‘Magical’: How I taught Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor to sing like folk poets in ‘History of Sound’ | film

I was brought into The History of Sound as a musical consultant, and my main job was as singing coach for the actors, especially Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor.

My parents were folk teachers. I grew up in New England, singing and playing all different types of folk music including Appalachian fiddle tunes, as well as songs from the British Isles. My father’s favorites were the legendary Yorkshire singing family The Watersons. I now live in London and it was surprising how closely the history of sound’s music world matched my own. Ben Shattuck – who wrote the original short stories and screenplay – has put together a playlist of all these different types of music So everyone can learn about the world of the movie.

The film is about World War I, so I directed the actors to recordings from that era, like Almeda Riedel, the wonderful ballad singer from the Ozarks who had the idea to “get behind the song.” Paul is from Ireland and had a direct connection to folk music. Josh was familiar with traditional music and had done some singing in musical theater and choirs – but in just three weeks, they had to sound as if they had been singing their whole lives. Their vocals in the film are sung live in front of the camera for the time being. When I saw the finished film, I realized how important this was to the organic development of the scenes.

They would come to the little shed studio at the bottom of my garden: we would spend an hour or so together each time and I would sing and demonstrate different styles. Actors make great students. They have little time so their attitude is: “I need to get this now.” I have a distinct memory of Josh standing just inches from my face, studying every element of how my voice produces sound, and Paul bursting forth with a big smile and holding Josh and I on the shoulders as we achieved three-part harmony.

The thing about singing is that the voice is more closely linked to your emotions than other instruments. When teaching guitar, you can direct people’s fingers to the right place, But with sound, it’s all internal. For me, teaching singing is about helping people feel comfortable, find the natural sound in their voice, and not be afraid of it.

We did some pre-recordings in a studio in New York as a reference for singing on set and as a way to get the actors more focused. They really engaged as musicians: Josh working on his piano parts, and Paul coming up with the harmonies. Paul really connected with the single feel of “Silver Dagger.” And the enthusiasm for the music was real: I heard them singing songs in the street on their way back from the studio, just like Lionel and David do walking through the woods in the movie. It made me remember touring across Ireland with my best friend, singing Talking Heads songs.

I wasn’t on set, but during filming, some of the cast and crew came to one of my parties. Mum met everyone backstage and immediately started singing Country Life by the Watersons to Paul, who joined right in. Oliver Coates, who composed the score, was aware of the choral arrangements of Peter Amidon’s parents, and in fact used his arrangement of “All is Well” in the Oxford scene in which Paul’s character, Lionel, leads the chorus. My father passed away in October and was able to see the film shortly before. His role in the film was especially meaningful to me.

When I saw the finished film, it was moving and magical to see how comfortable the actors were singing: it didn’t feel academic or like they had just learned a style. There is an incredible scene where Lionel’s father has just died. Lionel is in the fire, there are musicians playing there, and he goes into a kind of daydream. It captures something about a folk festival at night, but of course mixed with his deep sadness and catharsis in that moment.

I hope the film inspires people to explore this music. Folklore is the poetic record of people who compose songs to sing to themselves while they work or travel. It is our only record of the inner emotional landscape of workers in those eras, and very few have been published books. The film’s deeper theme is the longing for love and the pain that never goes away. This is what many of these poems have maintained, and the songs still speak to us 100 years later.