While his unauthorized remix only earned him a cease and desist from The Beatles’ record label, Danger Mouse has parlayed the critical acclaim and respect from his peers into various different projects. In addition to two Gnarls Barkely albums with Goodie Mob alum, Cee-Lo, Danger Mouse has released Dark Night of the Soul with Sparklehorse and he’s scheduled to work with U2 next year. In an interview with The Guardian, Italian composer Daniele Luppi reveals how The Grey Album led to his work with Danger Mouse.
“I am not really a hip-hop fan, but I loved The Grey Album – Brian is able to combine the charm and beauty of old instruments with something contemporary,” Luppi explained. “We had both talked about each other’s work in the press, and it turned out we had a friend in common who introduced us.”
Danger Mouse and Luppi said in 2006, they rode around Italy in a rented van borrowing instruments and tracking down elderly musicians for their upcoming project, Rome. The album combines the pair’s love of 60’s Italian film soundtracks with contributions from contemporary artists such as Norah Jones and Jack White.
“Rome seems to have fed into everything I’ve done – you can hear it in a lot of Gnarls Barkley, it’s all over Broken Bells too,” Danger Mouse adds. “I get a lot of offers to do film soundtracks and I’ve never said yes, because no one has heard this yet, and I think some people still think of me as a hip-hop producer. But this is what I would actually do, if I were to make a soundtrack. I’m really happy it’s out. I just hope it’s not going to take five years to do the next one.”
