Steven and Stijn Kolacny were just a couple of Belgians doing a cool thing -- namely, arranging, recording and performing a mix of original songs and pop and rock covers with their 238-member girls' choir, Scala & Kolacny Brothers.Then David Fincher tapped Scala's take on Radiohead's 'Creep' for 'The Social Network' trailer and, a few million enthusiastic YouTube streams later, things changed a little. Billboard reported the choir had landed an American record deal after their haunting tune helped shoot the clip into viral legend. (Face it -- best movie trailer of 2010, and the song is a huge reason why.)
"Mostly you never have a trailer with two minutes and 30 seconds of music; it was almost like a video clip for us," says Steven Kolacny, 41, the group's arranger, composer and pianist. "It was like asking David Fincher to make a clip for Scala. It was astonishing."
Conductor brother Stijn, 35, says: "I think it's incredible for us on the Internet -- it attracts all kinds of people, of course to the movie, but also to our music." Read our exclusive Q&A after the jump.
Tell me about the day after the Social Network trailer hit.
Steven: It was quite a shock for us. It was the 15th of July, I remember. Just before we left for a party, it came in, the official trailer. When I saw it, it was not only amazing, shocking -- it was like asking David Fincher to make a clip for Scala. It was astonishing. We had many, many reactions, and we still have.
What kind of attention or success has the Social Network trailer brought you?
Stijn: This is for us a huge impact, an increase of interest. I would say, "Thank you very much, David Fincher," or whoever chose the music. I thought it was the first time I saw a trailer -- or a Scala clip -- where the music fit so well.
Steven: It's really a great movie, one of the best of the last year, lucky for us. But I heard that David Fincher was a Scala fan for years. If that's true, he was really listening to the music and had a plan for using the track for something special. If your music gets attention in the United States, that's cool. Really cool. We're looking forward to playing over there. And choosing this track was like a dream, because 'Creep' is what Scala is standing for. It's perfect for us. I remember the days I listened to bootlegs of Radiohead; the funny thing was that one of the first cover versions I arranged for Scala was 'Creep.'
You put out your ninth album this year in Europe, and your catalog is so diverse -- it goes from Marilyn Manson to U2 to Kylie Minogue. Is that a choice or just natural?Steven: Choosing the songs is very difficult. It's a bad idea to try to have songs like Michael Jackson or Robbie Williams tunes; if we would go that way, trying to make Scala commercial, nobody would believe it. Not on paper, and not live. That's just a choir singing very popular pop songs; you can hear that in a hotel lounge or elevator. It's not interesting. If we follow our taste, selecting songs from rock and even indie rock songs, no one would expect that. It's not a commercial plan, it's not a financial master plan -- it's something you can really feel. It's not the idea of "let's make this choir very popular" -- if I was thinking like this, we would never have this kind of success. I'm a big Michael Jackson fan, but it won't work for Scala. I always hope if we have a big cover version like Radiohead or Metallica, that it adds something special to the existing, original song. If not, we need to throw it away, because it has no meaning.
You started the choir on a pretty standard path in 1996. What led you to performing covers?
Steven: In the beginning we didn't have the idea of having such a successful project with that idea. It was just kind of an accident. All the choirs I knew -- and still know -- they always do the same thing. It's done before and will be done again and again, like classical music. My first idea was, How come a choir is not able to sing rock or pop music? The answer was very clear: Just because we don't have scores. The only sheet music you find is maybe 'Yesterday,' of the Beatles. I thought, let's make a score and try to use a choir for rock music.
You had an original song, 'Our Last Fight,' featured on TV here, on 'Sons of Anarchy.' How do you treat covers versus originals?
Stijn: I think it's important we are not only "that covering choir." It's important for us to be an original band as well. Steven is quite gifted as a composer. He has been leading Scala for many, many years and he knows what is appropriate and suitable. It's really a special Scala atmosphere at a live show -- a combination of original, creative songs and cover versions.
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