One of the many things that fans praised aboutStranger Thingsduring its first season on the Netflix streaming service was the music, particularly, the haunting opening theme that sets the perfect tone for this series set in the fictional sleepy town ofHawkins, Indiana. This unique sound is created byKyle DixonandMichael Stein, who are half of the all-synth band dubbedS U R V I V E. During a recent interview, the composers not only confirmed that they are coming back, but they also shed some new light on the story.
Ars Technicasat down withKyle DixonandMichael Stein, who had never composed for a movie or a TV show before they were approached to create the music by series creatorsMattandRoss Duffer. The Duffer Brothers reportedly foundS U R V I V Eon Spotify, and contacted them, withKyle Dixonrevealing that the Duffer’s pitched them by stating that they wanted the music to be something people talked about. Towards the end of the interview, they were asked about their plans forStranger Things Season 2, whenKyle Dixonrevealed that fans will be seeing more of the Upside Down.
“There are new characters, fun, and theUpside Downwill be more of a place, you’ll spend more time [there]. So we’ll make a lot more weird music this time around.”
While the mystical place known as the Upside Down was certainly present throughout all of the first season, we didn’t get to actually see inside this place until the end of the first season. While young Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) was able to get rescued from the Upside down, the beloved character Barb (Shannon Purserwasn’t so lucky, although concept art revealed thatBarb’s deathwas originally much gorier than the final version. When asked about their approach to the music for the Upside Down,Michael Steinhad this to say.
“The Upside Down is weird and experimental, and we approached it with something like theAliensoundtrack, but this music focused on the monster.”
Netflix announced last month that theStranger Things Season 2 premierewill stream on Halloween, October 31, only on the Netflix streaming service. Fans ofStranger Thingswill be happy to know that season 2 will consist of 9 episodes, as opposed to the 8 that made up the show’s first season, with this season set in the year 1984, a year after the events of Season 1. Not only will the show premiere on Halloween, but the season premiere is also set on Halloween as well, with the young stars all dressing up asGhostbustersfor the annual holiday.
Stranger ThingsSeason 2 will bring back the beloved young cast members from season 1, includingFinn Wolfhard(Mike Wheeler),Millie Bobby Brown(Eleven),Gaten Matarazzo(Dustin Henderson),Caleb McLaughlin(Lucas Sinclair),Natalia Dyer(Nancy Wheeler) andCharlie Heaton(Jonathan Byers).Winona Ryderwill also be back as Joyce Byers andDavid Harbourwill also be returning as Sheriff Hopper. New cast members includeSadie SinkandDacre Montgomery, who are playing step-siblings named Max and Billy.Sean Astinis playing the manager of the local Radio Shack who is also Joyce’s new boyfriend, withPaul Reiserplaying a government official who comes to town to investigate what happened during the first season. Additionally,Linnea Berthelsenis playing Roman, a damaged young woman who is connected to the mysterious events ofStranger Thingsseason 1.
