
vocals overdubs, those also got very distorted!
CMM-How did you get into the world of composing for films? If you could work with any film director who would it be?
Frank-I got very lucky and one thing turn into another. I was a musician and performer with different new wave alternative bands playing keyboards and producing and got to meet during those days some very established film composers whom were great mentors and they pushed me into that world, given I was in love with the cinema and the possibilities of combine music and images, but I was not thinking or had any wants to be a film composer at the time, but once I got into that world I got hooked in. There are many directors I admire their work and artistically approach, I would love to work with Giuseppe Torantore, his sensitivity and emotional direction with music is amazing.
CMM-I’m sure you have some amazing projects coming up. I recently heard the brilliant new track “1 4 3 7”.
What will that be a part of and what else do you have planned for the not so distant future?
Frank-“That’s true. Alongside my upcoming film projects and soundtrack releases, I’ve also been working on my own solo classical album Resonate
and my electronica projects Sheffield 78.
I have actually released a song a few months ago under the radar under my “SHEFFIELD 78” project titled: Anvils in the Abyss, that had a great
reaction and plays, it was actually a good way to test the water. An official double-sided single titled “1 4 3 7” will be released on August 18 across all digital platforms, with a limited 7-inch vinyl release under my own name to follow, but the track actually is also part of my forthcoming album SHEFFIELD 78— RETORIKA, to connect it all together, Sheffield 78 – RETORIKA is a distorted dive into the analog realms of electronica and industrial music, inspired by the late ’70s and early ’80s new wave music scene . It pays homage to pioneers like Fad Gadget, Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle.
I used a lot of vintage synths, rusty drum machines, metal percussion and vocals all recorded to reels, tape analog saturation to create this raw feeling in your face sound. The album includes both instrumental tracks and songs featuring various guest vocalists, as well as myself. One of the highlights is a reinterpretation of ‘Everybody Knows’ by Men Without Hats. SHEFFIELD 78 is set for release in the coming months with some live shows to follow.
