INTERVIEW: World’s First Cinema
Coming soon to a stage near you: World’s First Cinema, starring John Sinclair and Fil Thorpe. Prepare for a sonic adventure unlike any other, as this duo replicates the moviegoing experience with their music, enchanting listeners with universal appeal and an indie spirit.
Serendipity brought John and Fil together at a game night in Los Angeles, igniting the spark that would become World’s First Cinema. After accumulating over 20 million streams, this groundbreaking troupe solidifies their label debut with the premiere of their EP, Palm Reader, dropping October 6 via Fearless Records. World’s First Cinema captivates their audience with an escape worthy of the silver screen, leaving them in their seats eager for the sequel. So grab your popcorn because Noisescape got the chance to interview the band before hitting the silver screen— discover their inspirations, details on their upcoming EP, & more.
Can you start by telling us about the musical paths that led you to where you are today?
JOHN: So I was an orchestra kid, a band geek. I played violin from age 6 or 7 and just got swept up. I also played saxophone and taught myself piano. I skipped out on college to go [air quotes] full-time [end air quotes] into music. I use the air quotes because I also worked at a restaurant for years, but I finally started to make a living off music by the time I was 20 or 21. I played around Seattle for a bit, did some really cool stuff with Macklemore – very lucky there, and then popped out to LA. I met Fil pretty quickly, and we started on our cinematic rock & roll conquest.
FIL: Ah, the crusade. So I found bands like Blink-182, Green Day, and New Found Glory and just knew I wanted to do that. I picked up a guitar when I was 14 or 15 and taught myself how to play. That quickly became my main interest, so I started learning to write music and playing different gigs. I was in this melodic hardcore band called Climates for a while and then obviously did Neck Deep for years. I left to move into production full-time and didn't intend on doing another project like that. Then, I met John, and we started writing our tunes and having such a good time— we just knew we had to do something with it, and that's how we got here.
What inspired the fusion of orchestral and electronic elements in your sound?
JOHN: The orchestral sound is an important part of what makes us unique. WFC started as a project for film and TV, and the big sweeping strings and cinematic moments just lent themselves to what we were writing. As for the EDM, Fil is a very gifted EDM producer. When we started writing, we mixed everything we loved into one place— the EDM, rock, film scores— all those essential elements that make up us as a band, and it’s become our creative dream project.
FIL: Yeah, totally. I haven’t always been interested in EDM, but I got super into it and inspired by it over the last few years. Even though I come from the rock side, I never had much interest in learning to produce rock music. I love it, and I don't mean this badly, but I feel like a good amount of rock production is more just engineering. With electronic music, all the sounds are made from scratch, and they can be so unique; I just think the possibilities are way bigger, so I started learning to do that purely for fun. When we started WFC, those production techniques and sounds organically made their way into the music.
Your single “Palm Reader” is absolutely stunning! What’s the story behind the track?
JOHN: Each song we write is like a small film vignette, playing out characters and scenes. For “Palm Reader,” I’ve always seen it as you wander down an old road and see this medieval inn at the end. Then you find this mystic woman, and she reads your charts, revealing past lovers, what could’ve been and what wasn’t. The climax is a realization of “I guess I read you wrong” as an allusion to the reading and about moving on from mistakes and letting go. So that’s the core inspiration of the track for me.
FIL: Totally. A lot of our songs are from these random little movie-moment ideas because we thought it’d be fun to write music from this different perspective. I think “Palm Reader” is a good song to show someone if you were trying to explain what WFC is all about because it’s an amalgamation of everything we like to do. So that’s why it became the title track of the new EP and the one we used for the video.
Do you have any memorable moments or fun stories from filming the music video?
FIL: We shot it in this old 1920s theater in downtown LA, and it's just the most beautiful building you've ever seen. Just hanging out there for a whole day with no one else— to explore a place with such a crazy history— was a super special moment.
JOHN: Fil and I are very serious about our visuals, our brand, and the flavor and aesthetic of the project. We wanted something spectacular, and I think we hit it out of the park. We were very fortunate to have an incredible crew. They pulled some strings to get us into the theater, and the venue just completed it. It was everything we could’ve ever wanted to paint an accurate picture of World's First Cinema. We even had a VFX guy come on board, Habib Zargarpour, a BTFA winner, who literally painted us into the theater walls at the end; it was so cool.
That shot stood out to me, so I’m thrilled you brought it up! Can you elaborate on the creative vision?
FIL: Originally, the video would end with this old black-and-white photograph of us with all these people, like the one at the end of The Shining. Then one of the producers called us with this idea to paint us into the wall of this kind of creepy-looking mural with circus animals and weird stuff like that. I thought it sounded cool, but I didn’t think it would actually happen.
JOHN: Yeah, we were just like, ‘Okay… none of this is affordable or possible, so what are we actually doing?’ [laughs]. But they promised that they knew a guy and pulled it off. We’re still hyped with the production crew to this day.
FIL: The shot looks incredible, and getting to hang out with Habib and hear his stories about all the crazy movies he worked on— he’s such a cool dude, and we were super lucky. I think what we do doesn't lend itself to the DIY feel; we need it to be super cinematic. It's got to feel and look like a movie, so everything we do has to be grand, which makes it challenging but pays off. That video was just one amazing thing after another, all falling into place. It was so lovely.
What would you like people to know about your latest single, “Holy Water?”
JOHN: It's not a ballad but a little more driving, slower, and emotional. It's the coolest song, and I'm so proud of it. It's another one with great strings, swells, cinematic moments, and vulnerability sweeping into big courses. We're stoked to finally have it out, especially as we’re in our baby stages with signing with Fearless.
FIL: We finished that song a long time ago, so we're excited to have it out and see how people respond to it. It represents something that we enjoy doing, which is the more kind of downtempo songs, and I think it's a nice follow-up to “Palm Reader.”
I’d love to get details on your new EP! Are there any concepts or themes that it explores?
FIL: There isn't a particular theme regarding the subject matter, but there's a mood to it. This will be our third EP, and we have a track record of each being tonally themed. The first was cinematic heavy; the second was really dark and a bit more rocky. And then this one's more in the middle of the two. It's slightly more poppy and emotional in places. And those are kind of the three spearheads that we like to do.
What lasting impact do you want the record to have on your listeners?
FIL: They’ll come to a lot of shows and buy a lot of merch; that’d be great [laughs]! No, but really, I’d love for people to find what we do and encourage them to explore other types of music. We want to show that there’s a whole world of music with different perspectives and sounds. We want to inspire people to create projects beyond looking cool or gaining as many followers as possible. We want to build a universe where people can live and play around— not just a viral song about something.
JOHN: Yeah, I feel precisely the same way. I would love for it to be an escape for people; almost like a little fantasy book, they get to open up and read each chapter as its own song and story they can follow and get absorbed in. We want to do something a little different so our stuff doesn't sound just like everything else, and I'm really proud of that.
Given your shared love of epic stories and cinematic masterpieces, do you each have a favorite film?
JOHN: Oh, interesting! I’d say The Prestige is one of my favorites. I also feel like it's kind of relevant to our project. So much in it reminds me of WFC and the flavor we go for. So, it also seems relevant to this interview to be an easy favorite pick for me.
FIL: Ah, it's so hard to narrow it down. I'm a big horror fan. I love all the Ari Aster and Robert Eggers stuff like The Witch, Hereditary, and The Lighthouse; those kind of movies. And Ex Machina is a favorite movie of mine. Arrival – oh, and the Timothée Chalamet one, The King. I’m obsessed with that movie. So there’s quite a few for you.
What can we expect next from World’s First Cinema? Do you have any goals or plans for the next year?
FIL: All the songs we've been releasing this year are meant to set the stage for what we will do next year, which is the album we’re working on. So the big thing will be the debut album and then some touring.
JOHN: We might have some surprises – maybe some deluxe edition surprises as well. We've got some secrets to reveal.
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