{"id":521260,"date":"2026-01-16T21:29:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T21:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/521260\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T21:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T21:29:10","slug":"emily-robb-brings-experimental-guitar-to-sci-fi-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/521260\/","title":{"rendered":"Emily Robb brings experimental guitar to sci-fi film"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trying to get to \u2018not thinking\u2019<\/p>\n

Robb has been a prominent figure in Philadelphia\u2019s underground experimental music scene ever since her debut solo record, \u201cHow to Moonwalk,\u201d came out in 2021. Having previously played in several bands, Robb has used the past few years to focus on solo guitar records, interspersed with some one-off collaborations and work with impromptu bands. She has gained a reputation as a masterful solo guitarist and improviser, infusing everything she does with emotive, raw power.\n<\/p>\n

Monolithic drone and sustained cycles of sound underpin much of Robb\u2019s recorded work. She said she\u2019s not afraid to clear her mind of chatter and lose herself to the resonant, trance-like pull of the music. Her aim, while she\u2019s playing, is to stop thinking altogether.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe feeling of not thinking is freedom,\u201d Robb said.
\n\"EmilyEmily Robb has made a name for herself as one of the most distinct guitarists in underground music. (Courtesy of Richie Charles)\n<\/p>\n

In her work with the film, Robb\u2019s learning curve came immediately. The first scene Kourkounis requested music for had not yet been filmed. With only the script to work from, Robb had to imagine the actors\u2019 movements. The resulting song, \u201cDance Music,\u201d begins with wandering acoustic guitar and transitions into a deconstructed, feedback-drenched, rock \u2018n\u2019 roll framework familiar to fans of Robb\u2019s work, incorporating a full rhythm section.\n <\/p>\n

The acoustic guitar-based track \u201cShiny Sister Theme\u201d evokes a dusty, wide-open desert landscape on another planet with its deliberate pacing and ghostly reverb. It wouldn\u2019t feel out of place alongside a classic spaghetti western soundtrack by Ennio Morricone.\n<\/p>\n

Conversely, the amplifier hum of Robb\u2019s \u201cHell Music\u201d summons existential dread, and its shimmering drone and guitar feedback pulse through the listener\u2019s brain like the most terrifying nightmares can.\n<\/p>\n

Many of the album\u2019s songs are also filled with Foley sounds \u2014 textural and environmental noises. Robb was tasked with creating aural effects, such as bubbling water, clangs, crashes, scrapes, bangs, floor creaks and nature sounds, to weave throughout the record. Petty Bunco<\/a> label head and sometime bandmate Richie Charles is credited with \u201cwater balloon and creaks.\u201d
\n\"SweepingFilmmaker Jessica Kourkounis joined Robb to record some Foley sounds for the movie. (Courtesy of Richie Charles)\n<\/p>\n

Robb said she leaned into the idea of helping build the film\u2019s surreal, post-apocalyptic world.\n<\/p>\n

It was a \u201creally cool learning experience, and it was really fun to see how it all kind of came together,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fun, because I could just sort of push it in these ways that wouldn\u2019t necessarily be something I would think of doing for my own solo stuff. And I would like to do more soundtrack work for that reason, or maybe just \u2026 let go of the whole idea of \u2018What is Emily Robb?’\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Various festivals have screened the film, \u201cThe Space Between Attack and Decay,\u201d which stars Boris McGiver (\u201cHouse of Cards,\u201d \u201cLincoln\u201d) and is narrated by James McAvoy (\u201cThe Last King of Scotland,\u201d \u201cHis Dark Materials\u201d).\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

It has won several awards, including the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival\u2019s Best Experimental Film prize and Roswell Shorts Indie Film Festival\u2019s Best Short Film.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trying to get to \u2018not thinking\u2019 Robb has been a prominent figure in Philadelphia\u2019s underground experimental music scene…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":521261,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,1448,2830,1311,205148,205150,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-521260","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-pa","10":"tag-pennsylvania","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-philadelphia-music-scene","13":"tag-underground-music","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115906908336176968","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}