Victor “Vitoko” Díaz
He is the Composer of Albert Hamilton‘s Fletcher Dollar Baby film.
SKSM: Could you start with telling me a little bit about yourself? Who are you and what do you do?
Victor “Vitoko” Díaz: Hello! My name is Víctor Díaz Velásquez, I am a musician, I teach piano and keyboard classes at the music conservatory of the University of Magallanes, and at the Casa Azul del Arte in the city of Punta Arenas, Chile. I also teach a jazz workshop and I play in a band.
SKSM: How did you become involved with Fletcher?
Victor “Vitoko” Díaz: I had worked with Albert on some regional productions, short fiction films, the miniseries Cuando habla el corazón and the soundtrack for the rescue of old 16mm films. In these productions I did the sound design and created original music. The director really liked all this and that’s why I worked at Fletcher.
SKSM: How did you get started as a composer and what do you do on production?
Victor “Vitoko” Díaz: Well, I must say that I am a music lover. I have been listening to a lot of music since I was very young and I am lucky that my parents and siblings listened to quality music. Since then I have dedicated myself to playing the guitar a little and then I studied piano. Thanks to this, ideas arose to make my own music. In production I work with many synthesizers, portable recorders to capture ambient sounds and I put everything into my Homestudio. That is how I work on music for videos, films and personal experimentation.
SKSM: How did you get started to wrote the Soundtrack for Fletcher?
Victor “Vitoko” Díaz: I met with Albert and we thought that we could play a modern jazz style. I loved the idea. In Fletcher there are striking images and that inspired me to use CMaj+5 and EVMaj+5 chords that have a lot of tension and mystery.
SKSM: Is this your most challenging audio so far?
Victor “Vitoko” Díaz: Yes, because the quality of the photography and image were very good. It was necessary to maintain that level of quality in the sound aspect and on the other hand, since it’s based in a Stephen King story, it becomes a greater and highly motivating challenge.
SKSM: Was there any funny or special moment when you made the music that you would like to tell me about?
Victor “Vitoko” Díaz: In post-production I saw that in the scenes there were well-known people from my city playing the role of a villain. Knowing that in real life they are very good people made it very fun to add sound and music to the scenes.
SKSM: After Fletcher did you write more music? If so what?
Victor “Vitoko” Díaz: I am currently preparing some bases and ideas that could be used for future action and mystery works for Albert Hamilton‘s next film. I am also experimenting with the possibilities of synthesizers, so I generate each sound and transform it into something different to create a new idea at the same time.
SKSM: What are you working nowadays?
Victor “Vitoko” Díaz: I’m teaching classes at the conservatory of the University of Magallanes and at the Casa Azul del Arte in Punta Arenas. I also took an arts workshop at the same conservatory and regularly play with my jazz group.
SKSM: Are you a fan of Stephen King’s work?
Victor “Vitoko” Díaz: Yes, I really like “The Shining” and “Carrie” but this experience with Albert has led me to become a much more active fan and reader of the author’s works.
SKSM: What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
Victor “Vitoko” Díaz: People know me more for the work I’ve done with my jazz group and different performances in pubs and festivals, but in this case composing a soundtrack for the film, I hope that people like my work as a film composer, which is a facet that they don’t know much about me.
SKSM: What advice would you give to those people who want to be musicians?
Victor “Vitoko” Díaz: I would tell them that if they love music, they should practice with an instrument from simple things to the most technical, get to know their favorite instrument, learn theory, listen to music from different styles and cultures to expand their knowledge.
SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything else you want to say to the fans that read this interview?
Victor “Vitoko” Díaz: I would like to thank the fans who read this interview and thank them for their time.
SKSM: Do you like something to add?
Victor “Vitoko” Díaz: Yes, I would like to thank Oscar Garrido for the interview, Albert for the invitation to participate in Fletcher and Mr. King for his wonderful work and for allowing us to adapt one of his stories. Thank you very much!
